The Mazda Sky D diesel and Sky G gasoline engines are meant to bring "everlasting blue sky" to oversee "sustainable Zoom-Zoom." Both utilize low-friction engine blocks, direct injection and piezo-electric injectors. The Sky G is fitted with a "highly functional variable valve timing mechanism," and the Sky D gets a 2-stage turbocharger besides.
Together with technologies such as the Sky Drive 6-speed transmission, i-stop, regenerative braking and lighter vehicles, these lumps will form the core of Mazda's goal of a 30% increase in fuel economy in the coming years.
Toyota has revealed its latest plug-in electric concept car here at the Tokyo Motor Show. The FT-EV II is a followup to the iQ-based FT-EV that we saw in Detroit earlier this year but appears to be a ground-up design that takes advantage of the electric drive architecture. The iQ is promoted as a 3+1 layout because the presence of the steering column and instrument cluster force the driver's seat to be further back – limiting the already small rear seat behind it.
The new concept uses a complete drive-by-wire system with joystick-like controls that feature a steam-punk design motif. The result is wide open space in the front, which conspire with the very thin-shell seats to offer decent room inside. The car also has sliding doors on both sides. It's not known if this concept represents a design direction for an urban BEV that Toyota will likely build to meet ZEV mandates in the next five years, but it would seem to make sense for Toyota to do a custom design such as this.
We were frankly astounded that the prospect of a gutted Tokyo Motor Show didn't get any maker, save one, to trot out some of their historical home runs. Even if they didn't want to go in for a nostalgia-fest, a few brands could have at least peppered the show with some of Japan's seminal machinery. After all, if you're not going to give us anything really new and exciting, you could at least let us have some fun with the past.
But no. The only historic machine at an automaker's booth was a vintage Suzuki Alto near the new Alto Concept. Otherwise, nada. The other vintage machinery – a 1917 Mitsubishi A, a Toyota GT HYBD (a Sports 800 gas-turbine hybrid), and a Honda Accord CVCC – were in the "motor lounge" seating area. A big, fat raspberry is all we have to say to that.
For the past 30 years, Japan has declared a car of the year, an award given to newly released or redesigned vehicles released from November 1st of the previous year to October 1st of the current year. More than 60 jurors composed of Japanese journalists receive an allocation of votes, and the car with the most votes comes away with the crown.
This year the Toyota Prius narrowly edged out the Honda Insight, continuing the recent trend of environmentally-friendly winners. Other notable winners included the new Volkswagen Golf, which was named the Import Car of the Year, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which was declared to have the Most Advanced Technology. The Nissan Fairlady Z won the category of Most Fun, and finally the Subaru Legacy took top honors for Best Value.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the award, the Tokyo Motor Show also organized a display of past winners, starting with the Mazda Familia 3-door Hatch Back in 1980-1981 and finishing with last year's winner, the Toyota IQ.
You meet the greenest people on a Honda. Well, maybe not quite yet... but the World's Largest Motorcycle Manufacturer has signaled its intent to usher in a new era of electrically-powered two-wheelers, and a modern-day Cub seems like an excellent way to do just that.
Honda is showing a conceptual electric Cub as we speak at the Tokyo Motor Show, but strangely isn't letting out very much information about the machine. We know there's an electric motor powering each wheel and some kind of battery pack sitting in between somewhere in the frame rails, but that's about it.
Regardless of how little we know about the EV-Cub, it's a concept we wholeheartedly approve of. We're big fans of the original gas-powered 50cc model, which has been known to return well over 200 miles per gallon in daily use, and a thoroughly modern drivetrain seems like a fitting way to inject some new life into the old Cub.
As far as cars went, the Frankfurt Motor Show was the proverbial glut of riches, and the Tokyo Motor Show proved that you can't live life at the top all the time. Tokyo did, however, still provide plenty of aesthetic beauty, much of which had nothing to do with the automobiles. We won't call it a consolation prize, but it's certainly not something we're upset about.
Have a look at what arguably might have been the finest aspects of the Tokyo Motor Show in the gallery below – and the woman with the stuffed car on her head (it is still Tokyo, after all...). (*Translation: "The beautiful women of Makuhari Messe").
Yamaha looks to have channeled a bit of BMW with the Super Tenere concept bike that's currently being displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show. Like the Bavarian automaker's Gina concept, the Super Tenere eschews traditional bodywork for a fabric covering supported by some kind of internal skeletal structure. Naturally, the expected production version for next year will come equipped with real bodywork and a fully functional engine... at least we'd hope so.
That future production model will come equipped with a 1200cc parallel-twin powerplant and will do battle with BMW's range of off-road-ready GS bikes.
After several years of selling small volumes of its Altima sedan using Toyota's hybrid drive system, Nissan is finally ready to roll out its first gas-electric model using technology developed in-house. The first model to be so equipped will be the new Fuga sedan, a car sold in North America as the Infiniti M.
Unlike the electronic CVT systems used by Toyota, Ford and General Motors, Nissan has opted to configure its system using a conventional automatic transmission – in this case, a seven-speed unit. The electric drive is provided by a single motor sandwiched between the engine and the transmission. A pair of electronically controlled clutches sit on either side of the motor allowing the engine or the enginemotor combination to be completely de-coupled from the transmission.
According to Nissan, the motor has an output of 50 kW (67 horsepower) and 270 Nm (200 pound-feet) of torque, and the system is able to propel the FugaM electrically at speeds of up 62 mph. The engine is a 3.5-liter version of Nissan's renowned VQ V6 modified to run with an Atkinson cycle for greater efficiency.
more ...
Honda officially took the wraps off a couple new motorcycles this week at the Tokyo Motor Show, and along with the hotly anticipated VFR 1200F, the retro-styled CB1100 is one bike that's receiving plenty of attention. We've been hearing rumblings that the new large-bore, air-cooled standard might make its way Stateside, and while that hasn't quite been confirmed by Honda, we've got our fingers crossed.
The CB1100 would mark the return of the classic Universal Japanese Motorcycle, more commonly known as the UJM, which was best exemplified by Honda's own CB750 series from the 1970s. As we've noted in the past, the Big Four have all but forgotten the UJM, which is a shame – there's an unfortunate lack of no-nonsense, reasonably-priced, do-it-all motorcycles offered here in the U.S.
The Tokyo Motor Show doesn't have as much going on in the way of cars as we'd like, but there are still a few gems among the pack – especially in the area of motorsports. The Japanese are as keen about their sports as they are their motors, and when the two are combined, you get some pretty tasty kit. Examples? Check out the Nissan GT-R Super GT, a rallying Japan Subaru WRX STi, several Moto GP offerings, and a Toyota F1 car. And unlike in the passenger car realm, the Europeans haven't been left out, with the Alpina B6 GT3 and a McLaren Formula One racer making a show of things.
