Toyota Reveals Production Prius C; Will Bring It, FT-86, and Three Concepts to Tokyo Auto Show

Tokyo is as close as Toyota gets to having an auto show on its home turf. And like the Detroit Three do at the Motor City’s annual blowout, the Japanese company is set to debut a large batch of concept and production cars at this year’s Tokyo show. The production-ready versions of the rear-drive FT-86 sports car and the Prius C (called Aqua in Japan) will be on hand, as will three green concept cars with names made up of alphabet-soup acronyms: Fun-Vii (Fun Vehicle interactive internet), FCV-R (Fuel Cell Vehicle – Reality & Revolution), and FT-EV III (Future Toyota – Electric Vehicle III).

2012 Prius C

Thanks to a leaked Japanese-market brochure, we already know most of the upcoming Prius C’s specifics, but Toyota released a few official photos along with some new information on the eve of the car’s Tokyo debut. The company claims that the C will return more than 50 mpg in city driving, greater than any non-plug-in hybrid. The larger Prius is rated at 51 mpg in city driving, so we assume the C will beat that figure. Bluetooth connectivity, steering-wheel-mounted audio controls, and nine airbags will be standard on the U.S. model; Toyota’s new Entune infotainment system will be optional. The C is set to go on sale in Japan in late December 2011 before hitting other markets. Interestingly, those other markets won’t include Europe—we imagine the Continent’s cool attitude towards hybrids played a factor in Toyota’s decision.

2012 FT-86

Toyota didn’t give away any new information or release any photos of the upcoming FT-86 sports car (the FT-86 II concept is pictured above) that will be revealed in Tokyo. The FT-86 was co-developed by Toyota and Subaru, and Subie’s version, the BRZ, also will debut at the Tokyo show. We already know most of the FT-86’s mechanical details and we’ve seen what it will look like via a leaked brochure, but we expect to finally get the official run-down after its Tokyo premiere.

Fun-Vii Concept

To be honest, we’re not completely sure what the Fun-Vii concept is all about, or even what the acronym in its name means. According to Toyota, the “Fun Vehicle interactive internet” is the company’s “vision of a future where people, cars, and society are linked.” Sure. And no, we don’t know what is going on in the photo above. Guess we’ll have to wait until its reveal to see what this one’s all about.

FT-EV III Concept

As the FT-EV III’s name—“Future Toyota – Electric Vehicle III”—suggests, it is the third in a line of electric concept vehicles Toyota has developed to showcase a future short-range production EV. If you’re thinking it looks a lot like a Toyota/Scion iQ, that’s because it is an iQ, but electric. The original FT-EV was unabashedly an electric iQ, while the FT-EV II that followed a few months later was much more unique and was less iQ-like. (It wore bespoke styling and was significantly smaller than the iQ). Toyota says the FT-EV III’s lithium-ion battery is good for a 65-mile range on the optimistic Japanese JC08 testing cycle and that its EV technology will migrate to a production vehicle due sometime in 2012. We know that Scion will sell an electric iQ to fleets in 2012, so this could be a preview of that car.

FCV-R Concept

Like Honda, which has delivered a few copies of its FCX Clarity to real customers, Toyota is serious about fuel-cell vehicles. More than just a Prius with a Fu Manchu mustache, the FCV-R concept is another step toward the goal of putting such a car on the road by 2015. The fuel-cell stack, with a high-pressure hydrogen tank, has been improved to provide a cruising distance of about 435 miles.

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Subaru Reveals More About Production BRZ Sports Car With Teaser Pic and PDF

Leaked brochures of the Toyota version be damned, Subaru continues to prepare us for the Tokyo auto show reveal of its rear-drive sports car with information hors d’oeuvres.

On the latest silver tray, Subaru serves up a glimpse at the car’s front end—you can see that the grille is different than the one on the Toyota FT-86/Scion FR-S—plus some additional specifications. As we learned during our drive of a BRZ prototype, the boxer engine architecture is Subaru’s, but Toyota has contributed its dual port/direct-injection heads. (Engineering geeks take note: Subaru’s working on its own direct-injection tech, as previewed in the Advanced Tourer Concept, and it’s not licensed from ToMoCo.)

A PDF also rocketed in from the Pleiades (you can check it out here) and reported the BRZ’s length, width, and height. The big deal here is less that the car is 166.9 inches long, 69.9 inches wide, and 51.2 inches high, but that the numbers corroborate those in a spec sheet allegedly leaked from Japan. That sheet also reports weight estimates of 2668 to 2712 pounds, numbers given further credibility by the dimensional accuracy. Overall, the BRZ and its Toyota sib will be longer and wider than the Mazda MX-5, though a bit taller and between that car and the RX-8 in weight.

Online leaks, teasers, a decoy set for the L.A. auto show—it sounds like J.J. Abrams is writing the launch plan for the BRZ and Toyota FT-86. At least it will all be over a month from now, when the pair of heavily hyped cars are properly and fully presented to the public in Tokyo.

Tags: 2011 L.A. auto show, 2011 Tokyo auto show, Scion FR-S, Subaru, Subaru BRZ, Toyota FT-86 |

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Nissan Reveals 2012 NV3500 HD Passenger Van; It Carries Up to 12 in Slightly Less Heinous Style

So remember the NV commercial van Nissan released last year? Of course you do, because it’s awesome (you can read our review of an NV2500 here, and a post about its platform and potential future here). Nissan has just unveiled a new passenger version of the burliest model, the NV3500 HD, and the people-carrier exchanges the cargo van’s metal body-side panels and bare cargo area for giant windows and seats. Lots of seats. If the windowless NV was Nissan’s shot across the bow of trade-fleet mainstays such as the Ford E-series and Chevrolet Express, the passenger version is the automaker’s attempt to shoulder its way into the hotel- and airport-shuttle arena.

The windows make the passenger NV much less awkward to behold than slab-sided commercial versions. (The low roof helps, too, although the taller cap would have made more sense for ingress and egress.) The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter still seems sexy in comparison, but at least the gap has narrowed. Functionally, this new Nissan boasts four rows of seats and can transport up to 12 people, including the driver. Nissan claims there are 324 possible configurations for the chairs, and the second and third rows are adjustable or can be removed entirely. The non-adjustable fourth row features a 50/50 split—rows two and three split 65/35—and each half can be individually removed. A full suite of options is available to make life in any row more pleasant, including a rear HVAC system, reading lamps for all rows, an additional 12-volt power outlet located in the third row, and two 120-volt AC power outlets. For the driver, Nissan offers the same navigation system, Bluetooth connectivity, and back-up camera that can be had in the NV commercial models.

Mechanically, this model shares all of its underpinnings with the NV commercial van. It’s powered by either a 261-hp, 4.0-liter V-6 or a burly 317-hp, 5.6-liter V-8 (the NV3500 HD cargo van is V-8–only). Both engines route output to the rear wheels through a five-speed automatic transmission. The passenger NV’s two lowest trim levels are also available on the commercial version, including a base S model and the step-up SV. The people-toting NV adds a range-topping SL spec, however, which carries most of the NV’s available options as standard kit and is available only with the V-8 engine. Nissan hasn’t released pricing, but the lowest-priced cargo model (an NV1500 with the V-6) starts at $25,930, so expect a premium for the additional seats, chassis spec, and safety equipment. The NV passenger van will hit dealerships this coming spring.

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