Oddities at the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show 2013

IF02RDS, a slightly scaled-down replica of Toyota’s infamous TOS20 Le Mans race car from the late 1990s

KODE 7, a minimalist sports car reminiscent of a Lotus/Caterham 7

Japan is a country that embraces peace, tranquility, harmony and serenity. Unfortunately for some, it is a country that also embraces anonymity, uniformity and, due to a combined Buddhist/Shinto belief, aspires to a single consciousness, focusing always on the benefits of the many at the cost of the individual. Hence, you can be sure that should a wacky, outside-of-the-box idea comes to fruition, it has been thoroughly polished inside and out, allowing an individual’s will to surpass the boundaries normally found in Japanese society. We will take a look at some of them.

1.) IF02RDS. The Ikeya Formula is an aftermarket specialty company that produces aftermarket performance and racing parts for Japanese cars and a handful of European ones. They are most famous for their fully adjustable rose-jointed suspension arms, transmission parts and suspension bits.

So everyone was shocked when Ikeya Formula unveiled the IF02RDS, a slightly scaled-down replica of Toyota’s infamous TOS20 Le Mans race car from the late 1990s. It’s a tubular-space frame chassis wrapped in lightweight fiberglass panels, with wind-tunnel tested aerodynamics, and powered by a longitudinally mounted Honda F20C 2-liter turbocharged engine taken from the Honda S2000 Roadster.

IKEYA Formula Seamless Transmission

Takeshi Katou, automobile development chief for Ikeya Formula, says that they plan to produce the IF02RDS on an order basis once it receives road type approval and homologation from the Japanese government. The price? Anywhere between 10 and 20 million yen (roughly P4.4 to P8.8 million) on the road. On the other hand, the platform can accept a variety of engines including a Toyota 2JZ, said Katou-san when I asked him if a Toyota 2JZ can fit in it. Better still is that it can easily be made to LHD;  it is possible to sell it as a kit for you to assemble it yourself. Dreaming.

2.) Ikeya Formula Seamless Transmission. This ingenious single-clutch transmission could be the future of both performance and efficiency. The Seamless Transmission works much like a dual-clutch transmission; it preselects the next higher gear. And  thanks to advanced research, it literally requires no clutch action to upshift and downshift, much like a dog-engagement transmission used in race cars. The secret is in how the gear teeth are cut, minimizing gear whine which is normally associated with race cars. Also, it will last as long as a normal manual transmission does, (around 200,000 kilometers with proper care), can handle tons of torque and horsepower (something in the region of 800-1000 Newton-meters of torque),  is compact and can be utilized to fit into a variety of platforms (RWD, FWD, AWD and FR, FF and MR/MR-AWD configurations).

MIRAI Project: a future city car with hints of Japanese mecha-Anime

Unfortunately, Masao Teraoka, the technical adviser and engineer handling the project, admits that Ikeya Formula doesn’t have the resources to mass-produce this transmission and is looking into selling it to established transmission manufacturers. Ikeya Formula is currently talking to Aishin, ZF and Getrag.

3.) Mirai Project. Kunio Okawara, a famous industrial designer in the Japanese Anime industry, lent a hand in designing a future city car with hints of Japanese mecha-Anime. It’s a design study at the moment but one can easily see its links to the virtual world of Anime.  Doesn’t it remind you of the robots from the Gundam franchise? That’s because Okawara is one of the pillars of the franchise, a manga so popular in that country and across the globe. No wonder it’s creating a lot of noise. Gundam’s popularity is immense even today. Japan has a Gundam Café in Akihabara and a full-size Gundam statue in Odaiba Complex, Tokyo’s reclaimed-land leisure and convention area.

4.) Kode 7.  Ken Okuyama might not be a familiar name, but he has an impressive list of accomplishments. Working under Pininfarina, he penned the Ferrari’s Enzo and  F599 GTB Fiorano. Now working independently with his Ken Okuyama Design Studio, Okuyama-san unveiled two versions of the Kode 7, a minimalist sports car reminiscent of a Lotus/Caterham 7 but with all the modern convenience touches. Power for the lightweight sports car comes from a Honda K20 engine, which is plenty for this minute missile.

MAHLE Range Extender and high-efficiency engine

5.) MAHLE Range Extender and high-efficiency engines. Like Bosch, Mahle is one of those technology companies so enormous and significant  yet prefer to stay in the background. They supply powertrain/engine components and solutions to almost all car companies worldwide, as well as a small dose of aftermarket performance and racing parts for enthusiasts. Their Range Extender engine is a small two-cylinder 900-cc powerplant that acts like a small generator that can charge  current hybrid drive batteries. A simple enough idea, so it makes one wonder why nobody has ever thought of it before.

The engine works at a steady RPM (revolutions per minute) to charge the batteries as well as power other vehicle systems, and it generates very little noise, heat and vibrations. It is a technology that is present in the here and now, and answers the worry of electric-vehicle owners.

Mahle also unveiled their downsized engine in 1.2-liter configuration. The 1.2-liter engine with turbocharger can deliver almost  157.81 HP, is very compact and fits in most B-segment vehicles. This is the future of performance.