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Turn off your cellphone, watch where you park and don’t ride in gangs, Chris Betros warns. 537: Open roadster William Bonds gets up-close with the elements courtesy of the Nissan Fairlady 350Z convertible. 535: Extreme makeover Volvo sheds its stodgy-but-safe image for sleek-and-sporty with the new S40 T5. William Bonds likes what he sees. 533: Sporting chance Mazda has brought the station wagon up to speed with its Atenza Sport Wagon 23Z. William Bonds takes one for a spin. 531: Street smarts Automakers are taking car safety to new levels with sophisticated warning systems that almost do the driving for you, reports Chris Betros. 529: Speed zone Just down the road from Ueno Zoo, a virtual hog heaven has everything for the motorcycling enthusiast. Steve Trautlein cruises on over. 527: Italian Stallion The Alfa Romeo 147 carries on its maker’s reputation for hot cars with unmatched sex appeal. William Bonds gets carried away. 525: Hot wheels A cross between a snowboard and a scooter, the Wheelman is a quirky Australian invention that's grabbing attention worldwide. Tim Colquhoun takes one for a ride. 523: Mean Machine William Bonds gets behind the wheel of the Nissan Skyline 350GT. 521: Show stealers Toyota stunned attendees at the recent Geneva and Melbourne auto shows with two concept cars that represent a powerful vision for the future of motoring. Tim Colquhoun reports. 519: Mighty mouse Subaru goes boldly against the tide with its new R2 minicar. Justin Gardiner admires this latest feat of audacity and engineering. 517: Trail blazer Nissan's top-selling 4x4 features cool touches for winter sports fans. Justin Gardiner drove the latest X-Trail to the slopes 515: Up to speed The Formula One circus is gaining momentum as the season opener in Australia draws near. Tim Colquhoun takes a look at the latest developments. 513: Good save Hybrid cars are the rage this year with Toyota, Honda and Subaru touting their gas-electric vehicles. Chris Betros looks at what they're offering. 512: The road ahead Despite the lack of a full-fledged Tokyo Motor Show in 2004, domestic manufacturers have a bevy of weird and wonderful offerings in store for this year. Justin Gardiner previews the lineup. 509/10: Top of the class Justin Gardiner finds his favorites from this year's Metropolis test drives. 507: Mom-mobiles Japanese mothers are trading in their once ubiquitous mama-chari bicycles for a new breed of K-car. Justin Gardiner tries a couple of the most popular mini-cars. 505: Cubic's rube Nissan has lengthened its highly successful Cube a few centimeters and added an extra row of seats. But, as Justin Gardiner finds out, the result is a bit puzzling. 503: Globe trotters Kerstin Gackle and Volker Aldinger left their native Germany on April 1 and pointed their Yamahas toward Australia. Eight months later Justin Gardiner caught up with the couple in Tokyo. 501: Back to the future Cutting-edge technology and futuristic vehicles highlight the 37th Tokyo Motor Show at Makuhari Messe through November 5. Justin Gardiner offers a guide. ISSUES 499- ISSUES 449- ISSUES 399- ISSUES 349- ISSUES 299-

By Chris Betros

Driving the Future

The talk of the auto industry in 2004 was hybrids, safe driving and intelligent vehicles

Lexus RX400h Courtesy of Toyota

With the rapid pace of change in automotive technology, one can't help but wonder what cars will be like in the near future. Will there be flying vehicles, invisible cars or autos that run on anything besides costly fuel? Maybe, but for now the major areas of development are hybrid technology, safe driving support systems and "intelligent" vehicles-all of which came to the fore this year.

At the recent World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in Nagoya, Toyota, Daihatsu, Honda and Hino led the way. Cutting-edge technology consisted of a navigation-coordinated system for safe driving support and a road surface projection system. The former is designed to provide the driver with information on stop sign positions drawn from the navigation system's map data, and to undertake brake control when necessary. With the latter, a green laser beam lights up the road in front of the car, and warning sounds are triggered when the laser senses pedestrians or traffic obstructions. If the system recognizes a laser beam emitted from another car, the driver will be alerted, the carmaker said, noting that the mechanism will help reduce collisions at blind corners.

Nissan is touting its new Lane Departure Warning (LDW) system, which is featured in its Infiniti FX and Infiniti M45 models. The LDW alerts drivers of an unintended movement out of a designated traffic lane, using a small camera, speed sensor, and audible warning buzzer. The LDW can be temporarily disabled by when the driver uses turn signals, which informs the system's control unit of intended lane changes

Toyota's Hiace Sound Satellite

Honda, meanwhile, has developed the world's first warning system that uses "far infrared" cameras to detect pedestrians at night and gives the driver visual and audio cautions to prevent accidents. The Intelligent Night Vision System, already available in the Legend models, uses images obtained from two cameras in the lower section of the front bumper to detect the position and movement of heat-emitting objects and determine whether they are in or approaching the vehicle's path. The system also determines whether the detected object is a pedestrian based on its size and shape. In case you're not sure where you are, Honda also has a speech-recognition navigation system. That's right: Your car can now talk to you. The system can identify up to 1.7 million street and city names and 700 commands, according to co-developer IBM. It will be available in the 2005 Acura RL and MDX, as well as the 2005 Odyssey.

"Hybrid" was the major buzzword in the auto industry this year. Hybrid cars switch between a battery-powered electric motor and a gasoline or diesel engine for improved fuel efficiency and conservation. Fuel-cell cars are widely viewed as the most promising pollution-free vehicles because they are powered by electricity generated through the chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen, and they emit only water. Hybrids use a starter-generator that shuts the engine off at stoplights, improving fuel economy by anywhere between 15-30 percent, according to automotive engineers.

Courtesy of Nissan

Toyota is leading the Japanese charge with eight hybrid models, selling 282,315 units through October. The most popular model is the Prius, the world's first commercially mass-produced hybrid, and one that's garnered numerous international awards this year. Meanwhile, the hype surrounding Toyota's Lexus RX400h, the world's first hybrid luxury sport utility vehicle, has been so great in the US that the company has been forced to delay its launch there until April due to soaring demand. Lexus dealers have more than 9,500 confirmed pre-sold orders for the RX 400h (aka Harrier), and more than 46,000 consumers have also registered for more information about the vehicle through the company's website.

Not to be outdone, Honda introduced a hybrid version of its popular Accord, which joins the Civic and Insight models as the company's third gas-electric car. Subaru, meanwhile, came out with its B9SC roadster, which, unlike most hybrids, uses a gasoline engine only at highway cruising speeds, when it gets its best mileage.

Over at Nissan, researchers are working on making all the company's models lighter by up to 10 percent by the year 2007. Nissan claims this will improve fuel efficiency by around 5 percent. The carmaker is expected to reduce vehicle weight mainly by switching to different materials and decreasing the number of parts. The Nikkei Shimbun reported recently that Nissan is planning to ask steel and plastic manufacturers to participate in vehicle development from as early as the design stage in order to develop thinner and stronger materials.

Finally, for a bit of fun, Toyota has something for DJs-the Hiace Sound Satellite, which can transform itself into a mobile studio for use at live outdoor events. Along with its two roof-mounted plasma display screens, the futuristic vehicle is also fitted with audio gear and indoor lighting. Features include a fan-shaped "revolving open studio" equipped with audio gear and other fixtures, and a fan-shaped "revolving merchandise showcase." The vehicle can be used as a DJ booth, to set up equipment for an event, to display goods, or in a variety of other ways.

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