Archive for Concepts

The Mazda Furai Concept unveiled at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show recently was basically a rebodied 2005 Courage C65 racecar chassis, given a closed-cockpit fiberglass body that complies with 2008 American Le Mans Series rules.

The new body can generate 80% of the original race-spec body’s downforce, a respectable feat considering it was designed without the use of a wind tunnel. The Mazda Furai Concept is powered by a three-rotor Mazda 20B rotary fueled by E100, which is basically ethanol. Normally aspirated, it puts out 450 horsepower.

A few more photos after the jump.

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Toyota’s A-BAT Concept (Advanced Breakthrough Aero Truck) could preview the upcoming rumoured Scion light pickup truck in the US market. It was developed by the TMS Advanced Product Strategy group and Calty, Toyota’s North American-based, research and design center located in Newport Beach, California. The A-BAT Concept was designed for a buyer group with a unique combination of lifestyle activities.

The Toyota A-BAT Concept is built on a monocoque platform and is powered by Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, paired with an inline-4 gasoline engine. The rear has a 4 feet long bed, with a translucent roof panel that slides open to allow for tall cargo in the cab. A pass-through midgate can be folded down to lengthen the bed by an extra 2 feet.

The bed includes tailgate lighting for illuminating the load in the bed, a first aid kit and flashlight integrated into the tailgate, sliding tie downs, and an AC power outlet. The bed walls have lockable storage drawers. There is also a large sliding drawer beneath the bed, accessible without opening the tailgate.

The Toyota A-BAT’s monocoque chassis should provide for a more comfortable car-like driving experience, making the A-BAT a real urban warrior instead of an offroader.

More photos after the jump.

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The Honda Inspire Modulo Touring Concept was showcased at the 2008 Tokyo Auto Salon. Nothing much is known about the concept right now - it’s mostly aesthetics I guess. The bodykit features new front and rear bumpers, side sills, a new grille, new headlamps, clear tail lamps, and new wheels.

The engine under the hood is the 3.5 liter V6 i-VTEC with Variable Cylinder Management as that is the only engine available in the Japanese market - expect some minor performance enhancements via a performance exhaust system.

More photos after the jump.

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Honda Inspire for the Japanese market unveiled

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It’s no secret that the Mercedes Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE is a near production preview of the upcoming Mercedes Benz GLK-Class, a compact SUV to rival the BMW X3, the Landrover LR2 and the Volkswagen Tiguan.

The name GLK has a meaning - G means a cross country vehicle (G-Wagon), L means luxury and K means Kompaktheit, which is German for compactness. Its styling looks rather butch, and there are some odd design elements, for example I do not see why they had to make the lower part of the front headlamps step down slightly inwards.

The Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE is powered by a 2.2 liter Bluetec inline-4 turbodiesel engine mated to a 7G-Tronic gearbox, putting out 168 horsepower.

More photos after the jump.

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Nissan’s FORUM Concept will be showcase at the 2008 Detroit Motor Show in January next year, and it is a vehicle that Nissan hopes to produce in the future for all your Nissan Grand Livina buyers to graduate to one day.

Nissan designed the Nissan FORUM Concept to offer an ‘engaging space’ for children and a ’sophisticated space’ for adults. The interior is done up in leather and aluminium, and features wireless displays for DVD and gameplay.

The 2nd row seats can swivel 180 degrees to create a “living room” configuration, with the second and third row seats facing each other. Passengers can easily engage in activities during a long tiring “balik kampung” drive this way.

The second and third row is accessed via long sliding side doors using a special hinge system to allow for a clean, trackless profile, and the omition of the B-pillar, safely engineered by reinforcing the roof and door frame.

Each headrest has speakers in them, and the audio system is engineered by Bose. Cameras mounting the 2nd and 3rd rows send images to a display at the front - a CCTV system of sorts to monitor your kids. There is also a “time out” button to pause all media (each passenger can view his own media, like on a plane), allowing the front occupants to announce whatever they need to announce.

More photos of the Nissan FORUM Concept after the jump.

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Artist’s Impression - Click to enlarge

LATEST DELHI 2008 UPDATE: Tata has unveiled the Tata 1-Lakh Car and has named it the Tata Nano. Click here for the latest details on the new Tata Nano.

Artist’s Impression - Click to enlarge

This is a little bit of imagination going wild here… but something I think is interesting nonetheless. Most of you know that Tata is developing a 1-Lakh car (USD2,500), and we’ve seen an artist’s impression of it when I wrote about the car back in October.

Now, Tata currently has a JV with Fiat, and Fiat’s plant at Ranjangaon, Pune is making both Fiats and Tatas. Tata even uses Fiat diesel engines for its Tata Indica and Tata Indigo. Now, what if Fiat uses the Tata 1 lakh car as a baseline budget model, and a pure styling-enhanced Abarth model is created from it?

Seems like a long shot… but doesn’t stop the very generous Theophilus Chin from flexing his Photoshop muscles and creating something at a request from another paultan.org reader, who had this crazy idea in the first place.

Above is the result, along with a new artist’s impression of the Tata 1-Lakh car, looking alot better than the previous version I posted. The original 1-Lakh car is a 5-door, while the “Abarth” is a 3-door version.

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Here are some ideas from graphic artist Theophilus Chin for those who are into modifying their cars and plan to get a Nissan Grand Livina. Above is the Nissan Livina Geniss grille, which is not the same as the one Edaran Tan Chong Motor has chose to specify on our Malaysian Nissan Grand Livina car. Ours is more Murano-like, similiar to the Grand Livina in Indonesia.

Anyway you will find after the jump a few creations from Theophilus inspired by the Nissan Skyline, the Nissan Murano and the Nissan Qashqai.

View the images after the jump.

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This kitted up Mazda Demio Mazdaspeed Concept will join its bigger sibling, the Mazda Atenza Mazdaspeed Concept at the 2008 Tokyo Auto Salon early next year. The Mazda Demio is the car’s Japanese market name, and it is known as the Mazda 2 everywhere else in the world. A Mazdaspeed 2 with a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine would be nice - or perhaps an even smaller turbocharged engine to save weight and help with the car’s balance. One more photo available after the jump.

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Mazda will be showcasing this concept called the Mazda Atenza Mazdaspeed Concept at the 2008 Tokyo Auto Salon, to be held at the Makuhari Messe in January 2008.

The Mazda Atenza is the Japanese Domestic Market name for the Mazda 6 that we and the rest of the world know, and this new Mazdaspeed Concept hints at the styling of the upcoming high performance version of the second generation Mazda 6.

It’s mostly aesthetics - large rims and a lowered body, with nothing special under the hood. There has been no firm decision by Mazda to make a new Mazdaspeed 6 (also known as the Mazda 6 MPS in some markets).

This exhibit will be used to gauge public reaction. But given that buyers of high performance models usually do care about the technologies in the drivetrain, I’m not sure how realistic of a gauge of consumer interest that will be.

One more rear shot after the jump.

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Source

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The mid-sized Honda Pilot shares its underpinings with the Acura MDX, and since the second generation 2007 Acura MDX was introduced late last year, it’s due time for a new Honda Pilot based on the second generation MDX.

A concept version of the next generation Honda Pilot will be making its debut at the 2008 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in January 2008. It will most likely continue the current Pilot’s feature list - 8-seater passenger capacity and an all-weather, medium duty off-road capability.

Expect the new 300 horsepower 3.7 liter i-VTEC V6 to be under its hood as well, just as with the second generation Acura MDX. Also expect the new V6 turbodiesel. Shown in this post is a concept sketch of the new Honda Pilot prototype.