Scion took the wraps off of its latest concept Wednesday, 19th March at the 2008 New York Auto Show. Dubbed the Hako Coupe is intended to the video game playing younger generation. Scion’s Hako Coupe Concept is a very rare show car which in Scion’s own words is ‘polarizing’.

Scion vice president Jack Hollis explained that Hako Concept’s look is the sporty version of a box, but in fact looks more like an armored truck. The front of the car is highlighted with a load of LED headlights, a large upper grille and smaller lower grille. The hugely flared fenders are filled by eighteen inch wheels and 225 series tires with a special tread that spells out the name SCION, and a perfectly vertical windshield to complete the boxy look. The back features include LED taillights and backup lights meshed into the car’s exhaust. The Hako Coupe’s roof has a barcode pattern. That is eventually going to turn into rooftop wallpaper similar to pc wallpaper.

The inside is painted in orange and black with metallic accents. The four seats are covered with rubbery upholstery and the driver seat was designed with computer generated instruments and a gear that looks like a big joystick.

A Bluetooth connection allows music or video files to be uploaded to the Scion’s entertainment system which are comprised of the video monitors on the dash. There are more screens on each door and in the rear side walls displaying images from cameras that point outside. The passengers have the ability to edit these visuals in to you tube quality video.

Let’s take our eyes off the Geneva Motor Show a little and take our attention to other important things – green cars. Toyota announced that they will begin to develop another project which would replace the lithium-ion battery technology. This may sound surprising considering the fact that the li-ion batteries will not enter mass production before 2010.

Toyota has a plan called Global Vision and by 2020 they will have a hybrid model in every class. This new battery will have to manage 50 miles until it wears out. The Japanese automaker is trying to establish as a leader in the world of hybrid cars so they are working to find new ways of improving the quality of the battery technology.

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Toyota Romania gave us the opportunity to drive test their cars so we can write our impressions on TheCarsBlog. First car in out series of tests is the Corolla Sedane, a small car that offers a great driving experience and it’s size doesn’t harm the comfort.

We have tested the 2.0-liter D-4D engine, with 4 cilinders, 16 DOHC valves, solenoid common-rail direct injection. It’s engine produces 126 hp at 3,600 rpm and a torque of 221 lb-ft, at 2000 – 2,800 rpm. This is the most powerful engine Toyota offers for this car and can reach a top speed of 200 km/h.

It reaches 100 km/h in 10.3 seconds, which is very good for a car of it’s class, i haven’t had any trouble with overtakes. Also it’s safety is guaranteed by the 16-inch front disc brakes and respectively 15-inch rear discs, with front MacPherson suspension and rear torsion bar, that ensures an increased stability. Those, along with the VSC + TBA systems kept me confident that the car will sit on the road in the most extreme conditions, even on sand or wet track.

If the inevitable occurs and you have an accident, then there are 9 airbags to help you and front seats that feature a Impact Protection System ( WIL ). For your kids safety there are two ISO anchor points for kid seats.

The tested Corolla sports a 6 speed manual gearbox that only needs a touch to change speeds, offering you the possibility to change them very fast, if you want to have a sportive driving.

We haven’t missed anything with it, it’s powerful, comfortable and has all the features you need and even more. It’s steering wheel is covered in leather for your comfort. The interior is very stylish, with quality materials and easy to reach controls. What i’ve noticed is the lighting control, near the steering wheel that i weren’t used with. At the most cars is placed near the door, on the panel and it seems more useful like that to me.

There are lots of options you can choose from, like automatic lights, rain sensor, cruise control, electrocromatic mirror, iPod integration kit, front and rear parking sensor, alloy rims, ski support, 4 different motorizations and manual or automatic gearbox.

We weren’t impressed very much by the exterior design, it doesn’t have something that will draw my attention on the road, but also it’s not ugly. It’s a simple cute car that would make any driver fell in love with it.

The engines available are as following:

• 1.4-liter VVT-i: 4 cylinders, 16 DOHC valves, electronic injection, 10.5:1 compression rate, 97 hp at 6,000 rpm, 96 lb-ft at 4,400 rpm, 5 speed manual transmission. Top speed of 170 km/h and reaches 0 to 100 km/h in 13 seconds.
• 1.6-liter Dual VVT-i: 4 cylinders, 16 DOHC valves, electronic injection, 10.2:1 compression rate, 124 hp at 6,000 rpm, 115 lb-ft at 5,200 rpm. Top speed of 195 km/h and reacher 100 km/h in 10.4 seconds with the 5 speed manual transmission or 12.1 seconds with the MultiMode transmission.
• 1.4-liter D-4D: 4 cylinders, 8 SOHC valves, intercooler common-rail direct injection, 17.9:1 compression rate, 90 hp at 3,800 rpm, 140 lb-ft at 1,800 – 3,000 rpm. Top speed of 175 km/h and reaches 100 km/h in 12 seconds with the 5 speed manual transmission of in 14.7 seconds with the MultiMode transmission.
• 2.0-liter D-4D: 4 cylinders, 16 DOHC valves, solenoid common-rail direct injection, 16.8:1 compression rate, 136 hp at 3,600 rpm, 221 lb-ft at 2,000 – 2,800 rpm. Top speed of 200 km/h and reaches 100 km/h in 10.3 seconds with the 6 speed manual gearbox.

Toyota brought a fresh face at Detroit Auto Show, it’s the Venza crossover. Toyota will compete against Nissan Murano and Ford Edge and they built a good-looking car. The Venza is propelled by a V6 engine which produces 268 HP or you can opt for the 2.7-liter four-cylinder. The first has dual-exhausts and 20-inch tires, and the second has single exhaust and 19-inch wheels. At both engines the transmission is a six-speed automatic. The design includes a large front grille and brand new headlights, and another advantage is the very large glass roof. They didn’t announce any price yet, but we think it will be worthwhile.

Sure Design has unveiled a Toyota 2000 SR Concept, inspired by the legendary Toyota 2000 GT, but it’s nothing official, just a good-looking concept. It combines the great style of 2000 GT with modern and futuristic lines, being powered by a 3.5-liter, turbo V6 front-mounted engine.

It’s powerful engine delivers a whopping 610hp to it’s rear wheels, but it also sports a secondary electric motor, that powers it’s front wheels with less autonomy, for urban driving. Sure Design might give Toyota some ideas and maybe they are going to revive the legend, not necessarily by putting their concept into producing, but maybe designing another one on their own.