The folks at AutoMotor und Sport have just uploaded videos of the new RX driving around the Nurburgring. Judging by the almost clean look of the vehicle, lacking of any vehicle telemetry devices and alloy wheels which looks pretty much like the final thing, I doubt any serious test is going on. In fact I reckon that it's more of a marketing exercise rather than engineering. Like many automakers, Toyota also realises that to be able to put down "honed / tested / developed at the Nurburgring" is a strong marketing tool in this time and age. I guess the vehicle was just shipped to Germany to clock a couple of thousand kilometers of laps just to qualify it as a "developed in The Ring" car, when in reality I seems more like a durability test which could have easily been done at Toyota's massive Toyota City in Nagoya, or even the Milbrook MIRA proving grounds in UK or Arizona proving grounds in USA (which is Lexus biggest market). Ah...the branding image of the Nurburgring is too strong to resist. I guess they had to do it in The Ring as Lexus has not been able to replicate its success in the USA. Even Japanese luxury buyers prefer German marques than a Lexus. Branding at The Ring is probably Lexus next attempt to lure European buyers.
Plus, given that the vehicle is already in such an advance stage of development, there isn't much engineering changes that can be made other than software mapping of engine and transmission.
Also watch closely at the video and you will see that the same blue Supra that we saw in spyshots of the minor change Lexus IS that I posted earlier. Must belong to some staff of Toyota Motor Europe I guess.
In my earlier post I expected the new RX to make its debut in the coming Paris Motor Show in October 2008, but some folks reckon that it will only debut in the Detroit Motor Show in January 2009.
Next up, these are supposedly leaked concept images of the next Mazda 3. But there are some who believe that this is an almost final sign-off design for the Mazda 3 MPS
Images courtesy of WorldCarFans.com
Next up are news from BMW.
Thanks to the crew at NextAutos.com we can have a clearer picture of how the 2010 5-series (development code F10) will look like. Imitation is the best form of flattery. Looks like BMW is now admitting that Audi's MMI controls are far more user friendly than its i-Drive. Note that how similar the i-Drive controls are now to the MMI knob in Audis. Also, the dashboard design looks like a dummy. The actual car might not have the double cowl and BMW might finally listen to its customers criticisms and return to its traditional driver focused dash layout. Look at the pictures of the next 7-series below. The i-Drive display now sits flush with the rest of the dash.
Below is another video from AutoMotor und Sport of a development mule F10 5-series undergoing testing in the Nurburgring. And this is real stuff, not some marketing hype. Ignore the exterior design though as I think the tail lamps are dummy units.
Next up is the F01 2009 7-series, whose images were also "leaked" onto the Internet. Autospies have written a highly detailed document on the next 7-series here.
More images at AutoSpies.
Last news of the week is from VW.
The image above captured by the famous Hans Lehmann is NOT a Toyota Hilux but a development mule of Volkswagen's first pick-up truck; the Robust, set to debut in 2010. The body of a Toyota Hilux is only a disguise for the mechanicals of development mule underneath as VW currently does not have any truck to be used as a mule.
The video below shows the Robust undergoing transmission-towing test, by pulling a freaking huge Tuareg!
Argentina has been targetted as one of the production hubs and the vehicle will be exported to USA, South Africa, Asia-Ocenia region.
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