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Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Autoblog Reviews the 2013 Toyota Camry Hybrid
"Vanilla." Taken in modern context, that's not a compliment, but it should be. Vanilla actually has exotic origins, and as spices go, only saffron is more costly. Despite the realities, calling something "vanilla" is not whistling in admiration. The Toyota Camry has been called "vanilla" countless times since its debut, but both the car and the bean have something up their sleeves.
Scoff all you want, but vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavor, and there is no mainstream sedan that outsells the Camry. Apparently, vanilla has an underlying tinge of filthy lucre. We didn't feel rich, exactly, wheeling around in the Camry Hybrid, but we came away impressed, nonetheless.
"When I go to an ice cream parlor for the first time, I always order their vanilla," says Ralph Hannabury. Why vanilla? "When you're making ice cream, everything builds off vanilla. If they have that right, you know they know what they're doing," Ralph explained. Who is Ralph Hannabury? For more than two decades, he made ice cream for Russo's Candy House in Saugus, Massachusetts. Ralph knows vanilla, and good vanilla is hard.
It's the same thing with cars. Supercars are easy compared to a good, bland sedan that starts faithfully every day for hundreds of thousands of miles and exhibits none of the bad habits that are "features" when you're talking exclusive machinery. The Camry is a riot of dispassion to car people, and the Hybrid only moreso with its Hybrid Synergy Drive sopping up whatever visceral treats you can find in the standard Camry.
Keeping the recipe metaphor going, even the best ingredients can't stand up to a poor chef. If the seasoning is overbearing or cooking technique flawed, you'll ruin expensive raw materials. With the Camry Hybrid, Toyota proves its skill at making the tricky Hybrid Midsize Sedan Souflee.
The Camry Hybrid is understated about its fuel efficiency. Look once, it's a Camry, just like the thousands of other Camrys that Toyota sells every couple of days. Look twice, it's still just like every other Camry and it's got extra little badges on its front quarter panels. Look a third time and you might notice the Hybrid-specific 17-inch tire and wheel package, but probably not.
The Camry Hybrid interior is more distinctive, with its own gauge cluster, different plastic trim replacing the fake-wood-patterned standard trim, and Hybrid-specific seat fabric in quick-to-dinge ivory or light gray. The Camry Hybrid shares its acoustic glass windshield with the V6 model to keep noise out, and our car had the JBL GreenEdge audio system for making it. Just like every Camry audio system, this one had an unpleasant trebly edge that was only somewhat mitigated by selecting analog-only radio reception instead of the HD Radio default.
Our test car was also equipped with navigation and the Entune multimedia system. Entune is Toyota's answer to SYNC and MyFord Touch from Ford, with app support (apparently using Bing, making restaurant reservations with OpenTable and using movietickets.com to secure access to a matinee) plus weather, traffic, stocks and sports. With all those distractions pumping at you from the 6.1 inch LCD, it's a good thing the Camry Hybrid also has 10 airbags, high strength steel in the B-pillar and rocker panels, electronic nannies like stability control, radar-based Blind Spot Monitor and Safety Connect to call for help when you do wreck.
The tech isn't quite as easy to use as systems like Chrysler UConnect or even the half-reviled MyFord Touch, but it becomes an innocuous part of the experience quickly. Except for that horrible-sounding audio system. It's like they designed in tinnitus from the start. The rest of the interior impressions are the same as other Camrys. The seats are comfortable and decently supportive, the dashboard is topped with stitching in an attempt to class up the joint, though the panel doesn't blend into the doors gracefully and there are a lot of hard plastics around. It's roomy, comfortable, and the trunk doesn't even take much of a hit with the addition of the 244-volt hybrid battery pack, and it's in fact up 2.1 cubic feet over the last-gen Camry Hybrid.
Driving the Camry Hybrid is not going to light any enthusiasts' hair on fire, though it'll put electrons and molecules to work when you mash the throttle all the way to the carpet for a 7.6-second run to 60 miles per hour, slotting neatly between the more-than-fine four-cylinder model and bonkers-rocketship V6. Low-rolling-resistance tires are also low capability tires, so there's little point in trying to achieve thrilling cornering speeds. Driven like a normal person, of course, the dynamic compromises Toyota made for the Camry Hybrid were the right ones.
While it's not a high performance car in the hot rod sense, the Camry Hybrid is a high performer in its own right. Toyota's continued development of its Hybrid Synergy Drive system is flat-out the best implementation of such a setup we've yet to sample in a midsize sedan. The new Ford Fusion is looking to challenge that, but other comers like the Hyundai and Kia twins can't touch the Camry Hybrid's level of refinement, seamless handoff between electric propulsion and gas engine, and isolation from the judders of engine stops and starts.
The gas engine is a larger 2.5-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder with more torque than before. It's been tweaked with a water-cooled EGR system that reduces the temperature of exhaust gas that gets re-routed to the intake to control emissions, a move that was previously accomplished by enriching the mixture. The new way saves more fuel, and the Hybrid Synergy drive system has been tweaked to increase efficiency by reducing transaxle losses, improving motor control, and an EV Drive mode has been added this time around, too. Toyota rates the net power from the electric and internal-combustion sources at 200 horsepower, which is more than plenty when you consider the surprisingly svelte 3,190 sub-3,500 pound curb weight and slick 0.27 drag coefficient.
That EV Drive mode only lasts for 1.6 miles, and if there's a hill in the way, forget it, you're not getting far without firing the motor. There's still the ECO mode you can select if you want to really be infuriated by unresponsive controls, too. When you just treat the Camry Hybrid like a normal car, i.e. stick it in Drive and go, only the brakes give away the hybrid-ness. Even at that, Toyota's got the regen-to-friction braking switchover very well managed.
The regular Camry isn't a standout in any category, while the Camry Hybrid is exceptional for its normality while returning EPA fuel economy estimates of 43 miles per gallon city, 39 mpg highway in LE trim, which drops to 40/38 in XLE guise. Our highway-heavy drive cycle returned us 38 mpg, bang on the estimates. Or, you could get a diesel Passat. There is only one car that offers the Camry nameplate and this kind of fuel economy, and that's the Camry Hybrid, and it's perhaps the most outstanding Camry of all.
Courtesy of Autoblog
Monday, January 28, 2013
Scion Racing Prepares for Competitive 2013 Rally America National Championship
The Scion rally team celebrates the new season with a brand new xD race car that has been augmented to meet the challenging courses and elevated competition. Modifications to the 2013 car include all-new suspension, improved weight distribution, dog engagement transmission and more horsepower.
“Scion Racing is ready and thrilled to be a part of the 2013 Rally America National Championship,” said Steve Hatanaka, Scion marketing and special events manager. “The combination of the xD subcompact, a top-notch team race team and one of rally’s best drivers, Andrew Comrie-Picard, is sure to create a competitive and exciting series.”
Last year, the Rally xD team completed its first full season in the Rally America National Championship. After six challenging events, the team finished second in the two-wheel drive (2WD) category of the series.
“The Rally xD team has worked hard to get the new car ready for the first race,” said Comrie-Picard, “The xD is the best it has ever been, and I can’t wait for the season to start.”
Courtesy of Scion USA Newsroom
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Toyota exec sees future where all cars sold in US are built there
Bill Fay, VP of Toyota US, hinted at such a possibility, but the wording in the report makes it sound like this is far from a done deal and would not apply to Scion or Lexus models.
Currently, the automaker already builds 70 percent of its US-sold cars in North America including some of its more popular models like the Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Tacoma and RAV4.
This is all a part of Toyota's plan to add 3,500 jobs in North America to go with recent investments totaling $1.6 billion.
Courtesy of House of Japan
Monday, January 21, 2013
Good afternoon, everyone! We hope you're all having a very wonderful Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!
“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Toyota Furia Concept makes global debut at 2013 NAIAS!
"The Corolla Furia Concept is an early indicator of where our compact car design may lead in the future," said Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota Division. "It blends a heightened emphasis on dramatic design and modern elements of high technology to generate curb appeal that will surprise a lot of people."
The Furia is designed around a theme of "Iconic Dynamism," which uses pure and simple surface elements to create a confident, decisive and recognizable appearance appealing to more youthful consumers. It features a more provocative, dynamic interpretation of a compact sedan that displays a more stable, athletic stance with 19-inch allow wheels pushed to the vehicle's corners with short overhangs to help emphasize its long wheelbase.
The Corolla Furia design includes a swept windshield, with a sloped roofline and pronounced fender flares, to help communicate a sense of motion even when the car is stationary. The aggressively styled front fascia, with a blacked-out grille treatment, helps highlight a pair of sculpted front LED headlamps that combine with the rear composite LED taillight assemblies to add a sense of advanced technology to the Furia's impactful exterior. Carbon fiber accents adorn the Corolla Furia Concept's wheel wells, rocker panels, and rear valance, which includes ornate metal exhaust outlet surrounds to add a sense of modern athleticism.
Toyota Corolla Furia Concept
Overall Length 4620 mm/ 181.9 inches
Overall Width 1805 mm / 71 inches
Overall Height 1425 mm / 56.1 inches
Wheelbase 2700 mm/ 106.3 inches
Wheels 19-inch aluminum alloy
Courtesy of Autoblog
Monday, January 7, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
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