Japanese Car News

[Gummybr]

2 hours ago, iRage said:

I wasn't comparing it to the ICE prices...for starters I am not convinced on the 1.7mil yen price (spec''d out a base spec Mitsubishi variant without anything other than the safety package and it came to 2.2mil yen..like that is all it had). Then on the other hand, when you look at the monthly payment with more or less the same down payment (500,000yen) the Leaf (which even in basic form has more safety features than the Sakura) comes in at about 22,000yen and the Sakura at 16,000 yen. So for 6000yen more you get twice the car (considering the monthly mileage we put it does a pure EV vehicle at that price makes less sense than a standard kei car). 

This part I never looked at. You learn something new everyday.

 

3 hours ago, iRage said:

Checked out a BZ4x...Toyota only gives it under its KINTO subscription service. 700,000yen down with a 99,000yen (+tax) monthly subscription fee. The fee includes all service, taxes, potential repair fees. So the user/owner only has to charge and drive. Toyota is giving it only through KINTO so that they have control over battery maintenence.

Interesting so that means when the imports to Sri Lanka open up (maybe in a couple of years), the grey market will not be able to bring them down new from the dealers and only TL will have access to new vehicles.

It works more like a subscription does it? Trust it must be the same the world over as I have seen KINTO services offered in Europe as well.

[iRage]

5 hours ago, Gummybr said:

It works more like a subscription does it? Trust it must be the same the world over as I have seen KINTO services offered in Europe as well.

Yes...nothing LIKE about it..that is exactly what it is. Conceptually it is the same all over but I see some regional specific differences (I suppose it is to meet local regulatory requirements and faceup the competition).

5 hours ago, Gummybr said:

Interesting so that means when the imports to Sri Lanka open up (maybe in a couple of years), the grey market will not be able to bring them down new from the dealers and only TL will have access to new vehicles.

Yes...it might be so (for EVs and Hydrogen cars). It has its pros and cons I suppose

[Gummybr]

@iRage Just checked yes the Dayz is Yen 1.66mil whereas the Sakura is advertised at Yen 2.3mil (before concessions).

You took the after EV concession price of the standard price? How will they stack up apple to apple spec wise?

 

[iRage]

47 minutes ago, Gummybr said:

You took the after EV concession price of the standard price?

Yes....base price of the low spec is 2.3mil....initial concession for the car is about 550,000yen which makes it 1.7ish mil yen. But in reality if you take the 2.3mil base spec..add some safety features, stereo/nav, carpets..then the car comes to nearly 2.7mil which with concessions puts it down to 2.2ish mil yen. Now, if you take the Dayz the final drive away price of about 2.1mil yen gives you the highest grade which has all the bells and whistles as standard, nicer body trim, upholstery, etc... So in that regard, one would go for the Sakura purely in support of the green revolution. Now mind you, a large proportion of the car owning population live in apartment blocks that do not have charging infrastructure. But irrespective of the Dayz, this also brings to my previous point, 6000yen more a month you get a larger and better car in the form of a Nissan Leaf, so then the only reason you would go for is you are really strapped for cash or do not have the means to park, etc..a non-kei car.

[Gummybr]

In what you say dont you think they should have gone with the ePower system? It was hailed as the next best thing to electric

 

[iRage]

3 hours ago, Gummybr said:

In what you say dont you think they should have gone with the ePower system? It was hailed as the next best thing to electric

 

Logically that would make sense....but the government is pushing for 0 gasoline dependant vehicles (at the pump atleast). So manufacturers are phasing in to it.

[iRage]

JDM Spec #GRCorolla
Two grades announced...
Morizo Special (Grey car) : EDIT : 2 seat variant similar to the Circuit Edition in the US but lighter with an exclusive color. Sold through lottery around Winter. Comes with an exposed carbon roof but no idea if it is a paid option like in the GR Yaris 1st edition.
RZ (white car): Standard 5 door model...but NOT the same as the Core in the US. Notice the black roof ? It has a carbon roof (carbon roof wrapped in carbon). So all specs announced for Japan so far come with the cf roof

Edited June 2, 2022 by iRage

[Gummybr]

Something I would love to have is on the horizon, hope the prices of vehicles in Sri Lanka would be affordable by the time this can come to Sri Lanka. A five door version of the Jimny which was teased and talked of finally seems like coming true with hybrid tech. A mini G Class in the making.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/suzuki-jimny-tipped-return-five-door-hybrid-4x4

[iRage]

12th June, 1972

Happy 50th Birthday to the Honda Civic !!!

Also...just a few days more till the most powerful Civic ever, the NEW Type R gets fully revealed. 21st of July !

Check it out at the launch page... : https://www.honda.co.jp/CIVICTYPE-R/new

[iRage]

 

The new Crown gets revealed this Friday ! https://toyota.jp/info/newcrown2022/

What we know so far (and confirmed by local dealers)..

1. It is going front wheel drive for the first time ever thus changing tradition. It will also be available in 4WD.

1a. Being FF means it will also shre the same TNGA platform as the Camry. Again, for the first time ever the Crown and Camry will share platform.

2. The Crown is going back to being a family/range of cars like in the past as there seems to be plans to release a sedan + (i.e. coupe style edan) a cross over and even an estate wagon. For now what is confirmed is the sedan + with leaked pattern filing images.

 

3. It is going to be a global model again...so it will be sold in select markets outside of Japan. This includes the US which hasn't seen a Crown since like the 70s. A few other export markets will also get it. Most of these markets got the Crown in the past at random times till about the early 2000s. China on the other hand had had its own version of a Crown including a version of a rebadged Kluger/Highlander. 

Edited July 13, 2022 by iRage

[iRage]

New CRV...global specs are not fully released yet, eitherway, Japan will not be getting the CRV (yet again..)

 

Edited July 13, 2022 by iRage

[iRage]

Honda - Japan revealed the JDM spec Honda BR-Z yesterday (14th of July). Based on the same platform as the Civic, the vehicle sits in between the Fit based Vezel and CR-V market segments. Earlier on Honda-Japan hinted that the Japanese market will not be getting the new CR-V but only this. For the Japanese market the vehicle was announced only in Hybrid form with Honda's new e-Hev system. I do like the looks of it a bit more than the JDM Corolla Cross.

[iRage]

First glimpse of the new (16th gen) Crown SERIES! 
Crown Crossover,Sport, Sedan,  Estate. 
Very futuristic looking. Traditionslists did not like the design of the current (15th gen) Crown. I wonder how they will embrace this model. 

Sorry about the phone camera pics...the official images of the entire range is still not out.

[MaleCortana]

 

WTF is this CROWN not a  fan. Prefer the classic sedan.

[Gummybr]

21 hours ago, iRage said:

First glimpse of the new (16th gen) Crown SERIES! 
Crown Crossover,Sport, Sedan,  Estate. 
Very futuristic looking. Traditionslists did not like the design of the current (15th gen) Crown. I wonder how they will embrace this model. 

Sorry about the phone camera pics...the official images of the entire range is still not out.

https://japanesenostalgiccar.com/toyota-crown-sedan-lives-on-as-model-expands-into-new-segments/

Not a fan of the Honda looking Crown Sedan / Coupe. If this is the future then hats off to Renault for bringing out that weird looking presidential car and Citroen for the C6.

The crossover ones looks nice, but lets wait for the Japanese consumers to decide.

[iRage]

Its Wraps Off time for the Civic Type R

Even as a Corolla fan...I have to admit..the Civic Type R has a lot more going for it (design wise at least) than the GR Corolla. The GR Corolla is simply trying too hard to look the part. The Civic Type R...finally has gone back to looking refined and capable.

Honda LogR :

Thank you Honda !

[iRage]

Honda finally released the pwoer figures for the new Civic Type R (CL5). The JDM variant has around 325hp with 420N.m of torque. The export variants have slightly different (lesser) power figures depending on the market. The reduction can be accounted for varying emissions requirements in each market. 

[iRage]

Toyota's Kinto car subsription service launched a car personalization service starting with the GR Yaris. Owners of GR Yari (? what is the plural of Yaris ?) can now take their GR Yaris to a GR Garage and get its software updated which boosts the car's torque from 370N.m to 390N.m. This makes its torque curve closer to that of the soup'd up GRMN Yaris. In addition to the software update, the car can be customized (throttle response, steering feel, and a few other items) either to preset configurations OR you can take your car to a track day where they collect your driving data and customize it to suit your own driving style.

All this comes at a cost though. The software update comes at a cool 141,000yen. Getting preset configurations customized in costs 8800yen and if you want the whole driving analysis based customization, then it is going to cost you 15,000yen ++.

Pricing for the GR Corolla is due around the 7th of September with additional data on the 14th. There are rumors on the internet on the prices but those are more or less rumors and so far nothing official (so it might be right it might be wrong).

[iRage]

The new Mitsubishi ASX (JDM name RVR) was revealed by Mitsubishi Europe earlier today. It is a rebadged Renault Captur. Like..exactly the Renault Captur with Mitsubishi badges on it. In away it is quite heart breaking as the RVR was an innovative car back in the day...so it is quite heartbreaking to see what has happened to a great model.

 

[Gummybr]

6 hours ago, iRage said:

The new Mitsubishi ASX (JDM name RVR) was revealed by Mitsubishi Europe earlier today. It is a rebadged Renault Captur. Like..exactly the Renault Captur with Mitsubishi badges on it. In away it is quite heart breaking as the RVR was an innovative car back in the day...so it is quite heartbreaking to see what has happened to a great model.

 

They've changed with time and financials. 🤪

I think they could have done a bit more to make it more of a Mitsubishi like they did with the outlander and the EK wagon.

[iRage]

1 hour ago, Gummybr said:

They've changed with time and financials. 🤪

I think they could have done a bit more to make it more of a Mitsubishi like they did with the outlander and the EK wagon.

IKR ???!!! They could have put their signature Predator face on it....at least the big grill

[Gummybr]

13 hours ago, iRage said:

IKR ???!!! They could have put their signature Predator face on it....at least the big grill

Yup this is like take Renault slap Mitsubishi badge and viola a Mitsubishi! Gen public like: Is that a Renault? Mitsubishi: Nooo its a Mitsubishi.

[iRage]

On 9/22/2022 at 11:43 AM, Gummybr said:

Yup this is like take Renault slap Mitsubishi badge and viola a Mitsubishi! Gen public like: Is that a Renault? Mitsubishi: Nooo its a Mitsubishi.

I am curious to see where they sell this. Although it was launched out of Europe, why would anyone in Europe buy a Renault with a Mitsubishi badge when they can buy the actual thing ? Besides, it is not like Mitsubishi has a strong dealership network over in Europe that is better than Renault's.

So I suppose that could translate to it being mostly sold in Asia and Africa where Euro brands are not "common".

[iRage]

Many (car enthusiass) would not want to admit to this..but the Prius is one of the iconic cars of our times. Sadly it was unloved mostly because of the people who used them; but the car itself has made considerable progress in terms of performance and practicality. As for design...well the current model does have the looks only a mother could love, but the previous generations have looked cute. Where driving dynamics were concerned..the first few generaions were lethargic due to the Hybrid system...the last generation was actually pretty good but let down by its (not so precise) steeering.

Well..now we have the next generation Prius (tagged as Hybrid REBORN). and it is GORGEOUS ! Glad it went back to a more convensional design that is reminiscent of the 2nd and 3rd generation models.

Its supposed to come with a 2L Hybrid system (and a 1.8L Hybrid variant depending on the market). The rumor is that in Japan, the 1.8L variant is supposedly available only through Kinto (the car subscription service) and the lowest grade is apparently only for businesses. So if you are in Japan and want to buy a new Prius...it might have to be a 2L variant and of the highest grade (which you will have to wait for a long long time anyway). If not...you just subscribe for the car....I wonder how the SL car exporters are going to work around it...they will probably buy a fleet of the lowest grade ones and then upgrade it to the hghest grade themselves.

Anyway..enough yapping..

 

[iRage]

The new Serena was revealed recently. Comes in either 2L gasoline (~150hp) or 1.5L ePower (~97hp +~165hp motor assist) form. It also comes with the latest ProPilot version and features such as the same lane hands free system (grade specific) have apparently been improved. However, what is more impressive is probably that in Japan, the vehicle can determine at which point of your journey is the best to charge the battery at once you set your destination in to the GPS (using Nissan connect).

For me, the car looks way too much like the new Noah/Voxy (especially the rear). Nissan seats have always been a lot better than every other Japanese manufacturer and I am sure the new Serena's seats are no exception. However, the interior does look rather cheap and not so grand (compared to the Noah/Voxy). There is an ultra luxurious version called the Lumion...so hopefully that has a better interior ?

Prices start at 2.7 millionyen or the base grade and 4.8million (ish) yen for the Lumion (this makes it as pricey as the base grade of the Elgrand..but it is the same case with the Noah/Voxy as well).