Eric Leong’s Radical 2015 Toyota Prius Design Study

As part of last year’s Toyota Design Internship, industrial designer Eric Leong produced this interesting take on the fourth-generation Toyota Prius for the year 2015.

By acknowledging that wind resistance is one of the key factors in improving vehicle economy, Leong’s Prius III hybrid is extremely slippery. Described by the designer as moving, “through [the wind], not into it”, this design study channels air over its surface through a series of vanes.

And there are some nice little design touches as well such as the wraparound glasshouse, one-piece windscreen and roof and the transparent wing mirror arms / turn indicators.

There’s something about this design study; it reminds me of ItalDesign’s concepts of the 1980s and 1990s. You can check out our gallery of images below or leave a comment if you wish.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: Eric Leong

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Toyota FT-86 Sports Concept II: New Pictures and Video from Brussels Photo Shoot

We’ve already seen and gone over all the juicy bits of the near-production Toyota FT-86 II sports coupe, but the Japanese automaker’s social media crew went over to the firm’s European headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, for a new photo shoot last week offering us a fresh batch of pictures as well as a behind-the-scenes video.

The second iteration of the FT-86 study made its first public outing at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month. Its main purpose is to preview actual production model that will go on sale in late 2012. The well-received styling of the original concept model evolved gaining new front and rear ends, more pronounced surfaces and a host of other fresh details, with Toyota claiming that the design changes were made for safety regulations as well as for practical reasons.

The new rear drive coupe is being developed in cooperation with Subaru that will present its own version in the near future. Both cars will share the same underpinnings and mechanical hardware including the 2.0-liter boxer engine and 6-speed transmission.

Toyota says the sports coupe will stand out for its light weight and low centre of gravity, offering an “optimum power-to-weight ratio”.More details are expected to be released later this year.

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