Yamaha Debuts its Sports Ride Concept, and It’s Pretty Awesome

Yamaha Sports Ride Concept (Credit: © Yamaha)

It is not too often that Yamaha gets into full-scale car building, as the motorcycle manufacturer typically sticks with component building for the cars and trucks, if it participates at all. This doesn’t mean it shies away from the occasional concept car, though, and it proved that at the Tokyo Motor Show with the introduction of the Sports Ride Concept.

Many of the impotant details surrounding the concept are being kept under wraps for now, but its looks are out there for everyone to see. This concept makes it look like Yamaha’s been building sports cars for decades. The sleek body looks like something from the minds at Lotus or maybe one of the mainstream Japanese automakers, but no, it is straight from the pens of Yamaha designers. Impressive…

Yamaha Sports Ride Concept (Credit: © Yamaha)

The neat parts of the Sports Ride Concept’s design are its motorcycle Easter eggs strewn throughout. Things like the narrow LED headlights that are similar to those of the YZF-R1, the center-mounted dual exhaust exits, the forward-mounted instruments and controls in the cabin, and the gas-tank-like bulge in the driver’s seat.

Yamaha developed the Sports Ride Concept using its iStream process, which uses F1 tech to make cars lighter and highly rigid. This process gives the driver a better connection with the road, much like Yamaha’s motorcycles do.

Yamaha Sports Ride Concept (Credit: © Yamaha)

In terms of dimensions, this concept is about as lightweight and compact as a sports car can comes. It measures in at just 3,600 mm (141.7 inches) long, 1,720 mm (67.7 inches) wide, and 1,170 mm (46.1 inches) tall. As for its curb weight, this checks in at just 750 kg (1,653.5 pounds). These measurements should make for a super-agile ride that is lightning quick.

There are no details on what powers this concept, but I would put money on one of Yamaha’s higher-displacement sport-bike engines.

There are no plans at this time for Yamaha to produce the Sports Ride Concept, but it certainly looks like a sports car we could see on the road at some point.