If there is one thing humans love, it's personal mobility. After all, what other species regularly harness other creatures for the sole purpose of getting around. The auto industry is all about personal mobility. Since the dawn of the car in the late 19th century, it has been adopted world-wide as one of the preferred means of getting around.
Mobility, of course, is about a lot more than just driving. Just moving around is important and when people find themselves unable to move or having difficulty, it plays havoc with the psyche. A number of automakers are researching ways to expand mobility beyond the automobile and the result is projects like the GM Puma and Toyota Winglet. Honda, too, is studying the problem and while we were in Japan for the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda took us to their R&D center to check out a few recent projects, including the quirky U3-X (shown above). Read on for a first hand account of what we saw and sat on.
Toyota has rolled out its new Sai hybrid here at the Tokyo Motor Show, and if it looks familiar, that's because you've probably seen something very similar wearing "Lexus" and "HS250h" badges.
The overall aesthetic of the Sai is very similar to that of its premium sibling, but it features different light fixtures front and rear, along with bespoke fascias on both ends as well as a unique hood and trunk lid.
The Nippon-market dedicated gas-electric model utilizes the same 2.4-liter gasoline engine tied to Toyota's latest Hybrid Synergy Drive system, and the luxury compact features things like plant-derived plastics and a radar-based pre-crash safety system.
According to Toyota, "Sai" means "talent" and "coloration" depending on how it is written in Japanese, and the name is meant to combine "advanced talent and multi-color sophistication." Obviously.
The automaker expects 36,000 customers to be wooed by the front-driver's colorful talents each year. No word yet on whether the sedan will cross the Pacific as a more affordable Toyota-badged version of the HS250h.
![Tokyo 2009: Lexus reveals $375,000 LFA supercar...finally [w/VIDEO]](http://www.niot.net/blog-images/lexus-lfa-tokyo-2009.jpg)
It seems like the Lexus LFA has been around forever. In reality, the first concept version was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in 2005, but that's a long time in the automotive world. Additional concepts followed in 2007 and 2008, and the on-off rumors of a production version haven't help. Nevertheless, the production version of the LFA is finally here at the Tokyo Motor Show, and it is glorious. All of which makes it harder to stomach that the car shown here isn't expected to reach customer garages until early 2011.
The specifications of the new rear-drive Lexus supercar are impressive enough: a 4.8-liter V10 with 560 ps (552 bhp), 354 lb-ft torque, a zingy 9,000 rpm redline, six-speed sequential gearbox, 0-62 mph in 3.7 seconds, and a top speed of 202 mph. It looks amazing too, both in pictures and in person.
Of course, we can't help but make comparisons to the current reigning Japanese supercar, the Nissan GT-R. At just 3,263 pounds, the LFA easily has a better power-to-weight ratio, but that hasn't seemed to stop the all-wheel drive juggernaut before. Then there is the small matter of cost to consider. Unlike the GT-R, which is considered a performance bargain, the LFA will be exclusive – and costly. Only 500 units will be produced at a cost of...drum roll please....$375,000. Despite the colossal price tag, we hear that Lexus expects to take a loss on each one.
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In this topsy-turvy economy, Hyundai is making serious headway against its Japanese rivals. While the Korean automaker has surpassed Honda and Nissan, to name just two, Toyota remains in the lead by a wide margin. But that doesn't mean ToMoCo is about to sit around and wait for Hyundai to continue gaining market share. In fact Toyota is taking the fight right to Hyundai's doorstep by launching a range of vehicles in the South Korean market.
Against the whopping 72% share which Hyundai and its Kia subsidiary enjoy in their domestic market, Toyota is bringing over the Camry, Camry Hybrid, Prius and RAV4, joining the luxury offerings from Lexus that have been in South Korea for the past eight years.
At 34.9 million won (the equivalent of $29,900 in American greenbacks), the Camry enters the Korean market at a significantly higher price point than the 21.3-million-won Hyundai Sonata, but with 1500 orders reportedly already placed, Toyota figures it can sell 500 vehicles every month this year before ramping up to 700 per month next year. That's still a far cry from the 12,000+ units Honda sold in South Korea last year, but even an automaker as large as Toyota knows you have to start somewhere.
We're starting to develop a bit of a complex. Why is Toyota holding out on us? Yesterday we showed you the handsome second-gen Toyota Mark X, the Lexus GS-based rear-wheel-drive sedan that seems a perfect fit for buyers on these shores. But no, Toyota says that model isn't coming Stateside. If it had been a one-time thing we might have forgive and forget, but no, Toyota's doing it again. The Japanese automaker just unveiled another model that is not intended for these shores – The 2010 Toyota Sai Hybrid.
The Sai is based on the Lexus HS250h hybrid, a vehicle designed for people who want a more premium hybrid experience than they would get in the Toyota Prius. The Sai would seem to fit somewhere in between. It offers the same powerplant as the HS, but not quite as many luxury features. It's basically an HS with different nose, tail and interior detailing.
The folks who do get a shot at the Sai will be rewarded with a DOHC 2.4-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine with variable valve timing. The engine puts out 147 horsepower on its own, but 187 hp when the electric boost from the 245-volt battery pack kicks in. It's good for an 8.4-second dash from 0-60 and an impressive 23.0 kml, which roughly equates to over 54 mpg (a huge advantage over the 35 city34 highway mpg rating of HS250h here in the U.S., mind you) if this handy dandy converter is to be believed.. Think of it as a more powerful Prius with a more conventional body, or a poor man's HS250h. Either way, think of it from afar.
After an eight-year buildup, the Veritas RS III has finally slithered into series production in Grafschaft-Gelsdorf, Germany. Just like the Dutch firm Spyker, Vermot AG has resurrected the post-war German racing marque that sold a few road-going versions of their racers to a handful of lucky enthusiasts. Now, the new company is doing less racing and more street scorching, and the RS III is its first foray into the world of production cars.
In Monterey this past August, we caught our first glimpse of the finally-ready-for-production Veritas RS III. With its newly revised front end (now with 50 percent more serpent!) it looks even more like a BMW Z8 on acid. Which is totally appropriate, because this retro rocketsled is powered by the same 5.0-liter V10 engine found in the M5 supersedan. With 500 hp propelling a scant 2,400 pounds, the 30 insane lucky folks who plunk down a million bucks for one of these can look forward to a 0-100kmh dash of just 3.2 seconds and a top speed of more than 215 MPH.
That's Enzo-like performance for an Enzo-like price, but it offers ten times the exclusivity -- not to mention Veritas started operating the same year as Enzo Ferrari in 1947. The difference is that this serpent lay dormant for almost 50 years, getting ready to strike. Vermot has released a slew of new photos and additional details about the car.
One of the most significant deals in rally history. That's how news of Ken Block's imminent move to the World Rally Championship is being touted in the motorsport press. And we couldn't agree more.
Now don't get us wrong. We enjoy watching Block's famous antics behind the wheel of his purpose-built Gymkhana Subaru Impreza as much as the next guy. Probably more. But we can't help but feel that the superstar's otherworldly car control skills couldn't be put to better use than pure showboating. And this deal could give him exactly that opportunity, graduating from the relatively low-visibility Rally America series to the top-tier WRC.
Since Subaru, for whom Block competes in the USA, pulled out of the WRC, Ken's been hunting for another ride in the premier series, and reports now indicate that he – along with former Subaru driver Chris Atkinson – will be driving the 2009-spec Ford Focus WRC for the new Monster Energy Drink World Rally Team (which could, incidentally, go some way towards explaining what the two rally stars were doing behind the wheel of that old Ford Escort). Once the details are hammered out, both Block and Atkinson are expected to start next season in select rounds of the championship before challenging the full calendar the year after, presumably behind the wheel of the new rally-spec Fiesta.
It's not easy to market a vehicle that has been on the market for over five years with changes so imperceptible that we couldn't name them if we tried. Chrysler is in just such a situation with its flagship 300 sedan, which is most definitely getting long-in-the-tooth. That won't stop the Auburn Hills, MI-based automaker from pitching it, however, and the Pentastar is putting a genuine effort forward with its new ad for the old gangsta sled.
The new spot proclaims that the 2010 300 will put the life back in nightlife, and the spot combines several shots of gorgeous women having a great time intermingled with a few fancy shots of the 300C burning the late night candle at both ends. The ad is part of Chrysler's new "Connect" campaign, which appears to be the swan song for the Pentastar's long-time agency of record, BBDO. Hit the jump to watch the 30 second spot. The Chrysler 300 may be geriatric in car years, but it's still rear-wheel drive, its 5.7-liter V8 continues to pack 360 horsepower and it still looks pretty damn sharp in black.
"It feels like I'm down on power!" yells Tanner Foust in the general direction of the gathered throngs containing both his crew and assorted media. Tanner and myself are currently five-point bolted into his new stock car-engined Formula D Scion tC. We've just exited an aborted lap around the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale because something – so says Foust – is amiss with the car.
Rockstar Energy Drink Drift captain Stephan Papadakis comes charging towards the Scion and begins earnestly, if not frantically, checking the car's vitals through the steering wheel's digital readout. Steph floors the motor a few times, checks the numbers and exasperatedly tells Foust that everything looks fine. "Oh," says Tanner, patting me on my beer belly. "Must be him." Very funny, jerk.
Gallery: Autoblog Goes Drifting with Tanner Foust
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips Weblogs, Inc.
Rockstar invited us out to Toyota Speedway at Irwindale to take a few laps in Tanner's ludicrous new sideways ride. In fact, the last time we'd seen Tanner drift it up was at the Speedway last year when he became the first ever back-to-back (and first ever two-time) Formula D champion. Meaning he knows the track pretty darn well, thank you.
Today is a shakedown day: aside from giving husky journalists hot laps, Papadakis and the rest of the Rockstar crew are trying to iron the kinks out of the mighty Scion before next weekend's 2009 Formula D final event known as Judgment Day, taking place October 16-17. They've been having some sort of fuel problem and are (obviously) hoping to get it fixed.
In case you haven't heard, Mr. Foust is no longer behind the wheel of a supercharged Nissan 350Z. Instead he's been rocking the absolutely earth-shaking NASCAR Scion. Why earth-shaking? Well, the Toyota V8 for one. Yup, the same Toyota V8 that Toyota runs at NASCAR events. While it's ostensibly a Toyota motor, it was 100% designed in the USA by TRD and Ed Pink Racing Engines.
The carburetor has been removed and replaced with fuel injection, but other than that, this is the same engine you'd find under the hood of a NASCAR stock car (with shorty track pistons, shorty pipes, etc). Power? "Oh, about 600 or so to the wheels," says Papadakis. All that small block fury gets routed to the smoky rear tires via a four-speed Muncie-style dog-engagement G-force gearbox, then through a MKIV Supra rear end. The car is essentially a little ball of wow. And you have to hear it to believe how deaf I am.
Ace photographer Drew Phillips and I spent the morning standing behind concrete barricades in the middle of Irwindale's infield watching Tanner and fellow Scion dorifto driver Ken Gushi (in his Avensis-based tC) make dozens upon dozens of practice runs. You'd think they'd take fewer runs than that, seeing as how a set of rear meats is only good for about two laps, but hey – that's what tire sponsors are for.
Eventually, they both left the track but then Foust came back in golf cart to set up the clipping cones. Tanner was nice enough to give us a lift back to the paddock as long as we helped him with the cones. I should have been asking him auto-journo type questions at this point ("compare this new car to your old Z") but instead we just joked about the golf cart's Momo wheel and how Tanner's should take it drifting.
Right, so after Tanner's little joke (the one where he made fun of my fat gut), it was time for two laps with arguably the world's best drifter on his home track in a snorting monster of a car. And we're off. There's a Mitsubishi EVO IX camera car in front and to the right of us filming the laps. At first the acceleration isn't all that. But then Tanner drops it into second gear. I've felt some epic thrust in my time, but the only way I can describe the experience of a 650+ hp Scion at full tilt is to ask you to imagine a big guy standing behind you and swinging a baseball bat as hard as he can into the small of your back. CRACK! The little "Scion" takes off like a moonshot. A moment later we are traveling at well over 100 mph, rocketing towards both the EVO and a cement wall. Suddenly, up goes the handbrake.
Somehow, and honestly I really have zero idea how, Tanner threaded the Scion through a maybe seven-foot wide gap between the Mitsu and the wall. We're totally sideways at this point, with the Scion's rump pointing at the curving concrete barrier and its snout nearly facing the middle of the track. I was reminded of a time when I got a couple laps in a decommissioned stock car on the California Speedway's big oval. My right ear was less than a foot away from a huge wall and we were going over 180 mph. In both instances, what's actually taking place is so loudly violent, so cataclysmically crazed, so on the ragged edge of both the laws of physics and my own sense of self-preservation that I just let go. It's as if you must turn to faith to get you back alive in one piece, as logic and reason have long ago exited the car. Doing so turns everything almost serene.
We slow down (a little) as we approach the first clipping point and by doing so some of the seemingly endless smoke generated by the quickly-melting tires begins filling the cabin. I would later ask Papadakis what the lung-cancer rate amongst drifters is, and he replied, "The sport's too young to tell!" It turns out, that tire smoke not only tastes awful, it prefers clinging to exposed metal over human flash and t-shirts. Which is why for a second I'm convinced that the A-pillar corner of the roll cage is on fire. Before I have time to process that thought, the handbrake goes up again and we're pointed nearly 180 degrees in the other direction. Oh look, another solid concrete wall accompanied by triple digit forward velocity. Were today actually a Formula D event, this particular part of the track would be home to the VIP grandstands. Meaning that this is where the real actionshowboating happens.
And dude, did it happen.
Tanner yanks hard on the handbrake and the Scion pitches itself more than 180 degrees to the left. I was told later that for some reason, Tanner took this particular run a little deeper than he'd been doing earlier with other passengers (jerk). As the turn is such an incredible change of both direction and momentum, the result is almost nothing but smoke. Tons of it. So much smoke that people on the other side of the wall (and probably riding in the camera car) lose sight of us for a second. Tanner quickly transitions it back the other way (more like fishtailing it from where I'm sitting) for the last set of cones and this time, he really punches it, trying to use up what's left of the Hankooks for a sort of mini grand finale. More smoke, more stupid silly sideways g forces, more deafening roar. I'm beginning to really like this.
I'm in a daze as we make a U-turn in the paddock for lap two. Foust asks me how I liked it. I begin applauding. First of all, I'm stunned that not only didn't we crash and burst into flames, but somehow, I'm still breathing. Second, how in the hell did he just do that? I make up my mind to watch Tanner's hands and feet on this lap to try and see how he's able to maintain such phenomenal control. Big mistake. Foust is making so many moves, and dancing between the pedals, wheel, stick and handbrake so quickly, that it's nonsensical. I just can't process it. To me, he's having a seizure. My poor little brain can't cope with what my eyes are telling it and for the first time I'm frightened. Best to just look out the side window at the looming mass of approaching concrete. Honestly, that calms me down.
Gallery: Autoblog Goes Drifting with Tanner Foust
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips Weblogs, Inc.
It's only been a couple of days since Toyota released initial details and photos of its TF-86 coupe concept scheduled for debut at the upcoming Tokyo show, but we've already been waiting for the other shoe to drop. The project nicknamed "Toyobaru" by the media and fansites is to be a test case for future cooperation between Toyota and Subaru, and the TF-86 is based largely on Scooby mechanicals. A Subaru-branded version of the coupe is expected to follow, and now sketches outlining the design have emerged courtesy of the blokes at Autocar.
Sources indicate, however, that Subaru's executives are far from sold on the project. The Toyota-designed platform may not be able to accommodate all-wheel-drive, a signature Subaru feature. And parent company Fuji Heavy is reportedly hesitant to share its technologies with rival Toyota. However, the counterpoint is that the coupe's inclusion in the company's lineup could attract a new demographic, and that sharing components with Toyota would help mitigate costs and reduce overhead.
