New 2011 Toyota Sienna Minivan

Not many folks would argue that the unveiling of a new minivan is "sexy," but then, when it comes to auto sales, sex isn't always what sells.

Indeed, Toyota's Sienna minivan has quietly soldiered on these past few years as one of the better minivans on the market, and one of the key models in Toyota's fleet. For 2011, the workhorse gets a fresh look and a new engine.

When it goes on sale in February of next year, the 2011 Toyota Sienna will be available in five different trim levels. Whether in base, LE, SE, XLE, and Limited trim, the Sienna will offer a 6-speed automatic transmission. Base and LE models will come standard with a 2.7-liter 4-cylinder that makes 187 horsepower. A 3.5-liter V-6 that makes 266 horsepower is optional on those models and standard on the others. All-wheel drive is available on LE V-6 models and XLE and Limited models. For buyers who prefer their minivans with a sporting bent, the SE model is aimed at them. SEs have 19-inch wheels, a sport suspension, and unique trim.

Sienna will seat either seven or eight passengers, and the third-row seat will fold flat into the floor. Other family-friendly features will include a dual-screen DVD system and a camera system that will allow drivers to get a full view of all sides of the vehicle.

Styling changes are mostly subtle, with the most obvious change being the grille, which borrows its look from the company's Venza crossover.  As noted above, minivans aren't known for exciting styling, and the Sienna continues the tradition of subtlety.

Toyota Lexus Kick Gas in 2010

Imagine a gas sipping hybrid that is actually fun to drive, comfortable and yes, luxurious.  Pretty incredible, eh?  Now imagine two of them!  Toyota, and its luxury division, Lexus, have teamed up to provide two of the most satisfyingly drivable hybrids on the market.

The first the Toyota Prius --  has been around a while and has defined the hybrid in the minds of most consumers.  When it first came out,  Hollywood superstars traded in their Ferraris and Bentleys for a little Prius in a pious sacrifice on the altar of environmental correctness.  Cameron Diaz, Robin Williams, Ewan McGregor, Gwyneth Paltrow and Leonard Di Caprio have all been spotted driving their Prius cars in Hollywood, Westwood, Santa Monica and Malibu.

The original Prius was cramped and underpowered.  Not so for 2010.  It is larger, roomier and frankly a pleasure to drive.  This reviewer once drove from Atlanta to Ft. Stewart with CNNs Clark Howard, the consumer expert, in his 2005 Prius.  Clark is way over six feet tall and I am just six.  In our army boots and with all our gear, we felt like sardines in a can.  Not so today.  The completely redesigned interior offers surprising head, hip and shoulder room for front and rear passengers alike.  The Hybrid Synergy Drive is Toyotas exclusive design that makes the electric and gas power plants work together efficiently and with real oomph for such diminutive sources.  154 foot-pounds of torque never felt so hunky.  Fully equipped, the Prius has all the stuff luxury car buyers demand.  Like premium sound, navigation, satellite radio, backup camera (especially useful given the limited rear visibility) and automatic dual control climate system.

Hey it even looks rather attractive.  Unlike the Prius of yore, it resembles a real car.  With big, wide 17 inch alloy wheels.  No longer do you feel compelled to put on your Birkenstocks or Earth Shoes to drive it.

Starting at around $22,000 the Prius is an exceptional value.  And at 50 mpg, youre saving a whole lot more.

In a lunch conversation with a Toyota spokesperson the other day, I was told what the difference was between the Prius and the new 2010 Lexus 250h.  Its simple, he explained, The Prius is a hybrid that happens to be luxurious, and the Lexus is a luxury car that just happens to be a hybrid.

 

A walk around the 250h reveals an attractive, substantial, almost beefy-looking  sedan, in sharp contrast to most econo-hybrids.  Large 18 inch alloys put a lot of rubber on the four corners.  It looks like a Lexus and only a discrete chrome h on the rear, gives away the fact it is a hybrid.  Merging onto GA400 heading North toward Roswell, I was astounded at the power.  

Rather than just glue Lexus badges on a Prius or Camry Hybrid, Lexus based the HS 250h sedan on a specialized platform not utilized by any other Toyota or Lexus hybrid. In terms of size, it's bigger than a Corolla but smaller than a Camry. As for the driving experience, though, it's all Lexus, with refined performance, a smooth and quiet ride and an impeccably trimmed cabin chock-full of the latest (but easily operated) high-tech features.  The center console is impressive it looks like something out of the space shuttle but without a manual (they hadnt printed one yet when I got a hold of the car) I was able to figure out just about everything it was that intuitive.

The HS 250h borrows its power train from the Camry Hybrid, which is both bigger and more powerful than that used in the Prius. This allows it to post a 0-60-mph time of 8.7 seconds -- fairly quick for a hybrid vehicle. As for fuel economy, the HS 250h has an EPA fuel economy estimate of 35 mpg in combined driving. This is significantly less than the Prius' combined rating of 50 mpg, but it's still the highest of any luxury-branded hybrid vehicle.

The 250h actually turned heads in the valet lane and the carpool turnaround. Most were surprised to learn it was a hybrid.  Backseat passengers reported that there was much more room than expected for what might be called a luxury compact.  Starting at $34,000, and smartly equipped at $40,000, the Lexus 250h is a luxury car that a corporate executives most critical stockholders would approve of.

Toyota Pulls General Motors

 

Consider this: Over the past decade Toyota has gone against longstanding traditional mores governing parent company/parts supplier relationships by putting the screws to their suppliers even in the best of times in order to milk the most profit out of each part. In addition to abusing their suppliers, Toyota has put international growth above all else (even by their own admission). After the first indications that this growth strategy was taking its toll on vehicle reliability (sludging problems and other issues in the early 2000s), they responded not by becoming more proactive about emphasizing reliability, but instead spent tens of millions lobbying to either kill or postpone new safety regulations and limit the scope of their mandatory recalls.

When their efforts to skirt around other costly recalls finally began to catch up to them, they relented and issued a massive recall that still omitted some of the cars the NHTSA has received complaints about (i.e., the pre-2007 Camry). This recall was quickly "resolved" with a fix that not everyone is certain even solved the main problem in the first place. In response to the sales numbers lagging from the recall, Toyota then created incentives the likes of which they have never before imagined, which will certainly lead to a further devaluation of the other Toyotas on the road and the erosion of one of their biggest selling-points, resale value.

It doesn't take a historian to see the General Motors-esque pattern developing here: Profit Above All Else -> Short Term Thinking -> Negative Results from Short Term Thinking (unreliability) -> More Short Term Thinking (lobbying to avoid repair costs rather than simply recalling the product and fixing future models) -> More Negative Results (increasing numbers of complaints and/or deaths) -> More Short Term Thinking (hastily executed recall that may not have even solved the problem entirely) -> Product Devaluation -> More Short Thinking (incentives) -> Further Product Devaluation.

Heck, GM got it down to a science in the 1970s and ‘80s, right before they were forced to pay the price. One has to wonder how long Toyota will play the old-school GM game, and what kind of impact this will have on them in the long term. As anyone familiar with the history of the domestic auto manufacturers knows, you can only mortgage against public goodwill and favorable opinions about your company for so long before your company's reputation is upside down and your credit is damaged irrevocably.

2010 New York Auto Show: New Car 2011 Scion iQ

 

 

Toyota has finally confirmed the launch of its diminutive iQ minicar for the U.S. market with the unveiling today of the 2011 Scion iQ at 2010 New York Auto Show. Aimed at a new trendsetting generation of urban drivers, the types of customers Scion is known for, the new U.S.-spec iQ will be very well-equipped when it goes on sale later this year.

Already on sale in Europe and Japan, the iQ measures less than 10 feet in length, yet it can comfortably seat three adults plus one small child, and officials are confident it will score top marks in independent and government crash testing. Active safety features include Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), an anti-lock brake system (ABS) with Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA) and Traction Control (TRAC).

The 2011 Scion iQ will also come standard with 10 SRS airbags, including the world's first rear-window curtain airbag. Other airbags include driver- and front-passenger airbags, driver- and front-passenger seat-mounted side airbags, side curtain airbags, driver- and front-passenger knee airbags, and a Scion-first driver seat-cushion airbag.

With a 78.7 inch wheelbase and a unique suspension design--consisting of MacPherson struts up front, and a torsion beam rear suspension--the three-door hatchback can deftly maneuver through city traffic. In addition, its overall length of only 120.1 inches, width of 66.1 inches, and short front and rear overhangs make parking a breeze.

Power will come from a 1.3-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine with a reasonable 90 horsepower on tap, and this will be matched with a continuously variable transmission. Thanks to its small stature and variable valve timing technology, expect combined fuel economy levels around the 30 mpg mark.

Standard goodies will include a six-speaker stereo USB and auxiliary ports and steering-wheel-mounted controls.

Final release dates are pricing are yet to be revealed.

2010 Toyota Prius Pictures Photos and Wallpaper Gallery

 2010 Toyota Prius Photos and Wallpaper Gallery

Concept Cars: 2010 Toyota FT-86 Concept

 

The speculation is over, the Japanese automaker Toyota has finally shown the world the highly anticipated successor to the original AE86 "Hachi Roku" with the FT-86 Concept. The old Toyota Corolla was celebrated for its lightweight fun to drive layout. The new project has previously been referred to as a Toyobaru because the affordable sports car was developed in collaboration with Subaru and is scheduled to make its world debut in just a few weeks at the Tokyo Motor Show. We are happy to report that even though this is just the concept, the production model will look a lot like it, with the only revisions being done to the cars interior. However we won’t know for sure until the end of 2011.

The Flash Red FT-86 Concept is inspired by the Corolla based AE86 sports coupe from the 1980s, and carries a very strong resemblance to the FT-HS Concept that was revealed back in 2007 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The FT-86 is a compact, rear wheel drive sports concept powered by a 2.0 Liter horizontally opposed, naturally aspirated four cylinder gasoline burning engine supplied by Subaru. In its non boosted form, the flat four make a maximum output of 150 HP, but the automaker is toying around with the idea of a more powerful super charged version depending on consumer demands, but for now we will have to settle for a simple boxer engine connected to a 6 speed manual transmission and equipped with ADVICS brakes.

When designing the FT-86 Concept Toyota’s engineers wanted to give the car a very low center of gravity for improved handling and efficient aerodynamics so that it can cut through the air with ease. So the four passenger FT-86 ended up being 4,160 mm long, 1,760 mm wide and 1,260 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,570 mm. Toyota’s design team has also included quite a few sporting touches to the concept’s interior; starting off with a flat bottom steering wheel, aluminum pedals and red stitching to accent the leather wrapped steering wheel and parking brake lever. The grey instrument panel is seamlessly molded into the darker dash and from the looks of things, is ready to hit Fuji Speedway.

Updated 05/03/2010: Toyota revealed new images of the FT-86 (Future Toyota-86) during the concept’s European debut at the Geneva Motor Show. Check the gallery to see them all!

Press release

TMC seeks to develop the ultimate earth-conscious environmentally-considerate vehicle with a focus on hybrid technologies without losing sight of the appeal of cars themselves or the joy of driving.

Over the past several years, the need has been rising for motor vehicles that take into consideration global warming and other environmental issues, while there has also been concern that there have been too few new sports cars that make the heart beat faster and that the time is right for a new generation of sports cars. In response to these needs, TMC has developed the FT-86 Concept, a sports car equipped with a 2,000cc, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated gasoline engine that evokes the joy of driving a car and the pleasure of vehicle ownership.

As the name "Future Toyota 86 Concept" implies, the FT-86 Concept, which will be exhibited at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, is a new 86 Toyota with a flash red finish. It is a compact, rear-wheel drive sports concept car that embodies speed and the excitement of driving that give cars their appeal as well as environmental performance.

A Toyota Sports Car for a New Era when the Driver Plays the Main Role

The FT-86 Concept is 4,160mm long, 1,760mm wide, and 1,260mm high with a wheelbase of 2,570mm, giving it a compact feeling that is easy for the driver to handle while able to accommodate four occupants. In addition to being light and having a low center of gravity, the FT-86 Concept boasts the handling of a racing car as well as a 6-speed manual transmission and ADVICS brakes.

The stylish concept captures the heart with the "functional utility" of its highly-refined body. It is the creation of Toyota Europe Design Development known as ED2, which has established body lines that take into consideration a low center of gravity and aerodynamics. The interior is distinctive, featuring an instrument panel with a gray and white base, gauges with red neon lights and digital displays, and a navigation system. In addition, a zipper that evokes an image of interior lapping with minimal covering of a highly-refined body presents a striking display.

It is necessary to create a vehicle in which the driver plays the main role in order to have as many people as possible experience the joy of driving.

The FT-86 Concept is neither an electric vehicle nor a hybrid vehicle, but is a sports model with a gasoline engine developed to convey the essential appeal of automobiles in a new era. It is a must-see concept car that expresses TMC’s desire to once again create a Toyota sports car.

2010 Toyota Aygo Black : Toyota’s friendly and frugal city car

Toyota UK has just added a new version to the Aygo line-up. The new Aygo Black will be offered in both three and five-door versions and will be based on the Aygo+ model.

This special edition adds Alcantara and leather upholstery, a leather-trimmed sports steering wheel, leather gear shift knob (manual models), 14-inch alloy wheels and Tempest Black metallic exterior paint finish.

Press release

Order books have opened for Aygo Black, a new version of Toyota’s friendly and frugal city car.

Aygo Black comes with a choice array of sports styling features, building on the specification of the Aygo+ model with additional Alcantara and leather upholstery, a leather-trimmed sports steering wheel, leather gear shift knob (manual models), 14-inch alloy wheels and Tempest Black metallic exterior paint finish.

Powered by the ultra-economical Toyota Optimal Drive 1.0-litre VVT-i petrol engine – winner of the sub-one-litre class of the International Engine of the Year awards for the past three years – and fitted with a five-speed manual gearbox, Aygo Black has official combined cycle fuel consumption figures of 62.8mpg and CO2 emissions of just 106g/km.

Both three and five-door models are available and air conditioning is available as an option. Toyota’s Multimode transmission is also available on the five-door Aygo Black, where air conditioning has been specified.