Browsing the local blogosphere (PaulTan.org to be exact) we were surprised to hear news that the previously announced Subaru Turbodiesel Boxer engine has been on show at Frankfurt. The new motor is the first of it’s kind, a horizontally opposed turbo diesel four cylinder engine, and we expect it’ll be in a variant of the new Impreza, and perhaps the local Liberty in the future.

Power comes in at 110KW (147HP), which is on par with the naturally aspirated 2.0L petrol engine. Torque comes in with a meaty 350Nm of torque. The engine is 2.0L in capacity.

There’s no mention of fuel efficiency, but you can expect it to be good, even better than the petrol N/A. With that much torque, you could almost use an hypothetical turbodiesel Boxer Impreza as a tow car.

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At this years Frankfurt Motorshow, Honda hasn’t been resting on it’s laurels. Instead they’ve given us a beautiful concept tourer (or wagon, depends on what your idea of a wagon is). It’s clear Honda have their sights set on giving us back a solid Honda wagon along the lines of the Accord Wagon, not seen in the US and Australia since the fifth-generation Accord - although wagon production continues in European and Japanese markets.

Specifications remain relatively unchanged from the Accord Euro, with the the 2.0- and 2.4-litre gas engines, although Honda’s 2.2-litre diesel will be an option when it goes into production. The Tourer concept also sports 4 doors, a longer track and width to improve handling and cargo space.

Honda Accord Tourer Concept Pics:

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Sometimes a car you’ve never heard of is thrown up in the media as rumours, and sometimes it’s thrown up at a motorshow. The Toyota iQ is the latter, a strange looking small car that could be a (dimension-wise) smaller version of the Prius, though this is expected to run on a small gas or diesel motor below 1.5L.

The Toyota iQ. Click to enlarge.

Apart from looking somewhat like a rabbit,� the Echo, the iQ sports an interesting 3+1 configuration, where the standard 2 seater setup is transformed into 3 by a third seat is flipped up in the back. The car is expected to have a front mounted engine, with power delivered through the front wheels.

The iQ is slated to go on sale in Europe in 2009, with no word on other markets.

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�ED:If you’re like me, the only words you’re thinking right now is ‘Damn, I wish I could have gone’.

Autoblog have posted

the WRC from the showroom floor, and it doesn’t look too much different from the images supplied before of the concept. There’s also no information whatsoever on the internals of the WRC.

However, what is interesting to note, is that this vehicle clearly has 4 bolt wheels versus 5 bolt for the Impreza. Now, I haven’t followed the Impreza in Rally since 2003, so perhaps this has been a recent change.

It also sports dual exhausts, another oddity - I distinctly� remember a single exhaust on the WRC cars.

Make sure you hit Autoblog for some great snaps

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