Toyota Corolla vs Ferrari F430: Can You Guess Who Wins this Race?

Pitting a puny stock Toyota Corolla against a Ferrari F430 and asking which car would win in a straight line race sounds like a joke, right? Well, under any other circumstances, you would be right to take this as a shaggy dog story but this comparo, which was made for a Japanese TV show, has a peculiar twist to it: the race was run in reverse gear� So, now that you know, can you pick the winner? Enjoy the quirky drag race between the Corolla sedan and Maranello�s supercar in the video clip after the break.

Read more �

Breaking: Scion Teases FT-86 II Concept RWD Coupe Prior to NY Show Debut

Toyota has been teasing us with its upcoming compact rear-wheel drive sports car since the original FT-86 concept at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, which was followed up by the FT-86 G Sports study a year later at the same show, and more recently, by the almost production-ready FT-86 II concept in Geneva. Now it�s time to get our first glimpse of the North American version of the FT-86 that will be marketed under the Scion brand.

Even though the Japanese firm�s North American subsidiary only makes word of a new Scion Concept to be revealed at the New York International Auto Show on April 20, 2011, without giving any further details, the car shadowed in the teaser video below leaves few doubts that the model in question is the FT-86.

Read more �

Japanese Carmakers Lose More than 500,000 Vehicles to Earthquake, Toyota hit the Worst

It�s been over a month since the first of a series of earthquakes along with a catastrophic tsunami hit Japan�s shores resulting in devastating destruction and flooding, but the country is still feeling the effects in more ways than one.

According to a news report, Japan�s big seven automakers have lost more than half a million units of output since the March 11 quake. To make matters worse, even though many factories opened recently, they have not yet reached their full production capacity due to a lack of parts.

Read more �

Google Scientist Says its Driverless Cars Could Save a Million Lives each Year

Sebastian Thrun, leader of Google's driverless car project, talked about the technology of self-driven cars at TED Talks, claiming it could save one million lives each year if it would replace human driving.

Google's test cars have so far covered over 140,000 miles (225,300 km) in all types of driving conditions without a single fault. �People didn't even notice� Google's cars were not driven by humans, said Thrun, who lost his best friend to a car accident when he was 18. The Stanford professor of computer science said that moment made him decide dedicating his life to saving one million people every year.

Read more �

Toyota Reduces North American Production Due to Lack of Parts from Japan

The devastating consequences of the March 11 Japan earthquake and tsunami on the country�s auto industry continue to unfold. Today, Toyota Motor Corp. announced that it will reduce its North American production because of the lack of parts. The Japanese auto giant said that over the next few weeks, its American vehicle plants will operate on a reduced schedule, with production suspended on April 15, 18, 21*, 22, and 25. The same goes for most of the company�s North American engine and component plants that will follow a similar schedule.

Read more �

Toyota Sells One-Millionth Prius Hybrid in the States

The Toyota Prius, a car that is often credited for bringing hybrid-electric technology to the masses, has managed to rack up its one-millionth sale in the USA. The announcement comes shortly after Toyota achieved two more milestones that started with global Prius sales topping the two million mark in October 2010 and overall global Toyota hybrid sales passing three million last month.

Read more �

Lexus Teases the LF-Gh Hybrid Concept ahead of NYIAS World Premiere

Toyota's luxury brand Lexus released the first official teaser shots of the new LF-Gh hybrid concept car, which will make its world debut at the upcoming 2011 New York International Auto Show (April 22 � May 11). The name of the concept stands for Lexus Future Grand Touring Hybrid, and according to the Japanese company, the LF-Gh �sets out to redefine the premium grand touring sedan.�

Read more �

Price Increases for Toyota, Lexus and Scion in the U.S.

The Toyota group has announced price increases for most 2011MY cars, SUVs and trucks it sells under the Toyota, Scion and Lexus brands. These increases will be applicable for cars produced from May onwards. The only models that will keep the same prices are the Tacoma pickup truck, Yaris sedan, Scion tC, Scion xB, Lexus CT 200h and Lexus LFA.

Read more �

Toyota May See Production Diminished by 500,000 Cars because of the Earthquake

The shortage of parts and electricity problems in Japan in the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake may delay the production of at least 500,000 Toyota vehicles, according to market research company Advanced Research Japan.

The world's largest carmaker may subsequently see its operating profit drop by at least 100 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in the 2010 fiscal year (ending March 31 2011) and up to 200 billion yen in the 2011 fiscal year. Auto analyst Koji Endo says any impact on production destined for export will affect earnings even more. �Hardly any cars will be built in April and a very low level of production will continue from May,� Endo was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

Read more �

Toyota, PSA and BMW Closest to Achieving EU�s New CO2 Targets

Toyota, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen and BMW are the carmakers closest to reaching their CO2 targets next year, according to a report by market research firm JATO Dynamics. The targets are imposed by the European Union, whose objective for 2015 is to enforce a fleet average CO2 level of 130 g/km for manufacturers selling cars in Europe.

In order to reach that objective, CO2 targets are lowered progressively each year. In 2009 the average was 145.9 g/km and in 2010 it went down to 140.9 g/km. Emissions regulations will be imposed starting next year, with significant fines to be enforced to automakers that will not comply with the new emissions limits.

Read more �

Toyota FT-86 Sports Concept II: New Pictures and Video from Brussels Photo Shoot

We�ve already seen and gone over all the juicy bits of the near-production Toyota FT-86 II sports coupe, but the Japanese automaker�s social media crew went over to the firm�s European headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, for a new photo shoot last week offering us a fresh batch of pictures as well as a behind-the-scenes video.

The second iteration of the FT-86 study made its first public outing at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month. Its main purpose is to preview actual production model that will go on sale in late 2012. The well-received styling of the original concept model evolved gaining new front and rear ends, more pronounced surfaces and a host of other fresh details, with Toyota claiming that the design changes were made for safety regulations as well as for practical reasons.

Read more �

New 300HP Toyota Avensis BTCC Racer Revealed in the Flesh [with Video]

The two new Toyota Avensis �Next Generation Touring Cars� (NGTC) received their public debut on Thursday at the Silverstone circuit today, a week before the start of the British Touring Car Championship. The Avensis racers went on display wearing the liveries of privateer teams Dynojet Racing and Hughes Motorsport/Speedworks.

The Avensis race cars will be driven by Frank Wrathall Jr. and Tony Hughes. �The Toyota looks amazing and we are all delighted with it," said Wrathall. "Yes, it is frustrating not to have done more testing, but the first few rounds were always going to be tough for us, so we will just get on with it and do the best, most competitive job that we can."

Read more �

Source Code: Toyota Fights to Limit ECU Code Viewing in Legal Battle

Could Toyota's source code hold the answer to its sudden acceleration problems? Possibly, and it's currently working with attorneys to smooth out how this code will be analyzed in its ongoing unintended acceleration legal woes.

For those of you too fried to remember, Toyota had a bit of a flub a couple years ago regarding unintended acceleration in some of its vehicles; the problems were originally blamed on floor mats, poorly designed pedals, and driver error.

Currently, plaintiffs and their attorneys are still fighting for a proper explanation and compensation even though "the [U.S.] government's comprehensive review of Toyota's source code found no electronic causes of [unintended acceleration] in Toyota vehicles."

Read more �

Analysts Predict Expensive Fuel and Factory Shortages Could See Prius Price Rise

There�s an old saying that goes, �One man�s misfortune is another man�s opportunity,� that I think is particularly apt in describing this latest story. With the civil war in Libya nudging petrol prices skyward and with the growing fear that Japan�s earthquake crisis will slow production of Toyota�s ubiquitous Prius hybrid, American consumers are flocking to their nearest dealership to snatch one up.

Tammy Darvish, the owner of four Toyota dealerships around Washington D.C. explains: �A lot of customers are convinced that prices will be going up and that availability [of the Prius] will be a little short.�

A Texas Toyota dealer is reporting that his sales have doubled in the last six weeks due to steadily increasing fuel prices. And with no U.S. factory producing the popular hybrid five-door, it�s not like there�s a backup supply if things become more pear shaped in the land of the rising sun.

Read more �

Toyota Postpones Prius V Launch in Japan after Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis

The latest victim of the ongoing crisis in Japan is the new minivan version of the Prius as Toyota announced today that it has decided to postpone launch of the car at its home market. �No decision has been made at this time on when the launch will be rescheduled,� Toyota said in a statement.

Despite the delay in Japan, Toyota said that the North American version of the Prius V, which is scheduled to launch at the end of summer 2011, remains on track. �No decision has been made in regards to a possible need to change the launch timing,� Toyota said.

Read more �

Toyota Further Extends Shutdowns at Japanese Plants

Toyota said on Tuesday that is has decided to continue the vehicle-production halt that began on March 14 at all of its plants in Japan including subsidiary vehicle manufacturers through March 26, as the company faces shortages of parts from local suppliers that were affected by the disastrous earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear crisis that followed after. This is the second time in less than a week that Toyota extends a halt of its manufacturing plants in Japan.

Read more �

Lincoln Brand and Porsche 911 Top JD Power's 2011 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study

Ford's luxury division Lincoln moved up one spot in the annual JD Power reliability study to gain the title of most reliable brand sold in the U.S., ahead of Lexus and Jaguar. The industry overall vehicle dependability has also improved compared to 2010, but automakers still have problems with new technologies and features.

The 2011 study takes into account problems experienced in the past 12 months by more than 43,700 original owners of three-year-old cars (2008 model year). JD Power determines the overall dependability by the level of Problems encountered Per 100 vehicles (PP100). A lower score reflects higher quality and the good news is the overall vehicle dependability averaged 151 PP100, the best value since the creation of the study.

Read more �

Indian Firm Whips up a Ferrari F430 Replica out of a Toyota Corolla

Here at ROAD CARS we�ve shown you Ferrari F430 clones based on all sorts of sports cars ranging from the oh-so popular Pontiac Fiero to the Toyota MR2 and even the Toyota Celica. Now it�s time to show you an F430 doppelganger of even more humble origins as this creation is reportedly based on a Toyota Corolla.

Read more �

Toyota Extends Production Halt at All Japanese Plants until March 22

The ongoing disaster in Japan caused by Friday�s massive earthquake and tsunami is forcing many automakers to extend production halts on domestic plants well into next week. Today, Toyota announced that it has decided to continue the vehicle-production halt started on March 14 at all of its plants in Japan, including all subsidiary vehicle manufacturers, through March 22. According to reports, the suspension of production has already cost Toyota some 40,000 vehicles up until now.

Read more �

Honda, Nissan and Toyota Donate $3.75 Million Each for Earthquake Relief in Japan

The massive earthquake followed by the even more devastating tsunami that struck the north-east coasts of Japan last week has brought together the country�s biggest automakers including Honda, Nissan and Toyota, which announced today that they will donate $3.75 million each for relief and recovery efforts in communities affected by the disaster.

Read more �