Japan Car News: Nissan At Bathurst, New Lagacy, Honda And Toyota At The Super Bowl And More …

Nissan At Bathurst

Hope springs eternal for Nissan’s racing team regarding its #23 GT-R after suffering a major setback last week as its entry in the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour collided with the inside wall at The Esses during Practice 5. This crash was just minutes after #23’s sister GT-R #24 returned to the track after extensive repair and rebuild work as a result of a Practice 3 wall collision. Fortunately for Team Nissan, the #23 appears fixable despite the damage to the right front suspension and exhaust system. The team is confident that #23 will return in time for Qualifying 2 (Class A GT3 only) which started at 11:50 local time.

There was an earlier one hour qualifying session for all competitors to be held at 1040, but fortunately for the tech team at Nissan it is not a deal-breaker requirement for Class A machines.

“The accident has ripped the right suspension off, but there is no damage to the chassis. It has done some damage to the exhaust,” team lead Bob Neville said in an interview post-collision. “We have everything we need and we have had terrific parts support.”

“We have to get out in Qualifying 2 somehow, but you just never know as these things can hit snag. It is always difficult to predict.”

In the meantime, Nissan’s #24 GT-R ran a trouble-free series of laps after rejoining the competition with driver Jann Mardenborough at the wheel halfway through Practice 5 after the team’s miraculous overnight repair job.

“The car seems ok,” Neville commented. “We are just doing some of the jobs we didn’t have time to complete before it returned to the track.”

2018 Subaru Legacy to Debut February 9th at Chicago Auto Show, Specs Show Sportier Look and Better Ride

The magicians at Subaru may have another major win on their hands thanks to the newer, sportier looks of the 2018 Subaru Legacy and its improve build quality, driver tech, and drastically improved ride comfort.

This updated midsize has retooled front and rear styling, with the front fascia widening its hex-shaped grill to create a distinct wing-like element, and the C-shaped headlights are ensconced by signature “Kononji” daytime LED running lights. The aft section has been reshaped to give the car the appearance of a wider, more planted stance despite that fact that the dimensions of the car have not changed, and the tailpipe design has been updated to suit the new look as well.

Regarding the changes to the cabin, the new Legacy has higher-end materials that refine the overall look and add a premium atmosphere. The steering wheel is sportier with redesigned onboard controls, and Subaru has added an 8-inch center console display for better multimedia integration, supporting both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity and navigation. The chassis has also undergone several enhancements that not only smooth out the ride of this four-door, but also help to significantly reduce overall cabin noise.

Arriving in in four trim levels (Standard, Premium, Sport, and Limited), the new powertrains will include the standard Legacy 2.5i BOXER that delivers 175 horsepower, and a beefier Legacy 3.6R, a six-cylinder boxer engine that cranks out 256 horsepower. A Lineartronic CVT includes a manual shifting mode via paddle shift control switches, and the overall responsiveness and acceleration have been greatly improved, which will be a great relief to purists.

New driver-assist features include Steering Responsive LED Headlights and Reverse Automatic Braking for the lower trims levels, and the Limited trim will include EyeSight Driver Assist Technology with Adaptive Cruise Control, Pre-Collision Brake, Vehicle Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keep Assist, Blind Spot Detection, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert.

The new Legacy from Subaru will go on sale this summer after a Chicago Auto Show debut on February 9th.

Toyota Mirai Gets the Super Bowl Treatment

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have been struggling to gain any real ground in an auto industry that has been dominated by both hybrids and all-electric cars. This may be due simply to lack of available models and a general public obliviousness to the unique capabilities of FCVs. But it is mainly due to the paucity of hydrogen refueling stations and high prices. It is a sobering fact that most FCVs like the Toyota Mirai are only being sold in California in the US, and they have yet to establish themselves as a popular alternative vehicle for many drivers as evidenced by the rather lackluster sales of the Mirai.

Enter Toyota with their vast spending power for advertising, which resulted in their unique and memorable commercial spot for this year’s Super Bowl that aired yesterday. Entitled “Daisy”, the commercial focuses powerfully on the Mirai’s ability to emit water as exhaust instead of greenhouse gases.

The ad opens with a daisy growing through concrete in the middle of a street. A traditional auto pulls up next to the flower and proceeds to belch thick smoke from its exhaust before moving on. The daisy falls over like someone lost in the desert searching for water. The Mirai comes along and pulls up to the daisy, then discharges its emission water straight at the dehydrated flower. The daisy perks right up, and a voice-over plays to proudly announce that the hydrogen-fuelled Mirai’s only actual emission is water.

While it may just be a commercial, Toyota’s marketing people decided to leave comedy behind and get straight to why the Mirai is so vital to today’s world. How much interest in the new Mirai is generated after that level of exposure still remains to be seen, but the push towards FCVs and away from fossil fuel cars is vital both to fighting climate change and to reducing overall energy costs. Hopefully, once Toyota clears up their infrastructure and availability issues that plague the Mirai to date, more drivers will start to see their future in an FCV.

This writer remains skeptical. With the acceleration in battery technology and mass production, I cannot see hydrogen cars being able to compete. Toyota is in a evolutionary dead end.

Honda’s Super Bowl 2017 CR-V Commercial is Inspiration Tinged with Nostalgia

Not to be outdone by its biggest competitor, Honda broke out the big guns for tugging on the heartstrings while being both inspiring and thought-provoking. Titled “Yearbook”, this 60-second ad makes use of a large number of celebrities delivering messages of hope and inspiration for the future. Aligning with Honda’s “Power of Dreams” marketing campaign, the ad not only appealed to adults on their own career path, but to young adults and children still chasing their dreams.

Celebrities like Tina Fey, Robert Redford, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Amy Adams, Stan Lee, Steve Carell, Missy Elliott, Viola Davis, and Jimmy Kimmel all appear in their yearbook pictures with accompanying words of inspiration. The commercial closes out with a narrator simply stating “Here’s to chasing dreams and the amazing places they lead. The all-new CR-V from Honda.”

Bam! A shot right in the feels. As an official sponsor of the 2017 Super Bowl, football fans were treated to both an exciting game and a carefully crafted ad that encourages all drivers of every age and origin to challenge their obstacles and boundaries, and strike out on their own and be the change they wanted to see in the world. Honda’s reputation for excellence in creating some of the best cars ever built apparently extends to their marketing department as well. The ad is a refreshing reminder that no matter what, all people, including the team at Honda, make dreams a reality through hard work and an unfailing commitment to be the best at what we do.

Rover 100 vs. Honda Jazz Crash Test: 20 Years of Safety Improvement in Action

In celebration of Europe's 20th anniversary for the New Car Assessment Programme, two family cars from were crash tested to show the progress that has been made in new car safety since the program’s inception in 1997. A 1997 Rover 100 and a 2017 Honda Jazz went head to head (literally) to see how modern cars had made drastic strides in improving driver safety in the event of a collisions.

When the NCAP standards were initiated in 1997, the Rover 100 had no airbags whatsoever and was given a 1-star rating, and the manufacturer pulled the vehicle from sale within a month of the test results going public. Twenty years later, the 2017 Honda Jazz (Honda Fit in Japan) currently holds a five-star safety rating and has airbags that deploy throughout the interior of the car. NCAP officials rammed these two cars into concrete blocks, and then noted the effects on crash dummies and the cars themselves. The results were unsurprising and very encouraging.

The front end of the Rover 100 was completely destroyed, and without deployable airbags, the dummes inside suffered multiple injuries. The Honda Jazz passengers, on the other hand, were largely unscathed.

NCAP research reports that safety improvements driven by extensive testing and research reduced automotive vehicle fatalities by 63% since 1997, which has been a huge win for drivers and car manufacturers alike. Despite the initial flap about unrealistic safety standards by automakers at the outset of the NCAP program, one cannot argue with NCAP’s results, and today 9 out of 10 cars sold in Europe have an official NCAP rating. Kudos to Honda on their excellent build quality and driver safety features on the Jazz, and we look forward to safer driving and fewer fatalities for many years to come thanks to the innovators and researchers at automakers like Honda.