When the curtain rises on the Tokyo Motor Show next month, Honda’s green-themed display will include what it calls the HELLO! Zone, a showcase for electric vehicles. Why "HELLO! Zone"? Well, we have no idea, other than it reminds us of a certain feline and that the Japanese clearly have a thing for all-caps names and exclamation points. In the HELLO! Zone, showgoers can say, uh, "hello" to the excruciatingly neat, relentlessly cute EV-N concept.

It’s a retro-styled battery-powered car with a face of a pug puppy crossed with a Trabant and nifty concept-y features like swappable seat fabrics, a solar roof, and a "communications system" embedded in the black front fascia. Most importantly, however, the EV-N’s passenger door contains one of those bizarrely kickass UX-3 super gyroscopic robot unicycles, which pretty much makes the EV-N the coolest electric car of all time. We think.

Anyhow, when Honda unveils an ASIMO that can both drive the EV-N and then self-deploy on the UX-3, it’s time to go hide under your beds, because that’ll be the signal that their robot army is ready for world domination. But we digress.

By AutoBlog

Subaru has announced a new version of the WRX STI that will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show. We’ve looked at this one six ways ’til Sunday (maybe seven) and we still can’t make sense of it. But, hear us out. One of the main knocks against the STI has long been that it’s a little too porky. But, when you base a performance car on a plebeian chassis, that’s the price you pay. Another knock is that the STI — while potent — is just not as hardcore as the Mitsubishi EVO, even though the EVO X is a little, well, less hardcore than the EVO IX. So obviously Subaru’s going to address these concerns with a special, lightweight edition STI, right? Well…

Meet the WRX STI Carbon. It has a carbon fiber roof. And a five-speed automatic transmission borrowed from the Legacy - no manual. And… suede seats. Yup, that’s it. Now, we like the roof, don’t get us wrong. Removing weight and lowering the center of gravity is exactly what the STI needs. But, a slushbox? For reals? Subaru says the five-speed auto is there to offer, "distinctive driving pleasure to a wider range of customers." Ah, the old dumbing it down so you can sell more trick. Hey, it worked for Porsche (see the Cayenne).

Let’s see here, the last time Subaru tried this maneuver was in 2008 with the GE/GH third generation WRX. That went so well that Subaru was forced to relaunch the car twelve months later and rename to the 2008 WRX as the auto-only 2.5 GT. In other words, we just don’t get the STI Carbon. Maybe in a year’s time Subaru will be forced to rename it the Carbon GT. That would at least make some sense. Right?

By AutoBlog

In typical Fiat fashion, the Italian automaker took its time to release a full gallery of its cosmetically refreshed and mechanically updated Grande Punto that has been renamed to Punto EVO for the 2010 model year. Unveiled for the first time at this month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, the Italian supermini gets newly styled bumpers and lights at the front and the rear while a redesigned three-piece grille and new alloy wheel designs complete the exterior updates.

Meanwhile, the cabin receives a comprehensive makeover with a redesigned dashboard that features a new instrument cluster and center console plus new seats and fabric options. Beneath the skin, the Punto Evo features a wide range of Euro 5 engines, including a second-generation 1.3 MultiJet diesel that offers an improvement of around 2 percent in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and a new 1.4 MultiAir gasoline unit that utilize electrohydraulic valve management to reduce fuel consumption by controlling air directly through the inlet valves without using the throttle.

Fiat claims that the 1.4-liter’s MutliAir system cuts emissions by 10 percent while delivering 10 percent more power and 15 percent more torque than the regular 1.4L engine. The revamped supermini also gains a new Blue&Me-TomTom infotainment system. European sales of the Punto EVO will begin in the second half of October.

By CarScoop