Lighter & cheaper small car coming from Daihatsu in 2011

Daihatsu's president Koichi Ina told reporters, during the release of the new Move in Tokyo (earlier post), that Daihatsu will bring a new small car to the market by the end of next year with a fuel economy of 30 km/L and a tag price below 1,000,000 ¥. The new car will be based on the concept e:S exhibited at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.

[Source: Response]

BC's rendering of Honda NSX replacement!

Everyone thought that the NSX replacement was dead, but during the last few weeks, there are rumours that a replacement is underway (earlier post), although with a different philosophy. Now, it's Best Car magazine's turn to have a go with a rendering of the new model and I have to admit that I consider BC as a very valuable and trusted source...

Daihatsu reveals new Move & Move Custom in Japan

Daihatsu has revealed today the 5th generation of Move (earlier post) in Japan, available as Move and Move Custom. The Move used to be available in Europe as well, but unfortunately, due to low sales it's not anymore...

Since fuel efficiency is very crucial for every new model, the new Move comes with an "eco IDLE" system, thus achieving a fuel economy of 27.0 km/L. The 4WD version achieves 22.5 km/L. Of course, compared to the previous generation, there is improved comfort with an interior length of 2075 mm, a new dashboard and better soundproofing. Safety has also been enhanced with the use of side airbags, an SRS curtain system, VSC, a lane departure warning system and a radar cruise control system.

Mazda MX-5, RX-8 and 787B scale models

Three new Mazda models were added yesterday to my diecast collection. The Mazda 787B is the only Japanese car that has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race ever!

• Mazda MX-5 tuned by MAZDASPEED (Red Metallic) by AUTOart
• Mazda RX-8 tuned by MAZDASPEED (Red Metallic) by AUTOart
• Mazda 787B (Dark Silver) by HPI

Some more renderings of next-gen Honda Civic (2HC)

We have seen some very clear spy shots (earlier post), so there are no surprises... unfortunately. Those renderings seem very realistic, but I wish the real thing would be different. I still think that the current model (FD) looks much better.

Official trailer: Revenge of the Electric Car

Lego Aygo Crazy...!!!

[Source: Toyoddity]

Largest public EV trial in UK with i-MiEVs completed - some facts

EVs... are not anymore the type of car living in our fiction, you know - in the distant future, cars will be electric, they won't have wheels etc - they are here and it won't take so much time until we see them on a regular basis. The Leaf has won the 2011 Car of the Year award in Europe and although Toyota and Honda still hold back from this electric "race", people will soon have a variety of models to choose from.

The limited range and the lack of infrastructure in most countries are limiting factors and it will take time until everyone is able to choose between a "normal" car and EV, but now that the largest public EV trial in UK has ended, at last some real-world data is available. Below are some interesting facts from the press release.

The first stage of the Government-supported UK-wide project to trial low emission vehicles started with the 25 Mitsubishi i-MiEVs (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) in Birmingham. The vehicles were handed over to independent drivers in Centenary Square, on 12th December 2009.