JDM

I got back from Japan on Monday morning, but have been too busy to post anything yet – and I still have to post Whistler MTB stuff too!  Anyway, here are a few tidbits for the car-fans out there.

The most obviously numerous cars I saw out East were Toyota Vitzs and Suzuki Sprints.  The Vitz is known on the USDM as the “Yaris 3-door”, but occurs on the JDM as a 5-door only, and is not available with a M/T.  Those up North of the border can get the Yaris in both 3 or 5-door versions (dammit!).  The Toyota Belta 4-door sedan was fairly common also.  This is available on the USDM as the “Yaris 4-door sedan”.  This car replaces the Platz  (USDM Echo) on the JDM.

The Suzuki Sprint is not available on the USDM, but it’s “SUV” cousin, the SX4, is.  I did see a few SX4’s, but they weren’t as numerous.  The Sprint has the same floorpan, but less overhangs beyond the axles, especially in the rear.  The styling is very similar, but the windshield is more vertical, and there is no “minivan window” in front of the front door glass.  Assumedly, the Sprint engine is in the 1.3 to 1.5-liter range as in previous iterations.  the JDM SX4 probably doesn’t have the 2.0-liter engine shoehorned into it that the USDM model has, but I haven’t bothered to check.  Older generation Sprints were by and far the most common Police cars in rural areas, in particular, the 1.3-liter AWD version.

I am wondering a little if the Sprints and Vitzs were rental cars and were therefore overrepresented in the touristy East – sort of like the Dodge Stratus or Chevy Cadavalier here in Hawaii.  

Got a good look at the new body Suby Impreza.  Up close and personal, it is not as offensively “Ford Fuckus” as the spy photos and early media release photos would indicate.  The grille pattern is ugly, but that cam probably be fixed in aftermarket.  I sort-of wish they had gone toward more of an upright, “station wagon” rear shape rather than the sloping “hatchback” design, but Imprezas have always tended to lean in that direction.

I saw the TV CM for the new Toyota ist.  Interesting how the ads targeted toward certain market segments are done different ways.  This ad had an “in through the windshield” view of a series of shots of various caucasian people smiling in the seats.  I also saw a minivan ad with a caucasian family driving down their Western street in their Western neighborhood, pulling into their Western driveway in front of their Western home, and unloading stuff happily.  Odd how they’ll go through the trouble of shipping a car to a market where it isn’t available to film an ad, then ship it back.  I get a little salty seeing these, because they give the impression of “this car is used by happy American families”, but in reality, we don’t get all those good cars – we get stuck with various mechanically unsophisticated vehicles built in the USA off of the USDM Camry platform.  At least in the case of the new ist, we do get it – in the form of the new Scion Xd.  Yup.  You heard me.  Go to the Toyota.co.jp site and see for yourself!