America's Best-Selling Car Tuned Up for 2013 NASCAR Season

 

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS) and TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development) today formally introduced the new 2013 Toyota Camry that will compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) beginning next season at TRD’s Salisbury, N.C. facility.

The introduction of the new 2013 Camry for NASCAR competition marked the culmination of an aggressive redesign to provide the 2013 Camry with an updated and more-unique identity. TRD worked together with Calty Design, part of Toyota’s global network design team, to create an on-track Camry that incorporates design elements which give America’s best-selling car its distinct character.

“We’re thrilled to finally unveil our new 2013 Camry and we think NASCAR fans will really appreciate that our new on-track Camry looks like the one in their driveways,” said Ed Laukes, TMS vice president of marketing communications and motorsports. “Our 2013 Camry looks more like the production vehicle than ever before, and we hope this helps revitalize the long-standing relationship between fans and manufacturers in NASCAR. Never before have we had a Camry competing in NASCAR that looked so similar to its production counterpart.”

A new front grill-area that matches the production model, distinct character lines down the side of the vehicle and an updated rear bumper make the redesigned 2013 Camry stock car more relevant than ever before to its showroom sibling.

“We’re extremely proud of the new Camry and the development of the car was truly a unique process,” said Lee White, president and general manager of TRD. “NASCAR and all four manufacturers were brought together to guide the direction of the new cars. We all worked together to put the ‘S’ back in NASCAR -- we all wanted race cars that look more like our stock, production models -- and together we accomplished that. Our new Camry for 2013 is a great looking race car. Everyone at Toyota is eager to have our drivers in a race car that more resembles the street Camry.”

For 10 straight years, and 14 of the past 15 years, the Toyota Camry has been the best-selling car in America. Built at Toyota manufacturing facilities in Georgetown, Kentucky and Lafayette, Indiana, the 2012 Toyota Camry was recently named the ‘Best Redesigned Vehicle’ by Kelley Blue Book. In addition, the Camry has been named the ‘Most American Car’ by Cars.com’s American-Made Index for three consecutive years.

In an effort to create more distinct and stock vehicles for the race track, NASCAR worked together with the four series manufacturers to determine what areas were either ‘locked in’ or ‘open’ for unique design. NASCAR also allowed for the exchange of glass for solid body pieces.

“When everyone at Toyota first saw the design of the 2013 Camry, the first reaction was, ‘They’re actually going to let you race a car that looks like that?’,” said Andy Graves, TRD’s vice president of chassis engineering. “That just demonstrates how excited everyone was about the new design of the Camry stock car.”

The new 2013 Toyota Camry will make its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at Daytona International Speedway’s ‘Speedweeks’ in February.

The FR-S Teaser Video!

The FR-S is running HOT!!

 

The Scion FR-S is filled with playful rear-drive character. Photo courtesy of Toyota Motor

 

Scion’s 2013 FR-S sports car succeeds on the most important level: It’s fun to drive.

Too bad Toyota couldn’t have had a little more fun with the name. The FR-S is known as the Toyota GT-86 in the rest of the world, and even wears GT-86 badges on its front panels. The name brings to mind the expression, “86-ed,” restaurant slang meaning a menu item has sold out, a customer has been banned, or something has otherwise been eliminated.

Imagine a television commercial wherein a Gen-Y hipster driving a GT-86 bests a competitor on a twisty road. At the end, we cut to a close-up of the winner as he looks straight at his nemesis in a VW or Hyundai and says, “You’ve been 86-ed!”

The actual TV ads for the Scion FR-S aren’t as much fun, so it’s a good thing the car is. It has a playful rear-drive character and curvaceous styling that should make it a hot commodity among Scion’s under-30 target market.

The design represents a revisiting of the past for Toyota, evoking a time when the company turned out affordable, rear-wheel-drive performance cars like the 1980s enthusiast-favorite AE86 Corolla. Toyota’s 1960s Sports 800 and 2000 GT are also cited as ancestors. The FR-S, which starts at $24,930, is also Scion’s first proper sports car, augmenting the less expensive, merely “sporty” tC.

The FR-S (“front-engine, rear-drive, sport”) was reportedly drawn up to appease Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who asked, “Where is the passion in our lineup?”

Scion’s emphasis here is on driving character, not big performance numbers.

So absent was the passion that Toyota looked outside its corporate boundaries and developed the FR-S in cooperation with Subaru. As a result, most of the FR-S’ engineering and mechanicals — like its FA20 2.0-liter, four-cylinder boxer engine — come from Subaru. Subie will sell its own, nearly identical version — the BRZ — at a slightly higher price point.

The car’s styling is determined by functional elements under the sheetmetal. For example, the engine is a flat, horizontally opposed four-cylinder, enabling a low hood line that highlights the front wheel arches. From the driver’s seat, the benefits are a low cowl and the ability to place the car visually using those bulging arches. Also, the gaping grille is flanked by intakes with integrated fog lamps, ensuring adequate engine and brake cooling with minimal aerodynamic penalty. With these low-slung curves, the Scion’s silhouette is vaguely Toyota 2000-esque. Its trapezoid-shaped rear incorporates a diffuser, dual exhaust and 12-element LED tail lamps.

The car's front-end styling is dictated by its flat engine design. Photo courtesy of Toyota Motor

This functional approach continues in the cockpit, where the black instrument panel is dominated by a big tachometer, a relatively simple center stack and a flat glovebox area. Imagine the central satnav/audio display pulled out, wires casually hanging, and it smacks of a stripped-out race car interior. The fabric seats are comfortable and bolstered enough for serious track work with attractive double-stitching. The steering wheel is, appropriately, Toyota’s smallest, measuring just 14 inches in diameter.

A standard 300-watt Pioneer audio system can be upgraded to Toyota’s 340-watt BeSpoke app-based multimedia system, whose 5-inch display can be used to call up Pandora, Facebook or Twitter, and includes points-of-interest and routing functions through satellite navigation. There are also the usual USB inputs and extra RCA outputs for external amps.

The FR-S’ sporting intent is signaled by a refreshingly light curb weight (between 2,700 and 2,800 pounds, depending on options) with a 53/47 percent front/rear weight distribution, a rigid chassis, and an independent suspension with MacPherson struts up front and double wishbones in the rear. Add a reasonable 200 horsepower, put power down at the rear wheels, and you’ve got a zippy handler.

Scion’s emphasis here is on driving character, not big performance numbers. The direct-injected 2.0-liter boxer keeps the FR-S’ center of gravity lower than a Porsche Cayman’s, and power delivery is linear up to the 7,400-rpm redline. The FA20 engine is also tuned for sound: A “Sound Creator” channels audio from the engine’s air intake into the cabin. Unfortunately, the note isn’t that appealing, and my guess is that aftermarket exhaust makers will step in profitably.

The rear is dominated by a diffuser and a pair of large LED lamps. Photo courtesy of Toyota Motor

The engine mates with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission with paddle-shift mode. Manual shift throws are direct and definitive. I never mis-shifted during a day at the track, and clutch take-up is not too heavy or light. The automatic pops off quick, rev-matched downshifts with surprisingly clever anticipation. The steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters earn a minor demerit, since they’re too small for easy use when the wheel is turned beyond 90 degrees.

Given the FR-S’ power-to-weight ratio, I’d guess the zero-to-60 time to fall somewhere in the mid-six-second range. Not blazing, but stoplight drags aren’t its mission. Backroad twisties, hot-lapping and drifting are.

Those strengths are abetted by some quick steering. Working in concert with the suspension, it allows you to easily adjust yaw. Steering feel isn’t great, but you forget about it. Jump off the throttle mid-corner and the FR-S oversteers like a front-drive car. Catching the tail is easy and fun. Drifting simply requires a little practice. The three selectable driving modes (“normal,” “sport,” and a third setting that disables the traction and stability controls) allow for progressively less intervention in that regard.

Stoplight drags aren’t its mission. Backroad twisties, hot-lapping and drifting are.

The 2.0-liter Boxer is light on torque (151 pound-feet) which you do notice on the street. Conversely, the lack of twist gives you a certain freedom on the track. Rather than wait anxiously to pick up the throttle as you would in a big power sports/muscle-car, you can simply slap the gas pedal past a corner apex. It makes you smile.

The engine doesn’t elicit the same response. I expected the 2.0-liter to rev more freely than it does. The Boxer winds relatively slowly, feeling a bit truck-like. Its character doesn’t match the playful nature of the rest of the FR-S.

But there’s a lot of good stuff, including ventilated front and rear brake rotors that stopped the car without fade during my four successive lap stints. The light overall weight aids braking performance and agility, even on the FR-S’ hard compound tires. Enthusiasts will likely go for grippier rubber once the first set wears down. Scion embraces customization, and the company will offer a range of appearance and performance accessories after launching the car.

Toyota has rediscovered accessible rear-drive performance in a market where, until recently, only Mazda’s MX-5 has played. This unique quality — and its extended possibilities — brings a lot of driving fun to the table. But it also brings precisely the kind of street-cred lacking in Scion’s “secretary-friendly” tC.

WIRED An affordable, lightweight, rear-drive sports car tuned for performance young enthusiasts can extract — a boon for Scion. Affordability is bolstered by average fuel economy in the mid-20-mpg range, two years of free scheduled maintenance, and Toyota reliability. It’s got some pretty curves.

TIRED The Subaru-sourced 2.0-liter Boxer feels a bit lazy when revved, and could use more torque. Despite help from the artificial “Sound Creator,” the engine sounds only so-so. Buyers won’t care, but the rear seats are useless to anyone beyond their toddler years.

The 14-inch steering wheel is Toyota's smallest. Photo courtesy of Toyota Motor

Scion FR-S Will Power Canadian Race Talent in Drifting League

 

The sporty, rear-wheel drive Scion FR-S is already making a name for itself in the minds of automotive enthusiasts. Following the FR-S’ class win in the 24-hours of Nurburgring, Scion is continuing it’s assault in the motorsports scene.

 

Today Scion announced that it will be debuting its Racing Team in the Canadian Driftmania series, with a new FR-S drift car. Scion has chosen local legend Pat Cyr to represent the Scion brand. Cyr has more than a dozen podium results on his record, including the Canadian Driftmania Championships as well as the US Xtreme Drift Circuit series.

Cyr has previously competed with an AE86, one of the cars Scion looked back at when developing the FR-S.

“We’re thrilled to be supporting grassroots racing in Canada through our involvement with Pat Cyr and his Cyrious Drift team – one of the top teams in the game,” said Larry Hutchinson, a Senior Executive at Scion Canada. “With his passion for the AE86, Pat has a deep appreciation for how that heritage shines through in the FR-S. He’ll have a lot of fun building his FR-S drift car this year and racing it next year.”

Louisiana man's Toyota pickup hits 1 million miles

Even after driving his truck more than 1 million miles, Glen Allen doesn’t think the old girl has reached the end of the road. She keeps on rolling, even on a long trip.

“I can leave right now, punch your address into my GPS and drive with as much confidence as I have when I drive to the grocery store a quarter mile away,” says Allen, who lives in St. Amant, La.

That’s important for a man who makes his living driving across the country, escorting vehicles carrying oversized loads.

Allen bought his 1996 pickup truck in January 1997 from Price LeBlanc Toyota in nearby Baton Rouge. The truck had six miles on it.

It was his fourth Toyota vehicle, the only brand he’s ever owned. “I bought my first one when I was 21 years old,” he says. “It was an ’84 Xtra Cab, white with gray interior.”

He later bought a ’91 Corolla and a ’93 Toyota pickup truck. “I’ve been very impressed with Toyota’s products,” he says. “I really don’t have the desire to purchase anything else.”

He’s particularly pleased with his current truck. “For a small truck, it has plenty of leg room and head room,” he says. “It’s been a comfortable little truck for me. I can reach anything I need from the driver’s seat.”

Comfort is vital to Allen, who can rack up 90,000 miles a year escorting trucks carrying bulldozers, cranes and other heavy equipment. “I could get a call in the next five minutes telling me to go to Minnesota,” he says. “I never know where I’m going or when I’m going. I’ve got to keep my bag packed.”

Despite the uncertainty, he says, “It’s exciting because I get to go to a lot of places I never dreamed of going. I’ve been to 38 states and Canada. I enjoy taking back roads, running into little hole-in-the-wall restaurants.”

Allen doesn’t spend all of his time on the road. He sometimes spends hours in parking lots while the big trucks are being loaded. But he doesn’t mind waiting because his cabin is comfortable enough for naps. “I get some of my best sleep in my truck,” he says.

Even during Louisiana’s scorching summers. “I can sit in my truck all day long with the air conditioning on, and the temperature never goes up,” he says.

Allen calls his truck “My Little Red Demon.” As for the gender, he says, “I think a vehicle is always a ‘her,’ isn’t it? You treat her nicely, and she’ll take care of you.”

Allen has treated his vehicle nicely. “I don’t dog the truck,” he says. “I don’t hot rod it at all.”

He gets the tires rotated regularly and changes the oil every 5,000 miles. He replaced the original engine at 658,000 miles. “The original clutch looked so good, the mechanic was tempted to put it back in.”

He got the truck painted a couple of years ago because “I wanted her to look good when she turned a million.”

Yes, Allen was confident his truck would reach that milestone. “Once I saw how far the first engine got me, I thought I could get to a million.”

Today, his truck has about 1,080,000 miles on it. Although his family and friends have urged him to get a new truck, he’s in no hurry. “It’s still in great shape,” he says. “Even if I get a new truck, I’ll keep this one for local jobs.”

When the time does come, Allen will probably get a Tacoma “unless I’m just completely blown away by a Tundra.”

In the meantime, he says, “I take care of my truck the best I can and boogie down the road. We spend a lot of time together. She’s the love of my life, what can I say?”

By Susan Pack

The Toyota Design Team is Gearing Up for the Future

 

Toyota wants to introduce better car design into its future products. The company already has the reliability part of building cars down pretty well. But it’s design has been milquetoast, its cars frequently characterized as “appliances,” and the company wants to turn that around, said Kevin Hunter, the president of Toyota’s CALTY Design Studio.

“We’re going to act more instinctively,” he said. “We’ll continue listening to the customer, but we can’t do creative design only listening to the consumer. They don’t know what they want five years from now. We’re going to make some predictions.”

We saw it first with the Scion FR-S, which is a sleek, slinky little sports car that’s both aggressive and handsome at the same time. But sports cars are hard to goof up. It’s stuff like the Camry and Sienna, the company’s bread and butter, that Hunter wants to look more expressive and appealing. In fact, it’s about time that design stopped taking a backseat to engineering and logic, when the engineering department would tell the design staff to “make this pretty,” and as Hunter notes, this led to dull, compromised, badly proportioned vehicles.

“We’re going back to the precepts Toyota was founded on.”

It also helps that Akio Toyoda, the company’s newly-minted president, is a car enthusiast who’s genuinely interested in vehicle design. Hunter says it’s a genuine change for Toyota: “we haven’t had that as long as I’ve been with the company.”

And while speaking bluntly, Hunter claimed that Toyotas look “cute or surprised.” (Just look at the last MR2, a car that Hunter nonetheless cited as a great Toyota design.) But new Toyotas will “express the confidence and optimism,” as evident on the new Avalon and the NS4 concept, shown above. Lexus is already undergoing this design “renaissance” with the GS and it’s “spindle” front grilles. And of course, while this might sound like typical car designer posturing, styling from the sexy LF-LC concept—designed by Hunter and his team at CALTY – will make its way into future Lexus and Toyota (and even Scion) models.

“In the past, let’s face it, we had boring design,” Hunter said. “We’re moving to more unexpected designs; that’s our big message.”

Toyota Hits Four Million Unit Global Sales Milestone for Hybrids

TORRANCE (May. 22, 2012) – Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in Japan announced its global hybrid vehicle sales totaled four million units through April 2012.

Toyota currently sells 18 hybrid passenger vehicles in 80 countries and regions around the world. This year, hybrid vehicle accounted for 15 percent of TMC’s global vehicle sales. Prius, Toyota’s first hybrid passenger car, went on sale in Japan in 1997. Hybrid technology was later introduced to the U.S. in 2000 with the arrival of the Prius.

Since then, the Toyota Division of Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A. sold 1.5 million hybrid vehicles in the U.S., accounting for 65 percent of all hybrid vehicles sold in the region. Prius, the iconic hybrid brand, comprises half of all hybrids on the road in the U.S. with sales totaling 1.2 million units through April 2012.

The expansion of the Prius has been successful in the U.S. since the Prius v was introduced in to the market in November 2011 followed by Prius c and Prius Plug-in during the first quarter 2012. In that time, Prius family sold 60,859 units in the U.S.

"All of us at Toyota would like to sincerely thank our customers, who have made Prius the best-selling hybrid in the industry," said Bob Carter, group vice president and general manager, Toyota Division. "While we're proud of this accomplishment, we are not stopping here as hybrids will continue to be a core technology for Toyota."

In addition to the Prius Family, Toyota’s other U.S. hybrid models include versions of the Camry and Highlander, which feature larger displacement applications of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive.

Toyota calculates that the total number of its hybrid vehicles sold globally since 1997 have produced to approximately 26 million fewer tons of C02 emissions than would have been emitted by gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size and driving performance.

CONSUMER REPORTS SURVEY: AMERICANS SAY FUEL ECONOMY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CAR BUYING FACTOR

Nearly three-quarters of drivers would consider an alternative fuel vehicle for their next car

YONKERS, NY - With fuel prices at near record levels, consumers are driving less and contemplating a move to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, according to recent survey by Consumer Reports.

The survey found that 37 percent said their leading consideration when shopping for their next car will be fuel economy. A distant second was quality (17 percent) followed by safety (16 percent), value (14 percent) and performance (6 percent).

"These results make it clear that high fuel prices are continuing to impact driver behavior and influencing future purchase considerations," said Jeff Bartlett, Consumer Reports deputy auto editor. "While quality, safety and value are still important, this may be foreshadowing a market shift by folks seeking relief at the pump."

Some two-thirds of owners surveyed said they expected their next vehicle to get better fuel mileage than the one they're driving now. While gasoline costs (90 percent) were the number one reason cited for wanting a more fuel-efficient vehicle, more than half of respondents also had other reasons, including a desire to be more environmentally friendly (62 percent) and concern about dependence on foreign oil (56 percent).

Women disproportionately said they were motivated by the environmental benefit of better fuel economy (65 percent vs. 58 percent of men), more concerned about dependence on foreign oil (63 percent vs. 49 percent of men), and impacted by changes on the home front (38 percent vs. 31 percent).

For more information regarding Consumer Reports' fuel economy survey, helpful fuel economy tips and advice on selecting the most fuel-efficient car for your needs visitwww.ConsumerReports.org/fuel.

The survey, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, found that car owners were open to different ways of saving at the pump, from downsizing to looking at hybrids, electric cars, or models with diesel engines. In all, nearly three quarters (73 percent) of participants said they would consider some type of alternatively fueled vehicle, with flex-fuel (which can run on E85 ethanol) and hybrid models leading the way. Younger buyers were more likely to consider an alternatively-fuel or purely electric vehicle than drivers over the age of 55.

Of those who said they plan to move to a different type, owners of large SUVs were the most open to downsizing, frequently planning to move to a smaller SUV. Small cars were the leading category targeted by survey respondents for their next vehicle, followed by larger sedans and midsized SUVs. Further illuminating a future market shift, larger sedans (18 percent) and minivans (7 percent) are on fewer participants' radar relative to their current model.

With the federal government expected to finalize new fuel efficiency standards later this year that would require manufacturer's average fuel economy to reach 54.5 miles-per-gallon by 2025, some 90 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statements "Auto manufacturers should offer a greater variety of cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles in the near future." Almost 80 percent felt the same about the statements "Fuel economy standards should require auto manufacturers to increase the overall fleet average to at least 55 miles per gallon," (79%) and "I am willing to pay extra for a more fuel efficient vehicle if I can recover the additional cost through lower fuel costs" (81%).

"When gas prices are high, it's always tempting to rush to trade-in for a more fuel-efficient car to save at the pump. But our research has shown that you're often better off financially to stick it out with the vehicle you have if it's less than three years old, because a new vehicle will cost you more in depreciation than you would save on gas" said Bartlett. The Consumer Reports National Research Center conducted the random, nationwide telephone survey in two waves, April 5-7 and April 12-15, 2012, contacting 2,009 adults. The Center interviewed 1,702 adults in households that had at least one car.