1991 User Manual

Toyota has revealed its Toyota Corolla Furia concept car at the Detroit motor show, the firm’s first clues as to the future direction of its best-selling saloon. The Furia is the latest in a string of recent concepts from Toyota with bolder and more distinctive designs, following a personal plea from company chief Akio Toyoda for the firm to become more daring and break free of its conservative image and appeal to younger buyers. The concept is 4620mm long, 1805mm wide and 1425mm high, with a wheelbase of 2700mm giving it relatively short overhangs. The concept is boldest at its front, with the design a much more striking interpretation of the look found on the new European-market Auris. A sharply raked windscreen and low roofline ensure a lower, sleeker profile than that of Toyota’s current Corolla. A usual array of more outlandish concept features make it onto the Furia, including 19in alloys, lashings of carbonfibre trim and a large rear diffuser with integrated exhausts. “The Corolla Furia Concept is an early indicator of where our compact car design may lead in the future,” said Toyota vice president Bill Fay at the concept’s unveiling in Detroit. He hoped the design “would surprise a lot of people".

Alongside the recent launch of its Vista D90 hatchback, Tata Motors also showcased a concept for a crossover based on the Vista, called the Vista D90 Xtreme. The concept is conceived in the same vein as the Skoda Fabia Scout and the upcoming VW CrossPolo, in that it is a standard hatchback with slightly raised suspension (25mm in this case) and a number of cosmetic touches, like a tailgate-mounted spare wheel, to give it the appearance of an SUV. For the D90 Xtreme, additional touches include black cladding on the bumpers and below the doors, roof rails, flared wheelarches and larger, 16-inch alloy wheels. Interestingly, unlike most SUVs, which mount the wheel directly on the tailgate, the Vista D90 Xtreme’s spare is mounted on a swingarm that is hinged to the rear bumper, beneath the hatch. This was done to avoid tailgate rattle, and to keep the hatch door light enough to lift open easily. And since the spare wheel is not counted in the car’s overall length (which is the same as the standard hatchback’s) the car can still qualify for sub-four-metre small car excise benefits. On the inside, the car gets black leather seats with yellow stitching, and an aluminium-effect gearlever and pedals. Under the bonnet, the standard Vista D90’s 89bhp, 1.3-litre, variable-geometry turbo-equipped Quadrajet engine has been modified to produce 104bhp. Our sources tell us the modifications have been carried out in-house by Tata Motors, with a little help from Abarth, Fiat’s performance division. The tweaks include a modified exhaust, a remapped ECU and an optimised turbocharger. With SUVs having gained huge popularity in recent years, and the potential to cash in on the government’s small-car excise benefits, the sub-four-metre crossover segment is fast becoming one of the most popular. Mahindra’s Quanto has already seen a lot of success and Ford’s upcoming EcoSport is easily one of the most anticipated launches of 2013. A production version of the D90 Xtreme is possible, but there has been no confirmation. However, if confirmed, a production model could be ready by the end of the year, and we expect prices to be around Rs 80,000 more than a similarly specced Vista hatchback.