Nissan Fairlady (370 Z) Is The Funnest Car In Japan

The car that has captured the hearts of sports enthusiast for 30 years was given coveted award of the funnest car to drive among the categories of Car of the Year Japan 2009-2010. This is the second time the Nissan Fairlady (370 Z) series has bagged the Car of the Year Japan’s Most Fun Award since 2002-2003. Winners were announced at the Car of the Year Japan Special Exhibition commemorating its 30th Anniversary located at the 41st Tokyo Motor Show. If you ask me, I will say that Nissan should be given the award of the best Japanese Sports Car maker too.









Source : Nissan

Lotus Exige Stealth Edition

Stealth jet fighters travels really fast & is practically undetectable by the enemy, Lotus must have got inspired by this idea with the Exige Stealth edition. Like most of stealth fighters, the Exige is covered in matte black paint which reflect very little light of its surface. To be honest, how much camouflage can you get from the Exige when this car makes a significant amount of noise blazing through the streets. Anyway, it looks good. Under the hood you will find a 1.8 liter supercharged inline-four that churns out 260 horsepower. This results in a century sprint time of 4.1 seconds. Enjoy the images courtesy of Paultan.









Source : Paultan.org

The Mazda SKY engine & Kiyora Concept

Mazda's highlight at the Tokyo Motor Show is their newly developed SKY engine besides the Kiyora concept which was shown last year. Kicking things off with the Sky-G engine which is 2.0 liter unit with direct injection and an improved variable valve timing system which gives it a 15% fuel economy and torque advantage over the current MZR engine in the Mazda 3 2.0 Sport. The Sky-G engine now incorporates Direct injection which was usually found on the higher end turbocharged 2.3 liter engine. The SKY-D 2.2 liter diesel engines managed a 20% improvement on fuel efficientcy over the current 2.2 liter oil burner. To achieve this feat Mazda had the engine block designed in order to reduces mechanical friction to the level of a gasoline engine. Other features include piezo injectors and a two-stage turbocharger.

Equally as important is the transmission system of a vehicle as there is significant power loss taking place there. The Mazda Sky-Drive is a redesign 6-speed automatic that significantly reduces mechanical friction, a revised torque converter and clutch with minimized slip, and an optimized lock-up mechanism.

Bringing these technology together in the Kiyora results in an impressive mileage of 32 km per liter of fuel under the Japanese 10-15 cycle test. The kiyora will be powered by a 1.3 liter SKY-G engine with 6-speed transmission delivering power to the wheels. (start-stop technology & regenerative breaking is included in the technology list of Kiyora)

Source : Mazda

Honda Skydeck Concept

The third and the final installment of the Honda Trio that is going to garner attention for Honda at the Tokyo Motor Show (if you don't consider Honda's version of a Segway Sans one wheel U3-X). The 6 seater Skydeck MPV has a 2 + 2 +2 seating which is different from the now discontinued Honda Edix which is a 3 + 3. I can guess why Honda named it the skydeck by looking at the apparently 'floating' seat you see in the second image to add to that, the interior was design to the tune of an airy minimalist room theme giving a feeling of zen. Like the previous two concepts , details of the drivetrain has not been disclosed by Honda. The Skydeck stands out among the crowd of MPVs due to the fact it has a Scissors door up front (mommy & daddy can relinquish their younger days of just being alone in a sports car).


Source : Honda

Honda EV-N

It started with Volkswagen with the Beetle, BMW got inspired and decided to by the right for MINI from the Brits. The Italians followed soon with the Fiat 500. Now Honda has the EV-N paying homage to the old Honda life in a form of an electric car. No technical details have been release by Honda yet but one can see the U3-X Segway-like unicycles which is smartly strapped to the passenger door. Good for those who are lazy to walk after reaching their destination, unfortunately this will lead to a bigger belly overtime due to inactivity. If you look at one of the images below you will notice a solar panel on the roof harnessing power from the sun to recharge the battery. If you don't like the seat's pattern you can opt for one that suits your taste.The EV-N Concept is part of a larger display called the “HELLO!” (Honda Electric mobility Loop) display, where Honda will be showcasing a total “ecosystem” of mobility products. If you want an environmentally friendly car, this is it but if you want a 'looker' I think you should pass on this.

Source : Honda

2009 Honda CR-Z at the Tokyo Motor Show

I just realise that I did not include Honda's key exhibits in the upcoming Motor show so I decided to come up with this post. Though we go hoohaa over futuristic & funky concept vehicles, near production concepts garner the most attention as it give us a pretty good idea of what to expect when it hit the showrooms sometime later. The Honda CR-Z is one of them with a grill looking like a nozzle of a portable vacuum cleaner, it is one charming Sports Car. No details of the powertrain is available at press time but I bet Honda will have a 1.5 liter engine pairing up with a motor power the vehicle.



Source : Honda

Suzuki Alto & SX4-FCV (Fuel-Cell Vehicle) Concept

Here are the highlights of Suzuki's showcase at the coming Tokyo international Motorshow. I blogged about the Swift EV earlier and here is another two models for Suzuki to flaunt. First stop is the Alto Concept......hmmm at first glance it looks like a production ready vehicle and I feel the word concept is out of place. Perhaps a facelift from the current version should be more appropriate. Anyway the concept retains most of  the design cues found on the current generation with a dash of nip-tuck thrown in. The side has more resemblance to the Suzuki Splash/Opel Agile with a more upmarket interior is a welcome step forward. The SX4 Fuel Cell will be accompanying the alto on the stage & it features a high-pressure (70MPa) hydrogen tank and a light, compact capacitor, which promotes driving performance by recovering energy during brake application and using it to reduce fuel-cell loading during acceleration..

Source : Suzuki