Honda in Tokyo / Seven Concepts Debuting / All Electrified (One’s a Sports Car)

At its home-market auto show in Tokyo, Honda will unveil three concept cars, three two-wheeled concepts, and one folding chair on wheels. Each has some sort of electrification, either with batteries alone or in a hybrid system. Short on info, we present this preview in haiku.

Small Sports EV Concept

Open-top driving
With the motor in the back
EV could be fun

AC-X Concept

Plug-in hybrid car
We’ve seen your platform before
Are you an Accord?

Micro Commuter Concept

The future is now
Everything looks crazy here
Welcome to Japan

Motor Compo Concept

You scoot around town
With a mobile power source
Wall-E would be proud

E-Canopy Concept

Serene on three wheels
Electricity moves you
Delivery man

RC-E Concept

Compact and lightweight
The road ahead is curvy
On this EV bike

Townwalker Concept

Exalt the elders
Who ride in this chair
It fits in a trunk

The company also will show the first in its new series of N minicars, the N BOX. It’s a kei car with rear sliding doors. And it’s boxy. The letter N has a history with little Hondas, having been used in the 1960s and ’70s on the N360 and N600.

Tags: 2011 Tokyo auto show, auto shows, electric, Honda, Honda AC-X concept, Honda E-Canopy concept, Honda Micro Commuter concept, Honda Motor Compo concept, Honda N BOX, Honda RC-E concept, Honda Small Sports EV concept, Honda Townwalker concept, plug-in hybrid |

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2013 Ford Focus ST Headed to L.A. Auto Show; Debuting New Torque-Steer Compensation System

Good news, everyone. The long-awaited Ford Focus ST is coming to the 2011 Los Angeles auto show. If you didn’t know yet, the Focus ST is essentially the same car worldwide (except for a wagon version that we won’t see here). What does this mean? It means that the Focus ST we’ll see in L.A. is pretty much the same Focus ST we saw in Frankfurt, which you can read about here. Official North American horsepower figures haven’t been announced yet, but in Europe the car makes 247 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque, so expect our version to arrive with numbers in that neighborhood.

More news: the ST will come with a torque-steer compensation scheme using its electronic power-assisted steering (EPAS). When the system senses torque steer, EPAS reacts by varying the torque of the power-assistance motor to dampen out the effects of torque steer. Unlike the trick (and expensive) RevoKnuckle found on the previous Ford Focus RS, torque-steer compensation deals with the symptom and not the cause. But still, we’re excited to see how the Focus drives when it comes out early next year.

Oh, and there also will be that sweet turnkey Focus race car, dubbed ST-R. It too is the same as the one we saw in Frankfurt but we’ll happily take another peek at its awesomeness in L.A.

Tags: 2011 L.A. auto show, American, auto shows, Ford, Ford Focus, Ford Focus ST, Ford Focus ST-R, hatchback |

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