Revised Honda Accord to debut at Geneva

• Revised exterior styling
• Detail changes to interior finishes (new seat materials and door linings)
• Improvements to emissions and economy on all engines
• 138 g/km 2.2 i-DTEC introduced
• Ride and handling improvements for all model
• Auto High-Beam Support System and Active Cornering Lights debut on Accord *
• 180 PS Type S model now available across Europe with bespoke interior and exterior  styling
• On sale across Europe from April this year.

* High Beam Support system is fitted on vehicles with the bi-xenon headlights. This system is controlled by a CMOS camera fitted to the windscreen in the area of the driver rear view mirror. The camera detects oncoming headlights or the taillights of a vehicle in front and automatically dips the headlights onto their normal setting if they are on high-beam.

Avensis BTCC racer undergoes wind tunnel trials

Toyota's next-gen BTCC racer, based on the Avensis, is undergoing extensive wind tunnel testing at the UK’s leading aerodynamic analysis facility, MIRA.

Built by GPR Motorsport, the Avensis racer will make its competition bow in the opening rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch on 3 April.

The NGTC Avensis was joined in the MIRA wind tunnel by a road-going model, on which TOCA technical staff had installed a rear wing to help establish a baseline for the car’s aerodynamics. “We needed to fix a position for the rear wing, based on the aerodynamics of the road car, which gave the levels of downforce we were looking for,” said the championship’s technical director, Peter Riches.

“I am pleased to say that this was quickly achieved, and it means that we now have a base line for all cars built to the NGTC regulations and have saved a lot of development time and potential expense for the teams.”

Toyota FT-86 II Concept to be unveiled at Geneva!!!

Subaru has already announced that it will show a concept of its FT-86 version at the Geneva Motor Show (earlier post), but apparently Toyota plans to do the same!!! Toyota Motor Europe has released a teaser photo showing the FT86 II Concept! As you can see, the new "concept" has larger headlamps and it looks a bit more aggressive IMO.