Autoblog

The redesigned 2010 Nissan Cube will be unveiled in the U.S. tomorrow at the LA Auto Show, but Nissan's boxy little wagon is already making its way to Japanese showrooms, as evidenced by these shots of a transporter loaded with them. What you see here is what you'll see in LA tomorrow, only with one major difference: we'll get a reversed version of the car's asymmetrical layout. Stay tuned.


[Source: Newcar-News via TTAC, Motive]

Honda's JDM Odyssey – not to be confused with the U.S.-market people mover that shares the same name – has been hailed as one of the best handling minivans in Japan. For 2009, Honda has taken everything good about the outgoing third-generation model and made it better, beginning with a sleeker exterior that pulls a few cues from the Honda FCX Clarity.

Underneath the new, slightly stretched sheet metal lies a reworked chassis sporting double wishbones at all four corners, optional all-wheel-drive and a 2.4-liter four-cylinder i-VTEC powerplant putting out 171 hp in standard guise and 203 hp in the range-topping Absolute model.

The interior is adorned with all the techy tidbits that made previous generations a hit with family-toting geeks, including a sci-fi inspired dash and a new multi-positioned camera system that allows drivers to get a bird's eye view of the vehicle. Similar to the Fit sold in the States, the seating can be arranged in a multitude of ways, including folding flat to create something resembling a bed. We'd like to scam one out of Honda during our next trip to Japan so we can post on the move and don't have to worry about heading back to our hotel – which is traditionally only slightly smaller than the new Odyssey.

As many of you doubtless know, the Japanese Honda Odyssey isn't the same thing we get here in the States. While we get the more jumbo-rific family escape pod with sliders and the whole shebang, the JDM Odyssey is a sleeker-looking MPV with four traditionally-hinged doors anf four-cylinder power. And now it's time for a new one. Honda's just put up a special site to welcome the upcoming 4th-gen JDM Odyssey, whose styling further evolves the shape that's by now a common site in Japan, while the front end is likely to showcase Honda's current family design theme (think Clarity, Insight, etc.). You can check out the teaser site by clicking here, and keep in mind that Honda's reportedly thinking about sending over some of its JDM machinery. In lieu of, say, an Accord wagon, this (or the more compact Stream) might work for a lot of people -- especially those of us who view the typical U.S.-style minivan as Superman does kryptonite.

[Source: Honda via NihonCar]

What other automaker would spend the time and expense of developing a new airbag just because, you know, airbags could be better? The same one who developed a new rail car for the same reason. The Japanese automaker has developed a new airbag it claims will give drivers better protection in accidents. The shaped bag uses a spiral seam to induce more even inflation, which provides a larger surface area and creates uniform pressure around the bag more quickly than in a conventional airbag system. Thus, the driver is cushioned sooner. The i-SRS system also uses a gas release valve that helps control airbag deployment and pressure, and holds the gas inside the bag until a preset time. The technology is already slated to appear on the Honda Life in Japan this November.

Outside the vehicle, Honda will be adding a new multi-view camera to the upcoming JDM Odyssey, much like Nissan's Around View Monitor. Four wide-angle CCD cameras will be placed in the front, back, and on the side mirrors. Each view can be seen individually or combined for a computer generated aerial shot of the car's movements. Because they're wide angle, Honda has also incorporated a view with the front camera that extends the driver's line of sight in low-visibility intersections, such as when exiting a parking garage (see right pic). It sounds similar to the front-mounted camera system on the Rolls-Royce Phantom. Unfortunately there's no word on when either technology will come to the U.S. Thanks for the tip, phaedra!

[Source: Honda]

Both Honda and Toyota have been toying with laser-based Active Cruise Control systems for over a decade now, while the German luxury car makers have offered more expensive radar-based gizmos for almost as long. The premise of both is that an electronic copilot keeps an eye on the road ahead maintaining a safe distance from the car in front, even slamming the brakes at the last moment in an emergency should the driver fail to react.

A long, long time ago -- 1996 to be exact -- Toyota decided to brand engineer a GM vehicle for the Japanese domestic market. The vehicle they chose: the Chevrolet Cavalier. They even called it the Toyota Cavalier, and wanted to move 20,000 of them per year in Japan. They put them in dealer showrooms next to JDM cars, and, well... people didn't really buy them. By 2000, the Toyota Cavalier was mort.

And while their loss is not exactly your gain, it might mean you can have some fun with rabbits and hats. GM made Toyota Cavalier parts, including Toyota badges, for the car, and has boxes of the stuff at its warehouse in Lansing, Michigan. If you can get a parts manager to fulfill your order -- overseas-only parts are normally red-flagged for U.S. domestic use due to DOT issues -- then you can get a Toyota badge wrapped in official GM packaging. Cue the Ripley's Believe It or Not theme music...

[Source: Automobile]

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Nissan Cube

You know that you have a disorder when you're as enthused about an econobox as you are to get seat time in something like a Rolls or Bentley. But that's me, and that's how I felt when I got the call at my desk telling me that my new media ride was downstairs waiting for me. I quietly walked out to the stairwell and then, when the door shut behind me, I bounded down them two at a time, like a kid running downstairs on Christmas day. I stepped out into the sunlight, and there it was in all its delightfully quirky, 100% JDM glory: a 2008 Nissan Cube. And for the next four days, it was mine.


All photos Copyright ©2008 Alex Núñez / Weblogs, Inc.

After a flurry of rumors circulated last week, Subaru has officially confirmed that a production version of the Exiga seven-passenger wagon is on its way. To sate our appetites before the official reveal on June 17th, Subaru has released a teaser image of the Exiga, along a micro-site dedicated to the automaker's newest people-mover.

Judging by the Japanese-language site, Subaru appears to be positioning the Exiga as a luxury alternative to the traditional wagon or crossover, with a well-appointed interior and a panoramic roof. Then again, our impression might be skewed by the up-beat techno soundtrack on the site (people at work, beware).

Click the image above for a high-res version of the teaser, along with a photochopped image that lightens up the pic to reveal a few more of the Exiga's details.

Click above for a high-res gallery, follow the jump for video

Meet the Biante, Mazda's new Japan-only 8-passenger minivan. The funky oversized headlamps, expansive greenhouse, and stylish frenched taillamps are the work of Iwao Koizumi, designer of the original Atenza (Mazda6 outside Japan) and CX-7.

Mazda announced the Biante earlier this week, and details are still a bit thin thin. According to the automaker, the new people-mover's name is derived from the word "ambient" and will deliver the most interior space in its class when it goes on sale later this summer. We expect to learn more technical info then, but in the meantime, we've got a promo video after the jump as well as a high-res photo gallery below.

If you can read Japanese, you can also stop by the official Biante website, which features a bunch of Gumby-like characters that represent a family of seven, plus one dog -- all of whom should fit in the new ride. You know, if they were real people. It's all very Japanese.


[Sources: Mazda, Nihon Car]

Honda has received a flood of orders for the newly redesigned Fit in the two weeks since its launch. That's a good thing for Honda in its home market, where its sales have been flagging. Instead of the projected 12,000 Fits per month, there have been 20,000 orders for the roomier and more efficient Fit since its announcement. The deluge of demand for the new Fit could help Honda take over the top spot as Japan's best-selling car, toppling the Toyota Corolla. It's important to note, however, that in Japan, new model announcements are routinely followed by initial order numbers that exceed expectations (which are then trumpeted by the automakers). In the United States, the clamor around the Fit remains hot, as well, so when the new one makes it here – reportedly within a year – it should equal further positive numbers for Honda.

[Source: Guardian Unlimited]