Posts Tagged gt
Tokyo Auto Salon 2013: The 86 Extravaganza
Posted by stocjoe in Uncategorized on February 10, 2013
One of my favorite cars released in the past year has been the Toyobaru. And by that I mean the car that is badged three different ways as the Toyota GT86, the Subaru BRZ, and the Scion FR-S. It really is only one car with superficial differences. I’ve read occasionally that there are minor differences in suspension tuning, but for all intents and purposes, they’re all the same car with slight changes to bumpers and lights. Regardless, the important thing is that it’s a lightweight, front-engined, rear wheel drive sports car with a Subaru flat four that uses Toyota’s direct fuel injection technology. And it is a wonderful little car. I still need to drive one myself, but its rave reviews, including being Top Gear’s Car of the Year, it’s fairly safe to say it is a great automobile.
However, after attending Tokyo Auto Salon, I don’t think any country has gotten as excited over what I will here on refer to as the 86 as Japan. Seriously, the 86 was everywhere at the show. There was even a booth called “86 World” dedicated entirely to the car. It was amazing the amount of stuff for the car and for fans of the car. Frankly, 86 World took some of the merchandising to Ferrari-like extremes. Aside from toy cars, you could also see tools, sneakers, and even eyeglasses bearing the 86 logo! It was almost too much. Ignoring the borderline absurd 86-branded goods, there were plenty of really amazing and interesting takes on this great, affordable little sports car.
Among the things that I saw tweaked and changed on the 86, power upgrades were quite common. Many people have griped over the 86 having too little power at just 200hp. And while there is likely to be a factory forced induction car (which has even become more likely that the turbo version of the new Subaru Forester uses a version of the same engine), the aftermarket has you covered if you can’t wait. I saw at least three different ways of adding forced induction to an 86 by adding a turbocharger, a centrifugal supercharger, or even a roots-style supercharger. While I’m sure the first two will likely be the most common and most supported modifications, I couldn’t help but love the roots blower on top of that 2.0 boxer engine. However the roots supercharged 86 wasn’t the most unusual 86 with uprated power. I would say that title goes to the Tom’s GT86 on display in the Gazoo Racing booth. In that particular version, the four cylinder was thrown out altogether to make way for a V6. Unfortunately I don’t know nearly enough about the car or the engine to tell you anymore than that, but I would assume that it was taken from another Toyota product.
Outside of just power mods, there were other interesting 86s as well. In 86 World, Toyota had a version kitted out with retro style goodies like vintage looking wheels, thick-sidewall tires, and even rear window louvres! I also was quite fond of the rally style 86 with fog light pods mounted on either side of the grill. Possibly one of the most popular 86s in 86 World was the life-size Choro Q 86. For those of you unfamiliar, Choro Qs are little toy versions of cars that are made to look cartoon-esque with exaggerated proportions and dimensions. This of course translates to a pretty amusing vehicle when scaled to full size.
Over in the aforementioned Gazoo Racing booth, some of the most extreme versions of the 86 resided. The most publicized of them was the Gazoo Racing designed 86 which was inspired by the last generation of the Toyota Supra. I was a little skeptical when I saw some of the early pictures, but seeing it in person, I feel they pulled it off nicely. You could tell it shared some of the Supra’s design aesthetic, but it was its own car. There was also an 86 modified and painted to look like an old AE86 Levin driven by Keiichi Tsuchiya. This was something rather cool considering that the Option Auto booth had that very AE86 on display as well. The Tom’s V6 GT86 did not ignore style either. It was showcasing some new body work including some very cool carbon fiber fender flares and custom split four spoke wheels. The wheels were shown in black and silver and I assume will be available to consumers soon. The last 86 in the the Gazoo booth was one that received the most radical bodywork short of the Supra inspired 86. It was designed with what I would describe as very classic, European lines. It was very organic and flowing, and I feel that it was quite attractive.
Elsewhere, throughout the show, you would find 86s scattered all over the place. From Top Secret, to Abflug, to Project Mu, it really was an 86 invasion. And you could find them in an array of styles from all function track style to just all style. There was even a kit that could make your 86 look like Toyota’s other, substantially faster and more expensive sports car, the Lexus LFA. The 86 even showed up in miniature customized form, with a USDM style model kit catching my eye. The 86 was almost overwhelming. It was very nice to see though that this small, low cost, rear drive sports car is going to get so much support and attention from the aftermarket. Cars like this simply don’t really exist anymore. The lone torch-bearer left in this segment has been the Mazda Miata, and while I love the Miata, I’m glad to see that there is another amazing little sports car out there. And hopefully if the 86 is as successful as it looks like it will be, we may even see a couple other competitors enter the fray.
Tokyo Auto Salon 2013: Race Cars
Posted by stocjoe in Uncategorized on January 30, 2013
The big draw for me at the Tokyo Auto Salon was all the amazingly modified cars that are on display. But those aren’t the only vehicles that show up at show. As it turns out, to my surprise and delight, some pretty cool race cars from the past and present were on display this year. Two of Honda’s 1960’s Formula One cars were on display, one from 1967 at Honda’s booth, and one from 1964 at the NGK booth. What I love about these cars are the elaborate twisting headers sprouting from the rear mounted engine. And speaking of F1 there was also a 1996 Ferrari Formula One car on display.
Super GT cars were also out in force, ranging from Toyota Prius, to Honda CR-Z, to GT-R, and the lamented HSV-010. The HSV was what came of the remains of Honda’s canceled NSX project. The plan was originally to have a V10 mounted up front for the next generation NSX, but economic conditions led Honda to cancel the project. The Super GT HSV was developed from the stillborn NSX. As many of you know, the NSX will return, but instead with a mid-mounted V6 hybrid. I still look forward to the newest interpretation of the NSX, but I still wonder what a front engine V10 NSX would have been like.
Le Mans cars also showed up, and this probably excited me the most. Last year marked a serious return of Japanese cars to the big prototype leagues at Le Mans. Toyota fielded two LMP1 prototype cars, both gasoline hybrids, against Audi’s nearly invincible entries. Although they were not victorious, it was still a big deal to see them on track and being reasonably competitive. One of those Toyota racers was on display this year. Almost more exciting was seeing the DeltaWing (powered by Nissan) race car at the Nissan booth. The DeltaWing is one of the most radical race car designs to come up in many years. It’s design involves a very narrow track up front with a wide section at the back. The idea is that the car is half the weight and half the aerodynamic drag of its competitors, and as a result, only needs half the power and half the fuel of its competitors. It’s proven to hang well with the established racers, but how to classify it has been a major issue, with the car being relegated to experimental classes. The other issue has been completing a race without wrecking. Through no fault of its own, the DeltaWing has had unfortunate incidents where other cars have taken it out of contention. Ironically, at Le Mans 2012, it was taken out by a Toyota. The other Le Mans racer on display was Mazda’s new diesel powered LMP2 car. This car is brand new and marks Mazda’s return to Le Mans this year. Mazda is the only Japanese manufacturer to ever win Le Mans overall, and the only one to do so with a rotary engine. Since Le Mans is generally dominated overall by the LMP1 class, I doubt that we’ll see Mazda take an overall win, it will be interesting to see how it does in the LMP2 class.
And besides all of these, there were race cars of a slightly more stylized persuasion. Inside the show there were a handful of drift cars scattered about, but it was outside that you could see some D1 Grand Prix drifters putting their cars through their paces in a small course marked out in the exhibition area. Each driver had two solo runs, one a warm-up and the other a scored run, and then they ran tandem drift runs. Though I’m sure it wasn’t quite as spectacular as at a full scale race circuit, it was still brilliant to see some pretty impressive car control, and a healthy (unhealthy?) amount of smoke in such a small area.
Also, be sure to check out the videos linked to YouTube down below for a taste of the drifting action at Tokyo Auto Salon:
Idling: A Car Blog 