Toyota, Honda Join 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon

Just the Facts:
-The 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon, Japan's premier tuner show, opens Friday.
-There will be 640 cars on display, with Honda, Toyota and Nissan all taking major stands.
-New tuner CR-Z and "Toyota Miata" are among the highlights.

TOKYO — For Japan's legions of gearheads, all roads lead to the Makuhari Messe this coming weekend when the 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon throws open its doors.

As Japan's premier tuner/custom show, the Tokyo auto salon has always been this wild ride of cars, noise and aftermarket excitement and the 2011 show, with more than 600 cars on show and 361 exhibitors, has the makings of another classic.

We gave you a brief preview last week of Nissan's plans. Now, Toyota and Honda have just released a few details on their TAS displays.

Toyota, which put a massive effort into last year's show, promises another GRMN-tuned iQ special and will unveil the TES Concept T-Sports, an intriguing lightweight, compact, rear-drive sports car project — perhaps a precursor to some kind of "Toyota Miata." The new Vitz (Yaris) compact also gets the tuner treatment. No official word, but many hope the "Toyobaru" (a/k/a Toyota's FT-86 sport coupe) gets another airing.

Honda, amazingly, revives the NSX, unveiling a Sports Modulo edition of its classic midengine V6 coupe with genuine aftermarket parts. Honda also has the TS-1X test study model, based on the CR-Z hybrid coupe, but no further data is available on that prior to the show.

With hundreds of other small companies showing all manner of quixotic machinery (1,000-horsepower GT-R", for example), the frenetic 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon is all set for take-off.

Inside Line says: Anyone who thinks Japan has lost its mojo should check out the Tokyo auto salon. Japan's passion for speed, cars and excitement is definitely still alive and well. — Peter Nunn, Correspondent

Source;
http://www.insideline.com/toyota/toyota-honda-join-2011-tokyo-auto-salon.html

Honda to Debut CR-Z TS-1X Concept at this week's Tokyo Auto Salon

Could this be the model that Honda has been talking about making a non-hybrid, with a more powerful 1.6L engine?
With the conclusion of the press days of the 2011 Detroit Motor Show, the automotive world is now shifting its focus on the Tokyo Auto Salon 2011, which will be held from Friday, January 14, to Sunday, January 16, at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.

At this year's event, Honda will be presenting several vehicles including the TS-1X concept study based on the CR-Z hybrid. The prototype model is the work of Honda Access Corporation, the Japanese carmaker's in-house aftermarket division.

Honda has not revealed any information on the concept model, but from the single photo it did release, we can see that the TS-1X is finished in a matt black paintjob and is fitted with a full body kit comprising of front and rear bumpers, beefy side skirts and a large rear wing that appears to extend on the CR-Z's sides.

Other Honda products to be displayed at Honda's stand include a variety of customized vehicles such as the Sports Modulo NSX, Freed Spike caravan car, the Acty Truck and the Enepo generator special coloring editions, plus several racing models like the HSV-010 GT, which won both the driver and team titles for the Super GT Series GT500-class races.

Our man Phil has already landed in Japan and will be covering the show live so stay tuned on Carscoop for more news on the Tokyo Auto Salon.

Source;
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2011/01/honda-to-debut-cr-z-ts-1x-concept-to.html