Mazda Evolv(ing)

ALASTAIR SLOANE takes a look at what is new and anticipated in car design as displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Mazda calls its RX-Evolv the "most sports-car-like four-door vehicle in the world." The concept car, unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show last week, points to what the next RX-7 might look like when it breaks cover in about two years.

The rotary-powered Evolv is smaller than the present RX-7 - the "Batcar" - and is based on the MX-5 platform, not a reworked Ford Thunderbird platform. That the RX-Evolv has four doors led to speculation that it was built on the platform of the Thunderbird, a two-door, four-seat layout.

Ford, of course, owns Mazda and the pre-show assumption was made on the basis of Ford saying that further sharing of platforms would give Mazda new economic and styling freedom.

But the RX-Evolv, with four large wheels at each corner, its short front and rear overhangs and no centre B-pillar, was seen by some critics as being too much of a "two-door" four-door to go into production unchanged.

The rear-drive car is about the same length as a front-drive Mazda Astina. But unlike the conventional Astina, the rear doors on the RX-Evolv are hinged on the rear C-pillar and open from the front, but only after the front doors have been opened. Inside are thin-backed seats, designed to aid space in an interior Mazda calls "snug."

However, despite the controversial styling and the obviously cramped interior, the official line from Mazda is that the RX-Evolv is a "viable business proposition."

While the concept car doesn't share its platform with the Thunderbird, it does share a design feature with that of another Ford-owned company, Volvo.

One of the rear seats has what Mazda calls a "Baby Pad." It is an integrated, fold-down child seat, which first appeared in the Volvo 850 model more than five years ago. The design won Volvo many international awards.

The RX-Evolv might have lured showgoers, but its powerplant, a 1.3-litre rotary engine which meets Japan's low-emission laws, attracted even more. The compact "Renesis" engine is a reworked version of Mazda's long-time Wankel and sits behind the front wheels, a position crucial to the car's claimed 50:50 perfect weight balance.

Mazda says the engine delivers 206kW - heavyweight output in anyone's language. But the power output can be reduced by the vehicle's engine management system. The credit card-sized card, which opens and shuts and starts and stops the car, also memorises a driver's ability.

If the information it stores profiles a careless driver who risks sending the vehicle backwards through a hedge, it will rein him or her in somewhat by restricting engine output to 177kW. A skilled driver gets the whole 206kW.

The new Lexus SC400 sports coupe looks better in the flesh than pictures, said showgoers. It has a retractable roof, like that of the Mercedes-Benz CLK. The roof alone is typical of the versatility all car designers in the 21st century are chasing.

Most of the underpinnings for the Lexus SC400 will be shared with the IS300 sedan. The SC400 was officially described as a concept car, but observers believe it is simply a thinly disguised version of the new two-door Lexus due in 2002.

The new Lexus was styled by Sotiris Kovos, the Greek designer who also penned the Toyota Echo, the small car which will be launched in New Zealand in December.

Subaru showed off its new six-cylinder boxer engine for the first time. The engine will go into the Outback next year and will be an option in the Legacy range from 2001. Subaru's concept car, the Fleet X, is the next-generation Legacy, expected to go into production in 2004.

The all-new Legacy will make extensive use of aluminium and will be 30 per cent lighter than the present model. Subaru says fuel efficiency will improve considerably, too.

Nissan adopted a relatively low-key approach to the show after announcing last week that it would close four Japanese assembly plants and lay off 21,000 workers as part of a move to restructure and save money under new owner Renault.