As you’ve seen from our coverage, Subaru and Toyota chose the 2011 Geneva show to update the world on the progress of their jointly developed front-engine, rear-drive sports coupe. The interesting bit is how differently these two companies are approaching the reveal of this long-anticipated vehicle.
For the heavyweights over at Toyota, the FT-86 II concept announcement was almost a throwaway remark in the statement made by Didier Leroy, President of Toyota Motor Europe. At the press conference on Tuesday, Leroy devoted nearly all of his speech to a detailed discussion of Toyota’s hybrid strategy and only briefly referenced the FT-86 II concept at the end of his remarks:
“I want to focus on the passion that’s returned to Toyota in recent months. That passion is back in everything we are doing and in every new product we are developing. You can feel the passion in the only non-hybrid we’ve got on the stand, our FT-86 II concept car. This is the evolution of the concept we showed in Geneva last year and closer to the final car we will launch next year, as part of a new wave of Toyota products.”
The passion is back, eh? Indeed, buried all the way back on the last three pages of Toyota’s 18-page Geneva press kit. Not exactly the ringing endorsement hachi-roku and Celica-Supra fans the world over were waiting for.
No new ground was broken either, just a reiteration of what we already know:
- The new FT-86 sports car is being developed in conjunction with Fuji Heavy Industries (parent company of Subaru – though Subaru is never mentioned)
- It will use a ‘free revving boxer petrol engine’ mounted in the front, driving the rear wheels.
- A six-speed manual should be on offer when the car goes on sale in 2012.
- This concept, dubbed ‘Functional Beauty’, is a product of Toyota’s European Design Development center.
As they are wont to do with a concept, Toyota put the blacked-out FT-86 II out of reach from show goers up on a fast rotating platform – revealing nothing but its sleek LFA-sque styling.
Subaru, on the other hand, proudly showed off its ‘Boxer Sports Car Architecture’ see through model, displaying some of its vital guts – including the low mounted boxer engine, front MacPherson strut and rear control-arm suspension. The message was as clear as the concept’s body panels: Styling be damned – Subaru, not Toyota, is taking the lead on important things like the engine and suspension.
A Subaru spokesperson we talked to at the show confirmed as much, and stated that the company has had difficulty in coordinating its reveal strategy with Toyota. This is unfortunate because this Toyobaru mashup is arguably riskier for Subaru. Not just because they are much smaller; the company will also have to abandon the long-touted marketing message of AWD performance across its lineup when the rear drive coupe finally goes on sale next year.
Edward Loh on March 2 2011 11:30 AM Tags : 2011 geneva motor show, Toyota FT 86 II
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"An elevator can only go up and down, but a Wonkavator goes sideways and slantways and longways and backways and frontways and squareways and any other ways that you can think of." Our Smart Fortwo Passion is just like a Wonkavator, without the up and down part. Because of its smaller-than-small-car size, it seems as though it can go any which way you want, even in the most crowded parking lot. That really is the hook for the Smart. You might think the Smart is super efficient, but super is a bit of an overstatement. It is hard to complain about a vehicle that can manage 33 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway -- diesel-like numbers. Those numbers are a little harder to swallow considering the Fortwo is the smallest, least powerful, and lightest mass-market vehicle for sale in the U.S. today.
Small and light does have its advantages. The little Wonkavator feels like a cross between a go-kart and a barstool. Steering is direct and precise, partially due to a lack of power assistance. The level of communication is downright enlightening, nearly on the level of a GT3 or a Lotus. That may be where the Smart offers the biggest bargain. There isn't another car that touches the steering on this car for under $35,000. The connectedness doesn't stop there. Seat-of-the-pants feel tells you constantly what the car is doing, and it happens at such modest speeds that the car is like a clinic in reading mechanical feedback. Driving one of these for a couple of days will remind you what's missing in the average car. Between that, the easily interchangeable body panels, low power, and the Tridion safety cell, this should be on the short list of great cars for young drivers. Parents might also appreciate the fact that it is nearly impossible to commit any sort of unapproved dating activities without extreme flexibility. (Just sayin.') Body Style: Convertible, HatchbackMotor Trend Rating: 
