TOKYO MOTORSHOW – Toyota

Although the Ford group, with its many different brands, covered a sizable floor area at Makuhari Messe, the venue for the 35th Tokyo Motorshow, it was still Toyota – together with subsidiary Daihatsu, which had the largest booth as befits its position of being Japan’s No.1 automaker.

Toyota’s theme for this motorshow was “New Dream-Filled Mobility” and as has been the trend in the past decade, the emphasis has been on environment-friendly concepts while not totally sacrificing driving pleasure. Nevertheless, for the sports enthusiasts, Toyota still devoted a section to motorsports, particularly its entry into F1 next year with the Panasonic Toyota team.

FXS
And looking ahead to the future, the company also offered a glimpse of the sort of technologies a sporty model would have. These were showcased in a concept car known as ‘FXS’ (Future Experimental Sports) which is aimed at those with ‘mature tastes’. In other words, the FXS is a sportscar for the boy-racers of today who remain keen on spirited driving when they get into their 40s.

The FXS has an open roadster style with a bold frontal appearance. Measuring 4150 mm long and 1870 mm wide, it hugs the road and is no higher than 1100 mm. In the 2-seat cockpit, the ambience is simple and lean with chrome and pale blue meters. Instrumentation is kept simple and easy to read, providing only the information needed when necessary.

Mechanically, the FXS is exciting and stresses three points: a 50:50 weight balance; low yaw moment of inertia; and a low centre of gravity. The perfect balance is achieved by the careful positioning of the engine which is low-slung and set behind the front axle line to give a midship mounting. Aerodynamics have also been optimised under the car with a flat and smooth underside.

A V8 engine with a 4.3-litre displacement is fitted in the FXS and while no output figures were given, Toyota revealed that the engine can spin up to 8000 rpm. Power delivery to the rear wheels is via a 6-speed sequential manual transmission and the company claims that the 1,300-kg car has powerful linear acceleration.

The suspension is by means of double-wishbones front and rear with 245/40×18 tyres in front and 285/35×18 tyres at the rear. These huge and broad tyres should provide the necessary traction at high speeds and stability during fast cornering.

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