Archive for Concepts

Nissan will be displaying an updated version of their Nissan Pivo concept, rather straightforwardly called the Nissan Pivo 2 concept.

It continues with the original Pivo’s fully rotating cabin design which makes the concept of reversing your car obsolete. The Pivo 2 adds In-Wheel 3D motors for the car’s four wheels. These wheels can turn 90 degrees to allow the Pivo 2 to move sideways like a crab as well as the normal forward and reverse movement.

The little robot thing you will see in the photos after the jump is what Nissan calls a Robotic Agent, which can communicate to you everything from basic vehicle functions through to the nearest available parking and can have conversations with you in Japanese and English.

For readers who are in Japan, you can see the Pivo 2 displayed before the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show on the 13th and 14th of October 2007 at the Nissan Ginza Gallery in Chuo-ku, Tokyo from 10am to 8pm.

More images and a video (thanks to LittleFire85) can be viewed after the jump.

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This concept from Proton is called the Proton Satria Gemilang and it was a one-off thing that was commissioned for this year’s Merdeka celebration parade. It looks like a Proton Satria Neo, but underneath it actually lies the chassis of a Proton Waja Chancellor - in fact if you’ve seen the interior the dash and etc remains the same as a Chancellor’s.

I’m not sure where the car has gone to now in the past month after the Merdeka parade, but perhaps it will make an appearance again at the next KL International Motorshow.

This concept vehicle is called the Daihatsu OFC-1 Concept, an open top K-car roadster that Daihatsu says was designed for adults who want to feel the wind as they drive. The convertible glass top consists of a 3-piece electromotive roof which opens and closes in less than ten seconds, while preserving trunk space even when the roof is down.

The engine used in this concept is a variation of the JB-DET 658cc turbocharged engine putting out 63 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 103Nm of torque at 3,000rpm, which is really not much power even though the car only weighs 820kg. This engine is mated to a CVT gearbox with a manual shifting mode that allows you to swap between 7 virtual gear ratios. The front suspension setup uses MacPherson struts and coil springs, while the rear suspension uses an economical torsion beam design with coil springs.

The 2-seater Daihatsu OFC-1 Concept most likely points us to what the next generation Daihatsu Copen might look like. More photos after the jump.

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The second BMW X6 Concept shown at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show demonstrates BMW’s ActiveHybrid technology, which BMW says is superior to conventional hybrid vehicles in terms of driving dynamics - looking at the assortment of hybrids on the market today we can safely say that’s not too far from the truth. BMW rates an ActiveHybrid car as having 20% better consumption and emissions compared to a comparable car with conventional drivetrain technology.

The BMW Concept X6 ActiveHybrid combines a combustion engine and two electric motors. Keeping to their promise of a sporty driving experience, BMW says despite electric motors being used BMW retains the appropriate touch-based and acoustic feedback never seen before on a hybrid vehicle.

The combustion engine and two electric motors are connected to each other via three planetary gearsets, allowing a power split between the combustion engine and electric motors in two ranges. At any time, the car can be powered by either only the combustion engine or only the electric motors. The Concept X6 ActiveHybrid also uses an ECVT electrical continuously variable transmission and is able to adjust power between the combustion engine and the electric motors in two ranges - one for low speeds and one for high speeds. Power to the wheels also go through a fixed ratios as BMW thinks this is very important for the whole driving experience - the feeling of swapping cogs.

The electric motors can also be run in reverse to harvest wasted power during braking. This power is used to charge a high-volt energy storage unit. BMW is already doing something like this with Brake Energy Regeneration, something that’s appearing on conventional combustion engine BMWs in the European market.

In power split drive mode, one of the electric motors acts as a generator, converting some of the engine’s power into electrical current to charge the capacitors. The power can also be channeled into the second electric motor. This second electric motor gets power from either the first electric motor or the capacitor and generates mechanical power for the output drive shaft.

The ActiveHybrid hybrid drive system is BMW’s variant of the Global Hybrid Cooperation hybrid system, a joint project between BMW, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler to develop next generation hybrid drive systems.

More photos after the jump.

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BMW has the BMW Concept X6 on show at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, but we all know that the concept bit in its name can be pretty much dropped as the car is very close to production, with nearly undisguised mules spotted on the roads just right before the motor show began.

BMW calls the Concept X6 a Sports Activity Coupe, or SAC if you like. The coupe-like roofline dropped immediately right after the position of the steering wheel inside the car. The four-door coupe form is combined with the commanding driving position of a 4X4 vehicle. All of the classic BMW design cues are there - double kidney grilles, double headlamps with corona rings, Hofmeister kink.

With this Concept X6 also debuts a new technology from BMW called Dynamic Performance Control. Dynamic Performance Control works hand in hand with the xDrive four-wheel drive system to spread drive torque as required in all situations. Think of it as DSC stability control without cutting off power or braking, instead purely achieving control in understeer or oversteer conditions by varying power between the two wheels at the rear. While DSC applies power to the inner wheels when the car is oversteering, DPC achieves this by shifting more power to the outer wheels.

If you think about it, Dynamic Performance Control is most likely BMW’s own branding slapped onto GKN Driveline’s Vector-Drive torque-vectoring rear axle that was announced sometime towards the end of July 2007.

Watch out for another post about another special X6 concept featuring ActiveHybrid technology. See more photos of the new BMW Concept X6 after the jump. There are no interior shots though.

Click here to read the rest of BMW X6 Concept revealed at Frankfurt 2007

The Toyota iQ Concept is an ultra-compact car concept that was designed at Toyota’s ED2 European design studio in the South of France. The car is only 2980mm in length, which is 425mm shorter than the mini Toyota Aygo, but it’s stout looks are thanks to it’s width and height that are similiar to the larger Toyota Yaris.

An evolution of the previous Toyota Endo 2005 concept that is nearer to production state, the iQ Concept features 3+1 seating. This means room for 3 adults plus a child. The interior is normally configured as a 2-seater, but if you slide the passenger seat forward (this means the passenger sits more forward in the cabin than the driver), room for an extra adult is created at the rear. The small space behind the driver’s seat can then be used either for luggage or to seat a child.

A conventional meter cluster is replaced with a 3D 3-in-1 speed, RPM and fuel level read-out mounted as a single dial above the steering column, something inspired from the MINI perhaps. More photos after the jump.

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Toyota Endo production concept at Frankfurt 2007
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Honda’s new Accord Tourer Concept gives us a glimpse of whats in store for the next generation Honda Accord Euro, the Accord’s sportier, more compact little brother that’s sold in the European market. It looks like a modern update of the previously exhibited Honda Sports 4 Concept but in touring wagon form. The final production version will be unveiled at the next Geneva Motor Show.

Two petrol engines and one turbodiesel engine will be available - 2.0 liter and 2.4 liter petrol units and a 2.2 liter turbodiesel. The turbodiesel will be something new also being exhibited at Frankfurt alongside the Accord Tourer Concept - a new turbodiesel engine called the i-DTEC engine which reduces emissions to a level equal to a petrol engine.

One thing I noticed about these concept photos is the excessively long front overhang that this concept car seems to have - as if Honda was going the opposite way that Audi did with their new MLP cars.

More photos of the Accord Tourer Concept after the jump.

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Volkswagen pulled a surprise on us with the Frankfurt Motor Show - it is exhibiting the small rear-engined rear wheel drive city car that was talked about early in February this year. It’s funny how Volkswagen has gone back to the RR format that it’s iconic Beetle had decades ago - all it’s modern cars are front wheel drive or all-wheel drive.

The new car is called the Volkswagen up! city car concept and it runs on a completely new platform and drivetrain. The 3.45 meter long car is intended as an aspiration for a new family of small and very efficient cars from Volkswagen.

In the current concept form, the up! Concept runs on a choice of compact two or three cylinder engines. Interior space for 4 passengers is maximised by pushing each of the four wheels as far into the four corners of the car as possible.

Volkswagen has also attempted to modernize the interface with which we communicate with the car’s on-board systems. A touch sensitive screen in the interior has the ability to sense specific hand movements of the user to access the climate, entertainment and vehicle function controls. A second screen mounted ahead of the driver in place of the usual meter cluster relays critical information on the vehicles systems along with a real-time read-out of the amounts of CO2 being emitted.

More photos after the jump.

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Frankfurt 2007 brings us another concept based on the new cee’d family of cars - the Kia eco_cee’d concept. It is based on the 3-door pro_cee’d hatchback and is powered by a 1.6 liter CRDi turbodiesel engine. Through minimal Volkswagen BlueMotion-style modifications to the base vehicle, CO2 emissions drops to 104g/km and fuel consumption is now just 3.9 liters for every 100km travelled.

The 1.6 liter CRDi engine power output remains at the stock 115 PS output levels, and the brake system remains unchanged. This improved emissions and fuel consumption level is thanks to a reduction of drag coefficient to 0.29 cD from 0.33 Cd. This is achieved via lowering the suspension by 15mm, fitting under-floor coverings to the front, middle and rear of the vehicle, adopting plastic wheel arch linings with spoiler lips to smooth airflow around the wheels, a special front grille designed for low-drag, ultra-low rolling resistance Michelin Energy 205/50R17 tyres, and special alloy wheels designed to generate minimum disturbance to airflow along the sides of the car. The car has also been lightened with the use of a tyre repair kit in place of a spare wheel.

The powertrain is also fitted with Kia’s Idle Stop & Go system, which uses Smart Battery Power Management jointly developed with automotive electronics specialist Bosch. This system recharges the battery automatically during deceleration and switches the engine if the ECU determines that the car is in a stopped and idle status with conditions that are appropriate to switch the engine off. When first gear of the 6-speed manual gearbox is selected, the engine is restarted instantly.

The new 6-speed manual is an improvement over the standard 1.6 liter CRDi pro_cee’d’s 5-speed unit, with higher ratios for the last 3 gears to reduce engine RPM while cruising, taking advantage of the turbodiesel’s good low end torque. The ECU also displays the optimum gear to be in on a shift indicator fitted in the instrument cluster.

Have a look at the redesigned undercarriage after the jump.

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Kia previously teased us with it’s 2+2 seater Frankfurt car, and now we get to see it in full light - the Kia Kee concept. The Kia Kee - pronounced “key” - is a 4324mm long 2+2 coupe powered by a next generation 2.7 liter MUE-II V6 engine putting out a sporty 200 horsepower mated to a 6-speed automatic gearbox.

The headlamps use LED clusters, and being a concept car it gets the compulsory large wheels - 20 inch in size. Chief designer Peter Schreyer says the Kia Kee concept is not a mere flight of fancy, but represents an affordable dream for sports car lovers. Get into the interior and you will be greeted by a sports car-like cockpit. The square-bottomed steering wheel has paddle shifts for you to manually select the 6-speed auto’s cogs. Instead of a standard gear shifter, an ergonomically designed lever sits atop the centre console and it is a soft touch shifter, which means you just nudge it forward and backward to select the desired drive mode, similiar to BMW’s new soft shifter.

The Kia Kee uses light-weight aluminium or plastic panels and components wherever possible in order to reduce weight and improve vehicle balance. The Kee concept is currently front-wheel drive, but Kia says the production version could end up as a rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive car.

More images after the jump.

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