Archive for Concepts

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The Honda Factory Performance Accord Coupe was showcased at the 2007 SEMA motor show, and showcases the HFP set of dealer-installed factory accessories developed by American Honda Motor Co.

Ride height of the Accord Coupe is reduced by 25mm with a sports suspension package, and the car rides on larger 19 inch 10 spoke alloy wheels wrapped with high performance 245/40R19 tyres.

The HFP Accord Coupe bodykit includes new front and rear bumper designs as well as side skirts. This kit including wheels and suspension carry the same 3 year/36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty as the Honda Accord Coupe.

Three more photos after the jump.

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Toyota’s 1/X Concept is pronounced one-Xth, not one over X. The X also does not mean 10, instead 1/X means the vehicle is only “1/Xth” the weight of other vehicle in its class, whatever class it may be. It represents a new idea of what it means to be environmentally considerate.

This particular 1/X Concept car shown at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show takes the current Toyota Prius as a basis of comparison. It maintains the same interior space with that of a Toyota Prius, but only weighs 420kg, which is one third the weight of the Toyota Prius. The result is a target of double the fuel efficiency of the Toyota Prius.

This reduced weight is thanks to a light but highly rigid carbon fiber reinforced plastic body frame. This also allows narrower pillars for better visibility from inside the cockpit.

The 500cc hybrid powertrain is a combination of a FFV (Flexible Fuel Vehicle, capable of running on a mix of gasoline and ethanol) combustion engine and an electric motor hooked up to batteries with plug-in charging capability. This hybrid system is located at the rear of the car under the rear seat bench, effectively giving the car a midship rear wheel drive configuration.

More photos after the jump.

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The Mercedes Benz F 700 was unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, but was exhibited again at the Tokyo Motor Show a few weeks later. It’s what Mercedes Benz thinks a luxury long distance touring saloon of the future ideally should be, so we should expect it to point to the direction of the next generation S-Class.

Probably the first Mercedes Benz sedan with an A pillar window (hatchbacks like the A-Class already have an A pillar window if I’m not mistaken), the F 700 is certainly looks odd from the outside, with it’s strange curved side window profile, and its oversized front grille with vertical LED strip front headlamps. Mercedes Benz calls this design language “Aqua Dynamic”, which emulates the soft flowing forms of a fish.

But the interior looks fairly orthodox as far as luxury cruiser interiors go, designed to seat a driver and 3 passengers very comfortably. The front passenger seat can be put into relaxation mode - not for the front passenger of course as the seat has to be vacant for it to do this - but for the rear right passenger. The rear passenger seat situated behind the front passenger seat can even be turned around to face the rear of the car - Mercedes rather uncreatively calls this feature the REVERSE seat. He can have face to face conversations with the other rear passenger this way.

Despite the F 700 name, it does not indicate a 7 liter engine under the hood, or even the equivalent of a 7 liter engine. Instead, the engine used to power this concept is the Mercedes Benz DIESOTTO engine concept. This four cyclinder engine puts out the equivalent of a 3.5 liter normally aspirated V6 petrol or a 3.0 liter V6 turbodiesel in Mercedes terms. The name DIESOTTO seems to indicate something related to diesel, but the engine consumes petrol. This is just a guess but the word DIESOTTO is probably some combination of Diesel cycle combustion and Otto cycle combustion.

The DIESOTTO engine has 1.8 liters of displacement but puts out 238 horsepower with smoothness worthy of a luxury tourer thanks to a two-stage turbocharging system. Take-off is also assisted by a hybrid module, which uses a 15kW (20 horsepower) motor - this gives a total output of 258 horsepower and a maximum torque of about 400Nm. The F 700 can reach 100km/h in 7.5 seconds, up to a limited top speed of 200km/h. Fuel consumption is rated at 5.3 liters per 100km, and CO2 emissions is rated at 127g/km.

The engine works like a normal Otto cycle engine on starting and at full load, using spark ignition and the usual works. But at low and medium engine speeds, or generally partial load conditions the DIESOTTO engine uses something similiar to a Diesel cycle - controlled auto ignition or homogeneous combustion. I’ve previously blogged about homogeneous combustion here, so read up if you want to know more on that.

The F 700 at 5.18 meters is shorter than the current S-Class long wheel base, but it’s wheelbase is 3.45 meters, longer than the production model S-class by 28.5cm. Other technologies include PRE-SCAN suspension, which uses two laser sensors in the front headlamp units as “eyes”. These feed the car suspension system information on roadway conditions. This information helps the suspension hydraulic systems precisely calculate fluid flows and pressures for each single wheel, ensuring maximum comfort.

Many more photos after the jump.

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Yet another city car concept comes from Audi with what looks quite possibly to be the forerunner to the MINI-fighting A1. The metroproject quattro concept is equipped with a hybrid drivetrain that involves a 1.4-litre TFSI engine developing 148hp directed to the front wheels via an S-tronic Direct Shift Gearbox. Another 40hp comes from an electric motor positioned on the rear axle is able to deliver up to an additional 200Nm of torque when the vehicle is accelerating.

Read more after the jump…

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Right on the back of Volkswagen’s two-door city specialist concept launched at Frankfurt, the up!, comes the space up! Concept, which as the name suggests, offers more space. The latest member of VW’s New Small Family range is strangely called the “largest small VW”, if that makes any sense, and at 3.68 metres length and 1.63 meters wide, it’s a small matter of 23cm longer than the up!

This results in a wheelbase of 2.56m, nearly 10cm longer than their current supermini, the Fox, despite being over 12cm shorter in overall length.

The entire concept is to create as much interior room as possible without taking up that much space on the road, hence offering the space of a considerably larger vehicle. The clever space concept of the space up! is mostly thanks to its rear-engine layout just like on the Beetle and the Bulli (Microbus) of the past.

Thanks to its elongated wheelbase, the space up! offers four doors, although there are in fact six doors (twice as many as the three-door hatchback up!) in this van concept car as the boot is accessed via a pair of fridge doors. Behind this door are 220 to 1,005 liters of cargo space given the multi-configurable four seat positions.

Design details include a front end featuring headlamps that take an inward diagonal line, the horizontally integrated air inlets (minimized aperture optimizes aerodynamics), the VW logo arranged on the front hood (as the only exterior detail kept in chrome) and the smooth-surfaced bumper with a lower segment.

From the side, the long extended window section flows from a clearly distinctive, powerful C-pillar to an A-pillar positioned far forward in a van-like manner. The space between the A and C pillars is spanned by the line of butterfly doors with opposing hinges. These suicide doors, in the style of the legendary Samba bus, extend across nearly the entire space between the wheel housings – i.e. the entire sill length – all four seating positions are exceptionally convenient to access.

The rear doors seem to fill up practically the entire car area above the bumper. The doors are asymmetrically split 1/3 to 2/3 and when fully opened, offer a cargo width of just over a metre.

While it certainly looks futuristic, its not really that over the top and you can imagine it going into production sometime in the future.

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The Toyota RiN, whatever that stands for, is the world’s biggest car company’s take on designing the car of choice for the health freak of the future. With a massive greenhouse, seats that keep your spine in its proper position, an oxygen-level conditioner and humidifier, plus a meter that gauges your mood through the steering wheel and then displays a colour based on your psychological state, Toyota thinks it can make better, happier motorists, that are more aware of nature and the society that infuses it.

Focusing on “increased comfort” and “serene, healthy living” features include leaf-shaped foot pedals and sliding doors with glass that wraps underneath the floor providing a view of the road below. Plus, you can motor along (supposedly) knowing that when your headlights are on, you won’t blind any pedestrians or oncoming motorists because the light is thoughtfully being distributed to avoid such stresses.

The design language is based on the deep-rooted and tall-growing Yakusugi tree (a variety of Japanese cypress) for its exterior and interior design to express both “harmony with nature” and “healthy mind and body”.

But seriously, if Toyota could implement a few of the less crazy ideas into future models then perhaps we may see a world without road rage and happy, smiling faces in every car and less occurrences of heart problems on the road.

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Probably the closest you’ll ever get to a real life Optimus Prime is the Nissan NV200 concept. Aimed at small business professionals that are constantly on the move, it portrays a rugged image on the outside but keeps things safe and in place on the inside. The NV200 first appeared at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, but it was only display again at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.

At the heart of the interior is a rolling job site featuring a patented sliding cargo pod which houses a unique pod that can smartly accommodate a variety of business needs. The pod is divided into customizable trays and boxes for efficient storage of profession-specific equipment, materials, work gear and apparel.

The end of the pod facing the inside of the van - it forms a bulkhead behind the front seats when the pod is not deployed - has hanging space for dry clothes. It also houses a small refrigerator, an extending sink unit and first aid kit. The NV200’s tanks hold enough water to supply a shower, fitted on the outside of the pod, to allow for example, diving equipment to be washed after use.

The example used, as per the pictures in this post, is that of an oceanic photographer. Power for the computer, shower, ‘fridge and other electrical fixtures comes from a small generator housed within the van. This, in turn, is charged by solar panels situated on the roof of the pod.

When the pod is deployed, the solar panels are directly exposed to daylight. But even when the pod is pushed back into the van, the panels line up beneath the skylight. In this way, power can be generated in daylight hours whether the vehicle is stationary or not.

The pod is latched inside the shell of the load area when the van is being driven. But upon arrival at its destination, it slides out rearwards to allow easy access to the storage zones. Deployed via hydraulic rams, it will sit securely on integrated ‘drop-down’ legs when fully extended.

From the outside, the Nissan NV200 doesn’t stray from the looks of a contemporary van with a usefully long 2820mm wheelbase and is 1840mm tall. All we need for it now is to transform into a kick-ass robot.

Click here to read the rest of TOKYO 2007 LIVE: Nissan NV200 Concept

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Not to be outdone by Toyota, Honda has its own ideas of how one might enjoy relaxed motoring in the future and it comes in the form of the Honda Puyo Concept. The weird name, claims Honda, is an onomatopoeia (words that imitates the sound it is describing, such as “click,” “buzz,” “oink”, “quack”, or “meow”) that, “expresses the sensation of touching the vehicle’s soft body - a warm and friendly sensation.”

And you thought the sexy things at motor shows were the girls. The Puyo’s “gel body” actually is soft, which Honda claims increases safety. A few people “touched the Puyo” (yes, I am aware that sounds kinda dodgy) and it actually feels like silicon. Furthermore, the supposedly glows-in-the-dark as well.

Since the theme of Honda’s display this year is “For the endless joy of mobility on our earth,” the Puyo is unsurprisingly a green vehicle and is powered by a fuel-cell. The design concept is that of a cornerless “Seamless Soft Box” which provides the functionality of a cube-like design with a soft presence lacking any edges. Input methods are equally futuristic, for example the Puyo uses a joystick.

However, the extreme size of those scissor doors are a bit hard to wrap your head around but they do gel with the idea of creating as open a space as possible, hence, the entirely glassed body from the beltline upwards. The tiny wheels are at the extreme corners of the vehicle, and the car is capable of making 360-degree turns in place. smart fortwo, your parking skilz have just been pwned!

Developed to have a ‘Silky Feel’, the interior is designed with a feeling of transparency helped along by features such as an instrument panel monitor and controls that actually rise up when the vehicle starts up and a luminous fluid meter display.

More shots after the jump.

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Mazda’s latest series of concept cars seem like odd organic cars that do not look like it may make it’s way into production form anytime soon, and the latest is the Mazda Taiki concept which continues to follow the Nagare theme established with the first car in the new concept line, the Mazda Nagare. Nagare means flow, and Mazda turned to nature for inspiration - using cues from natural flow lines all around us - shapes in sand dunes etched by the wind, ocean waves, lava flow down a volcano, and etc.

All three design centers - US, European and Japan contributed to this series of concepts, with cars like the original Nagare coming from the US-based design center and the Mazda Ryuga from the Hiroshima Design Center in Japan. The Mazda Hakaze design concept came from the European Design Center.

The Mazda Taiki is the fourth in the series, and this one comes from the Hiroshima Design Center team led by Chief Designer Yamada Atsuhiko. Every concept car represents a different segment of future cars, for example the Mazda Ryuga was envisioned as a future compact car. The Mazda Taiki points to a possible future design direction for Mazda sports cars.

The stretched coupe has short overhangs and its interior has a liberating and free feel to it thanks to an all-glass canope. It has a drag coefficient of 0.25 and zero lift. Air is channeled through the front fender via a tunnel formed between the body and the rear fender - this creates downforce.

This design concept is also used to unveil some technical goodies. The 2-seater Mazda Taiki is conceptually powered by the next generation RENESIS rotary engine engine called the RENESIS 16X. The engine will be mounted at the front and will power the rear wheels, a proven formula for a sports car.

More details on that engine will come in a later post, but you’ll be pleased to know that Mazda is the latest manufacturer to jump on the twin clutch bandwagon. The RENESIS 16X engine will be mated to a 7-speed dry twin clutch transmission. Suspension is a double wishbone setup for both front and rear, and the car rides on 22 inch Enkei wheels wrapped with Yokohama Advan Super-E spec Prototype 007 tyres in 195/40R22 size. As for dimensions, the Mazda Taiki is 4620mm long, 1950mm wide, 1240mm tall and has a wheelbase of 3000mm.

More photos after the jump.

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If you remember earlier, BMW promised there would be a car on display at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show based on the 1 Series chassis, and some speculated it to be perhaps the X1 or an M-badged 1-Series. At the press day today at the motorshow, BMW unveiled the BMW Concept 1 Series tii, a design study based on the 1 Series.

The BMW Concept 1 Series tii is an interpretation of classic BMW brand values, with specific motorsport requirements taken into account in the design of the car. BMW says they emphasized on agility, lightness, youthfulness and superior sportiness when designing the car.

On the exterior, body aerodynamics is optimised with the front air dam design, side-sills and rear air dam. Special wickerbills generate additional downforce on the rear axle. Weight has been reduced through the usage of lightweight engineering and carbon fiber components such as the bonnet, mirror caps, and front air intake inlays. There is no usual vertical bar kidney grilles on the Concept 1 Series tii, instead air flows into the engine bay through a wide honeycomb grid.

On the interior some of the enhancements you have are the sports bucket seats with integrated headrests and side airbags, three-spoke sports steering wheel, and a gearshift knob with alcantara cover. The use of dark alcantara on the door linings and instrument panel prevents reflections on the windscreen. For this concept, the meter panel’s rev counter now has a white face.

More photos after the jump.

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