The new Toyota Harrier is one of our favorite forbidden fruit from the land of virtual girlfriends, drifting and super-fast bullet trains. This Japanese SUV is actually closely based on the Lexus RX and yet manages to look totally original and different.
The Lexus people will probably hate us for saying this, but from some angles, the Harrier actually looks better than the RX, especially from the front. There, a shiny, flat grille projects a techie vibe, which is sustained by the unique, small powertrain offered.
The Harrier Hybrid uses a 2.5-liter Atkinson cycle 2AR-FXE engine that does 152 PS and 206 Nm (152 lb-ft) on its own, but thanks to an E-Four system, combined output is boosted to 197 PS. This system uses not one but two electric motors, one at the back to give it 4x4 capabilities and another at the front to act as a torque filler.
But we're not here just to talk about the Toyota and its hybrid SUV. A few short commercials recently released in Japan caught our attention.Besides being weird and tricky to understand, they also appear to feature UK-born actor Rupert Evans. You know.. the guy who played the puppy-eyed agent in Hellboy.
American actors in Asian commercials aren't that uncommon. Those looking for a little extra work try to fill their pockets with cash from Japan or China, hoping nobody will notice. Of course, in this day and age, hiding is not really possible.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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