Toyota’s Take On Personal Transport Hits The Streets

JAPANESE car maker Toyota has launched the first public trials of its ultra-compact i-Road electric three-wheeled ‘personal mobility vehicle’ to find out how it shapes up in the cut-and-thrust of real-world urban driving. Consumer testing in Tokyo is set to run through to early June, with 10 of the single-seater vehicles taking to the city streets. The 20 people involved in the programme range from industry experts through to members of the general public, so that Toyota can gain a wide range of feedback on what the i-Road is like to drive, how easy it is to use around town, how it affects people’s decisions about what journeys to make.

Bristol Cars goes Bust

Bristol Fighter - Bristol Cars are in Administration I know, you didn’t even know they still existed. They do, but for how much longer is anyone’s guess as Bristol Cars calls in the administrators. Which is a real shame; a proper, eccentric British car maker finding it impossible to make enough sales to pay the bills, when there seem to be enough batty billionaires to buy the worst atrocities the world’s pimpers can muster (much the same problem afflicted Overfinch).

VW to intro Passat BlueMotion Concept at Detroit auto show

While performance heads are anxiously awaiting the North American debut of the hot-heat Mk VII Golf R at the Detroit auto show, Volkswagen's Passat BlueMotion Concept offers never-before technology in the Yank/Canuck family sedan segment: a four-pot motor with cylinder deactivation. Based on the EA211 1.4L turbo motor we sampled last year in the Euro-market Audi A3 sedan, the Passat BlueMotion Concept's engine is capable of shutting down the middle two cylinders during cruise, and features the Jetta Hybrid's gearbox, a twin-clutch unit capable of decoupling from the engine during off-throttle coasting. In the Passat's application, the 1.4 puts out 150 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque; VW suggests its highway fuel economy will stand at 42 mpg.