Thursday 30th January 2014

Toyota TE-Spyder concept revealed

The guys at Toyota's 'Engineering Society' get busy after hours with an MR2 and Prius

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The Toyota Prius isn't a PH favourite. The Mk3 Toyota MR2 certainly is. So what happens when you bring the two together? The one-off TE-Spyder 800 hybrid roadster.

Hang on, that centre console's familiar

It's officially one of the after-hours skunkworks projects that just seems perfect for production (the Jaguar XK180 was devised in similar circumstances) and unveiled at the Tokyo show.

Created by the Toyota Engineering Society, it uses a 116hp '1NZ-FE' version of Toyota's 1.5-litre engine with some intake and exhaust tweaks. The 102hp electric motor comes from the latest Prius, with the batteries mounted longitudinally and low. It runs an E-CVT transmission.

However, with the car weighing less than 1,000kg, it doesn't hamper acceleration too much; 62mph takes just 5.8 seconds. There's no word on fuel economy or range, but the TE-Spyder does incorporate the external charging facility of the Prius Plug-In

It's a tantalising recipe, isn't it? More powerful than the Honda S660 (which it closely resembles) and probably less expensive than a Tesla Roadster. Let's hope the society engineers get the go ahead for a production project soon.

[MrTappets]

Well it sure ain't pretty but I like the concept

[arkenphel]

Any car made by employees out of normal working hours in their own time is instantly cool! There is just more care and attention and love put into it, IMO...

I likey!

[British Beef]

Award for the ugliest and least ergonomic dashboard of the past 20 years goes to.......... Well done Toyota, you have progressed from the usual dull and ugly plastic interiors to what looks like a botched dash with an Ipad dumped on the top for display.

Not much prettier from the outside.

A car you wouldnt want to be in or out of, some achievement!!

[Stig]

arkenphel said:

Any car made by employees out of normal working hours in their own time is great storytelling work by the PR team instantly cool! There is just more care and attention and love put into it, IMO...

I likey!

EFA

[dukebox9reg]

British Beef said:

Award for the ugliest and least ergonomic dashboard of the past 20 years goes to.......... Well done Toyota, you have progressed from the usual dull and ugly plastic interiors to what looks like a botched dash with an Ipad dumped on the top for display.

Not much prettier from the outside.

A car you wouldnt want to be in or out of, some achievement!!

Dont know the current Avensis is close. Why are Toyota so off the mark on interiors when the Lexus IS and the CT are so good.


Those alloys are horrific on that car, who thought they would go with the car needs shooting.

[will-w]

Front end nicked from the new Honda NSX (amongst others), mid & rear end nicked from Lotus..

How very original

[Ozzie Osmond]

Fugly

[Veeayt]

dukebox9reg said:

Those alloys are horrific on that car, who thought they would go with the car needs shooting.

Knowing Japanese, I think what they tried to do is to mimic 918's wheels, which are already horrendous. They look like wheels off a Vietnamese counterfeit of Hot Wheels

[gofasterrosssco]

Do like the concept, but the execution doesn't quite seem right.. Maybe too many late nights by the enthusiastic Toyota engineers.?

Sort the dash, leave the Recaros, different wheels and a better colour and its proably not too bad..

[whiteonyx]

are there no opticians in Japan? butt ugly conceptual rubbish! did the designers of the MR2, Supra, Celica get sacked or am i missing something?

[Engineer1]

That looks ok to me the dash/ instruments seems to look like a tablet put in, which may not be that daft an idea,

[ambuletz]

First photo makes it look like an audi R8. the second front photo has parts that reminds me of the current mazda design language for their 3 and 5.

[Dave Hedgehog]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Fugly

[OlberJ]

Just me that thinks it looks great then (apart from the wheels)?

Do the seats stick out over the roof line?

[garypotter]

I agree with Mr Tappetts, great concept but it is not the best looking of cars

[OlberJ]

Better 3/4 pic :



Seats defo look like an after thought but that's got potential!

[OlberJ]

Proper wheels too.

[dufunk]

Change the grill and there maybe unto something. Anyway good to see toyota is back in the sport game.

[steveb8189]

5.8 seconds seems a bit slow doesn't it? Can it run on both electric and petro motors at once? 218bhp and 1000kg...

[theJT]

I like it. I think there's some styling tweaks required if it's going to make production, but the basic formula is good, and from angles I think quite pretty. Small open top sports car, sub 6 seconds... presumably gets good range and gas milage if it's that light... not sure what's not to like there.