Autoblog

Click above for a gallery of the Acura Advanced Sports Car concept.

By most accounts, Honda originally planned to show off the next generation NSX to the seething throngs at last year's Tokyo Motor Show. But due to the less-than-positive reception the Advanced Sports Car concept garnered at the Detroit show, Honda's designers headed back to the drawing board to redesign the front clip housing the 550 hp, 4.5-liter V10.

Now, Autocar has gotten word from a Honda insider that the NSX is bound for the 2009 Tokyo show, sporting a new front end that "has Chevrolet Corvette undertones" and is slated to for production in the fall of 2010.

The new NSX will supposedly kick off Honda's first serious attempt at producing rear-wheel-drive vehicles to rival BMW, Mercedes, Lexus and Infiniti, including new platforms that will underpin Acura's larger sedan offerings and an S2000-based Acura sports car that takes aim at the Mercedes SLK. The launch of Acura's 7-series fighter isn't due to make an appearance until 2015. For Honda' sake, let's hope they can expedite development to make it happen around the turn of the decade.


[Source: Autocar]

Forget about light-emitting diode (LED) or liquid crystal display (LCD) dashboards. According to Daihatsu, the next hot ticket will be 3D holographic technology. Daihatsu teamed up with Provision Interactive Technologies to implement a 3D dashboard for their latest concept car which debuted at the 40th Tokyo Motor Show. Attendees were so impressed with the technology, that Provision raced to file a new patent for the product they call "HLXX."

The HLXX technology utilizes a traditional 2D flat screen dashboard with a second 3D holographic screen. During normal operation, the driver views instrument gauges on the 2D monitor. If warnings or alerts occur, the 3D system instantly presents the information to the operator as a three-dimensional image -- facilitating immediate driver awareness and recognition, according to Provision. Daihatsu plans to incorporate HLXX technology into their vehicles by 2012. Until then, you'll just have to imagine what it looks like... as for obvious reasons, a flat JPEG computer image cannot replicate the hologram!

[Source: CNN Money]

Click the pic above for more high-res images.

Retro is fast becoming an accepted design theme industry-wide with vehicles such as the New Beetle, Mini Cooper and Fiat 500 shining as examples of the genre. The same can be said of motorcycles, with such designs as the Ducati SportClassic range as well as half of Triumph's line acting as flag-bearers. Harley could be grouped into that category as well, although they've never really changed since... well, the beginning of time. Anyway, Honda is considering capitalizing on the market trend with a new design inspired by the ground-breaking CB's of the 1970's. When it was first introduced, the CB750 turned the motorcycle world upside-down and went a long way towards making the sporty English bikes of the day obsolete overnight. As an odd turn of events, though, the CB1100F seen above would be anything but revolutionary in the sporting bike game today, considering that the air-cooled engine, skinny "right-side-up" fork and dual shocks are carry-over pieces from the original design. Of course, that's why it looks retro and why many people would likely run to their nearest Honda dealership to place their orders.

[Source: Motorcycle Daily]

Now here's something worth giving thanks over. The podcast makes its return in time for you to load it on your iPod for the drive over the river and through the woods. We've been away at shows, so of course we do some recapping of whatever highlights struck our fancy at Tokyo, SEMA, and LA. We start Autoblog Podcast episode #81 by discussing pickups, though. New spy shots of the 2009 F150 have surfaced and that pushes us into a wider ranging discussion about pickemups. From there, we try to send GM the message that messing with the nose of the Solstice is a bad idea, and the very last car they should be worrying about, anyway. No current Pontiac discussion would be complete without mention of the G8, so we make sure to pontificate about that for a while, too. John, Damon, and Alex take a little time out to gloat over discuss what's currently in the Autoblog Garage, touch on the fact that the Scirocco's not coming stateside, and partake in a scorching GM vs. Honda/Toyota green car debate. It's all over in 52 minutes, thanks for waiting so long, we'll do it again soon!

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Toyota's showing in Tokyo was rife with disappointments, none more so than what was over at the Lexus booth. Beyond its LF-Xh hybrid crossover, rumor had it that a revised version of the LF-A supercar would make an appearance. No such luck. Instead, the same show car we've seen over the last year stood alone, longing for refinement.

According to Winding Road's Japan correspondent, the reason for the dismal showing was a shakeup on the engineering side of Lexus' new halo. A number of "key engineers" have apparently been yanked off the project to work on other programs within Toyota, and that, partnered with problems providing power from both a V10 and a gas-electric hybrid V8, along with reaching the 218 MPH targeted top speed, has caused delays in development.

The business plan for the LF-A includes building 26 units per month, and sources suggest that sales are likely to begin in 2009 – the same year Acura will bring its own supercar to market.

[Source: Winding Road]

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.
click above image to view just how much legroom this truly mini vans have

Pity poor Suzuki. Japan's vast market for mini vehicles has been dominated by the company since the creation of kei cars in the '50s, but ever since the turn of the millennium, Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu has been taking some serious chunks out of Suzuki's market share. The final straw came at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show when Daihatsu premiered the Tanto -- a kei with minivan-style sliding rear doors and simply astounding amounts of leg room and interior space. Suzuki had to react, so at this year's Tokyo Motor Show it unveiled the Palette (shown above), a car strikingly similar to the Tanto in profile, but with a smidge more legroom.

So balance has been restored to the kei car market then? Nope. Daihatsu has upped the ante by removing the B-pillar from the Tanto (shown at right), creating a mammoth hole through which struggling toddlers can be passed. The ball is back in your court Suzuki.

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.
click above image for more live pics of the Daihatsu HSC Concept

We missed the Daihatsu HSC at Frankfurt somehow, but stumbled across the little concept in Tokyo. Its "catamaran-like underbody", a CD value of 0.28, and idling stop function coupled to an advanced CVT all adds up to 60 mpg. Check out those mirrors and the funky interior, too. Looking around the stand here in Tokyo, it strikes us that a lack of B pillars and A pillars that flow into the headlights may well become Daihatsu trademarks over the coming years.

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.

There's more than a hint of Toyota's PM, i-Swing and i-REAL series about this concept. But where Toyota admits that the driver may occasionally want to get out of the pod, Suzuki sees no reason for such extravagant use of your legs when operating the PIXY. Leaving the city for a blast down the highway? Just drive your PIXY in to your SSC mothership. Want to go for a thrash though the mountains? Park up in your SSF sports-car unit. There's even a speed boat (SSJ) on the cards, not that you'd be able to smell the sea breeze. Both the PIXY and SSC appear to be hermatically sealed and were unbearably hot under the stage lights. Ideal transportation for a post nuclear war world perhaps?

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.
Click above image to view more live pics of the crab-like Pivo2 from Nissan

After a few days of regurgitating the same old story to the world's press, company PR men are apt to let little gems slip as fatigue and boredom set in. This year's classic comes from a Nissan PR man, who for the sake of his career, shall remain nameless.

The Pivo 2, replete with an R2D2 like co-pilot and wheels that can twist 90 degrees to the car's axis, was "designed with urban females in mind, as they have bad senses of direction and are not so good at driving." His words, not ours.

Click through to find more pictures of Nissan's answer to this urban malaise.

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.

click above image for more live shots of the Suzuki Kizashi 2 concept

Following the debut of the first Kizashi concept in Frankfurt, the folks at Suzuki's design studios have butched up the concept even more. Check out the Ben Hur/James Bond tire-chewing alloys. Though there may be plans afoot for the Kizashi to see production, those wheels are not included among them.