日本自動車デザインコーナー「Japanese Car Design Corner」

2011年4月5日

Honda HR-V is coming back?!

Honda never replaced the successful HR-V outside Japan, but the latest reports from Japan suggest that a successor is underway and it will hit the markets in August 2014. Honda introduced the Crossroad back in 2008 and production ended last year, but it remained a JDM model only. I reckon that Honda should introduce an HR-V successor, as this segment is going to become very popular over the next couple of years.

First Lexus LF-Gh teaser images

Lexus has released the first teaser images of the LF-Gh hybrid concept (earlier post), which will be presented on April 19th. The LF-Gh (Lexus Future Grand Touring hybrid) concept is Lexus’s redefinition of the luxury “grand tourer”.

2011年4月4日

Another impression of 2013 Lexus LS

Lexus is working on the GS and LS successors and the later one is expected to hit the markets in 2013. This will enable Lexus to compete with Mercedes' all-new S-Class, which is also expected around that time.

Although this rendering doesn't look as impressive as the previous one, I reckon that it's still early to have a good indication of how the new model will look like. This time, BC has published some speculations regarding the LS 460, which should be powered by the 1UR-FSE 4.6L engine delivering 385 ps @ 6400 rpm. The max torque claimed is 51.0 kgm and the estimated fuel efficiency is 11.8 km/L. Prices in Japan should start from around ¥ 9,500,000.

BC's impression of new 2014 Subaru Legacy

Back in January, Mag-X published a rendering of the new Legacy (earlier post), which is expected to be launched in 2014. Now, it's BC's turn and this is the rendering from the latest issue. According to the article, power is likely to come from a 3.6L boxer engine (EZ36) with a power output of 250 ps and 30.5 kgm of torque. A fuel efficiency of 16.0 km/L seems realistic and prices should be around ¥ 4,500,000.

New Subaru Impreza STi rendering

We know that a new Impreza is about to be launched this year, as the current model is not a great success for Subaru. BC has come up with this interesting STi rendering, claiming that power will come from a 2.0L boxer engine (FB20) delivering 300 ps. The new Impreza STi should be able to achieve a fuel efficiency of 13.0 km/L.

2011年4月3日

Yet another Subaru 216A (FT-86) rendering!

First of all, I would like to apologise for the lack of posts during the last few weeks, but as you can imagine, the earthquake in Japan has slowed things down.

On Friday, a couple of magazines arrived from Japan and this is the first post, as more will follow. So, this is the latest rendering of Subaru's 216A and according to Best Car magazine, it is likely to also get a turbocharged version of the FB20 engine producing 250 ps and 30.0 kgm of torque (compared to 200 ps and 21.0 kgm of the naturally aspired version). An even more powerful version with 300 ps is on the cards (STI?!).