Honda, Nissan and Toyota Donate $3.75 Million Each for Japan

The massive earthquake followed by the even more devastating tsunami that struck the north-east coasts of Japan last week has brought together the country’s biggest automakers including Honda, Nissan and Toyota, which announced today that they will donate $3.75 million each for relief and recovery efforts in communities affected by the disaster.
In addition to the contribution in money, Nissan said it is also studying further relief efforts including complimentary provision of vehicles, such as trucks and forklifts, donation of medical supplies and daily commodities including blankets, antiseptics and masks, gift matching donation from Nissan employees, promotion, and support of blood donation activities.
Honda announced that it will donate a total of 1,000 power generators along with 5,000 gas canisters to the people left without electricity, while Toyota is considering the provision of goods and services as needed.
The three automakers have also announced the closure of some of their factories in Japan. From March 14 through March 20, Honda will suspend all production activities at its plants in Sayama, Saitama, Ogawa, Tochigi, Hamamatsu and Suzuka, plus all facilities in the Tochigi area, where damage was more serious. From March 15 through 20, Honda will also suspend production at the Kumamoto factory.
Nissan announced that operations at the Tochigi and Iwaki plants are suspended until March 18, while the Oppama, Kyushu, Shatai and Yokohama plants will be closed until March 16. As for Toyota, officials announced that the Hokkaido, Tohoku, Miyagi and Iwate plants are closed, with all employees having been evacuated to safe areas. The factories will remain closed at least until March 16.
Other automakers affected by the earthquake include Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Suzuki, which have either suspended or slowed down production because of supply shortages.

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Vilner Joins Forces with Overdrive to Tune 400HP Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X

After tuning several American and European cars, Vilner has now turned its focus on a Japanese model, the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X. For this project, the Bulgarian tuning house joined forces with a company called Overdrive, which took over the performance upgrades.

As you can see in the two videos after the jump, (the exterior photo was shot before the light modifications), Vilner replaced the standard Lancer EVO X's headlamps and tail lights with brand new LED units.

Inside, the Bulgarian studio gave the Lancer a black leather upholstery treatment with white colored accents and stitching, along with a black alcantara roof lining and carbon trim on the steering wheel and gear lever. A pair of OMP front bucket seats and the piano black decorative trim round off the interior changes.

On its part, Overdrive fitted the Japanese sports sedan with carbon elements on the outside along with 18-inch Weds Sports alloy wheels, a Greddy exhaust system, an adjustable K-sport suspension and finished up with a power kit that boosts the 2.0-liter turbocharged engine's output to 400-horses.

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Mitsubishi GalEA Four-Door Sportcoupé Design Concept by Gábor Farkas

In the beginning of the year, we showed you a very production-like concept study for a new generation of the Colt sub-compact called the Concept CS, which was created by Gábor Farkas. The independent designer has now sent us yet another Mitsubishi study, this time for a replacement to the Galant sedan.

The concept is named GalEA and is said to draw its inspiration from the previous, sharper-looking eighth generation Galant of the late 1990s, while sharing similar design cues with the smaller Concept CS. In a 180 degree turn, the designer re-imagined the Galant as a more distinct and aggressive looking four-door coupe model with a long hood, sloping roof, pillarless doors and a stumpy rear end.

Follow the jump to read Gábor's description of the project and to get a closer look at the sporty Mitsubishi saloon in our high-res gallery and CGI videos.

MITSUBISHI GALEA [From Gábor Farkas]

Mitsubishi GalEA is a design study that uses styling elements of the recent Mitsubishi 'jet-fighter' design language. It was born to revive the 1997 Galant EA as a four-door coupé. The EA inspired the 'jet-fighter' design language and now it returns as a four-door sportcoupé.

This time, the design of the car was teased via the Mitsubishi GalEA Facebook page and the final result has been refined at some point according to user-reactions.

At the front you can recognize some details that were borrowed from the Mitsubishi Concept RA but the other parts of the body have an individual new styling with waving lines which have already been introduced on the Mitsubishi Concept CS.

The wheelbase and the proportions of the body also hint at a front engine with rear wheel drive layout. In the inside you can see premium materials and four individual seats. The dashboard has clear and elegant styling.

About the name: it refers to the Galant EA but also has another meaning. A galea was a Roman soldier's helmet. Some gladiators also wore a bronze galea with a face mask and a decoration, often a fish on its crest.

Main dimensions

length: 4745 mm (186.8 in)
width: 1948 mm (79.7 in)
height: 1343 mm (52.9 in)

front track: 1722 mm (67.8 in)
rear track: 1706 mm (67.2 in)
wheelbase: 3070 mm (120.9 in)
length/wheelbase ration: 1.55
wheels: 205/40 R 18

Mitsubishi GalEA Four-Door Sportcoupé Design Concept by Gábor Farkas

In the beginning of the year, we showed you a very production-like concept study for a new generation of the Colt sub-compact called the Concept CS, which was created by Gábor Farkas. The independent designer has now sent us yet another Mitsubishi study, this time for a replacement to the Galant sedan.

The concept is named GalEA and is said to draw its inspiration from the previous, sharper-looking eighth generation Galant of the late 1990s, while sharing similar design cues with the smaller Concept CS. In a 180 degree turn, the designer re-imagined the Galant as a more distinct and aggressive looking four-door coupe model with a long hood, sloping roof, pillarless doors and a stumpy rear end.

Follow the jump to read Gábor's description of the project and to get a closer look at the sporty Mitsubishi saloon in our high-res gallery and CGI videos.

MITSUBISHI GALEA [From Gábor Farkas]

Mitsubishi GalEA is a design study that uses styling elements of the recent Mitsubishi 'jet-fighter' design language. It was born to revive the 1997 Galant EA as a four-door coupé. The EA inspired the 'jet-fighter' design language and now it returns as a four-door sportcoupé.

This time, the design of the car was teased via the Mitsubishi GalEA Facebook page and the final result has been refined at some point according to user-reactions.

At the front you can recognize some details that were borrowed from the Mitsubishi Concept RA but the other parts of the body have an individual new styling with waving lines which have already been introduced on the Mitsubishi Concept CS.

The wheelbase and the proportions of the body also hint at a front engine with rear wheel drive layout. In the inside you can see premium materials and four individual seats. The dashboard has clear and elegant styling.

About the name: it refers to the Galant EA but also has another meaning. A galea was a Roman soldier's helmet. Some gladiators also wore a bronze galea with a face mask and a decoration, often a fish on its crest.

Main dimensions

length: 4745 mm (186.8 in)
width: 1948 mm (79.7 in)
height: 1343 mm (52.9 in)

front track: 1722 mm (67.8 in)
rear track: 1706 mm (67.2 in)
wheelbase: 3070 mm (120.9 in)
length/wheelbase ration: 1.55
wheels: 205/40 R 18

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_______________________________GALLERY_______________________________

Mitsubishi GalEA Four-Door Sportcoupé Design Concept by Gábor Farkas

In the beginning of the year, we showed you a very production-like concept study for a new generation of the Colt sub-compact called the Concept CS, which was created by Gábor Farkas. The independent designer has now sent us yet another Mitsubishi study, this time for a replacement to the Galant sedan.

The concept is named GalEA and is said to draw its inspiration from the previous, sharper-looking eighth generation Galant of the late 1990s, while sharing similar design cues with the smaller Concept CS. In a 180 degree turn, the designer re-imagined the Galant as a more distinct and aggressive looking four-door coupe model with a long hood, sloping roof, pillarless doors and a stumpy rear end.

Follow the jump to read Gábor's description of the project and to get a closer look at the sporty Mitsubishi saloon in our high-res gallery and CGI videos.

MITSUBISHI GALEA [From Gábor Farkas]

Mitsubishi GalEA is a design study that uses styling elements of the recent Mitsubishi 'jet-fighter' design language. It was born to revive the 1997 Galant EA as a four-door coupé. The EA inspired the 'jet-fighter' design language and now it returns as a four-door sportcoupé.

This time, the design of the car was teased via the Mitsubishi GalEA Facebook page and the final result has been refined at some point according to user-reactions.

At the front you can recognize some details that were borrowed from the Mitsubishi Concept RA but the other parts of the body have an individual new styling with waving lines which have already been introduced on the Mitsubishi Concept CS.

The wheelbase and the proportions of the body also hint at a front engine with rear wheel drive layout. In the inside you can see premium materials and four individual seats. The dashboard has clear and elegant styling.

About the name: it refers to the Galant EA but also has another meaning. A galea was a Roman soldier's helmet. Some gladiators also wore a bronze galea with a face mask and a decoration, often a fish on its crest.

Main dimensions

length: 4745 mm (186.8 in)
width: 1948 mm (79.7 in)
height: 1343 mm (52.9 in)

front track: 1722 mm (67.8 in)
rear track: 1706 mm (67.2 in)
wheelbase: 3070 mm (120.9 in)
length/wheelbase ration: 1.55
wheels: 205/40 R 18

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