At the beginning of 2011, Nissan unveiled the Leaf Nismo RC concept, offering up an "extreme" version for their electric car. Now, the company has taken it back a notch by presenting a new Nismo Concept at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show - right next to the Juke Nismo - that strips the racing qualities, but moves forward with the Nismo package.
The new Nissan Leaf Nismo Concept features an extreme body kit, including a front aero bumper, a rear under protector, rear diffuser, extended side sills, and 18-inch alloy wheels. The front bumper incorporates LED lighting which is arranged transversely to accentuate a sense of motion. Unfortunately, that’s where the modifications end, which isn’t unusual for an electric vehicle. The Nissan Leaf Nismo is still powered by front mounted electric drive motor that only outputs 80 of those kilowatts for a maximum output of 107 HP.
"Nissan LEAF has shown that zero emission mobility is no longer a dream but a reality. The Nismo Concept not only proves the hidden potential of Nissan LEAF but also adds even more excitement and energy to LEAF, delivering a guilt-free yet exhilarating driving experience that can be enjoyed by every car enthusiast," said Hideaki Watanabe, Corporate Vice President, Nissan Motor Company and head of the company’s electric vehicle business unit.
For all of the press and hype surrounding the Toyota GT 86 and the Subaru BRZ, not a lot of people know or have given love to the third model of the bunch, the Scion FR-S.
All that’s about to change because the Scion FR-S has arrived. For those that have shed rivers of tears when they found out that neither the GT 86 nor the BRZ were headed Stateside, news that the FR-S will arrive in America is tantamount to a post Thanksgiving blessing.
Now, we’ve actually seen a concept version of the FR-S - called the FR-S Concept - at the New York Auto Show, so it really didn’t come as a surprise to a lot of us that the sports coupe was coming to the US, but seeing the concept and seeing the production version are two different things.
It doesn’t even matter that we’re not getting the GT 86 and the BRZ. We have the FR-S, and just like a child that comes to us, we’re going to shower it with as much love as we can possibly give.
Find out more about the Scion FR-S after the jump.
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If anyone can tear their eyes away from the new BRZ sports car for just a second, they could see that Subaru has also presented the fourth generation Impreza at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Show. The new Impreza will be offered in two versions: the five-door known as the Impreza Sport and the four-door known as the Impreza G4. In Japan, the new car will go on sale on December 20, 2011.
This fourth generation all-new Impreza was developed under the concept of "Redefining Value, Redefining Class." This means that next to a new look, the Impreza will also offer superior reliability, handling, and safety features of the Subaru Symmetrical "All-Wheel Drive"system with the Horizontally-Opposed Boxer engine.
The new Impreza will be offered with a choice of 1.6 and 2.0 liter engines combined with a standard a paddle shifting 6-speed manual and new Auto Start Stop system. All of these new items have only one purpose: improving performance and reducing fuel consumption.
Hit the jump to read more about the fourth generation Impreza.
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In the middle of all the concept debuts and race prototypes being unveiled at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, one car that’s neither of those things is fetching some serious attention.
The car is a special one-off Audi A1 that’s inspired by the Japanese National Soccer Team. Affectionately called the A1 Samurai Blue, the one-off car has been dressed in the official colors - blue and white - of the Samurai Blue, the nickname given to the country’s soccer team. Complimenting the two-color exterior paint finish is a red color - the same hue as that of the Japanese flag - that was used on the rear spoiler and the set of 18" wheels provided. The exterior also sports the logo of the Blue Samurais on both sides of the car, as well as on the roof.
The interior equipment of the A1 Samurai Blue has been dressed in black with contrasting blue stitching. Colorful accents are also found on various parts of the interior, including the air vent nozzle, the inlays, the center console, and the floor mats.
Under its hood, no performance enhancements were done on the car so the A1 Samurai Blue is powered by a standard 1.4-liter TFSI engine that produces 122 horsepower. No surprise there.
The whole purpose of the A1 Samurai Blue is for Audi to sell the one-off model and have part of the profit donated to charity. So if you happen to have a heart of gold and fancy a one-off Audi A1 like this, you might need to get to stepping and be the lucky one to go home with this ultra exclusive piece of A1 eye candy.
German automaker, Volkswagen, is using the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show to unveil a pretty unique concept vehicle called the Cross Coupe.
We say unique because the Cross Coupe was designed with a bevy of new features, both characterized by a new design architecture and a new hybrid power train set-up. The latter of the two is an all-wheel drive hybrid drivetrain that features a turbocharged gas engine and a pair of electric motors that are found on both the front axle and the rear axle of the SUV.
As far as the design of the Cross Coupe is concerned, there are plenty of new languages that you can expect to see in a lot of Volkswagen’s future models, and not necessarily on a production version of this concept.
All told, the Volkswagen Cross Coupe Concept paints a real good pictureof the future of Volkswagen. It may not end up as a stand-alone production model, but as with most concepts go, it gives us a taste of what to expect from the German automaker moving forward.
Find out more about the Volkswagen Cross Coupe Concept after the jump.
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