A biweekly roundup of automotive news, good, bad and just plain weird:
Mazda brings back the rotary engine
This week, your humble correspondent actually happens to be on the ground in Toyko, cheek-by-jowl with other sweaty correspondents all struggling to get a single unobstructed photograph of the new RX-7. Sorry, not the new RX-7, the new RX-Vision concept. After years of denying they were working on a rotary-powered machine, Mazda pulled the wraps off a long-nosed sport coupe; yes, those are concept looks, but it's pretty close to production ready.
Many of the design cues aren't far off the current-gen MX-5, just lengthened and widened. Could that same chassis be used to rebirth Mazda's flagship car? Well, we'll have to wait and see. Besides mentioning that the concept was both rear-wheel drive and rotary powered (the engine was referred to as Skyactiv-R), details were thin on the ground.
We could be a decade away, we could see a new RX sport coupe in half that. One thing's for sure: if it's going to look like that, build it ASAP.
Porsche releases Macan GTS
In less fanciful news, Porsche pulled the wrap off another designation for their hot-selling Macan crossover. You could have seen this coming a mile away: there's the Macan S, the Macan Turbo, and between them now is the Macan GTS. The Macan GTS gets a mild horsepower bump over the base S model (all Macans are turbocharged, though only one is called the Turbo. Don't think about it too hard, Porsche wouldn't like that). The adjustable air-ride suspension is a little lower than in the Turbo model, and the styling is a little more aggressive. Basically, it's a few percentage points quicker and meaner than the base model for several thousand dollars more. If there isn't a Macan Turbo S in a few years, I'll eat my lederhosen.
Nissan IDS promises an autonomous future
Aside from dreamy sportscars and naked profiteering, Tokyo's main theme was the coming of the autonomous vehicle. Over at Nissan, things took shape in the form of the IDS concept, a sharply angled vehicle that might as well be called the 2020 Nissan Leaf. With a 60 kWh battery providing theoretically twice the range of next year's Leaf, the IDS could be the way forward. As for how it'll be progressing forward, it might be handling that all by itself. Flip a switch and the steering wheel for the IDS disappears into the dash, leaving a touchpad in its place. Nissan promises driving by choice, not by necessity, meaning you can let the car handle the traffic jam coming off the North Shore, or zip up the Sea to Sky yourself.
Don't expect this stuff tomorrow, but do expect incremental improvements to the way cruise control works, and further driver aids to help with safety. Nissan calls their suite of self-driving tech "intelligent driving," and considering how little of that you see from human drivers, it can't come soon enough.
Pair of Subaru concepts point the way forward
Subaru also trumpeted a next-gen version of their Eyesight camera-based technology, plumping for at least semi-autonomous driving within five years. Add automatic lane change into the already existing automatic cruise control, and make your commute just that much easier. But it's what's coming sooner that's of real interest. With the new Impreza due out next year, Subaru's five-door concept is a glimpse in the short-range crystal ball. Like all Subaru concepts, the new Impreza is pretty futuristic, but you can expect the production version to be far tamer. Still, a little more pizazz can't hurt, especially in the interior.
Also interesting was the Viziv concept, a burly looking thing slightly larger than the Forester. Never mind the wacky sliding rear doors: a longer version of this is bound to be the next Tribeca. Subaru needs a seven seater in the lineup for sales growth, and one with a 2.0-litre turbocharged boxer engine would be just non-SUV enough to appeal to folks outgrowing their Forester.
Lexus LF-FC makes the fuel cell cool
Buying a fuel cell vehicle is a bit tricky, as you're really buying into a different type of infrastructure. The technology is sound, but you can't just fill up wherever you want - at least not yet. Toyota thinks it's found the way forward though, and with their LF-FC, they're also showing us a glimpse of the new LS range-topping sedan.
With rear-wheel drive, and in-wheel electric motors completing for all-wheel-drive, the LF concept is enormously complicated, but so too is the current LS600h. Building these for specific markets where hydrogen fuelling stations are present might actually work. But for the rest of North America, this style might be what the new standard LS looks like. Maybe it's Stockholm syndrome, but the hyper-futuristic look actually works here.
Watch this space for all the best and worst of automotive news, or submit your own auto oddities to [email protected].
