Toyota FT-HS concept

It's no secret that Toyota is looking to develop a high performance flagship to take on its home-market rivals. However, high performance doesn't really sit too comfortably with the company's increasingly eco-orientated stance. So on the stand in Tokyo Toyota once again exhibited its FT-HS concept, a high performance coupe powered by a combination of a 3.5-litre V6 and Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive. That mixture should allow any production version to sprint to 62mph in around four seconds while still enabling sensible economy and emissions.

It's rumoured that the FT-HS will be available from 2009 to fill the void left by the Supra. The perfect car for those wanting to enjoy high performance motoring with a (slightly) clearer green conscience? Perhaps, we'll need to wait and see, but if this hybrid and alternative powertrains are the price needed to allow us to enjoy high performance motoring in the future then the FT-HS concept represents an impressive start.

Tuesday October 30