Typhoon and the Tokyo Motor Show

Today I woke up to a E-mail from my friend telling me that she would not be able to go to the Motor Show because she had a cold. I called some other people but everyone was busy or didn't want to go out because of the typhoon, so I headed out on my own because this is the only day I am able to go. The show was at Makuhari Messe which is a huge Convention hall in Chiba, or 8 huge convention halls. It was the same place that the show was at when I was here in 2005 and probably where it’s always been held. It's big.



Nissan had generated the biggest buzz so I headed to their booth to see the new GT-R which does 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and generates 477 hp out of a Twin Turbo V6. They had the same display set up that I saw when I was there in 2005 which three large TV screens around a circular room that would move together to form one large screen. While I wasn't totally sure about the GT-R from the pictures once I had seen, in person it looks awesome. Nissan had a new version of the Pivo which is an electric car that has a pod that rotates so that the driver never needs to back out of a parking space or parallel park. It also has a funny robot head mounted on the dash that is equipped with sensors so it can read your emotions and say things to cheer you up if you are feeling bad.

Honda had some interesting cars, probably the one that got the most attention was the CR-Z which is a possible replacement for the CR-X. The CR-Z is a hybrid sports car and I think it looked pretty cool. The FCX was also there, a fuel cell electric vehicle scheduled for release in 2008. Probably the weirdest car that Honda had was the Puyo. It looks like a big marshmallow on wheels. Of course the new Fit was there and the performance version of the S2000.

Mazda had some pretty interesting stuff that looked like it was from the future. Probably the one that stood out the most was the Taiki Concept which features very advance aero dynamics and a rotary engine. They had a couple other concepts there that go with Mazda’s new “flow” theme they are establishing through their new models.

Toyota had the i-REAL, the wheel chair for non cripple people and some other crazy concepts. My favorite by them was the FT-HS, a Hybrid sports car that looked pretty cool and had awesome carbon fiber wheels.

Lexus had their LF-A, their performance car with a V10. The IS F the performance version of the IS 350 equipped with a V8 and a 8-speed transmission. The other new concept was for a Hybrid SUV.

Mitsubishi was there with the Evolution X and some other concepts.

Subaru was kinda week as usual. They had the new STI there and a concept called the Exiga.

Almost every brand of car and bike was represented at the show and there was always something interesting to see. On the way out and the way home I saw the effects of the strong winds from the Typhoon. Piles of broken umbrellas and rows of knocked over bikes.