Cars and Auto Blog Posts - Page 120
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The Honda Civic has consistently remained near the top of the sales charts for years, but according to the latest reports, product chief Tsuneo Tanai has told engineers to go back to the drawing board for the next Civic. When gas prices spiked and the economy took a nose dive, the Civic was in high demand. It even managed to become the best selling vehicle in the US in May 2008. But Tanai is obviously not satisfied with the current state of the Civic and has ordered that the new Civic needs to be smaller, cheaper, lighter and more fuel efficient.
The change for the Civic was reportedly ordered last year, so it is not certain what this will mean for the next Civic which was expected to be unveiled at the end of 2010 as a 2011 model. Hopefully there won't be much of a delay since the Civic is going to have to go head to head with the next Focus and Ch
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For the 28th year in a row, CARandDRIVER has picked the 10 best cars. This year's list consists of a few returning models like the BMW 3 Series and Honda Accord, which have both been on the list 19 and 24 times, respectively.
The publication tested 58 models worth $2.5 million total and logged a total of 12,000 test miles. New to the list this year is the Ford Fusion Hybrid, note that the gas only version isn't though. The Chevrolet Corvette, Infiniti G37, and the Jaguar XF are all off this year's list.
Check out the complete list after the jump.
2010 Audi S4
2010 BMW 3 Series / M3
2010 Cadillac CTS / CTS-V
2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid
2010 Honda Accord
2010 Honda Fit
2010 Mazda Miata MX-5
2010 Mazda3 / MazdaSpeed3
2010 Porsche Boxster / Cayman
2010 Volkswagen GTI
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Looks like Toyota won't be without a drop-top after all: the automaker confirmed it would extend the life of the Camry Solara Convertible by two years.
The announcement comes just in the nick of time - the car was expected to be discontinued later this month. Reportedly, Toyota heard from plenty of dealers and consumers who didn't want the car to be cancelled.
Although the car has changed little since its last revision in 2004, Toyota built 28,479 Solaras (in both coupe and convertible form) in 2007.
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High gas prices are reviving enthusiasm for all sorts of alternative fuels. The Toyota Camry hybrid concept, which will debut at the Los Angeles auto show, hopes to give compressed natural gas a new lease on life.
This will be the Japanese automaker’s second attempt to promote compressed natural gas (CNG) for use in consumer vehicles. It sold fleet customers a CNG powered Camry in 1999, but received little interest. Gas prices have tripled since then, and Toyota thinks Americans might now embrace it.
Natural gas offers several advantages, including its plentiful supply in North America and its relatively clean burning characteristics, but it would still be very difficult for consumers to find refueling stations for CNG vehicles. Toyota says the CNG network is growing though, and adds that any form of alternative energy, including hydrogen,
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When we first saw the production Toyota iQ at the 2008 Geneva motor show, we were emphatically told that the car - a four-passenger competitor to Smart's ForTwo - was designed for European tastes. Still, some suggest the city car is destined for the American market, albeit as a Scion.
If true, there's some method to the madness. Placing the iQ into Scion's range prevents the small car from stealing the spotlight from Toyota's gas-sippers, the Prius hybrid and Yaris. One could also argue that the iQ, a small, trendy, and possibly affordable vehicle, would resonate well with younger buyers - the core focus of Scion's marketing.
Details are still sketchy at this point, but Motor Trend suggests the iQ will use the Yaris' 1.5-liter I-4 if it arrives stateside. We'll know more details this November, when Toyota may revea
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Update: Toyota has issued a press release stating that no decision has been made to move Tundra production to Texas.
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With a struggling Formula One team and a NASCAR program that went winless in its first year, Toyota is now setting its sights on the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
According to Automotive News, the company is developing an environmentally friendly race car (an oxymoron if you ask us) that could compete in the series. Having learned its lesson in F1 and NASCAR, Toyota won't enter a race until it is confident of its ability to win.
Toyota would use the endurance race to further develop and showcase its hybrid efforts as well as influence sales - they're hoping that 'win on Sunday, sell on Monday' is still relevant.
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Our FJ's windshield just cracked for the second time in 17,000 miles. That sounds familiar - we went through lots of windshields in our Four Seasons Scion xB, too. A conspiracy by Toyota to make millions in profits on expensive replacement windshields, perhaps? Uh, no.
The reality is that flat, vertical windshields get smacked with lots of stuff. And then they break. I should know, in 62,000 miles, I’ve replaced the windshield four times on my ’87 Volkswagen Scirocco. I replaced no windshields in just as many miles of driving E39 5-series BMWs, Toyota Corollas, and other curved- and raked-windshield vehicles.
At a time when cars almost universally have slanted, aerodynamic windshields, this is one more lovely piece of ammunition I can use to dissuade my friends from buying SUVs. They us
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In fact, not one of my to-and-fro trips in the car averaged much less than 50 mpg -- particularly impressive considering the Prius is EPA rated at 48 mpg on the highway. And let me dismiss the naysayers by stating here and now that I made no attempts at "hypermiling"; I drove the Prius as I do any car in which I make my 140-mile daily drive (albeit one with 98 horsepower -- okay, 134 total system horsepower). I matched or bettered the speed limit (to keep up with traffic, officer), and did my best to take off from stoplights with reasonable zing, rather than risk straining the limited patience of my fellow Florida motorists. And the car still kept returning big numbers — 46 mpg, 48 mph, 52 mpg, 53.3 mpg. And it did it all on regular fuel, too: $2.35 a gallon.
All in all, I found the new Prius to
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Toyota introduced its FT-86 concept Wednesday, unofficially announcing its return to the mainstream sports car market.
“The FT-86 Concept was developed to give form to the intrinsic joy automobiles provide – things like the accelerator and steering exactly matching the driver’s intentions,” said Toyota president Akio Toyoda.
The rear-wheel-drive, four-seat FT-86 (“86” is pronounced “hachi roku”) is the result of Toyota’s collaboration with Subaru. Propulsion comes from a 2.0-liter boxer engine paired to a manual transmission.
Toyota has not provided any power or weight specs,
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