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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 … Continue Reading

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, … Continue Reading

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 … Continue Reading

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 … Continue Reading

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 … Continue Reading
  

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 … Continue Reading

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 … Continue Reading

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 … Continue Reading

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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