Sometimes, when we podcast, we just have too much fun. Jonny and I were yammering about the Nissan GT-R, Porsche’s PDK transmission, and of course Toyota’s ass-kicking Hilux and Audi’s bizarre plans for the R8 (which I still don’t totally grasp). The result? We ran way over time. Twelve minutes, forty-one seconds. That’s not okay. [...]   ...read more

Toyota’s upcoming iQ city car is slated to become the foundation for several new Toyota vehicles in the U.S., but could the diminutive Smart-fighter find a home for itself in the U.S.? While it remains to be seen if such a small offering could be a success in the States, Toyota has reportedly decided [...]   ...read more

After hearing all the stories, legends, and Top Gear specials on the fabled Toyota Hilux, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on one. While I was in Afghanistan, I heard that a Hilux dragged itself and four American soldiers over forty miles to safety while only able to drive its front wheels when its rear drive shaft was blown off. Another ran for over 100 miles with no oil and a leaking head g   ...read more

Perhaps Toyota Sales Chief Jim Lentz would like to type the words “credit crisis cars” into his Google bar. Because Jimbo doesn’t think that credit’s the main problem with a U.S. new car market that’s pretty much stopped dead in its tracks. “The vast majority of our customers are able to get approved for loans,” [...]   ...read more

Toyota has announced prices for its all-new city car, the iQ, which will be available from £9,495 on-the-road.   ...read more

Marketwatch reports that Honda and Toyota are warning against using their hybrid vehicles as taxi cabs, on safety concerns. Ford, GM and Nissan have also refused to certify the crashworthiness of their hybrid vehicles as hire cars. The story starts with an August 29 letter, sent from the New York Taxi and Limousine [...]   ...read more

Not the best metaphor for a writer (or reader) who’s feeling a bit thick-headed this AM (although I have to say, Jay, that Coppola’s Director’s Cut chardonnay is wicked pissa). Anyway? first we had Honda’s robot playing violin for the Grosse Pointe gadflies at the symphony hall. Now Toyota is expanding— as in opening not [...]   ...read more