Makela Auto Tuning gives us an inside look at how they built a 1984 Ex works WRC rally car Toyota Celica Turbo Group B from start to finish. Believe it or not, "everything on this car has been restored to as-new condition with meticulous detail, right down to hand painted dials on the gauges." Click here for more pictures. Continue reading to see it in-action.
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We have seen the future of gamer vehicles, and it's the Toyota Tacoma ATG. At first, it may just look like a tuned Toyota Tacoma, but open up its gullwing doors, and you'll see a host of displays, beverage container as well as fold-out bucket seats. Video after the break. Click here for more pictures.
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Another day, another recall. That's right, Toyota "said Thursday about 270,000 cars sold worldwide - including luxury Lexus sedans - have potentially faulty engines, the latest quality lapse to hit the automaker following massive global recalls of top-selling models." Video after the break.
Of the 270,000 vehicles with engine problems, some 180,000 were sold overseas and the rest in Japan. They include the popular Crown and seven models of luxury Lexus sedans.[via HuffingtonPost - image via]
Toyota's violin-playing robot made its first appearance years ago, but now the music maestro has hit the Shanghai World Expo 2010. The company has been working on its animatronics software for the past three years. Video after the break.
So if any orchestra violists happen to be in the area and want to protect their profession, I recommend spraying it with water. Robots, as I understand it, hate water.[via Dvice - Technabob]
The iQ may be Toyota's first foray into computer hardware, but it's definitely functional. The system makes use of "special software to turn the car's movements, tracked from above with a camera, into those of a cursor on the giant screen." Video after the break.
The first laptop sent these co-ordinates to the second laptop 30 times per second. The second laptop read these co-ordinates and moved its mouse cursor in real-time. That image was then projected onto the large screen.[via Gizmodo]
Toyota Motor Corp. announced a recall "involving about 600,000 Sienna minivans sold in the U.S. to address potential corrosion in the spare-tire carrier cable." The vehicles most at risk are those used in cold-climate areas with high amounts of road salt.
Toyota said it was working on a fix, but for now it wants owners to bring the vans to a dealership for an inspection. Once it has a remedy, owners will get a second notice advising them of the solution.[via LAtimes]
Edmunds' Inside Line wanted to find out just how hard it is to stop a runaway Prius with a stuck accelerator pedal, so they took one out onto the highway to run a few tests. Continue reading to see the results.
Dan demonstrates just how it easy it is to get an "out of control" Prius back under control. First he shows that even with the throttle pressed to the floor, applying the brakes disengages the engine and slows the car down.[via Insideline]
A California Highway Patrol officer helped James Sikes slow his Toyota Prius after it accelerated out of control, due to a stuck gas pedal. Fortunately, "after the car decelerated to about 50 mph, Sikes turned off the engine and coasted to a halt." Video after the break.
In a statement, Toyota said it has dispatched a field technical specialist to San Diego to investigate the incident.[via Google]
Toyota Motor Corp. CEO Akio Toyoda "apologized to Congress and consumers for safety lapses that led to widespread recalls for accelerator and braking failures," during the hearing today. Video after the break.
"At times, we do find defects," Toyoda told the panel. "But in such situations, we always stop, strive to understand the problem, and make changes to improve further. We never run away from our problems or pretend we don't notice them."[via Businessweek]
During today's Toyota hearings -- live on CSPAN, "the president of Toyota's U.S. operations insisted Tuesday that electronic problems did not contribute to sudden acceleration of its cars, drawing sharp criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should not be ruled out." Video after the break.
Toyota's James Lentz repeated Toyota's position that stuck gas pedals in some of the company's most popular models were caused by one of two problems - misplaced floor mats and sticking accelerator pedals.[via MSNBC - image via]
