Toyota develops new inductive motor for hybrids & EVs

Toyota is developing a new inductive motor for hybrids and EVs that doesn't need the use of rare-earth materials. This is an attempt to cut Toyota's dependence on rare-earth materials from China, which controls more than 90% of the global market.

According to Automotive News, Toyota engineers in Japan and the US are working on a inductive motor that is lighter and more efficient than the magnet-type motor currently used. 

 

China's government cut export quotas of rare-earth materials for the first half of 2011 by 35 percent last month. That follows a 72 percent reduction in the second half of 2010, causing the price of some of the metals to more than double.

Subaru Exiga tS concept at 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon

This is the third Subaru concept (earlier post) presented at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon.

More photos after the jump!

Honda speeding up development of turbocharged CR-Z

According to Autocar's sources, it was reported in the past that Honda is preparing a turbocharged version of CR-Z (earlier post). Now, Autocar again claims that buyer's feedback is so strong, and the drop-off in domestic sales so steep, that Honda is speeding up the development of the hot CR-Z. It could even make its debut as early as next December at the Tokyo Motor Show.

13 Japanese companies eye smooth domestic launch of FCVs

As already posted, Japan is pushing the adoption of FCVs (Fuel Cell Vehicles) by 2015 (earlier post). In order to achieve this target, more hydrogen filling stations and more cooperation between manufacturers will be needed.

Thus, 13 companies in Japan - Toyota, Nissan, and Honda along with a number of gas and utilities companies - are joining forces to enable a "smooth domestic launch" of fuel cell vehicles as soon as 2015. They hope to create about 100 hydrogen stations across the country, work to form a broader hydrogen supply network, and also educate people about FCVs in general.

The companies are the following:

Toyota Motor Corporation

Nissan Motor Company, Ltd.

Honda Motor Company, Ltd.

JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation

Idemitsu Kosan Company, Ltd.

Iwatani Corporation

Osaka Gas Company, Ltd.

Cosmo Oil Company, Ltd.

Saibu Gas Company, Ltd.

Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K.

Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation

Tokyo Gas Company, Ltd.

Toho Gas Company, Ltd.

TES Concept T-Sports: What Toyota needs to build

There is one car shown at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon that may be an indication of things to come. What I am talking about is the TES Concept T-Sports (earlier post). So far, rumors have suggested that Toyota will bring out a low cost sports car, and to be honest with you, I thing that Toyota should build such a car.

Although there is no official correlation between the concept presented and the rumours, this concept was build by the Toyota Engineering Society (TES) in response to a questionnaire asking what sort of vehicle they thought Toyota needed to build.

It is powered by a 1.3 L engine, producing 109 hp, but the car weights under 900 kg!

More photos after the jump!

Trezia STi & Legacy tS concepts at 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon

So, those are some photos of the Trezia STi concept and Legact tS concept presented at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon. 

More photos after the jump!

2011 Tokyo Auto Salon: The ladies...

I like many Japanese things... cars, bikes, food, culture and of course... the ladies!!!

Subaru's mighty racing machines at 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon

Subaru's booth at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon has all the new tS models on display, as well as three STi concepts (earlier post), and some impressive racing machines. One of them is the Impreza WRX STi Nurburgring Edition 24H test car, which will compete in this year's race and Subaru aims to win its class.

Another impressive machine on display is the Legacy Super GT race car, powered by a Boxer engine, competing in the GT300 class.

More photos after the jump!

Honda TS-1X and Sports Modulo NSX at 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon

The TS-1X has some fancy "floating flaps" as you will notice, but a press release hasn't been published yet explaining the actual use of them. In any case, it looks like Batman's CR-Z...

Honda displayed also some new items for the legendary NSX, including a Modulo carbon fibre spoiler, Modulo shocks, springs and even control arms. It's nice to see that Honda still supports old models! Now, what about the NSX successor Honda…?

More photos after the jump!

Live photos of Vitz G's Concept!

Niiiiiice!!!

More photos after the jump!

Drift battle: Mazda RX-7 vs Kawasaki ZX10-R

New Suzuki MR Wagon shown at 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon

The new Suzuki MR Wagon (earlier post), which will be officially launched on January 20, was shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon.

Nissan LEAF scale model by Kyosho coming soon

Kyosho will bring out a 1/43 scale model, as part of the J-Collection, of the Nissan LEAF in white and blue. The release date hasn't be disclosed yet.

More photos after the jump!

Nissan presents GT-R RC and LEAF Aero Style Concept at 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon

As already posted in the past, Nissan has presented a number of concepts at the Tokyo Auto Salon, with the most interesting one being the LEAF Aero Style Concept. Oh, I do like a lot the Elgrand Rider Premium Concept as well... and the lady at the front!

The LEAF Aero Style Concept is fitted with aero parts providing better seperation of air flow and thus improving the flow from the front to the side. To be honest, I would really like to see the aero bits of the LEAF to hit the market! 

Nissan has also launched the NISMO GT-R RC production model race car.

The NISMO GT-R RC is the latest entry to the RC (Racing Competition) line of high performance, production model race cars developed and outfitted by NISMO. The body has been lightened, fitted with slick tires and equipped with safety equipment to ready it for competition use. During the car's development, it was entered in the 2010 SUPER TAIKYU Round 4 at Fuji, where it confirmed its high performance, reliability and durability.

The car runs on a VR38DETT engine that exceeds 357 kw /485 ps in power with over 588 Nm / 60 kgm of torque. To trim body weight, carbon fiber is used for the bumper, hood, trunk lid & rear wing, and the rear window is made of acrylic. Specialized aeroparts boost aerodynamic performance.

Particular attention was given to optimizing overall vehicle balance. The car was outfitted with height adjustable suspension along with large front (410mm) and rear (380 mm) brake rotors.

Safety features include an FIA standards-compliant weld-in roll cage, bucket seat & driver safety harness, fire extinguisher, ATL 120 liter safety fuel cell and air jacks, making your GT-R RC track-ready on delivery for production car races around the world.

The Nissan NISMO GT-R RC is “made to order” and will be sourced directly from NISMO. Its price is 20,790,000 ¥.

More photos after the jump!

More photos of spicy Prius G's Concept!

Out of all Gazoo Sports concepts presented at the Tokyo Auto Salon, I found the Prius G's as the most interesting one...

More photos after the jump!

Lexus IS-F concepts and CT 200h F Sport at 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon

Lexus presented the CT 200h F Sport at 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon, as well as a couple of IS-F concepts. The first one is the IS-F Club Performance Accessory built by TRD. The parts fitted to this car could hit the market very soon and give a new breath of life to the TRD brand. The second concept, called IS-F CCS-R (Circuit Club Sports-Racer), is a lightweight track-going concept.

More photos after the jump!

Toyota's other concepts and production models presented at 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon

Toyota, except from the GRMN iQ Racing Concept, the Prius G's Concept and the Vitz G's Concept, has a number of other concepts and production models on display at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon.

Toyota Prius and Vitz G's concepts presented at 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon

Toyota GRMN iQ Racing Concept presented at 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon

The 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon has opened today and Toyota, along with Gazoo Racing, presented a number of interesting concepts. The first one is the GRMN iQ Racing Concept tuned by MN. Power output has been increased with the use of a supercharger.

More photos after the jump!

Subaru to showcase FR sports car technology concept (FT-86) at Geneva Motor Show!!!

Subaru has just announced what it will exhibit at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, opening on May 1. The Impreza concept presented at LA will be unveiled, along with the new Subaru Trezia, Toyota's Verso-S (aka Ractis) brother. The new Trezia will be available with a 1.3 L petrol egnine, as well as a 1.4 L turbo diesel one.

However, since the launch of the production FT-86 is not very far away, Subaru will present a rear-wheel drive sports car technology concept! According to Subaru, the concept will show how Subaru  proposes to integrate its expertise into a rear-wheel drive car to offer a new and highly enjoyable, Subaru-like driving experience. The technology concept will demonstrate how the all-new car platform  makes full use of Subaru’s engineering and Boxer technology.

Daihatsu to pull out of Europe?

I just read that Daihatsu may pull out of Europe by the end of January 2013. The article mentions that there will be support and after that date, including warranty claims and spare parts. Of course there is no confirmation about it from Daihatsu and I am a bit reluctant to believe it, but where there is smoke...

[Source: Autohaus.de]

Current-gen Impreza to be short-lived - new model comes in Nov 2011

Following the post showing a rendering of the next-gen Subaru Impreza by Mag-X, now it's time for another picture with some more info. The current model, although it was launched just in 2007, is going to be replaced soon (do you wonder why...?). The typical life cycle for Impreza used to be 7-8 years. A full model change is sceduled in November 2011 and a new generation of boxer engines (FB20) will be fitted, which will be more fuel efficient. Of course, the styling of the new model will be inspired by the concept already presented at LA.

[Source: Mag-X via CarSensor]

The last scale model is...

The initial order included an Arta HSV-010 SGT500 2010 SUZUKA 700km Winter model, but that was before the end of the 2010 Super GT championship. As you will know though, the Weider HSV-010 won the GT500 title and therefore, I swapped the Arta model for the Weider one. As a model of the winning car, it's special since it comes with the signatures of both drivers!

More photos after the jump!

Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec (R32 & R33) scale models added to my GT-R collection!!!

OK, I admit it... I really do like GT-Rs and those two are now part of my mighty GT-R collection! The first one is a BNR32 V-Spec 2 model by Kyosho with an opening bonnet (!!!), while the second one is an R33 V-Spec 1996 model by Ebbro.

More photos after the jump!

Mazda RX-7 (SA22C, FC3S & FD3S) scale models arrived!

Next are the Mazda RX-7 models, including the Savanna RX-7 (SA22C) Limited 1979, the Savanna RX-7 (FC3S) Infini (earlier post) and the RX-7 (FD3S) Type R Bathurst X 1995  (earlier post) models. All of them are made by Kyosho and to be honest, I believe Ebbro is slightly better in terms of detail. However, the Kyosho 1/43 scale models with opening parts are very impressive...

More photos after the jump!

Toyota 2000GT & Celica XX MA63 scale models arrived!!!

It has been quite some time since I order those models and now they finally arrived! Since eight models arrived in total, there will be a few posts containing photos of the actual models. So, here we go... first are the Toyota ones!

The first one is a 2000GT Prototype by Ebbro (earlier post) and the second one is a Celica XX (aka Supra) MA63 2000 G-turbo model by Dism (earlier post). The later one can also take a couple of batteries and have the lights on!!!

More photos after the jump!

New Civic Hybrid to be lighter with improved electric drive range

Following the reveal of the Civic concepts at Detroit, which are basically what will be sold in the States in the spring, we are now waiting for more info to come up regarding the JDM and EUDM versions.

The hybrid version of the new Civic will be equipped with a lithium-ion (Li-ion) rechargeable battery. Li-Ion batteries are the next step in terms of battery technology and the Civic Hybrid will be the first Honda to come with one. The battery will be provided by Blue Energy, a joint venture of Honda and GS Yuasa, and according to Tech-On!, production has already started.

The IMA system will be the same as the one used at the moment across the Honda lineup, and the capacity of the battery has not been disclosed yet. However, Honda claims that the new Civic will have improved electric drive range and with the new battery, it is possible to more efficiently harvest electricity by using regenerative braking. As for the self-developed motor, its output is apparently higher than that of the motor used for the Insight and the Fit (10 kW).

The new Civic is going to be lighter than its predecessor, and a larger amount of high-tensile steel will be used.

Honda to make insulated toolkit available for EV maintenance

Honda has already announced that it will start lease sales of the EV-neo electric scooter in a few months (earlier post). Therefore, it prepares an insulated maintenance toolkit, which will be distributed to the dealers in order to carry out maintenance tasks on the EV-neo. This will ensure the safety when performing various tasks. Also, special training of the dealers will be done in order stuff to learn the basics of low voltage electric handling.

The insulated toolkit, has the surface of the metal parts covered with a film coating that doesn't allow electric charge to move, thus preventing a potential shock. Of course, the same type of measures will be taken once EV cars come out.