Toyota, Acura Showcase the Evolution of Quality Auto Audio
Car audio has come a long way since the 8-Track tape cartridge moved it beyond merely being a platform for AM and, if you were lucky, FM radio.
Toyota says it's the first automobile manufacturer to implement Bongiovi DPS, a software solution the Biongiovi folk say analyzes the audio in real-time, digitally remixing it for optimized playback. It supposedly extends the frequency response of the speakers and maximizes the frequency-specific power distribution of the audio system. more...
Pious Prius
Not particularly interesting to drive – and I'm being kind – but a non-subtle way to make a statement about how eco-wonderful you are, is the 2011 Toyota Prius. Now in its third generation in North America, the bubble-like Prius is probably the most recognizable hybrid on the road today. And that's its ace in the hole.
Compared to the last generation, the 2011 Prius looks a little sleeker, but it's still recognizable immediately as a Prius. This, I daresay, is what its buyers want, because you see a lot more Priuses on the road than you do, say, the Honda Civic hybrid that looks virtually identical to its conventionally-powered counterpart and therefore doesn't scream "Look at me! I'm better than you!". more...
Another Unintended Acceleration Bugaboo Bites the Dust
Now that the Obama regime has admitted there were no electronic problems behind Toyota's supposed unintentional acceleration incidents over the past couple of years, do you think Congress will apologize to Mr. Toyoda?
I, for one, am not going to hold my breath.
I haven't noticed the same type of coverage that was given to the original story, either. Last year, when the Japanese company was dragged through the mud in a much ballyhooed Congressional show trial, it was all over the media. Now that Toyota has been exonerated, the stories I've seen were mostly relegated to automotive of lifestyle-type sections. You'd think the government giving Toyota a clean bill of health would deserve the same coverage as the earlier kerfuffle got. more...
What's New: Toyota Camry LE and Honda CR-Z
One's a new design and one's a respected mainstream car. And while both offer decidedly different driving experiences, they have in common the fact that they both acquit their makers' mandates well.
Toyota's Camry is one of the best-selling cars in North America, and with good reason: it's solid and dependable, comfortable and efficient, and it doesn't beat owners over their heads with a lot of gadgety technology.
Honda's new sporty hybrid CR-Z, on the other hand, is a terrific way to put some fun into the ordeal of driving "greenly" – saving some gas while still offering a lively drive. more...
Ford Fiesta Meets Scion xD
One's a Canadian Car of the Year contender, the other's a boxy hauler. But which one's a better car?
Well, if you believe the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada members, it would have to be the Ford Fiesta, the company's new-to-North-America entry level car that scored top marks in its class at the recent Canadian Car of the Year TestFest. Fiesta bested the Scion xD compared here, as well as three other entrants for the title of Best Small Car under $21,000 (Canadian dollars). But it really depends on what you need. more...
Toyota Avalon A Comforting Cruiser
Remember the Oldsmobile commercials from years ago that said the models current then were "Not your father's Oldsmobile?" Well I've found a car that is: the Toyota Avalon.
Toyota's flagship sedan is a big, family-friendly sedan that offers lots to like as long as you don't care about the drive itself. It's comfortable, well-appointed, and features stuff like reclining rear seats and most of the technological treats you could want these days. It also rides like a boat, so if you've always wanted to go on a cruise but were afraid of getting wet, this may be your opportunity. more...
Toyota Venza a True Crossover
It's neither a station wagon nor a minivan, and it isn't an SUV, either. Instead, Toyota's Venza blurs the lines between these distinct market niches, a vehicle that crosses over from one to the other. That says "crossover" to me.
Many, if not most, so-called crossovers these days are basically car-based sport utility vehicles – perhaps named as crossovers by marketers more concerned about political correctness than truth in advertising. After all, SUV's are evil, Mother Earth-sapping horriblemobiles regardless of how well they serve many people's needs. But the Venza is different. It's like a tallish Camry wagon, and it's a pleasant and efficient, if a bit bland and not particularly fun to drive, vehicle with lots of room for people and stuff. more...
Toyota Sienna a New Standard in Minivans
Minivans may not be particularly sexy, but they can be pleasant and convenient if your automotive needs require space to haul people and their stuff.
So it is with the 2011 Sienna, a minivan Toyota is daring to call "Comfortable, Convenient and above all, Cool."
Cool isn't something I've ever though would apply to minivans, and I don't think it does here, either, but that doesn't prevent the new Sienna from being a heckuva minivan, with plenty of room for hauling most of the stuff a family could want. And it is truly comfortable and convenient as well. It's even pretty good to drive. more...
Toyota RAV4 a Fun, Roomy Cute Ute
Sport. It's a word familiar to car nuts worldwide and it's generally an indication that the vehicle associated with the word is a little more, well, interesting and fun, than the run-of-the-mill vehicle.
Maybe Toyota's marketing folks merely looked at the wrong dictionary definition, though, because it seems as if – at least when it comes to the 2010 RAV4 – the word "Sport" means "appearance package", and has nothing to do with horsepower, or torque, or handling, or anything like that!
What a darn shame, because the RAV4 is a very nice SUV and if they'd actually sported it up a bit, as its badging would indicate they did, it could be even more interesting and fun. more...
Toyota 4Runner Off-road Capable
Toyota's 4Runner was one of the first SUV's and its newest version is still a compelling vehicle for those who want four wheel drive stability coupled with serious off-roading capability. It's an "old fashioned" truck-based SUV, as opposed to car-based models such as Toyota's own Highlander. This not only means it's more heavy duty so far as its off road capabilities are concerned, but that it can also tow more than the average car-based ute.
For 2010, the 4Runner enters its fifth generation and Toyota says it's redesigned "To be even more rugged and athletic, delivering more power, better fuel efficiency and packed with more safety features and technologies". more...
Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic Still Good Choices for Economy Cars
I'd forgotten just what great little cars the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla are. What used to be both companies' entry level – and bread and butter – vehicles have grown up over the decades, getting bigger in every way and far more sophisticated. And that isn't a bad thing; technology advances. One thing that hasn't changed, however, is that endearing simplicity and ease of use that Honda once used in its commercials: "We Make It Simple".
Both companies still do, at least in the lower end of the marketplace. And that's great! more....
Toyota Venza Blends the Line Between Car, SUV
Take a Toyota Camry, feed it Wheaties to help ensure it grows up nice and tall and what might you get? The Toyota Venza.
Venza could be referred to as a true "crossover", as opposed to merely a marketing moniker to keep the envirodudes from picketing Toyota dealerships for having the audacity to offer SUV's to people who want them. It's a skillful blend of car and SUV, giving you the best of both worlds. It's at heart a Camry, which considering the car's success and reputation is a good thing, but it's higher and offers wagon-like/SUV-like storage space for those times when you want to haul stuff. more...
Toyota Sequoia – Surprisingly Capable and Civilized Brute
Talk about a vehicle with an appropriate name!
Toyota's Sequoia is an immense motor vehicle, a "full sized SUV" that seems about the mass of an Airbus A380, it's large enough to haul a family of eight and a lot of their stuff. It also makes a heckuva statement on the road. more...
Reborn 2009 Toyota Corolla Still Screams "Value"
It has an all-new body, more room inside, and many other upgrades, but at heart it's still a Toyota Corolla. And that should please millions of people.
The tenth generation of Toyota's longest-lived vehicle has been blessed, or at least designed, with a leaner, more muscular shape that still manages to look like a Corolla, as well as a set of more powerful, yet still economical, four cylinder engines.
This journeyman people carrier also comes with an all new chassis and suspension designed to make the Corolla even more attractive to its customers and competitive against its challengers. more....
Hybrid Highlander Flings Gas Pumps Away
Toyota's revamped 2008 Highlander is a nice "crossover," kind of like a stretched RAV4. It's comfortable, well-built and with plenty of features. But it's also quite big, with three rows of seating available and plenty of room for hauling your stuff.
Having a comparatively large size usually affects a vehicle's gas mileage adversely. But as with the last Highlander generation, Toyota has introduced a hybrid version designed to let you exploit the best of both "functional and efficiency" worlds. more...
2008 Toyota Avalon
It's a full-figured car, with ample room and plenty of power. And it's soft and comfortable.
Toyota's flagship Avalon features some nice freshening for the 2008 model year, but if you're looking for driving passion you'd best look elsewhere. Fortunately, many people don't care a whit for driving passion and are more than happy with a reliable vehicle that will take them where they want to go, efficiently and dependably. And for them, this Avalon may be just the ticket. more.....
2008 Toyota Highlander
Think of it as a big RAV4 – and that's meant as a compliment.
The new, 2008 Toyota Highlander is, according to its maker, "the mid-sized SUV that delivers the versatility of a sport utility vehicle with the driving comfort and performance of a passenger car." Toyota also says the Highlander is designed as an "urban-friendly" SUV, as opposed to the more off-road-aimed FJ Cruiser and 4Runner, with more forceful styling and performance and a more flexible interior than before. more.....
Toyota Sienna
The Sienna is a straightforward minivan, and one of the best. It seats up to eight, though not necessarily with extreme comfort if you decide to pack 'em in, but it can also double as good hauler of stuff, whether it be luggage, furniture or – my personal preference – big screen TV's and audio equipment. more.....
Toyota Tundra – Civilized Brute Force
If the third time's the charm, Toyota's new Tundra full sized pickup is definitely a charming vehicle. If you think big trucks are charming.
I'm not a truck guy, except for the occasional time I need to haul something (I prefer hauling butt in a fast car), but if I had to buy a big pickup, it just might be this new Tundra – though I thought the last generation was a pretty skookum truck as well. But the marketplace and punditry decided that the last Tundra still wasn't enough for Toyota to play with the big boys in the full sized truck market. more....
Toyota Camry LE - Vanilla is Back in Fashion
It has a spiffy new look inside and out, and will probably run forever. For what more could anyone ask?
More excitement, perhaps?
The 2007 Toyota Camry LE, the four cylinder version of which I got to live with for a week, is a fine car, well built and unpretentious. And very vanilla. more....
Toyota
Corolla CE - a Boffo Basic Bus
It may be long in the tooth for its model cycle, but Toyota's venerable Corolla is still a great little car that'll probably run forever.
I haven't driven a new Corolla in ages, but my family has owned Corollas including
a 1992 LSX model we still own and drive today. So I was very interested to
see how the car has evolved, especially since I had recently spent time in
the Mazda 3, a wonderful little sedan that goes head to head with the Corolla.
Could Toyota's ageless sedan match up against Mazda's "zoom zoom" reputation? more...
Toyota Camry Hybrid
What a difference a new version can make!
When I drove the last Toyota Camry, I referred to it as “vanilla,” in that vanilla is extremely popular and a fixture in kitchens worldwide, where it performs beautifully in any number of applications. “But if someone asked you what flavor made you swoon," I said then, "Chances are it would be chocolate, peppermint or, my personal fave, butterscotch. So what we have with the Camry is analogous to that: it’s a fine car, well designed and crafted and extremely well built. It’s dependable and as comfortable as an old pair of shoes. But it doesn’t stir the automotive taste buds.”
Then along comes Toyota and unleashes this new version. more....
Toyota Yaris an Unpretentious Yet Rewarding
Little Car
Toyota’s new entry level car is more refined and fun
to drive than you’d think would be possible from a
vehicle poised happily at the low end of the market.
Available in three or five door liftback (which
means "two door or four door hatchback") and four
door sedan versions, the Yaris is a nifty little car that’s
also practical and economical, and even kind of cute. The
coupe is a little roly poly, in a manner reminiscent of the
Echo it replaces (though nicer), while the sedan is a fairly
attractive and straightforward little critter in its own
right. more....
Toyota FJ
Cruiser – The Legend Lives
Again
Once upon a time, when the earth was young, Toyota Land
Cruisers roamed the lands. Keen-eyed wheel watchers would
often find Toyota's heavy duty four by four side by side
with – or instead of – the famous Land Rover
as they navigated a wide variety of wild and wooly wastelands
worldwide.
Ancient specimens of these workhorses undoubtedly still
serve their masters, bringing civilization to the wilderness
the same way the revered Douglas DC-3 still flies in and
out of untamed corners of the globe.
But whether it was global warming, shrinking habitat,
or a lack of profitability, the legendary FJ40 Land Cruiser
eventually made the endangered vehicles list, and finally
became extinct, leaving a void in the global 4x4 market that
consists these days mostly of softer, more civilized and
comfortable vehicles that are as good for every day driving
as they are at conquering Everest. more...
Two
Toyota Trucks Try Defining "Racy" - Tacoma
X-Runner and Tundra TRD
What makes a vehicle racy?
If you're Toyota, it appears you may not be sure how to
answer that question. On one hand, the Japanese car making
giant brings to market the outrageously racy Tacoma XRunner
then, when it comes to its soon-to-be-replaced Tundra, it
slaps a mostly cosmetic TRD moniker onto what's basically
a very nice but decidedly unracy pickup. What gives? more...
Reborn RAV Reaps Raves
One of the cutest of the cute utes has been reborn, not
quite as cute, and a little more of a brute, but still all "ute".
The new version of Toyota’s popular RAV4 looks as
if it has been on a work out regimen that has left it larger
and more muscular than before. And the bulk up hasn’t
only been on the outside; the not-so-little SUV is now available
with V6 power that cranks out a healthy 269 horsepower. more...
Toyota Camry SE
If the Toyota Camry were a flavor, it would have to be vanilla.
Not that there’s anything wrong with vanilla. Far
from it; vanilla is extremely popular and is a fixture in
kitchens where it performs beautifully in any number of applications.
But if someone asked you what flavor made you swoon, chances
are it would be chocolate, peppermint or, my personal fave,
butterscotch. So what we have with the Camry is analogous
to that: it’s
a fine car, well designed and crafted and extremely well
built. It’s dependable and as comfortable as an old
pair of shoes. But it doesn’t stir the automotive taste
buds. more...
Toyota Yaris Surprisingly Fun Drive
Toyota’s new entry level car may be a little funny
looking, with a funny name and, at least in Canada, a bizarre “Uncle
Yaris” ad campaign the designer of which should be
sacked, but that doesn’t prevent the little bugger
from being far more fun to drive than you’d think it
has any right to be.
Yaris, which I speculate may be Japanese for “roly
poly little blob on wheels,” is the successor for the
ordinary and dumpy-looking
– though successful – Echo hatchback (I’m
surprised not to hear that Echo coming back!). And what Toyota
has come up with is a nifty little car that’s practical,
economical and even kind of attractive in a globular type
of way. It kind of looks like an Echo with the frumpiness
ironed out to leave clean and aerodynamic lines. The result
is cute. more...
Toyota Highlander
Vs. Ford Escape Hybrids
It’s the battle of the hybrid SUV’s!
In the green corner, the Ford Escape, a nice if somewhat
bland vehicle that’s pretty good for hauling, if pretty
boring to drive. In the other green corner, the Toyota Highlander,
a Camry-based SUV that feels more like a car than a truck,
and which is not quite as boring to drive.
So which is the winner? more...
Toyota Matrix TRD
How do you turn a good and popular compact wagon into a
racing car? Well if you’re Toyota and you’re
talking about the Matrix, you offer a couple of minor upgrades,
slap on a few logos, and Bob’s your uncle.
And that’s the problem.
The Matrix, based on Toyota’s legendary Corolla, is
a very nice wagon. It offers a lot of flexibility and economy,
and if it works as well as my best friend’s nearly
identical Pontiac Vibe, it should offer its owners plenty
of driving pleasure and value for years to come. Ah, but
a sports car it is not. more...
Toyota Prius a Real, Live Car
Well, is my face red. I like to pooh-pooh political correctness,
and things apparently designed to appeal to the liberal mind
set. Hence my built-in aversion to hybrid cars, which at
first bloom seemed to be a case of pandering to the enviro-whacko
fringe.
After all, Honda’s first hybrid, the Insight,
was indeed a technological marvel, but so utterly impractical
as anything other than a commuter vehicle. The Insight
sipped gas, but with only two seats and limited storage space – and
anemic power delivery
– it wasn’t really a vehicle you could take into
the mountain passes and expect pulling power. I know this
because that’s exactly where I took it. more...
2006 Toyota 4Runner
Limited
The 2006 4Runner continues to show that Toyota’s long-running
SUV franchise is a fine vehicle with legendary off road capabilities
that would undoubtedly make it suitable for taking just about
anywhere short of the surface of the moon.
And it would probably perform well there, too, with appropriate
modifications to make it work in an airless environment.
And once you figured out a vehicle to get it there… more...
Who’d have thought a Toyota Avalon would have a claim
to sporty performance?
Yet that’s the case with the new, third generation
of Toyota’s flagship - at least if you enjoy straight
line performance. The car not only comes with an attractive
new exterior coupled with a comfortable and luxurious new
interior, it also sports a new 3.5 liter V6 engine that cranks
out a very pleasant 280 horses @ 6200 rpm and 260 lb.-ft.
of torque @ 4700 rpm. This is enough to propel this big car
in a most satisfying manner. more...
Toyota Solara SE – a
Comfy Sports Car-compatible
The Toyota Solara looks kind of like a poor man’s
Lexus SC430, but it’s actually quite a nice drive as
long as you aren’t expecting real sports car performance.
Basically an offshoot of the Camry, which is nothing to
sneer at, Solara is a two door coupe that in its most basic
form offers a decently fun ride in a beautifully rendered
and comfortable package, with reasonable economy. more...
They don’t call this a Sequoia for nothing. Like the
famous Redwood, the big Toyota is grand and stately. It’s
full in size and features, but surprisingly nimble for a
vehicle that’s nearly large enough to house a government
ministry.
Well, maybe nimble isn’t the best word, but despite
its mass this is no land barge.
So the rather immense Sequioa is still quite nice to drive
and at the same time manages to come off as fairly subtle
compared to other “brute utes” such as the Hummer
H2. Neither are really my kind of wheels, but I can certainly
see why people buy them. more...
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