Archive for Toyota

Toyota has raised the bar on passenger safety once again, with an announcement that side airbags and curtain shield airbags will now be standard on all new passenger vehicle models in Japan, starting with the new models to be launched shortly.

An SRS side airbag is built into the front seat, and it deploys in the case of a side collision and reduces risk of upper body injury for front seat occupants.

SRS curtain shield airbags are located between the front pillars and the roof-side rails, which deploy and protect both front and rear passengers heads with a curtain-like barrier, reducing impact from side windows, pillars and other internal objects, as well as any external objects like poles.

This is for Japan domestic market cars of course - not sure if this will somehow trickle down to the Toyota cars available in our country sometime in the future.

UMW Toyota Motor is now offering an Aerokit for the Toyota Corolla Altis which includes front and rear bumper lips, side skirts, as well as wing mirrors that have signal indicators built into them.

As for the interior, the head unit for the 1.8G model has been updated to a unit that features MP3 and WMA playing capability, and in my opinion has a more stylish faceplate featuring a large center knob. Toyota is also promoting combination warm beige leather seats which are fade and crack-resistant.

It is not clear to me at the moment whether the aerokit is optional or comes standard with the Corolla Altis, but you can give them a call at 1-800-88-3333 from Mondays to Fridays between 8.00AM to 5:30PM.

A report in The Edge Daily on UMW’s rising share prices carries some information on when we can expect to see the new Toyota Vios in Malaysia. The report says the new Toyota Vios is expected in 4Q07, which should be anytime between October 2007 to December 2007. Read more about the new Toyota Vios in the related posts below:

Related Posts:
New Toyota Vios launched in Thailand
Toyota Belta on test in Thailand as Toyota Vios
UMW Toyota plans to price new baseline Toyota Vios at under RM70,000
2006 Toyota Belta (JDM name for Toyota Vios)
Toyota Human Touch advertisement featuring Toyota Belta/Vios

UPDATE #3: The 7-seater Toyota Rush has been launched in Malaysia! - Click for details, specifications, photos and pricing.

UPDATE #2: The long wheelbase version of the Toyota Rush has been spotted being transported on trailers in Malaysia! Click here to view spyshots.

UPDATE: Perodua has announced that a new Kembara will be launched in mid-2008. It is expected that the new Perodua Kembara replacement will be based on the Daihatsu Bego/Toyota Rush. Click here for more details.

In Malaysia, Toyota seems to be missing a model in the small monocoque SUV segment, an area currently dominated by models such as the Honda CR-V and the Ford Escape. The current Toyota RAV4 is just too expensive as it is a CBU import. One model that might be able to fit that area but not exactly because of engine size is the Toyota Rush, but most of us are hoping that it will come to Malaysia as a Perodua Kembara replacement model.

However, in the past with certain models that have both a Daihatsu and a Toyota model (a strategy the Toyota group has used in neighbouring countries like Indonesia), Malaysia has seen it introduced as a Toyota instead, perhaps because of Toyota’s stronger badge value. Stick a Toyota badge on anything and it will sell because of Toyota’s reputation for perceived reliability and the trust the automobile-buying public has for the company. We’re talking about the Toyota Avanza as a case study, which also has a Daihatsu-badged sibling called the Daihatsu Xenia.

While we might have the Rush come in as a Perodua to replace the Kembara, let’s not discount the fact that it could possibly come in as a Perodua-assembled Toyota instead (as the Avanza is now). Now many will argue that the Rush is too compact to be a Toyota, but there is actually a long wheelbase version of the Toyota Rush that is sold as a 5+2 seater vehicle.

The normal wheelbase Bego/Terios/Toyota Rush has a wheelbase of 2,580mm but this stretched Indonesian version has a wheelbase of 2,685mm! There is a historical precedent, as Daihatsu Indonesia’s Taruna F-series was a stretched 5+2 Terios! Compared to the new Honda CR-V, the CR-V has a shorter wheelbase of 2,620mm.

The engine still remains as a Daihatsu-based 1.5 liter VVT-i though, the same 3SZ-VE unit as the one currently in the Toyota Avanza 1.5 making 109 PS at 6,000rpm and 141Nm of torque at 4,400rpm.

The short wheelbase version was recently awarded 4X4 Magazine’s 4X4 of the Year 2007 award, and according to 4X4 Magazine, “was the only one whose character stood out compared to its competitors, invoking the image of a cross-country adventure.”

So yes, imagine 5+2 seating similar to the Avanza, with sub-RM100K price tag, and a Toyota badge. Do you think it’ll sell?

Check out more photos and watch a video and after the jump.

Related Posts:
2006 Daihatsu Be-Go
New Daihatsu Terios announced in Indonesia
Daihatsu Terios wins 4X4 of the year award

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Rush Long Wheelbase suitable for Malaysia?

Toyota’s newly developed Active Headrest system promises to reduce the possibility of neck injury during low-speed, rear impacts. A sensor built into the seat’s backrest recognizes when the occupant’s lower back presses against the backrest, thus triggering the upper unit to activate the head restraint. The head restraint activates diagonally 30mm upwards and 25mm forwards to quickly catch the back of the head. This can reduce severity of whiplash injury by 10-20%.

One of the first few cars to feature Toyota’s new Valvematic engine has been unveiled - the new generation Toyota Noah (and it’s more aggressively-styled cousin the Toyota Voxy). The Toyota Noah is a 7 seater compact MPV positioned as a C-segment MPV, similiar to the Toyota Wish. It’s competitors include the Honda StepWGN and the Nissan Serena.

We now have some official output numbers for the first Valvematic engine. The 3ZR-FAE 2.0 liter Valvematic engine puts out 158 PS at 6200rpm, 196Nm at 4,400rpm, and goes 14.2km per liter of fuel used. A non-Valvematic engine is also available - the 3ZR-FE that outputs 143 PS at 5,600rpm and 194Nm of torque at 3,900rpm and goes 13.4km per liter of fuel. CO2 emissions for the Valvematic engine is also lower at 164k/gm compared to the 173g/km figure of the non-Valvematic engine.

Compared to Toyota’s previous flagship 2.0 liter, the new 3ZR engine without Valvematic makes less power - 143 PS versus 147 PS, but the Valvematic 3ZR makes more power - 158 PS vs 147 PS. More details on the new 3ZR-FAE and 3ZR-FE: it is a 1,986cc inline-4 DOHC engine, has a bore and stroke of 80.5mm x 97.6mm, and it’s compression ratio is 10.0:1.

More photos after the jump.

Related Posts:
Toyota reveals Valvematic technology

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Noah with Valvematic engine!

Increasing demand for diesel-burning Toyota cars in the European market has prompted isuzu to build a new plant in Japan to increase supply to keep up with demand. The new US$110.5 million plant in Hokkaido is set to be completed by 2012, and will make up to 200,000 units of a new 1.6 liter turbodiesel engine a year.

Japanese newspaper Nikkei reports that this new 1.6 liter turbodiesel engine will be jointly developed by Toyota and diesel-experts Isuzu, and will be used in C-segment cars like the Toyota Corolla for the European market.

Source

These guys have taken a 5.0 liter 1GZ-FE V12 engine from a Toyota Century and put it into a Toyota Supra. Not being satisfied with that, they’ve added a custom bolt-on turbokit to it.

The result is a 542 horsepower V12-powered Toyota Supra, though I don’t really know why the need for the V12 engine as the stock Supra engine could easily go beyond 550 horsepower if you tune it properly with the necessary strengthening, engine management, and larger turbos.

Anyway, video after jump. I think there’s a typo in the video though - the 1GZ-FE is a 4,996cc engine which makes it 5.0 liters, instead of the stated 5,996cc.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Supra with V12 Engine

Toyota has something new up it’s sleeves - Valvematic, an evolution of the VVT-i mechanism which now incorporates continuous valve lift control together with VVT-i’s existing valve timing control. Valvematic also eliminates the need for a throttle valve, instead controlling the volume of intake air using valve lift instead.

According to Toyota, an improvement of 5% to 10% can be seen with fuel efficiency, as well as an improvement of 10% with the power output on a similiar engine displacement comparison. Toyota also mentions reduced CO2 emission as well as improved acceleration responsiveness.

The first Valvematic-equipped engine will be a 2.0 liter model, most likely a replacement for the 145 horsepower 1AZ-FE engine which has been pretty much slotted with different tune levels into all Toyota cars in the C-segment and above. The trademark “Valvematic” was registered by Toyota a few months ago, so alot of people have been expecting this. One of the first few cars to get the new Valvematic 2.0 liter engine are the 2.0 liter versions of the recently launched twin sedans Toyota Allion and Toyota Premio. The 2.0 liter variants are set to debut in Winter 2007.

The new Toyota Valvematic 2.0 liter engine will most likely be christened the 3ZR-FAE, and will put out 158hp at 6,200rpm and 196Nm at 4,400rpm. Being part of the new ZR engine family, variable valve timing features will be the same as the 2ZR-FE’s Dual VVT-i system - valve timing on both intake and exhaust valves.

Honda also recently announced an engine with continuous valve lift control combined with variable valve timing, a technology it calls AVTEC.

Check out a patent application filed by Toyota in March 2007 by clicking here - I think it is the patent for Valvematic. Be warned though, it’s pretty long.

The Toyota Premio is an edgier, more aggressive, and more chromy version of the Toyota Allion, but is essentially the same car, with difference mostly with the exterior only. The interior is pretty much the same, with similiar trim design too.

It is also the same under the hood, using a 109 horsepower 1.5 liter 1NZ-FE that we’ve all come to be familiar with as the same 1.5 liter unit is used in our local Toyota Vios. The larger 1.8 liter engine option is of Toyota’s new Dual VVT-i flagship family - the 2ZR-FE which puts out 136 horses.

There is so much model overlap in the JDM market for almost all manufacturers. The bigger players can usually afford to make a few base models, a niche model, one or two premium models, all for the same segment, competing with each other as well as outside competition. But it is necessary as the Japanese are an advanced market, and over there the situation favours the consumer.

More photos after the jump.

Related Posts:
Toyota launches new 2007 Toyota Allion for JDM

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Premio for the JDM market