Taking a page out of a design that was made over four decades ago, Honda has released the first look at the retro-looking EV-N Concept. If you think you’ve seen that front design before, you probably have; it looks like the N360 micro car.
A small four-seat, electric car, Honda created the EV-N with an attempt to bridge old-school flavour with new-school technology. The car, which is set o be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in a few weeks, comes with a solar panel roof, door-mounted U3-X personal mobility devices, and the all-new car-communication technology, the Honda Electric Mobility Loop (HELLO) -
it’s a technology that allows Honda’s outfitted with it the chance to ‘communicate’ with each other, hence the name HELLO.
That’s as much as we know about the EV-N for now. We’ll keep you posted on anything new that comes up leading up to Tokyo where the car will be introduced along with the CR-Z concept and the Skydeck concept.
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It looks like Subaru is going to go that extra step to set the factory tuned STI apart from more mundane WRXs. The obvious reasoning for the new STIs name is the oversized sheet of lightweight carbon fiber that replaces the factory sheet metal and adds a bit of tuner bling to the turbocharged hot hatchback. This trick is currently being carried out by BMW with their two door M3, a design cue that makes it almost unthinkable to buy a four door version of the V8 powered Bavarian boy racer. The lightweight roof trick was first incorporated into the Subaru’s then WRC rivals at Mitsubishi with their Lancer Evolution IX MR. The MR used a aluminum roof skin that Mitsubishi’s engineers said had the same effect as lowering the car up to two inches. Taking the extra weight off the top not only lowers the car’s center of gravity, but it also makes the sport compact less top heavy which means that it will be less inclined to roll when tracking deep into the corners.
Subaru already has the razor sharp Spec C, but when they debut the special edition Impreza WRX STI Carbon at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show the Japanese automaker is hoping to attract a new kind of buyer to the Impreza STI family. Aside from the trick carbon fiber roof, which should come at a bit of a premium, STI Carbon’s interior is upgraded with some very exotic suede material. Not only is the upper half of the dash wrapped in the fuzzy fabric to eliminate glare in the windscreen. The Recaro sourced black leather STI bucket seats also get some grippy suede inserts to keep the driver in place when they push the Subaru’s symmetrical all wheel drive system to the limit. Almost every interior surface benefits from red accent stitching that matches the red STI logos embroidered into the car’s seat backs.
Another touch that goes along with the upscale theme is the STI Carbon’s exclusive 5 speed automatic transmission that was sourced from the larger Legacy sedan. Perhaps Subaru’s product planing team feel that those new car customers who would be able to afford the Carbon don’t want to be bothered with a clutch pedal. However being a turbocharged vehicle, the automatic will allow the engine to keep running at maximum RPMs during shifts and eliminate the lag inducing loss of boost that could actually give the STI Carbon an edge over the standard model.
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While it’s definitely lacking in international appeal, the Tokyo Motor Show still figures to attract a strong local audience all eager to see the latest vehicles from the Japanese auto giants.
One car that’s expected to be unveiled in Tokyo is the concept version of the
production-ready Honda CR-Z hatchback. It’s not a fancy super car or an electric concept, but the CR-Z is just about as good as were going to see in Tokyo.
The car, which has been widely reported to start production by next year, will come with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine that has been tinkered with Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist technology as well as a six-speed manual transmission that takes the driving reins away from the car and back to the driver.
With the relatively thin depth of the Tokyo Motor Show this year, you can expect that a lot more people will be paying attention to what Honda - and all the other Japanese car brands, for that matter - has to offer.
And with the announcement that the CR-Z is coming for the show, you can expect a lot of curious eyes loitering around the Honda booth by then.
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Frankfurt had it good. Very good. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for Tokyo. While the Frankfurt Motor Show was adorned with star power from start to finish, next month’s Tokyo Motor Show is struggling to even get second-tier car brands to attend. Apart from the local auto giants who are expected to attend, foreign brands have avoided the Tokyo Motor Show like it was the second coming of the black plague.
As it stands the list of domestic car makers that will be in Tokyo includes Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mazda, Daihatsu, Subaru, and Suzuki. As far as the international field is concerned, well, there’s Alpina – hardly a household car brand – and there’s Lotus. That’s it.
The latest foreign brand to cancel their bookings to China was Hyundai Motors. Although no written confirmation has been made by the South Korean-based automaker, Toyokazu Ishida, manager of the international exhibition for the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), has all but confirmed Hyundai’s withdrawal, saying that “[Hyundai] called last week and orally confirmed their intent to cancel.”
The notable absences of some of the biggest foreign car brands for the show has even prompted the organizers to shorten the duration of the festivities from 17 days to 13 days and the show will now commence from October 23 to November 4. We can’t recall a previous international auto show that has had this thin of an international delegation. Nevertheless, all is not lost yet for Tokyo – we think. A number of can’t miss cars are still on tap to make their world debuts, not the least of which includes the Lexus LF-A V10 supercar.
The Japanese all wheel drive automaker, Subaru, has just revealed their biggest surprise for the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show, a Hybrid Tourer Concept. The gas/electric car of the future features a pair of oversized gullwing doors and is powered by a hybrid drivetrain that centers around a 2.0 Liter horizontally opposed direct gasoline injection turbocharged engine combined with two auxiliary electric motors, one placed at each axle to continue Subaru’s all wheel drive philosophy powered by a high performance lithium ion battery pack.
The gas burning boxer power plant is mated to the automotive arm of Fuji Heavy Industry’s symmetrical all wheel drive system and the automaker’s latest power train invention, a next generation continuously variable transmission that Subaru calls a Lineatronic CVT. The fuel efficient Hybrid Tourer Concept gets the majority of its power from the refined flat four; but the electric motors, making 27 HP up front and 13 HP in the rear, provide an additional boost and make the new Subaru capable of operating round town as a zero emission vehicle.
Aside from the concepts unique design both inside and out, the Tourer Hybrid Concept also features a unique driver assist system called EyeSight that provides the new car with vehicle to vehicle and road to vehicle communication technology. The program includes a collision prevention support system that uses a unique stereoscopic camera that is capable of recognizing a wide variety of driving obstacles with the goal of improving passenger safety and providing drivers with peace of mind touring.
Press release after the jump.
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Even if the news is not official, the latest reports are saying that the Japanese automaker, Mitsubishi, has plans to unveil an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) at the Tokyo motor show at the end of October and into the beginning of the next month. The diamond star electric car will first be revealed as a concept followed by an all new production version that will be in dealerships by the end of 2010.
The new Mitsubishi EREV will be a compact crossover, similar in size to the Toyota RAV4 and will use a drive train similar to Chevrolet’s E-Flex platform on which the Volt is built with its 660 cc three cylinder gasoline engine acting exclusively as a generator that produces electricity to charge the EREV’s 21st century lithium-ion batteries.
The new Mitsubishi will not limit owners to around town commuting. Acting exclusively on electric power, and producing zero emissions, the EREV will have a range of 40 miles. However if you don’t mind polluting in the most efficient manner possible, you can travel up to 200 miles while using the generator to restore energy to the batteries.
Yesterday Top Speed reported that the future Toyobaru would be receiving a slight decrease in output and today it has been confirmed. The Toyota/Subaru partnership can be best described as a collaboration between two automakers that are hell-bent on quelling a growing belief that they`ve become all too predictable. In Toyota’s case, it was becoming apparent that sports cars have become an afterthought for them while Subaru has been getting knocked for their indifference in becoming more of a fuel-efficient automaker.
So the two brands decided to tie-up to introduce the 086A Project, a sports car, which by all accounts is the epitome of both high-speed performance and fuel efficiency.
The project has been in the works for months now and while initial reports have described the 086A Project as a rocket on wheels, the recent adherence towards being more eco-friendly has led the car to tone down its performance level. As a result, the car, which was previously expected to carry a 2.0-liter boxer engine with a 147kW (200hp), is now being toned down to carry a 118kW (160hp) engine instead.
Continued after the jump.
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Mazda was on to something when they combined a compact rear wheel drive platform with a lightweight racing inspired power plant to create the first Rotary Experimental model for the Japanese automaker. Through three generations of RX-7, the sports car has proven itself to be a show winner as well as track day competitor. It was the second generation FC3S RX-7 that introduced rotary enthusiasts to boost and took the agile Mazda to the next level with the RX-7 Turbo II. However it wasn’t until 1992 when the automaker from Hiroshima launched the last RX-7 that we have all come to know and admire. With its round sculpted arches and twin turbocharged 13B power plant making 265 HP, the FD (as it is known) was capable of running with super cars well beyond its output and price.
Mazda stopped importing RX-7s into the U.S. in 1995, ever since then, sports car enthusiasts have been awaiting the return of the Mazda RX-7, especially since the turbocharged rotary powered rocket ship disappeared from the world market in 2002. Well there is good news because it looks like the rumors are coming true, and a 21st century RX-7 will be on display at the Tokyo Motor Show.
This rendering shows a vehicle that has been heavily influenced by the company’s Nagare design language, except that an RX-7, by its nature, must go one step beyond any of the Mazda’s recent concepts. The production version of the RX-8’s successor will not make an appearance until the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show and will feature Mazda’s new rotary engine.
The long rumored rear wheel driveToyota/Subaru sports coupe will finally make an appearance at the Tokyo Motor Show this October. Each of the Japanese automakers will offer their own version of the affordable driving machine, that will be very similar in appearance, except for a few exterior details.
With the new Toyobaru, Kiichiro Toyoda’s car company is hoping to resurrect the fun to drive AE86 of the 1980s. The Toyota Corolla from two decades ago combined a lightweight chassis with a reliable four cylinder engine sending power directly to the rear wheels. Under the hood of the future hachi-roku will be one of Subaru’s flat four power plants that will use an all new direct-injection system that boosts output and increses efficiency. The 2.0 Liter boxer engine is tuned to produce an impressive 200 HP and 145 lb-ft of torque sending the car to 60 MPH from a standstill in about 6 seconds. Weighing in at around 2,700 pounds the 2012 Toyobaru should be just as sun to fling around as the legendary Sprinter Trueno.
Hybrid vehicles will most definitely be around for as long as we still use internal combustion engines in our cars. With models like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight selling like crazy automakers are going to capitalize on whatever sales they can generate at this point in time. So in an attempt to diversify the hybrid market, the Japanese automaker Honda is toying around with the idea of a hybrid sports car. The world’s largest producer of engines is hoping that the crowds at the Tokyo Motor Show accept their new CR-ZX this October with open arms.
Based on the Insight, the CR-ZX will be powered by a small displacement four cylinder engine, ranging somewhere from 1.3 to 1.5 liters that is expected to return almost 60 MPG while in a hybrid sports mode. The body features a very stylish large open mouth front bumper and a sleek three door hatch back profile. This future sports hybrid could compete with other green sports cars like the upcoming Volkswagen Blue Sport Roadster and perhaps even a hybrid 370Z. The hybrid Honda may not be quite up to the level of all electric vehicle like the Tesla Roadster, but if there was any automaker who could it’s Honda. We will just have to wait and see what the tuners at Mugen could do with a CR-ZX SiR.
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