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  • 2009 Tokyo Motor Show Coverage

    2009 Tokyo Motor Show Coverage October 21st, 2009 By Viknesh Vijayenthiran Viknesh Vijayenthiran, Author, October 21st, 2009 Viknesh Vijayenthiran 2 Comments

    2009 Tokyo Motor Show Coverage

    The 2009 Tokyo Motor Show has released its secrets, and the Motor Authority crew has covered all the latest from the Japanese capital.

    Sadly, the once popular event hasn’t been able escape the effects of the industry doom and gloom, with most major foreign automakers shunning the show this year. But despite the downsizing, there was still plenty of excitement thanks to some high-profile world debuts from the major Japanese brands.

    As always, the Tokyo Motor Show played its role as an open invitation for the world's automakers to study each other's latest moves. Particularly for green-car enthusiasts, this year's Tokyo event is a fertile...

    The 2009 Tokyo Motor Show has released its secrets, and the Motor Authority crew has covered all the latest from the Japanese capital. Sadly, the once popular event hasn’t been able escape the effects of the industry doom and gloom, with most major foreign automakers shunning the show this year. But despite the downsizing, there was still plenty of excitement thanks to some high-profile world debuts from the major Japanese brands. As always, the Tokyo Motor Show played its role as an open invitation for the world's automakers to study each other's latest moves. Particularly for green-car enthusiasts, this year's Tokyo event is a fertile ground for hybrid and electric-car concepts. It's not all over yet, though, so stay tuned for any new cars, concepts or details that may break from the show floor. 2009 Tokyo Motor Show: New Cars Honda CR-Z Hybrid: For the uninitiated, the CR-Z Concept was first revealed back at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show and previewed a new hybrid sports car that Honda plans to launch in the first half of next year. Unveiled at the 2009 Tokyo event, the CR-Z Concept is now a near production-ready version of the compact sports car and we can’t wait for the production car's debut at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. Lexus LF-A: The supercar that almost wasn’t, the 2011 Lexus LF-A, has finally been officially revealed. At $375,000, 552 horsepower and 202 mph, it's a true supercar, and Lexus's first. Only 500 of the hand-built cars will be produced, starting from next December. Toyota Sai Hybrid: The Japanese-market version of the Lexus HS 250h launched at the Tokyo show this year. There aren't any plans for the car to head to the United States, though, as it's intended to sit just above the Toyota Prius in Japan--a slot already occupied by the decidedly entry-level-luxury HS here in America. Mazda SKY Family Of Next-Generation Engines: Mazda showcases its next-generation of powertrain technologies, which include two new engines, one gasoline and one diesel, and an advanced automatic transmission. Grouped under the ‘SKY’ family of technologies, the new powertrains and gearbox are part of Mazda’s greater goal of improving its average fuel economy of vehicles 30% by 2015 compared to 2008 levels. 2009 Tokyo Motor Show: Concepts Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept: Combining environmentally friendly technology and safety, the Subaru’s new concept maintains the automaker’s trademark symmetrical all-wheel drive system and horizontally opposed boxer engine but picks up a sporty design not seen previously on any of its vehicles. Under the sheet metal sits a 2.0-liter gasoline engine with direct injection and turbocharging technologies, as well as a CVT and two electric motors--one on each axle. Toyota FT-86 Concept: After more than a year of rumors, theories and questions, the lovechild of the Toyota-Subaru joint venture has been unveiled. This successor to the rear-wheel drive, drift-legend Corolla AE-86 takes shape with a modified Subaru Impreza chassis and Toyota badges as the FT-86 concept. Mitsubishi Concept PX-MiEV Plug-in Hybrid: Powered by a new proprietary plug-in hybrid system, which significantly extends the frequency a hybrid vehicle is driven in all-electric mode, the 2009 Mitsubishi Concept PX-MiEV promises a fuel economy in excess of 117.6 mpg in a mid-size crossover body. The new plug-in hybrid system also combines differential electric motors with Mitsubishi’s trademark Super All Wheel Control (S-AWC) all-wheel drive system and electronically controlled active yaw control. Mazda Kiyora Concept: The ultra-stylish compact is an eco-friendly hatch-type car that Mazda imagines as a fun-to-drive yet responsible runabout for the future. Powered by automaker’s new SKY-G 1.3-liter gasoline engine that’s also set to debut at the Tokyo Motor Show, the Kiyora has an estimated fuel economy of 75 mpg and could go into production very soon. 2009 Tokyo Motor Show: Green Cars Nissan Leaf: There's the Tesla Roadster and several three-wheeled electric vehicles for sale, but so far getting a purely electric-powered car to production with a standard car's features at a price the general public can afford has eluded the industry. Until the Nissan LEAF, that is. Due for launch in the U.S., Japan and Europe by late 2010, the LEAF guarantees a range of over 100-miles on a single charge in a practical mid-size hatchback bodystyle. Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid: The plans for this first factory-built plug-in Prius are very modest. Only about 500 vehicles will be built, so Toyota can gather real-world data on how drivers actually use plug-in hybrids. The first users will be selected commercial fleets; 150 will go to Europe, and the same number to the U.S. market, with first deliveries starting by the end of this year. Toyota hasn't committed to a date when retail customers will be able to get their hands on a factory plug-in Prius, although 2012 would fit the rough timeline it has discussed in the past. 2009 Tokyo Motor Show: More Headlines Infiniti Confirms Electric Luxury Vehicle Plans Double Video: Live Unveiling Of The 2011 Lexus LF-A Plus Promo Video 2011 Nissan GT-R Preview Mitsuoka Reveals Retro-Styled Viewt Supasse V Sports Coupe Headed To 2009 Tokyo Motor Show Video Leak: Toyota FT-86, Honda CR-Z And More From 2009 Tokyo Motor Show  Report: Toyota working on iQ roadster for Toyko Motor Show Subaru Unveils Impreza WRX Carbon 2009 Tokyo Motor Show: Stay Updated Bookmarks: Follow our Tokyo Motor Show tag and this 2009 Tokyo Motor Show page for updates Subscribe to our High Gear Media RSS feed on your browser or by email--or, get RSS feeds for TheCarConnection, MotorAuthority and GreenCarReports separately Facebook: High Gear Media, TheCarConnection YouTube: HighGearMediaVideos Twitter: @CarConnection, @TheRealMA, @GreenCarReports, @HighGearMedia -------------------------------- Write your own car blog at High Gear Media! Sign up to write and tell car enthusiasts and shoppers what you think about your vehicle or today's car news and get published to High Gear Media sites like AllSmallCars, LexusReports, FamilyCarGuide and more! Read More

  • Japan looking to make hybrid vehicles noisy

    Japan looking to make hybrid vehicles noisy July 3rd, 2009 ByJeremy Weber Jeremy Weber, Author, July 3rd, 2009 Jeremy Weber 6 Comments

    Japan looking to make hybrid vehicles noisy Although the relative silence of hybrid vehicles has made them the choice of TV gangsters for drive-by shootings, the rest of the world is less than enamored with the difficulty involved in hearing one coming - especially when trying to cross the street. This phenomenon has inspired companies like Lotus to engineer a system that re-creates the sound of a normal car, and now the issue of whether such devices should become mandatory for hybrid vehicles is being discussed in Japan.

    The problem lies in the design of the electric motors found in hybrid vehicles as they run almost silently when the car is driving on electric power alone. This... Although the relative silence of hybrid vehicles has made them the choice of TV gangsters for drive-by shootings, the rest of the world is less than enamored with the difficulty involved in hearing one coming - especially when trying to cross the street. This phenomenon has inspired companies like Lotus to engineer a system that re-creates the sound of a normal car, and now the issue of whether such devices should become mandatory for hybrid vehicles is being discussed in Japan. The problem lies in the design of the electric motors found in hybrid vehicles as they run almost silently when the car is driving on electric power alone. This has ruffled a few feathers with the vision-impaired, especially now that hybrid vehicles are the top sellers in Japan. "We have received opinions from automobile users and vision-impaired people that they feel hybrid vehicles are dangerous," a transport ministry official explained to the Associated Press. "Blind people depend on sounds when they walk, but there are no engine sounds from hybrid vehicles when running at low speed" and on the electric motor, he said. The Japanese government has now established a panel consisting of scholars, vision-impaired groups, consumers, police and the automobile industry to discuss the matter. One of the possible solutions the panel has come up with is to introduce a sound-making function in the hybrid vehicles. Lotus has already developed such a feature called Safe & Sound, which uses a combination of speakers, microphones and advanced processing to deliver a quiet cabin ride while also ensuring the people outside the car can hear it coming by simulating a brawnier combustion engine's sound. The technology is already available to automakers but so far no hybrid vehicles have featured it. Read More

  • Garage Saurus one of the first to tune Nissan’s GT-R SpecV

    Garage Saurus one of the first to tune Nissan’s GT-R SpecV June 23rd, 2009 By Viknesh Vijayenthiran Viknesh Vijayenthiran, Author, June 23rd, 2009 Viknesh Vijayenthiran 1 Comment

    Garage Saurus one of the first to tune Nissan’s GT-R SpecV Like a fine piece of art or a perfectly cooked stake, the 2010 Nissan GT-R SpecV is one of those cars that shouldn’t be fiddled with and just accepted as one of the best examples of automotive engineering on sale today. With more than 478hp (356kW) and 430lb-ft (580Nm) on tap and a kerb weight sliding just under 1,600kg, few would deem the car lacking in the performance department.

    If you are one of the lucky few to get your hands on the rare SpecV GT-R and are crazy enough to modify it, Japanese tuner Garage Saurus will soon be able to offer a full assortment of upgrades for the car.

    Starting with only the basics, Garage Saurus... Like a fine piece of art or a perfectly cooked stake, the 2010 Nissan GT-R SpecV is one of those cars that shouldn’t be fiddled with and just accepted as one of the best examples of automotive engineering on sale today. With more than 478hp (356kW) and 430lb-ft (580Nm) on tap and a kerb weight sliding just under 1,600kg, few would deem the car lacking in the performance department. If you are one of the lucky few to get your hands on the rare SpecV GT-R and are crazy enough to modify it, Japanese tuner Garage Saurus will soon be able to offer a full assortment of upgrades for the car. Starting with only the basics, Garage Saurus have complied and installed a few choice upgrades from its range such as the Trust-GReddy full titanium exhaust kit, a custom high-flow intake, Blitz blow-off-valves, an uprated wastegate and a HKS ECU module. New 750cc Bosch fuel-injectors are being added to the car as you read this, along with more fine-tuning of the HKS ECU module. The car is still in the early development stage so no performance figures have been revealed as yet, but considering past Garage Saurus GT-Rs have developed in excess of 600hp (448kW) we should be seeing some big performance gains with the firm’s modified GT-R SpecV. Via: GTRBlog2010 Nissan GT-R SpecV2010 Nissan GT-R SpecV Live shots Read More

  • Nissan planning to mass produce electric vehicles by 2012

    Nissan planning to mass produce electric vehicles by 2012 June 23rd, 2009 ByRalph Hanson Ralph Hanson, Author, June 23rd, 2009 Ralph Hanson 3 Comments

    Nissan planning to mass produce electric vehicles by 2012 Promises about electric vehicles are a dime a dozen, and so far no one - not even Tesla - has managed to deliver a real daily-driving production car in volume. Nissan has so far promised to deliver its first electric vehicle by 2010, although initially it will be available only to commercial fleet customers, and now the company has revealed that mass production of the zero-emission vehicles could start by 2012.

    Nissan will unveil its first electric vehicle on August 2nd, CEO Carlos Ghosn confirmed today at the company’s shareholder meeting. The car will then go on sale in limited numbers in both the U.S. and Japan in April of next... Promises about electric vehicles are a dime a dozen, and so far no one - not even Tesla - has managed to deliver a real daily-driving production car in volume. Nissan has so far promised to deliver its first electric vehicle by 2010, although initially it will be available only to commercial fleet customers, and now the company has revealed that mass production of the zero-emission vehicles could start by 2012. Nissan will unveil its first electric vehicle on August 2nd, CEO Carlos Ghosn confirmed today at the company’s shareholder meeting. The car will then go on sale in limited numbers in both the U.S. and Japan in April of next year before entering mass production for global sale by 2012, Ghosn also revealed. Production sites for the vehicle will include an unnamed plant in Japan as well as Nissan’s Smyrna facility in Tennessee where up to 100,000 units could be built annually. Ghosn gave few details, but told the Associated Press that Nissan's zero-emission cars will come with a very reasonable price. "If it's not affordable, it's not going to work," he explained. Nissan hasn't released any official details on the car, but piecing together claims made over the last several years, we expect it to feature a leased 35kWh battery pack to help keep initial prices down and make replacement easier. This battery will power a small electric motor driving the front wheels through a single gear, delivering approximately 367mpg equivalent, or mpg-e, as measured by the U.S. government's CAFE regulations. For more details about the upcoming electric vehicle, including powertrains and pricing, check out our previous story by clicking here.Nissan next-generation electric and hybrid prototypes Read More

  • McLaren F1 GTR 'Longtail' privateer race car up for sale

    McLaren F1 GTR 'Longtail' privateer race car up for sale June 16th, 2009 ByKenneth Hall Kenneth Hall, Author, June 16th, 2009 Kenneth Hall 0 Comments

    McLaren F1 GTR 'Longtail' privateer race car up for sale The McLaren F1 was so far ahead of its time in terms of performance that it redefined the meaning of the term 'supercar'. But even during its production run, there was a faster variant, limited in production but now up for sale from a private collection in Japan.

    Built for racing, the F1 GTR competed in the BPR Global GT Series, now known as the FIA GT Championship. The car ran for three years from 1995-1997, with 9 built the first two years and ten the final year. In 1997, the car weighed about 2,000lb (910kg) and generated a conservative 600hp (447kW) from its de-stroked 6.0L version of the F1's 60-degree V12.

    The example on sale at ... The McLaren F1 was so far ahead of its time in terms of performance that it redefined the meaning of the term 'supercar'. But even during its production run, there was a faster variant, limited in production but now up for sale from a private collection in Japan. Built for racing, the F1 GTR competed in the BPR Global GT Series, now known as the FIA GT Championship. The car ran for three years from 1995-1997, with 9 built the first two years and ten the final year. In 1997, the car weighed about 2,000lb (910kg) and generated a conservative 600hp (447kW) from its de-stroked 6.0L version of the F1's 60-degree V12. The example on sale at Bingosports in Tokyo, Japan claims to be chassis #28R, the very last of the cars built. Chassis #28R was originally #27R, but was damaged and remade into a spare car that later raced at the tail end of the inaugural season of the FIA GT Championship. Little else is known about the car or the sale, aside from its Gulf Oil livery and its 'Longtail' longer rear wing section, a change in the aero for 1997 designed to get more grip over the rear wheels. A standard road-going McLaren F1 recently went for $4 million at auction, and it's possible that this racing example could fetch even more. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the romantic racing history some might wish for. To see the car in more detail, head on over to the Japanese sale site.McLaren F1 GTR Chassis #28R Read More

  • Lorinser treats the Lexus LS460 to German fine tuning

    Lorinser treats the Lexus LS460 to German fine tuning June 15th, 2009 ByRalph Hanson Ralph Hanson, Author, June 15th, 2009 Ralph Hanson 3 Comments

    Lorinser treats the Lexus LS460 to German fine tuning For a first try, the Lorinser LS460 is an excellent result. Of course, this is the first Lexus Lorinser has tuned, but it's by no means their first project. Typically tied up with Teutonic hardware, the Mercedes specialists at Lorinser decided to do something different this time.

    And it's surprisingly attractive, which says a lot for Lorinser, given the LS's handsome but never eye-catching looks. By adding a few simple pieces of bodywork and some custom wheels, the car gains a whole new athletic stance while avoiding the boy-racer flair so common among modified vehicles.

    No power work was done under the hood of the German-tuned Japanese ... For a first try, the Lorinser LS460 is an excellent result. Of course, this is the first Lexus Lorinser has tuned, but it's by no means their first project. Typically tied up with Teutonic hardware, the Mercedes specialists at Lorinser decided to do something different this time. And it's surprisingly attractive, which says a lot for Lorinser, given the LS's handsome but never eye-catching looks. By adding a few simple pieces of bodywork and some custom wheels, the car gains a whole new athletic stance while avoiding the boy-racer flair so common among modified vehicles. No power work was done under the hood of the German-tuned Japanese luxury sedan, since the 380hp (280kW) V8 engine and its 5.7 second 0-62mph (100km/h) time were deemed good enough. Lorinser hasn't let out the pricing or availability of its Lexus LS460 upgrade kit or revealed if any further upgrades are in the works, but we'll keep you posted if they do. For more on the Lexus LS lineup, check out our review of the 460's bigger brother, the Lexus LS600hL.Lorinser Lexus LS460 Read More

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