According to gasitman, the person who made the video:

This is for all the idiots out there that belong on the bus, get off the road, and stay off if you can not stop your car.

Here’s the video:

We here at LexusNet think the message couldn’t be any clearer and we agree with gasitman 110%!

Recently I ran across a post on an auto enthusiast forum about how the lacking of the fold-down rear seat in the HS250h is the deal breaker. The poster argued about how other hybrids like the Chevrolet Malibu, Honda Insight, Nissan Altima, Saturn Aura, Toyota Camry and Toyota Prius all have it so it appears Lexus is “cutting back” for not including the feature. Well, I did some “googearch” in my own spare time and found out the following…

Toyota Camry Hybrid:

In a closer look, this is the amount of access room (or the lack of…) that one gets from the fold-down seat with the batteries in the trunk:

Nissan Altima Hybrid:

According to about.com, in the Altima hybrid…

Hybrid battery eliminates a fold-down rear seat

Chevy Malibu Hybrid / Saturn Aura Hybrid:

The Malibu Hybrid is a mild hybrid, which means it’s a joke comparing to Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) system… Saturn Aura Hybrid uses the same system as the Malibu hybrid.

Sure in the picture it appears to be the Malibu hybrid has tons of access with the fold-down rear seat but the reality is that the battery pack is much smaller comparing to the Toyota/Lexus systems. The reason is due to the GM’s hybrid battery pack only powers the motor/alternator for engine assist as well as restarting the engine from AUTO STOP mode and does not independently driving the wheels like the Toyota’s HSD.

Toyota Prius:

Toyota Prius is a hatch back, which allows it to have more room in the trunk area. As you can see from the picture, in that area of interest, the cabin is also much taller comparing to the Camry hybrid.

Honda Insight:

Honda Insight almost has the identical shape as the Toyota Prius, so the reasons above can also be applied here.

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Image sources: [ About.com: Hybrid Cars and Alt Fuels ]

It puzzles me everytime when people say Passat is the “driver’s car” of family sedans and other aren’t… I mean, all the sedans are products of compromise, some are compromised more than others, that’s it, to say that the Passat is a “drive’s car” while others aren’t is just ridiculous in my humble opinion.

I understand that most of us can only afford one car so we want the best balance of comfort, practicality and performance (I am in the same boat). Then my question is, if that’s the case, why would I want to get a VW? There are true RWD sports sedans out there that costs less than a comparable VW and performs better, for example:

VW CC VR6 Sport FWD: $39,015
VW CC VR6 4Motion AWD: $40,115

(I picked VR6 because that’s the only model that comes with the V6, VW doesn’t offer V6 for Passat anymore)

Infiniti G37 Base: $33,250
Infiniti G37 Journey: $33,700
Infiniti G37 Sport: $34,250
Infiniti G37 X: $35,750

BMW 335i: $40,300
BMW 335ix: $42,300

Lexus IS350: $37,295

MB C350 Sport: $39,750

Then there are those who just want a comfortable and yet reliable A-to-B commuter. Based on the simple comparison I did they have even less reasons to pick VW over the other family sedans:

VW Passat: $27,600

Toyota Camry SE: $25,840
Honda Accord EX: $26,805
Nissan Altima 3.5 SE: $25,680
Mazda MAZDA6 S Sport: $24,330

(I picked the V6 models to compare with the turbo-charge 4 banger Passat just for giggles, we all know that the I4 models cost even less than the prices shown above…)

So… Can anyone tell me what’s the point of VW?

From Toyota:

The FT-86 (“86″ pronounced “hachi roku”), a compact rear-wheel-drive sports car, provides driving joy and excitement.

• Compact design gives driver greater control, while body’s lightness and low center of gravity allow racecar-like handling
• Both power and environmental performance provided by 2-liter boxer engine and light body
• Flash Red body color contains hint of blue; interior expresses modern feel with minimal coverage of the highly refined structural components evoking enthusiasm for cruising

Vehicle: FT-86 Concept
Length: 4,160 mm
Width: 1,760 mm
Height: 1,260 mm
Wheelbase: 2,570 mm
Seating: 4

So looks like after all these years of building dull and boring cars, Toyota has finally decided to bring the “fun” back… and building it based on the concept of the legendary AE86 (light, small and RWD) seems like a pretty darn good idea to me. It’ll be interested to see what the final production model will look like but at the mean time, let’s enjoy this sexy concept:

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Image sources: [Motor Trend]

Toyota, under the advisory of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will soon launch a safety campaign on specific Toyota and Lexus vehicles over the driver’s-side floor mats. Toyota says the mat can get stuck on the gas pedal and cause unintended and sudden acceleration.

Personally I couldn’t be happier when I heard this new and it is a long time coming for me. Why you might ask? Because believe it or not, I was almost one of the “victims” due to this problem…

It was about 2 and half years ago (early 2007) when I was still in Florida, it was a Saturday morning, I remember that I brought my IS to the dealer for the 15,000-mile service and the dealer provided me with an ES350 as loaner. My friend and I then decided to take it to Orlando because I had to get a haircut and we also wanted to do some grocery shopping. On the way there near the exit of the Universal Studio I had to overtake a tractor trailer so floored the gas pedal, boy, was that a wrong decision or what…

All of the sudden I felt like the the pedal was stuck and I couldn’t get it back, with the speed climbing fast and the car in front of me approaching (lucky for me that I had A LOT of distance between me and the car in front) it was second nature for me to slam the brake. However, with the pedal fully “to the metal” the brake really didn’t do me much good, the acceleration slowed down for a while but went back up pretty quickly. At that exactly moment I seriously thought that I was going to die and my friend was looking at me like WHAT THE f*** IS GOING ON… after couple seconds I finally gathered my thoughts so I put on the emergency brake, shifted the gear to neuture and gradually moved towards the shoulder. Once I was completely stopped at the shoulder I then got under the steering wheel and found that the gas pedal was stuck behind the floor mat.

When I returned the car to the dealer I told my service rep about what happened he was so shocked, it took him couple seconds to react and ask me if I was all right (he was probably thinking that a law suit is coming…). I told him I was ok and let him know that they should take this seriously because it might fully well happen to another customer.

Given what has happened to me personally I am just glad that Toyota finally noticed the problem and decide to solve it once for all. What I can’t understand is what took them so long?

Recently GM rolls out a new series of commercials called “May the best car win”, in those commercials pretty much GM is comparing their vehicles to their competitors and trying to convince the consumers that they are the better car. One particular commercial caught my eyes because it is just full of deception which will easily paint the wrong picture for those people who aren’t too “savvy” about the automotive industry.

Long story short, here are what GM claimed in the commercial:

• Camry – 32 MPG Hwy / Malibu – 33 MPG Hwy
• Corolla – 35 MPG Hwy / Cobalt – 37 MPG Hwy
• Tundra – 18 MPG Hwy / Silverado – 22 MPG Hwy
• RAV4 – 28 MPG Hwy / Equinox – 32 MPG Hwy

For the record, GM did not use any incorrect data when comparing to the competitors but they also didn’t paint the whole picture because they are trying to swing the advantage to their corner. In my opinion that is a very bad thing to do in commercials so please allow me to clear things up:

1. GM claimed that Camry returns 32 MPG on highway to Malibu’s 33 MPG

What GM failed to mention: The Camry has a combined city/highway cycle of 26 MPG which is the same as the Malibu. Also, the FE of the Camry hybrid is 33/34/34 which is much better than Malibu hybrid’s pathetic 26/34/29.

2. GM claimed that Camry returns 35 MPG on highway to Cobalt’s 37 MPG

What GM failed to mention: The Corolla has a combined city/highway cycle of 30 MPG which equals the Cobalt’s most fuel efficient XFE model. The Cobalt XFE is pretty much a stripper and an extra fuel efficient model in the Cobalt lineup but Toyota does not offer such a thing for the Corolla. The regular Cobalt returns 24/33/27, which is inferior in every way when comparing to Corolla’s 26/35/30.

2. GM claimed that Tundra returns 18 MPG on highway to Silverado’s 22 MPG

What GM failed to mention: GM did not state that only the Silverado HYBRID returns 22 MPG on highway, the regular gasoline versions return 14/19/16 for the 6.0L V8 and 15/20/17 for the 4.3L V6. The Silverado V6’s FE numbers is just down right pathetic when comparing to Tundra 4.6L V8’s EQUAL 15/20/17. The Tundra 5.7L V8 does return 1 less MPG in the city than the 6.0L V8 Silverado (18 vs. 19) but at the same time the Tundra also has 14 more HP and 26 more lb-ft of torque.

2. GM claimed that RAV4 returns 28 MPG on highway to Equinox’s 32 MPG

What GM failed to mention: GM actually has a case here because the 4-cylinder Equinox is hands down better than the 4-cylinder RAV4 is almost all aspects when comes to FE (22/28/24 for RAV4, 22/32/26 for Equinox). However, the V6 RAV4’s 19/27/22 has the Equinox V6’s 17/25/20 beat in city, highway AND combined cycle.

So GM… SHAME ON YOU.

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Recently I got into a debate with a friend about whether or not Honda/Acura has been a disappointment in the last several years, so it got me thinking… How far exactly did Honda/Acura fall compare to its status and reputation back in the late 80s and 90s, I mean Honda used to have the best value in terms of price and performance back in the 90s, they also didn’t look bad at all. When Acura and Lexus first started as the two first Japanese luxury brands they were head-to-head all the way till the mid-90s. The first and second generation Acura Legends were magnificent cars, the interior fit-n-finish can rival some high end cars today such as the LS460. However, Lexus has really pulled away in the last 10 years…

I know a lot of people are still in their 90s cave pretending that Honda was still the poor man’s BMW it used to be and that’s exactly what Honda wants you to do, they are riding on past reputation. However, the truth is that their cars all got bigger, interiors got cheaper and Acuras got a whole lot uglier. They used to have “fun” cars at relatively obtainable price like the CRX, Integra and S2000 but not anymore. They hung the NSX out dry for more than 10 years without any major update before killing it, when the NSX first debut it’s the first Japanese supercar that can rival the European exotics but by the time it goes out, many sports sedans can give it a serious run for its money…

Also, Honda has always said they will make Acura a first-tier luxury car company, however, everything that they are doing or did contradict to the goal. No V8 and RWD? Sure I agree that due to the fuel economy restriction it’ll be less likely for people to opt for high displacement V8s in the future. Personally I think supercharged/turbocharged V6 is the way to go, but that wouldn’t stop those people who is willing and able to pay for the V8 luxury car and there will ALWAYS be a group of people like that. In a way, here in America people associate V8 with luxury and there are still people who wouldn’t even sniff at a car if it doesn’t have 8 bangers under the hood. By the way, let’s take a step back drop the V8 discussion for a while, but how is Honda planning to make Acura first tier without a true flagship? Huh?

Ok, maybe Honda is doing better on the other fronts, such as the green technology like hybrid you say, after all they are one of the first companies to offer a mass produced hybrid, the Insight. The truth is that the new Insight is so terrible that it’s the first car Jeremy Clarkson has ever considered crashing into a tree, on purpose, so he didn’t have to drive it any more… The Honda Insight returns a worse fuel economy than the 2nd generation Prius but is only $2000 cheaper than the new Prius, the fit-n-finish and material use make the car felt like a tin can and the rough idle and transition between gasoline and electric make you feel you are riding a lawn mower. Don’t believe me? Read up the reviews for the new Honda Insight then you be a judge yourself.

So to summarize, Honda can’t do performance, can’t do luxury and can’t do green… It just amazes that there are still people yapping about how Toyota is “boring” and Honda makes “drives’ cars”. I got two words for those people…

WAKE UP

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BMW has released the Vision Efficientdynamics Concept ahead of the Frankfurt Auto Show which is powered by 3 power sources: a 1.5L turbo diesel that makes 163 hp with peak torque of 214 pound feet, a compact electric motor that delivers 51 hp and 214 lb ft of torque, and a second electric motor that provides 162 lb ft of torque, continuous output of 80 hp, with short bursts of up to 139 hp which drives the front wheels. BMW also gave this car a very dramatic exterior design by utilizing lively color combinations, busy lines and uneven surfaces.

Combining the great fuel economy (BMW acclaimed 63 mpg on the combined EU test cycle) and impressive performance (0 60 sprint in less than 4.8 seconds, with top speed electronically limited to 155 mph) all of the sudden BMW has put itself into the elite group of being the innovator for “green performance”.

But NOT SO FAST, BMW fanboys and wagon jumpers! Have you forgot about the Toyota FT HS concept?

Sure, if you just look at the skin deep the two are nothing alike, the Bimmer has two electric motors with a 1.5L turbo diesel and the exterior design is way busier than the FT HS. Also Not to mention the colorful combination in order to throw people off thinking that this “concept” is originated by BMW and BMW alone.

However, if you are able to get past the skin deep level and look at the bigger picture, what is this BMW “Vision Efficientdynamics” concept all about? Ultimately it is about a fuel efficient hybrid vehicle that’s also a highly capable sports car with a futuristic design inside and out. Toyota has demonstrated all these aspects with their FT HS concept back in 2007 at the NAIAS. Granted the FT HS has a much cleaner design for the exterior than the Bimmer but in my opinion the ideas are the same for both cars.

Not to take anything away from BMW for coming out with a clean, fuel efficient and yet sporty car (EXCELLENT combination) but I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it is “original” just because it has a busy color combination while Toyota has already came up with a very similar concept almost 3 years ago.

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Recently I read an article on Yahoo! Finance which talks about why Toyota is slow moving in developing EV and bring it to the market. Here are some highlights of the article:

“Why is Toyota waiting on electric cars?” asked Tadashi Tateuchi, a former race car designer turned electric-car evangelist.

Electric technology could help determine winners and losers in the auto industry of the future, but Toyota has been highly skeptical of electrical vehicles.

“The time is not here,” Masatami Takimoto, Toyota’s executive vice president, said during a factory tour this year.

Electric cars “face many challenges,” he said, adding that “to commercialize pure E.V.’s, we need a battery that far exceeds the current technology.”

If Toyota is right, its competitors will have spent billions on a technology that will be slow to take off.

Moreover, he said, battery production technology is no more complicated than that of semiconductors, which are already mass produced.

“Toyota could launch an electric car tomorrow if it wanted to,” Mr. Tateuchi, the former race car engineer, said. Regretting his gas-guzzling creations, he founded the Japan E.V. Club 15 years ago to urge automakers to produce zero-emission cars.

“Toyota tells people the age of electric cars is not yet here,” he said. “That’s not true.”

Some experts predict that the auto market will soon be divided among competing technologies. “Small electric cars will be used for short distances within cities, with hydrogen cells powering big buses,” the Development Bank of Japan forecast in 2008.

Others say that once automakers commit to mass production and drive costs down, electric cars could dominate the market. That could require Toyota to speed up its electric car plans, they say.

“You don’t see many competing technologies survive in a key market for very long,” said Mr. Shimizu, the Keio University professor.

And more often than not in the history of innovation, a change in the dominant technology means a change in the market leader.

“Electric cars are a disruptive technology, and Toyota knows that,” Mr. Shimizu said. “I wouldn’t say Toyota is killing the electric vehicle. Perhaps Toyota is scared.”

First of all I would like to remind professor Hiroshi Shimizu that no, battery is NOT like semiconductors because battery actually has to store energy, release energy, restore energy and repeat that process hundreds of thousand times if not more. Also, the kind of battery we are talking about here is a bit different than the batteries that he was used to so simply saying that the battery technology is sufficient enough for EV is not a responsible statement. So I would like to suggest that professor Shimizu should probably stay at what he does best and leave the technical aspects to the professionals.

Second, those who think Toyota is “scared” by EV are totally out of their minds. They need to understand that mechanically an EV is more simple than the regular ICE vehicles and as long as there is a break through in the battery technology any current 1st tier car manufactures can make EVs without any difficulties. Also, those who think EV’s time is here is also crazy, look at that Mini E POS that BMW brought us… It costs $50,000, has a range of 100 miles and needs AT LEAST 3 to 4 hours to charge. Yeah sure it’s a great city commuter but based on those numbers how can one say that the EV is ready for the general population?

I predict the EV wouldn’t be mainstream for at least another decade. What’s going to happen is that the hybrid will continue to get better and better mileage as the battery technology improves. At a point the electric engine will become the main source and ICE will become secondary, pretty much the opposite of today’s hybrids. When that happened then we can start talking about how relevant the EV is for mass production and become mainstream.

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[Source: Yahoo! Finanace]

In a Nutshell: Superb electronics, gas mileage, and reliability; Not-so-superb road manners, sheet metal and interior plastics.

I know it’s been a long wait for my new Prius review. A number of you CL members have requested it, but there wasn’t much I could do. Toyota has not introduced it on the East Coast until now (I don’t remember seeing it at this year’s Washington, D.C. Auto Show either), although I know a couple of you in other areas have already seen it and (maybe) test-driven it. The first new 2010 Prius models are just coming into Washington-area dealerships now, although most shops have only 1 or 2 of them, and some still don’t have any. As expected, like the new Chevy Camaros, most are pre-sold or otherwise not available for a review and test-drive. However, a Toyota shop close to my house had a bright-red, beige-leather, 2010 Prius-V model (the top-line version) demo that it was allowing test-drives in long enough for at least a basic review, so it was into my Outback and off to the review before I lost my chance and someone bought it (my guess is that it won’t last the rest of the day).

The first-generation Prius was introduced the he American market in the late summer of 2000, allowing the first-generation Honda Insight hybrid (a smaller, 2-seater) to beat it by about 6-7 months…..the Insight was introduced in January of that year. Both cars had alrady been on sale for some time in the Japanese home market. As gas was relatively cheap then, neither the first-generation Insight or Prius proved particularly popular at the time here in America; the Insight for its very small size and limited usefulness, and the somewhat larger, more useful Prius for its geekiness and unsual interior and controls. The Prius, at the time, despite its excellent gas mileage, was perceived by many potential shoppers as a smaller, geekier, and more expensive brother to the ubiquitous Corolla, which, of course, sold in big numbers. The then-new electronics in the drivetrain were also, of course, new and unproven in the American market.

Of course, that all changed with the second-generation model. The Prius (and Honda hybrids) developed a reputation for reliability as good or better then most of their conventional gas-engine siblings, and, as gas steadily got more expensive (though still with sharp up-and-down swings in price), the car’s popularity increased with it as well. Fire department and rescue personnel, though, had to go through special training on how to get people out of them after accidents, as damaged electrics and battery packs could be very hazardous to both fire personnel and victims.

And, of course, the car became a status symbol, not just among environmentalists and college professors, but as a Hollywood and celebrity car as well. A number of well-known celebrities, musicians, and entertainers in the Hollywood/Beverly Hills area chose to buy and drive Priuses, even though their enormous incomes allowed them access to some of the finest chauffeur-driven luxury cars in the world like the Rolls-Royce and Maybach. The appeal of the Prius did not just lie in the miserly gas mileage, but in the fact that small Toyota and Honda hybrids had extremely low emissions as well. Many Prius owners bought the car not just to save gas, but to make an environmental statement. It became the ultimate automotive expression of political correctness, since pure electric cars, which were even less-polluting, were rather impractical and range-limited.

For 2010, the third-generation Prius comes in four trim levels; the Prius II, III, IV, and V. All share the same drivetrain…..a 1.8L VVTi-four, permanent-magnet elecric motor, a CVT (continuously-variable transmission), and one of the most advanced Nickel-Hydride battery packs ever to go into a hybrid. As stated above, I reviewed a top-of-the-line Prius V model that started at 27K and listed at over 32K……that may sound expensive, but it is the top model, and much cheaper versions are available in the low-mid 20s, if dealers don’t price-gouge and mark them up over list (as they did last summer with the Prius when gas was over $4.00 a gallon).

After reviewing the new third-generation model, I had mixed feelings about it, overall. It is a superb car if you want the ultimate in efficiency and non-sporting driving in a basic commuting car, and some of the controls/displays inside were improved over the second-generation model, but some other things about it, IMO, proved disappointing. For the details, read on.

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In a Nutshell: Superb gas mileage, one of Ford’s best new products yet……..and possibly a sign of the future.

Ford introduced the mid-sized Fusion/Mercury Milan/Lincoln Zephyr triplets (the Zephyr is now the MKZ) in the fall of 2005, as 2006 models, to have a new mid-sized series to bridge the gap between the small Focus and the larger Ford Five Hundred/Mercury Montego (since renamed the Taurus/Sable). The old mid-size Taurus/Sable line had been discontinued, as had the old mid-size Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique series, and Ford needed a new mid-size line to replace them, as the new Five Hundred/Montego were now considered full-size cars (Ford renamed them to Taurus/Sable, but they are not to be confused with the old Taurus/Sable lines. The Fusion/Milan/Zephyr triplets tested out well, made Consumer Reports’ Recommended list, and soon developed a reputation for well-above-average build quality and reliability, most unusual for first-year, American-designed cars (though the new Chevy Malibu, also an impressive design, also did fairly well in the reliabilty department). At first, the Fusion/Milan/Zepyhr (MKZ) were offered with the choice of 4 or V6 engines (V6 only for the MKZ) and FWD only, though AWD versions (with the V6) were later offered.

It is not surprising that these cars have developed a good reputation for quality. Ford’s new corporate leadership, unlike that of GM and Chrysler, has not only managed to keep the company away from the auction block, bankrupcy, and Government bailout money, but appears to be serious about catching up to the Japanese in vehicle quality. Consumer Reports now rates almost all Ford products, with a few truck-based exceptions, as average or better in reliability….far more so than with GM or Chrysler, though some GM designs have shown quality improvement as well.

For 2009, the Fusion line is offered in 3 conventional gas-engine lines…..the S, SE, and SEL (the new Hybrid is considered a 2010 model). As before, two gas engines are offered….a 2.3L, 160 HP four and a 3.0L, 221 HP V6. Three transmissions are offered…a 5-speed manual, 5-speed automatic, and 6-speed automatic. FWD is offered with the Four, and FWD/AWD with the V6 (the Four is not considered powerful enough for the extra weight/drag of AWD). The Hybrid comes with a special, Ford-designed, Atkinson-Cycle, gas 2.5L in-line four with 156 HP and a 106 HP permanent-magnet electric motor of Toyota design (as with the Escape hybrid, Ford and Toyota worked jointly on the Fusion’s Hybrid powertrain). Only four-door sedans are offered in the American market; no other body styles (though I wish that Ford would do a raised, wagon version the compete with Subaru wagons).

Though, of course, it has negative features just like any other car, I was, overall, quite pleased with the new 2010 Fusion Hybrid. Despite a few flimsy-feeling switches and snaps inside, it is apparant that this was NOT a car that was just thrown together carelessly on the assembly line, with little inspection, and then pushed right out the front door to the dealerships. This car showed a number of signs of quality in its materials, solidness, and assembly precision. I know that this will sound like heresy to many of you Toyota/Lexus fans in the forum, but, IMO, the new Fusion trumps the Camry, quality-wise, in several areas, particularly in door solidness and interior trim/hardware (go see the car for yourself if you doubt this). This, of course, is the result, not only of Ford’s efforts to improve quality, but also the fact that Toyota has significantly cheapened new Camrys compared to their predecessors, using flimsier materials. The new Camry still has its traditional butter-smooth, refined drivetrain and a slightly better paint job than the Fusion, but, otherwise, the Fusion, IMO, generally outdoes it. Both the Camry and Fusion, of course, have excellent Hybrid drivetrains (the Fusion’s, of course, is partly Toyota-sourced)…more on that later.

I chose to review a Fusion Hybrid for several reasons, despite the fact that it is a rather hard-to-get model right now. First, there seems to be a lot of CL interest in it, although I did not get any direct review requests. Second, the vehicles that I DO have review requests for have still not arrived in area dealerships except for the new Camaro, and new Camaros are all pre-sold and not available for test-drives (yet). There is also a lot of interest in the new Fusion Hybrid in the general auto press. And, like it or not, we could (?) be looking here at one of the bedrock cars of the near-future. The Obama Administration, just a few days ago, announced new CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) for the 2016 model year just 6 years away (less than that, from an auto-design standpoint, as it often takes several years to design and perfect new vehicles. Obama announced a 36-MPG average-fleet-economy standard for the future, and Congress, for the most part, seems to be going along with it, though it could be modified a little. But, given the Fusion’s superb 41 MPG city and 36 Highway ratings, which is astounding for a car this size and weight (far more than any other mid-side car in the American market), we have what appears to be a new state-of-the-art for this class. No, it can’t match the 51 MPG City rating of the new Toyota Prius, but the Prius doesn’t have this size, weight, or (presumably) comfort. And, with 39 MPG combined, the new Fusion Hybrid easily meets the new 36-MPG CAFE demand that the Government is determined to shove down our throats.

I also had a rather pleasant review in some other ways, too. First, it was a gorgeous day…mild, sunny, and dry. The owner of the Ford shop I went to today was a former Lexus salesman in the past. In fact, he was the same sales rep I had bought my yellow Lexus IS300 from, years ago. His late father had owned a different branch of the same Ford dealership. As I had not seen him in several years, before the review, I went into his office, and we talked over some old times. He knew I was car-saavy, and was interested in my opinion of today’s Lexus and Ford products. I told him I had joined CL several years ago and also had a Subaru. He was more than glad to let me take a new Fusion Hybrid out for a spin. By sheer luck, he had an unsold one there, a black one (and unsold hybrids can sometimes be hard to find, as gas prices, and demand for hybrids, are going up again). It didn’t stay unsold long, though. As soon as I got back to the dealership with it after the review and test-drive, someone else was waiting with a salesman for a test-drive, so I gave him the key and a brief description of the way it drove. That person took it out, came back, and bought it, right on the spot (I didn’t ask how much he paid, but, with the demand for hybrids even in a recession, it was likely at or close to list). And, guess what? I knew THAT salesman, too. A former co-worker of mine, with my help, had bought an F-150 Ford truck from him.

OK, so much for rehashing old times. On with the review.

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It is a common belief within the auto community that most Japanese (especially Toyota/Lexus) cars lack the “soul” as compare to the German makes. Personally I don’t know what kind of “soul” do the German cars have but I do know that different auto manufacture usually has different design philosophy so it’s obviously that the products from different makes would have different characteristics. To say that the Japanese cars have no souls by having different characteristics is like saying just you have no soul because you have a different belief than me. Makes sense? Of course not.

Here are 2 examples:

1. Honda was built by engineers and it still is. Engineers are very sensible and logical animals, they rarely go out and do things following their hearts, instead they follow their brains. So Honda products usually are very balanced, have above average performance and great ergonomics but not as flashy as others. Myself I am an engineer so I totally understand that philosophy, because to us, functionality outweighs everything.

2. Toyota on the other hand are built by bunch of marketing experts. They know that the buying public WANTS hot rods but NEEDS appliances so they go out and build appliances. On top of that, they stay true to their primary buying demographic. Using Lexus as an example, this company was built on emphasizing the words “luxury” and “comfort” so even for its sports-orient sedans one can still see those traits more than its competitors. Due to this, often times some performance aspects are sacrificed but they end up making the best balanced sedan of “sports” and “luxury”.

So at the end it’s not that the Japanese cars don’t have souls, it’s just that they have different souls. World will be a boring place if everything is the same, right?

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The Hyundai Genesis is without a question one of the most high profile new cars, if not the highest, of the year. Before even getting a chance to drive it and reading the reviews I was positive that this car will bring the Hyundai brand to a different level but I still had doubts in my mind. When the positive reviews starting to come in I was convinced that this car is good, very good as matter of fact, but I was still not a “believer”. However, that had all been changed after my test drive today and all I can say is WOW!! This car is so good that in my opinion it deserves nothing short of its own brand, own badge and own dealership network. Followings are my impressions about the car.

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In a Nutshell: A good Subaru Outback competitor…..and something long overdue from Toyota.

I got several CL requests for a new Toyota Venza review, not counting, of course, my own curiosity and interest in this just-introduced vehicle. As a Subaru Outback owner, I wanted to see how well the AWD Venza stacks up against the Legacy/Outback (quite well, as we will shortly see). To some extent, this car brings back the AWD All-Trac Camry and Camry Wagons that were dropped long ago (in the late 80s to mid-90s) and SHOULD have been kept. Not only that, but this car, IMO, is long overdue in the marketplace…..it should have been introduced at least several years ago. Except for the much smaller, Corolla-based Matrix and its Pontiac Vibe twin, Toyota has basically ignored AWD regular passenger cars/wagons in the American market, and limited its AWD to higher-stance car and truck-based SUVs (and the Sienna minivan). Even the AWD Matrix/Vibe was dropped for a couple of years and just recently brought back again. Shame, shame. But Toyota has, for a couple of years now, made AWD available on some regular passenger cars in its Lexus line, both gas and hybrid-powered. Honda, unfortunately, made the same basic error, dropping the tall, AWD Civic wagon some 20 years ago, limiting its AWD and later SH-AWD to car-based SUVs and recent Acura RLs. The latest Acura TL and TSX are just getting around to offering the SH-AWD now, but there are still no wagon versions of these models like the Vensa and Subaru Outback. And there are still no AWD Honda-nameplate cars in the American market. Fortunately, some European manufacturers have continued to offer AWD and passenger-car-wagon bodies here in the American market without dropping them.

Ah, the wonderful world of auto marketing….it never ceases to make my day. Anyhow, back to the topic…the new Venza. Right now, in the American market, two basic models of the Vensa are offered….FWD and AWD versions of Toyota’s 3.5L V6 with 268 HP and 248 ft-lbs. of torque. Later on, in January 2009, FWD and AWD versions will be offered with a 2.7L in-line four with 182 HP and 182 ft-lbs. of torque. Only one transmission is, and will be, offered….a 6-speed automatic sequential Sport-manual shift. No manuals are planned for the American market. The Toyota people at the local shop said that the Venza is not done on the Camry platform, but I’m not convinced….IMO, there are just too many mechanical similiarities to the Camry and Highlander to convince me otherwise. The Venza is even built in the Camry/Avalon/Highlander plant at Georgetown, KY. The Lexus ES350 and RX350, of course, are also done on the same basic platform, but in different, Japanese plants.

The Venza, as indicated earlier, will compete more or less directly with the Subaru Outback, FWD/AWD versions of the Ford Taurus X wagon (until the Taurus X is dropped), and FWD/AWD versions of the VW Passat wagon. It will also compete, though less directly, with the somewhat more upmarket AWD Volvo XC70 (which I recently reviewed), Audi All-Road, and some AWD BMW xi 3-series wagons, which are more expensive. A Lexus version of the Venza, of course, would compete even better with the upmarket European AWD wagons. Lexus, IMO, should seriously consider an upmarket version of the Venza, especially since one of the Venza’s weak points is road/wind noise at higher speeds (more on that below). Lexus, of course, could handle that problem with its noted abilities in sound isolation.

Well, I’ve waited a long time to review and drive this vehicle, and, of course, the CL requests as well. Toyota, in another marketing error, should have brought one to the last Washington, DC Auto Show, for display for us to see, and didn’t (the Detroit show, of course, got one)….so we had to wait, until now, for them to actually reach the local Toyota shops. But finally, they are here…..with the 4-cylinder models to arrive next month.

So, what is the new Venza like? Read on.

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Wards has just announced the ten best engines award for 2008, and the winners are:

• Audi AG: 2.0L TFSI turbocharged DOHC I-4 (A4 Avant)
• BMW AG: 3.0L turbocharged DOHC I-6 (135i Coupe)
• BMW AG: 3.0L DOHC I-6 Turbodiesel (335d)
• Chrysler LLC: 5.7L Hemi OHV V-8 (Dodge Ram/Challenger R/T)
• Ford Motor Co.: 2.5L DOHC I-4 HEV (Escape Hybrid)
• General Motors Corp.: 3.6L DOHC V-6 (Cadillac CTS)
• Honda Motor Co. Ltd.: 3.5L SOHC V-6 (Accord Coupe)
• Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd.: 4.6L DOHC V-8 (Genesis)
• Toyota Motor Corp.: 3.5L DOHC V-6 (Lexus IS 350)
• Volkswagen AG: 2.0L SOHC I-4 Turbodiesel (Jetta TDI)

Overall I think this is a good list, the only engine that I don’t think it’s deserved to make the list is Audi’s 2.0T I4. I had a previous generation Audi A4 for 2 weeks back in 2007 and came away very disappointed, the reason is due to the craptaculour turbo lag. I am the kind of guy who admires simplicity over complexity especially if both achieve the similar result; that’s why I was never a fan for any force induced engines. More components in the engine bay means higher probability on things to break and not to mention the legendary “lag” for turbo engines. However, after driven the BMW 335i with the 3.0 twin-turbo I6 my view has been changed a bit, even though there is still a slightest lag when step on the gas hard but this minor shortcoming does not out shadow the overall excellent performance. So when I got a chance to drive the A4 for 2 weeks initially I was really excited, but I learned quickly that not all turbo engines are created equal and now I am a firmer believer that natural aspirated is the way to go (especially with similar performance).

Another one that probably does not belong to be on the list is the Honda 3.5L V6. Although a capable engine and a good one in its own right it just does not measure up against the newer generation V6 from Toyota, Nissan and even GM. Last but not least, kudos to Hyundai for having the 4.6L Tau V8 made the list, based on all the articles it seems like that V8 is just as good as any in the auto industry today.

(Source: Wards)

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