Archive for Toyota

Words are being exchanged in the motoring fraternity that Japanese-based auto maker, Toyota is planning to produce a hybrid coupe, which will share the same powertrain as the Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle. The hybrid is said to carry over certain design cues from the Toyota FT-HS Concept which was previewed at Detroit 2007.

According to Auto Express, Toyota will dub the hybrid coupe as the MR2, and that the environmentally friendly compact coupe will feature a rear wheel drive setup with a paddle shift transmission. The British-based magazine also revealed that Toyota’s executive vice president Masatami Takimoto mentioned that the auto maker understands that people in the U.K and Europe are very fond of the MR2, and the company is developing small hybrid sports car.

The coupe is expected to also offer excellent handling characteristics with improved aerodynamic efficiency and if it goes into production, we can expect a price point that would hover over the GBP 20,000 figure. It is also speculated that the hybrid coupe would be able to hit the 100 km/h mark in 7 seconds, while returning an impressive 60 miles to the gallon. Stay tuned as we will bring you the latest updates!

Japanese-based Motor Magazine has released a speculative rendering that depicts a 2-seater convertible with a set of roll-over bars that is based on the iQ and that features Daihatsu Copen-like looks. Apparently, according to the magazine, Toyota is planning to unveil a new roadster version of its Toyota iQ super mini in a concept form at the Tokyo Motor Show which is set to kick start on October 23rd till November 8th this year.

Power plant options which are expected to be used include the same ones found in the iQ, which was recently awarded a 5-star Euro NCAP rating. These include a 1.0 liter and a 1.33 liter petrol powered units as well as a 1.4 liter diesel. Nothing is confirmed so far, but hopefully we can get more information regarding this mini roadster before the motor show.

Story by Harvinder Sidhu

Toyota recently let us sample some cars from its Toyota TRD Vios Project where the company fitted their Toyota VIos sedan with a few TRD Sportivo accessories to spice it up a little. TRD Sportivo is essentially a fully factory warranty compliant set of accessories and are not the same as TRD accessories.

There are a few cars which we tested but they mainly fall into two levels of spec – the TRD Sportivo car which is what we’ll see introduced on the road soon and a more track-oriented setup that is much nearer to the Vios One Make Race car. The TRD Sportivo Vios comes with Tein shock absorbers and springs made to TRD specs. The TRD Sportivo springs lower the car 10mm at the front and 15mm at the rear. There is also a TRD exhaust and a TRD radiator cap which is supposed to have a higher rating of 1.3 bar.

Slalom Test – Brown-green Vios with auto transmission

After the briefing, I got behind the wheel of a standard automatic Toyota Vios, which was slightly upgraded with a TRD Sportivo kit and treated to a ‘chameleon’ body colour to kick start the first test event of the day; the slalom test. In this segment, I had to maneuver the Vios through cones which were aligned to make up an extremely short track. Basically this was to put the Vios’ handling in extremely tight cornering conditions to the test.

Reaching speeds of up to 80 km/h, I managed to steer the car through a sharp right-left chicane, then a tight left hairpin which led to a “round-a-bout” and lastly, to steer the Vios through a set of cones adjacently aligned to each. As I got into the car and adjusted my seating position which proved to be a little awkward since the steering wheel cannot be tilted upwards enough to my desired height, I thought to my self “hmmm, maybe doing this with a Vios is a bad idea”, but as soon as I started first lap, out of three, I quickly realized at the Vios has some decent stuff going for it in terms of its handling, as long as the 1.5 liter VVT-i engine does not overpower it, which it definitely did not. I was going flat out through the chicane and just had to lift off at the hairpin.

At the “round-a-about” I just had to modulate the throttle and through the adjacent cones, I just had to position my car correctly and apply just enough steering input. The handling wasn’t bad at all! I felt little body roll and controllable under steer however thanks to an upgraded suspension. The only slight difficulty I had was through the adjacent cones however the cones were really close to each other, so I gave the Vios the benefit of doubt.

Track Drive – Brown green Vios with auto transmission

The second session was the track drive! Of course this was the event which I was looking forward to the whole day! In the track drive session, which utilized the north track of the Sepang F1 Circuit (main straight, through Turn 1 to Turn 6), I managed to test a Vios with automatic transmission and another with the manual option. First up automatic. Sepang features a very wide track design, so, I was able to push the Vios closer to its limits.

After three laps my conclusion was; good handling! I was actually having fun with the Vios on track. I felt very much in control of the vehicle and it behaved rather well. Although there was not much ‘go’ on the main straight, cornering was rather fun. I was looking forward to test the model fitted with the 5 speed manual.

Track Drive – White Vios with manual transmission

After a gradual excitement build-up, I was a little disappointed with my manual Vios’ driving experience. Of course working with a manual transmission on track offers a more exciting drive, but the thing which I got disappointed with, was the gear lever!

The gear lever did not give a slick and precise feel to it, just a lot of free play. The feel was ‘rubbery’ and it did not give a sporty feel. However if we expect Toyota to fulfill every inch of our needs (mine actually), expect a bump on the price tag.

Taxi Ride with Toyota Vios One Make Series race car

As the event was coming to a close, we were treated to a taxi ride by a professional race car driver who races in the Toyota Vios One Make Series in Thailand, with of course, his race-prepped Vios. This racing Vios is pretty much a standard model, but features TRD upgrades such as a revised suspension, sports exhaust, a radiator cap with 1.3 bar of pressure resistance, sports air filter and reworked clutch plates. It also has a ‘bare’ interior with FIA spec bucket seats and a full roll cage.

If you ever intend to see a Vios being driven to its limits, you definitely have to get a driver from the Toyota Vios One Make Series to show it to you! The driver was using minimal braking around the corners and really pushed the Vios to the extreme edge. I was really impressed by the car’s handling dynamics and of course of driver’s skill as well.

To be honest I am not a fan of the exterior design of the Vios, but looks can be deceiving and trust me, I was deceived. Although I don’t think the car’s handling will be as good when it is fitted with a much more powerful engine, it definitely has its charms.

Look after the jump for a full gallery of the TRD Vios.

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Toyota will join the automotive circus at the Geneva Motor Show which is just days away with the new Toyota iQ featuring a 1.33 liter power plant. The latest version of the popular city car, with its new 1NR-FE Dual VVT-i engine is able to deliver an adequate 99HP which has more pulling power compared to the 1.0 liter engine in the outgoing model which is good for only 67HP and 91Nm of torque.

The new engine is mated to a 6 speed manual transmission while potential buyers can also opt for the Multidrive CVT transmission. With the manual, the iQ delivers 58.9 miles to the gallon (with 113 grams of emissions per kilometer) while if equipped with the latter, fuel consumption is slightly increased to 55.4 miles to the gallon (with 120 grams of emissions per kilometer).

The 1.33 Toyota iQ will hit European showrooms by July this year. It also features Toyota’s Optimal Drive technology as well as an engine Stop & Start system to help keep fuel consumption to the minimum. For the sake of comparing, the 1.0 liter engine coupled with the 5 speed manual transmission can deliver an impressive 65.7 miles to the gallon.

Apart from offering excellent fuel consumption figures, the Toyota iQ also scores well in the safety department. It recently received a 5-star Euro NCAP rating. Continue reading to watch the crash test video.

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This is the car Toyota Australia will be exhibiting at the 2009 Melbourne International Motor Show, probably in commemoration of the announcement last year that Australia will be building the Toyota Camry Hybrid, in addition to Thailand.

“The hybrid Camry – which will share some key design features with the HC-CV – will play a key role in bringing the future to the Australian automotive manufacturing sector. It is a future that uses less fuel while delivering better performance,” says Toyota Australia head Max Yasuda. The first Camry Hybrid to roll out of Australian production lines will be in 12 months time from the HC-CV’s unveiling.

Other than the pointless large chrome blings, other design cues are actually more purposeful. The lack of much air intakes on the front end helps with the car’s aerodynamics and fuel efficiency. The weird pattern of the small lower intake grille on the bumper is quite interesting as well, it has a very tribal pattern rather than the regular mesh pattern we’re used to. The tribal pattern continues inside with a totally random streak of blue on the front seats that is supposed to look like the Hybrid Synergy Drive logo, and some random embossing here and there that’s supposed to look like tree bark though you have to look at the hi-res photo to actually see it.

Under the hood is an inline-4 engine paired with an electric motor and there’s no reason why this won’t most likely be the 2.4 liter Atkinson cycle inline-4 that the American Camry Hybrid (and recently the Lexus HS 250h) has. Mated to a CVT, it’s got a combined total output of 187 horsepower thanks to the 40hp electric motor, with the combustion engine alone putting out 147 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 187Nm of torque at 4,400rpm.

Look after the jump for a full photo gallery.

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Guangzhou Toyota, the Toyota JV company in China has revealed a facelifted Toyota Camry in China. Now considering China is big enough for their own development projects, for example the Hyundai Sonata has its very own Toyota-like look in China compared to the facelifted Sonata Transform that the rest o the world gets, we don’t know yet whether this will be the same Camry facelift that Asia will be getting, but it seems likely as it doesn’t seem to have any overly localised design cues and Toyota would most likely want to push as much shared development costs as possible in light of their recent expected first ever loss in many decades.

The new Toyota Camry facelift features a new front end with a “frowny” central air intake design as opposed to the smiley one on the current Camry. The new air intake is much wider and gives the rather tame front end of our Camry a more aggressive look. On the rear there is not much changes except the rear tail lamps seem to now stick out a little, I believe some of you call this the bug-eyed look, but if it’s at the rear what should it be called, bug-butted?

Look after the jump for more shots of the facelifted Camry.

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It looks like the Selangor state’s new 15 unit fleet of 2.4 liter Toyota Camrys purchased at RM 130,000 each are not good enough for Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, as he has declared a new Lexus SUV (according a Bernama report, presumably the Lexus RX 350) as his new official car to be used for official business only.

When asked why he did not use one of the Camrys, Tan Sri told the Bernama reporter that he was more comfortable with the Lexus. He says he only uses it for work (he owns the car but the government pays for its maintenance so he wants to make sure it is for work purposes only), and for personal trips he uses a personal car. Of course, a Lexus RX is nothing compared to what Khalid Ibrahim’s political secretary Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad claims Khir Toyo purchased during his Selangor MB tenure – a Mercedes-Benz S350L.

I feel Tan Sri Khalid should have waited for the new 2009 RX due to be launched in Malaysia this year, then perhaps I can ask him if he finds the new “Remote Touch” system user friendly!

Click to enlarge

I was tempted to title this story “next generation BMW F10 5-Series spotted in Sunway” but I already pulled something like that before with the BMW Myvi Isetta post sometime last year. It looks like the trend of adapting your car with a bodykit to have E60 5-Series M-Sport front end styling is getting more and more popular. It is already a near-daily sight on Perodua Myvis, but this is the first time I’ve seen it on a Toyota Camry, a far more suitable vehicle as at least it’s of a near similiar size to a 5-Series. It looks like the common saying that Camry buyers want to graduate to an E-Class and Accord buyers the 5-Series is not correct all the time.

It may seem like the latest generation Toyota Estima (also known as the Previa and the Tarago) has just been launched, but Toyota has quickly given it a facelift to keep it fresh, and hopefully keep the showrooms busy. With the facelift, Toyota seems to have completely changed the shape of the headlamps to ones that point downwards compared to the outgoing model which curve upwards a little towards the center of the grille. Nothing much has changed on the rear though.

Two engines are available – an inline-4 and a V6. The baseline inline-4 version is powered by the 2.4 liter 2AZ-FE producing 170 PS at 6,000rpm and 223Nm of torque. The larger of the two engines is the 3.5 liter BEAMS Dual VVT-i 2GR-FE engine producing 280 PS at 6,200rpm and 344Nm of torque at 4,700rpm. The inline-4 gets a Super CVT-i transmission while the V6 gets a 6-speed Super ECT automatic.

The Estima has some interesting gadgets to help drivers control its bulk. One is Lane-Keep Assist (LKA) which detects the lane markers on the road and takes control of the electric power steering to keep the car on course. The Adaptive Front-Lighting System low beam headlamp also swivels according to steering position to help light up the upcoming road around a bend.

Hill assist will automatically apply the brakes for you when you move from a stop on an incline to stop the car from rolling back. Finally, S-VSC is an enhancement from the regular VSC system which uses the electric power steering to apply appropriate steering torque to help stabilize the car.

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The Toyota Wish is due to be replaced soon, and in light of the current economy situation and Toyota’s expected first loss in a long long time, it’s going to be built on the same platform as the outgoing with but with some improvements and a new set of engines, in Japan at least. These leaked brochure images here reveal to us how the new Wish will look like. There are a few improvements such as the A-pillars which are now thinner to improve visibility. The Japanese Wish will enjoy a new range of Dual VVT-i and Valvematic engines, the latter which first debuted on another MPV, the Toyota Noah.

The top of the line 2.0 liter Wish in Japan will get the 3ZR-FAE engine equipped with Toyota’s latest Valvematic variable valve lift technology. It produces 158 PS at 6200rpm and 196Nm of torque at 4,400rpm. The lesser engined sibling will be powered by a 1.8 liter unit producing 144 PS at 6,400rpm and 176Nm of torque at 4,400rpm. Both are mated to a Super CVT-i transmission.

There will be four variants – the 2.0Z, the 2.0G, the 1.8S and the 1.8X. The brochures also reveal that Toyota will be differentiating the different variants of the Wish with different exterior looks. For example, there are at least three different levels of prominence with the wheel arches, and the results are 3 different widths in the dimension sheets of the brochure. The “narrowest” most tame-looking Wish is only 1,695mm wide but the widest 2.0Z variant is 1,745mm wide. The Wish 1.8S in somewhere in between at 1,725mm. The red unit you see here is the 2.0Z.

The Wish was an immensely popular model in Malaysia, but for a very long time 100% of sales were enjoyed by the grey importers as it was not brought in officially by UMW Toyota. Only later did UMW bring it in but by then all the Wish owners were already Wish owners. It’s safe to say with this new Wish, UMW will be selling it right from the start. But don’t be surprised if you see the same old 2.0 liter and 4-speed automatic installed instead of the modern Valvematic and CVT transmission.

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