Subaru’s B5-TPH concept was shown at the Tokyo Motor Show 2005. Subaru calls it a blend of the characteristics of a sports wagon, a coupe and an SUV. They could technically call it a shooting brake if they wanted to, like Audi’s Shooting Brake Concept.

Production plans for the Subaru B5-TPH is unknown but Subaru plans to use some of the technologies gained from research in production vehicles in 2007. The TPH in it’s name stands or Turbo Parallel Hybrid. This particular system mates the usual turbocharged 2.0 liter 4 cylinder boxer that’s Subaru is famous for with a thin 13 horsepower motor between the engine and the transmission. This motor boosts torque at low engine speeds.

Frankly I just can’t get used to the new Subaru styling yet.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:30:49 +0800.

The Daihatsu Be-Go is the production version of the Daihatsu D-Compact 4×4 which I’ve blogged about before. From concept to production in such a short time. The D-Compact 4X4 was shown at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show, and months later it’s already shown as a production car at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show.

UPDATE: Perodua has announced that a new Kembara will be launched in mid-2008. It is expected that the new Perodua Kembara replacement will be based on the Daihatsu Bego/Toyota Rush. Click here for more details.

The Daihatsu Be-Go is a compact 4X4, and will likely replace the Daihatsu Terios in it’s car line-up. That means we’ll see it on Malaysian roads one day as a Perodua to replace the Perodua Kembara, which was based on the current Daihatsu Terios. So this post should interest you guys quite a bit.

At first glance, it looks like the design was recycled from the outgoing second generation Toyota RAV4. But no matter, the 2nd generation Toyota RAV4 looks great and until today it still doesn’t look dated on the roads.

The Daihatsu Be-Go is powered by a 1.5 liter DOHC 16 valve DVVT engine. They’ve called it the “TOPAZ” engine. This is a newly developed engine, also seen in the Daihatsu Copen ZZ. This engine makes 103hp at 6000rpm and 140Nm of torque at 4400rpm. The engine is mated to a full time 4WD system with a centre differential lock. The compact SUV has a kerb weight of 1190kg.

Interior looks good… there’s a wooden trim MOMO steering there which I’m not sure whether will reach the production versions. The meter panel design doesn’t differ much from the 2nd generation Toyota RAV4.

The Daihatsu Be-Go will go on sale in Japan and subsequently the rest of the world early next year. It’s not known yet whether Perodua will use this as the Kembara Replacement Model. But if they do, it’s sure to sell like hot-cakes here in Malaysia.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:30:49 +0800.

The Honda Sports 4 Concept is built on the Honda Accord platform. It could be the design direction for the next Honda Accord!

Honda did not give any indication on what the Honda Sports 4 Concept is powered with but likely it should be the flagship K20 4 cylinder i-VTEC engine. The Sports 4 Concept also has the Acura RL’s SH-AWD all-wheel drive.

One funky feature is the front seats have LCD panels at the back of the headrest so the rear passangers can read statistics about the car such as speed, RPM as well as the SH-AWD system’s torque split.

The car a huge moonroof separated into 4 individual sections. Each of these sections can be opened or closed independantly from each other.

This could really be how the next Honda Accord (perhaps the Accord Euro R) might look like.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:30:49 +0800.

The Mercedes Benz F600 Hygenius Concept is a research vehicle by Mercedes Benz powered by a forced inducted fuel cell hybrid powertrain. With fuel cell technology employed, emissions is zero and consumes the equivalent of 2.9 liters per 100km.

Mercedes calls the air compressor an electric turbocharger, though I don’t know why. Don’t ask me why LOL! There are no exhaust gasses to spin up this turbine. Oh well, up to them! The fuel cell powertrain makes a constant 82hp and 250Nm of torque. Combined with the hybrid electric motor integrated into the rear axle powered by lithium-ion batteries, the total power output for the F600 Hygenius Concept is 115hp and 350Nm torque. On low speeds such as parking and traffic jams, the car runs on the electric motor alone, relying on the fuel cell drive only during acceleration. The electric motor works as a generator when run in reverse, charging the lithium ion battery pack during braking. Top speed is approximately 170km/h.

Mercedes Benz has also enabled the F600 Hygenius Concept to act as a mobile power source. Several houses can be hooked up to the electric motor so provide electricity during a blackout. This redefines the meaning of ‘multi purpose vehicle!’ There is a power socket at the tailgate of the vehicle so you can hook normal electrical devices up to it. Imaging bringing this vehicle to go for a a trip in the outdoors. You could hook up your electric steamboat or BBQ grill to it.

The seats can be turned around 180 degrees on it’s axis. This is useful when you want to bring a child around in the front passanger seat. You can just turn it around and face the chair backwards. The backrest cushion also has electric motors in them. These motors can bend the cushion into shape to fit your body’s contour.

The tailgate also has a nifty feature. When you open it, the lower half of the tailgate folds inwards, while the upper area swings upwards to open the tailgate. This allows the tailgate to swing open in a much tighter spot than it normally could if it had to swing upwards at full length. The doors also employ this space saving concept, though differently. It swings outwards and upwards as well, held up by gas absorbers.

All of the lights on this car are powered by LEDs. The headlamps are powered by triple projector LEDs. Signal lamps and brake lamps are also powered by LEDs. LEDs take up less power and generate less heat. Ideal for a hybrid fuelcell car.

There are also video cameras mounted on the wing mirrors to help you when you want to change lanes. Footage from these cameras are projected onto the windscreen at a point 1.4 meters in front of the car. This is to reduce driver eye strain. Your eyes can get pretty tired if you keep having to refocus your eyes from the traffic ahead to the side mirrors.

Ever heard of some unobservant driver opening the car door without looking? A car coming from behind could knock the door off if you open it without checking. The wing mirror video camera detects if there are any incoming objects and temporarily disables the doors from being opened until the object has passed. No more knocked off doors!

Mercedes Benz intends to bring fuel cell technology to the mainstream between 2010 and 2015. That’s a decade from now, somewhere in my lifetime! Which brings me to think of the people purchasing Proton Wajas in Malaysia with 9-year hire purchase loans. By the time they finish paying off the loan, their cars would be severely outdated!

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:30:49 +0800.

The Suzuki LC Concept is a K-car concept designed to target the segment that loves the Austin Mini’s design cues, much alike the Daihatsu Mira Gino.

The Suzuki LC Concept is a two-seater powered by a 660cc 3 cylinder DOHC engine, paired to a 4-speed automatic transmission I heard. Great for zipping through Tokyo’s streets.

It has a funky retro interior in beige and bright-red theme. The driver’s dash area looks seriously weird to me.

Most people would think Suzuki is just making a Mini rip-off, but the Suzuki LC Concept is actually a reincarnation of their old 1960s model Suzuki Suzulight mini car, shown above. The Suzuki Suzulight was the very first car that Suzuki built. It was the car that started their business. It was powered by a 2-stroke 360cc engine. I’m guessing the LC stands for Light Car.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:30:49 +0800.

Ever thought a sports car that can do 0-100km/h in 6.3 seconds and achieve a top speed of 230kph can have a fuel consumption of 3.4 liters fuel per 100km? That’s exactly what the Volkswagen EcoRacer does.

Volkswagen unveiled this concept at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show. The Volkswagen EcoRacer only weighs 850kg, thanks to it’s carbon-fibre plastic body. Plus it’s aerodynamically designed for minimum air resistance. To save on weight, headlamps and rear brakelights are implemented using LED.

The car’s roof is pretty flexible. In normal form, it’s a coupe. Take the roof off and it becomes as roadster. You can also replace the front windshield with a short upright panel to turn it into a track speedster.

The Volkswagen EcoRacer is powered by a 1.5 liter TDI turbodiesel. The engine makes 250Nm of torque and and 136 horsepower. The engine is paired to a DSG double-clutch automated manual transmission. When you drive the car economically (don’t drag the gears, don’t speed, etc) you can achieve more than 1000km mileage from a 30 liter fuel tank. Amazing! The car rides on 175/55/R17 tyres on the front and 224/45/R17 tyres at the back.

The cockpit is focused on the driver. Instead of a meter cluster, there is a TFT LCD panel which displays all the gauges and other information. This LCD panel moves together with the steering when you adjust the steering tilt angle. Speedometer and rev meter graphic displays can be set to either analog or digital form. There is even a built in shift light function, where a ring lights up around the rev meter once the desired shift point is reached in the rev ranges.

Here’s the car with the top up. This is the coupe form.

I just know someone is going to comment about the middle position of the exhaust outlet!

If you take the top out, it becomes a roadster.

Here is the speedster mode, with the windshield switched to a wind deflector module. The deflector is designed to channel the slipstream over the cockpit.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:30:49 +0800.

Nissan unveiled it’s Nissan GT-R PROTO yesterday at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show. This model will be the concept where the next Nissan Skyline R35 GT-R will be based on. It’s more of a design concept than a full-blown concept car though. No engine specifications or other tidbits about the new car have been revealed so far.

At first glance it looks much like the original Nissan Skyline GT-R R35 Concept unveiled at the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show. Nissan’s designer team led by Shiro Nakamura have created a sleek looking mean machine. The body design flows pretty well, looks very aerodynamic. Of course, you have the trademark Skyline round taillamps at the back.

Quad exhaust pipes, two at each side, integrated nicely into the rear bumper design.

Thanks to Mark Vincent for these lovely showroom photos. (Edit: Photos taken by Dino Dalle Carbonare)

You can click all of the photos in this blog post for a bigger version.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:30:49 +0800.

Audi presents the Shooting Brake Concept at the Tokyo Motor Show 2005. The Shooting Brake Concept inplements design elements of both a coupe and a hatchback into one.

The car is powered by a 3.2 liter V6 making 250ps at 6200rpm and 320Nm of torque at 2500rpm. Similiar to the Volkswagen Golf R32, likely the same engine. The Audi Shooting Brake Concept goes from 0-100km/h in 6 seconds. It also stops fast, as it uses ceramic disc brakes which do not exhibit brake fade.

The Audi Shooting Brake Concept uses a special type of suspension called the Audi Magnetic Ride adaptive damping system. In this system, instead of conventional damper fluid, a magnetorhetorical fluid is used. This fluid’s viscocity can be influenced by an electromagentic field, allowing suspension settings to be changed on the fly. A computer can automatically detect driving conditions and adjust settings or the driver can manually set either sporty or comfort modes.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:30:49 +0800.

This is Suzuki’s concept of how a Mom’s Personal Wagon should be. Ample room and equipment such as food trays for kids, low on fuel consumption for those tasks like fetching kids to and fro from tuition and school.

It’s actually nothing like a wagon, more like a mini-MPV like the Perodua Kenari or Hyundai Atos.

Automatic transmission, and a single wide seat so the mom can attend to kid’s needs better, or perhaps even fit two kids in front. I don’t see any signs of airbags though… shouldn’t that be important even in a concept?

The doors on the left of the car open suicide style for easier entry and exit without a B-pillar. The right side has the normal kind of doors, with a B-pillar. Notice the difference in door handles for the left and right side of the car in the photos above.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:30:49 +0800.

This year at the 39th Tokyo Motor Show, it unveils to us the GT-R PROTO concept. Currently there are some concept graphics released, so enjoy!

10 days more as of today. There’s a countdown to the unveiling here, thanks to cbljkkj.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:30:49 +0800.

Volkswagen has unveiled details on it’s most powerful Polo model to date, the Volkswagen Polo GTI. The Volkswagen Polo GTI will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in Japan later this month.

The little pocket rocket will be powered by 1.8 liter turbocharged engine making 150ps and 220Nm torque. 0-100km/h takes 8.2 seconds and top speed is 215km/h. This particular engine is a real breather, with 5 valves per cylinder.

The styling cues clearly emulates it’s bigger brother the Volkswagen Golf GTI. The car will be available from January 2006 onwards. It has the Golf GTI’s grille and bumper design as well as the U-shaped spoke rims that come in 16 inch sizes for this car.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:30:49 +0800.

The Suzuki IONIS is a fuel-cell powered electric motor car. It was designed in collaboration with the Musashino Art University.

The car uses steering-by-wire, drive-by-wire and brake-by-wire, which allows the driver’s seat to be positioned anywhere, not just limited in a fixed position. This way, multiple internal seat layout configuration is possible.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:30:49 +0800.