Japanese Car News

[iRage]

Mazda showcased the North American version of the next Mazda 6...comes with a SkyActiv 2.5L engine and a SkyActiv 2-5L Turbo charged engine...

No news as to what they would do with power trains for the Japanese and more conservative Asian markets

[Davy]

6 hours ago, iRage said:

Mazda showcased the North American version of the next Mazda 6...comes with a SkyActiv 2.5L engine and a SkyActiv 2-5L Turbo charged engine...

No news as to what they would do with power trains for the Japanese and more conservative Asian markets

God that looks nice. Also 2.5L Turbo 

[iRage]

1 hour ago, Davy said:

God that looks nice. Also 2.5L Turbo 

Hope they have that atleast as a MazdaZoom or something in Japan. They showed the engine figures and they used the figures of a 4L V8 to help everyone visualize what the power would be like  The only thing that was significantly lesseer than the V8 was the fuel consumption  

[Quiet]

5 hours ago, iRage said:

Hope they have that atleast as a MazdaZoom or something in Japan. They showed the engine figures and they used the figures of a 4L V8 to help everyone visualize what the power would be like  The only thing that was significantly lesseer than the V8 was the fuel consumption  

 Our roads, but 

[Magnum]

RIP Kenichi Yamamoto, Father of the Mazda Rotary Engine, 1922-2017

Kenichi Yamamoto (山本健一), who famously led Mazda’s “47 Ronin” team that brought the rotary engine into reality, passed away on December 20, 2017. His family made public his passing to the Japanese press on Christmas Day. Yamamoto was 95.

[Rohnd]

12 hours ago, Magnum said:

RIP Kenichi Yamamoto, Father of the Mazda Rotary Engine, 1922-2017

Kenichi Yamamoto (山本健一), who famously led Mazda’s “47 Ronin” team that brought the rotary engine into reality, passed away on December 20, 2017. His family made public his passing to the Japanese press on Christmas Day. Yamamoto was 95.

 

Yes, His efforts are still prevailing at Mazda, in 2020s RX-9 , yet to come with Wankel  engine.

Also contributed to secure the victory at Le Mans in 1991 for the  Mazda 787B racing Car .

 

[Magnum]

15 hours ago, Rohnd said:

Yes, His efforts are still prevailing at Mazda, in 2020s RX-9 , yet to come with Wankel  engine.

Also contributed to secure the victory at Le Mans in 1991 for the  Mazda 787B racing Car .

 

If it wasn't for him the Wankel engine wouldn't have been popular as it is today 

[Supra_Natural]

On 12/28/2017 at 8:07 AM, Magnum said:

RIP Kenichi Yamamoto, Father of the Mazda Rotary Engine, 1922-2017

Kenichi Yamamoto (山本健一), who famously led Mazda’s “47 Ronin” team that brought the rotary engine into reality, passed away on December 20, 2017. His family made public his passing to the Japanese press on Christmas Day. Yamamoto was 95.

He was also president of Mazda in the late 80s/early 90s and it was when he became president that the go ahead was given for the MX5 project. So really he is responsible for the Soul of Mazda.

[iRage]

Mazda CX-5 gets a facelift and tech update....the most interesting seems to be the cylinder pause feature which cuts out 2 cylinders when under low load. Also. the new SkyActive engine adopts a new piston design...plus there seems to be a whole lot more safety features bundled in...

http://autoc-one.jp/news/5001388/

[iRage]

Toyota's new TNGA power and drive trains...

a couple of new engine...

a new CVT system (no more hell revving the engine when taking off)

and a funky new AWD system that disconnects front and rear completely and uses some funky stuff that seems to be knowledge carried over from Mazda's dynamic vectoring.

https://newsroom.toyota.co.jp/en/corporate/21179861.html

[iRage]

The Supra is finally reborn and shown to the world....still think size wise its more like a Celica though. 
Seems like they are toying with the idea of a GR Supra as well 

We can also see glimpses of the new Auris/Corolla-hatch in the video clip which starts at about 15 mins in.

https://toyotagazooracing.com/release/2018/other/0306-01.html

Edited March 6, 2018 by iRage

[ajm]

I doubt if one can compare it with the Iconic Original Supras from the 90s though. This seems to be only a BMW Z4(not even M) coming from the same Production line of Magna-Steyr factory in Austria,  then fitted with with a Toyota badge and a metal roof. In my opinion they should have spared the Supra name and badged this as the successor of GT86 series.

Edited March 6, 2018 by ajm

[iRage]

11 hours ago, ajm said:

I doubt if one can compare it with the Iconic Original Supras from the 90s though. This seems to be only a BMW Z4(not even M) coming from the same Production line of Magna-Steyr factory in Austria,  then fitted with with a Toyota badge and a metal roof. In my opinion they should have spared the Supra name and badged this as the successor of GT86 series.

Well...technically I think it will be pretty good and yes some people will not like it but not for the reasons you bring up but mostly for nostalgic and sentimental reasons. Its not a Z4 rebadged although it might share the "PLATFORM" and the "engine and transmission tech". I believe the Z5 and the Supra will be like the Mazda Roadster and the Fiat 124 and Fiat Abarth 124. Same platform and lot of shared components but wildly different cars.

The partnership between Toyota and BMW was such that Toyota gets BMW's engines and transmissions and BMW in return gets Toyota's new lightweight platforms and cost-effective production tech and access to Toyota's Hybrid tech/know-how. Now here is.are the issue/s with this whole thing and the Frankenstein that is coming out. 

1. We used to love the Supra because it brought out the best of "Toyota performance" and reliability from its engines and transmissions. Seems like we wont be seeing that for awhile (the last tie we would see this; for now, seems to be the LFA...). So they are taking away the nostalgic "Toyota pedigree" out of the performance side of the "Supra". BMW makes good engines but seriously doubt they will last that long (or maybe they would learn how to build long lasting engines from Toyota)

2. BMW using Toyota platforms for its cars is somewhat sacrilege...BMWs have always been pretty nice, lively, well balanced cars. which Toyota has always yearned to have...although Toyota's new TNGA platform and old sports platforms from the past have been pretty nice...this is like taking a step back.

So yeah...we are ending up with a Supra which is not 100% Toyota and the Z5 which is not 100%  BMW. That doesn't mean the car will be bad. It just means we are not getting the sentimental gooey stuff we conjure up in our minds. After all, a lot of us had the same feeling about the GT86-BRZ and yet they actually ended up building a pretty nice car. Again, won't be the same car with different badges; I believe the Z5 is planned only as a drop top and the Supra which by itself would effect the dynamics quite drastically.

Although the car looks small..it actually is pretty big...larger than the Mk IV Supra...its just that proportions make it seem smaller in the pics. So it won't exactly fit in well as a GT86

Magna-Stery building the car is not necessarily a bad thing. They have put out some decent cars. 

 

Edited March 7, 2018 by iRage

[iRage]

Coming back down to reality...the new Toyota Auris....hope Toyota does release a 300HP++ variant of this..

[ajm]

according to European press(could be biased towards BMW,I must admit), the Supra is nothing but a Toyota version of the Z4. Even the interior is same,with the BMW iconic i-Drive knob on the center console. And the idea to include hybrid drive from Toyota was strongly rejected by BMW,due to the many changes it would need for the Z4 vehicle architecture.   https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/erlkoenig/toyota-gr-supra-racing-2018-daten-fotos-infos/

and i dont see any possible application of the Toyota hybrid system(planetary gearbox,Ni-mH batteries,Atkinson cycle engine running only in the max efficiency range) in any BMW/Mini vehicles. Because It would take away the driving fun.

[iRage]

On 2/8/2018 at 9:07 PM, iRage said:

Mazda CX-5 gets a facelift and tech update....the most interesting seems to be the cylinder pause feature which cuts out 2 cylinders when under low load. Also. the new SkyActive engine adopts a new piston design...plus there seems to be a whole lot more safety features bundled in...

http://autoc-one.jp/news/5001388/

Okay..so although this was claimed to be a face lift...the model has changed....Mazda's model changing is quite confusing....

[iRage]

The "New" "Improved" Mazda Atenza/6 estate wagon was shown off for the first time along with the Sedan which was showcased in the US. Again...Mazda calls it a "New" Improved Atenza but states that is the third model improvement since its launch back in 2012. This is the same story they said about the CX-5 but that ended up being a model change...

Anyway...Mazda has confirmed the new Atenza for the Japanese market will have the same updated SkyActiv engines which now includes Cylinder Pause technology and Mazda's safety packages will start becoming standard. The 2.5L Turbo is only for the US market (such sad news !)

  

[iRage]

Japan's first EV battery reconditioning plant opened in Namie-cho, Fukushima

Its joint venture between Sumitomo Corp and Nissan...

Also..just a few more hours before we get to see the next gen RAV4 and Forrester

 

 

[iRage]

The RAV4 returns to Japan after a few years absence ! 

What is known for now is that the RAV4 will be sold in Japan 2019 onwards; it will have styling cues from the Land Cruiser and CH-R and each of the 3 grades will have a slightly different front; it will be larger than the JDM A30 series which will make it the same size as the Harrier and will carry the updated power trains from the Harrier. 

Toyota scrapped the RAV4 from Japan in order to make room for the Harrier; but the Harrier was too "Premium" for most and Toyota missed out on the market share of segment as people started going for the CR-V and XTrail

 

[iRage]

We also get to see the new Foreter at the NYC Motorshow....hmm...somehow the RAV4 looks nicer (in the past I have always found the forester to be prettier and more funner to drive....)

[Magnum]

1 hour ago, iRage said:

The RAV4 returns to Japan after a few years absence ! 

What is known for now is that the RAV4 will be sold in Japan 2019 onwards; it will have styling cues from the Land Cruiser and CH-R and each of the 3 grades will have a slightly different front; it will be larger than the JDM A30 series which will make it the same size as the Harrier and will carry the updated power trains from the Harrier. 

Toyota scrapped the RAV4 from Japan in order to make room for the Harrier; but the Harrier was too "Premium" for most and Toyota missed out on the market share of segment as people started going for the CR-V and XTrail

 

It looks like one of their SUVs sold in US market. I'm not sure which one though.

In my opinion the front doesn't fit well with the rest of the vehicle.

[ShintaroX]

9 minutes ago, Magnum said:

It looks like one of their SUVs sold in US market. I'm not sure which one though.

In my opinion the front doesn't fit well with the rest of the vehicle.

Do you mean the Tacoma?

[Magnum]

49 minutes ago, ShintaroX said:

Do you mean the Tacoma?

Yep that must be the one, the grill and lights look similar to Tacoma

[iRage]

1 hour ago, Magnum said:

Yep that must be the one, the grill and lights look similar to Tacoma

The front looks like a Tacoma so it also has the squinty eyes and the high wide bonnet of the Prado and supposedly the next gen LC.....the rear shape looks a bit like a Jeep Grand Cherokee...

Edited March 29, 2018 by iRage

[iRage]

Nissan unveiled the next gen Altima...and it looks pretty beautiful (granted some aspects does look a bit like the current Crown and the center console looks very much like the new Toyotas). Right now only the US specs are released....it will come with a 4 cylinder 2L turbo charged engine (Nissan claims its the world's first variable compression type) and a 2.5L V6. For the first time ever the Altima will also come in an AWD variant....

Hope this translates in to the next gen Teana for the JDM market....