1998 Toyota Avalon Xl Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race Scion FR-S [w/video]

Toyota has been hosting its Pro/Celebrity race at the Toyota Grand Prix on Long Beach since 1977. The charity event, which has raised millions of dollars over the years, traditionally pits Hollywood celebrities against professional athletes (including race car drivers) on the full Grand Prix course in modified street vehicles. The short, sprint-style race is popular with the crowds as the amateur drivers race uninhibited - the result is an action-packed race with plenty of excitement and automotive... er... carnage.
Over the decades, the drivers have raced a variety of Toyota products including last year's front-wheel-drive Scion tC. But this year, Toyota announced at the Chicago Auto Show that the new rear-wheel-drive Scion FR-S would be stepping up to the plate. The good news only became better when Toyota Motorsports invited us out to Southern California's Willow Springs Raceway (the same circuit where the drivers train and practice) to be one of the first behind the wheel.
Driving Notes:

Toyota puts three-wheeled i-Road into public tests in Japan [w/video]

The lucky citizens of Japan are getting it now, and some folks in France will join the fray later this year, but that's about it for public, leaning-trike fun. The car in question is Toyota's three-wheeled i-Road concept electric vehicle. And in addition to being really narrow and quite environmentally friendly, this little EV leans quite a bit when it scoots around curves. Earlier this week, the Japanese automaker started testing the super-narrow vehicles in Toyota City, Japan. They're part of a broader scheme called "Ha:mo" in which people can link shared vehicles with public transportation systems to get around with minimal environmental impact. Grenoble, France, will be the recipient of some i-Road EVs for a vehicle-sharing project that starts later this year. The i-Road weigh about 660 pounds, is less than a yard wide and has a 28 mile per hour top speed. The i-Road was first shown off at the Geneva Motor Show early last year and shortly thereafter was the subject of a groovy video that showed a group of four cruising and leaning through the streets of a Mediterranean village in France. Check out Toyota's video on the vehicle-testing program and the official press release below and read our driving impressions here. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Changing Mobility and Lives, Three Wheels at a Time Residents of Toyota City, Japan, might be wondering what they just saw on the street. If it had three wheels and was leaning around a corner, it was the "i-Road", Toyota's ultra-compact all-electric, all-fun concept. On Sunday, the i-Road, which weighs a mere 300 kg and is less than 90 cm wide, was let loose on public roads at an event to mark its introduction into "Ha:mo", Toyota's optimized urban transport system. Soon, even more i-Roads will be zooming around Toyota city when they are made available to residents at vehicle-sharing stations. And later this year the lucky residents of Grenoble, France, will also be able to have some three-wheeled fun, thanks to a vehicle-sharing project that will last until 2017. Besides being an absolute blast to drive, how could the i-Road actually help you out? Well, picture the following: You just got off work. You get a phone call. You need to get across town, pronto, because your wife just went into labor. But your car is in the shop, there's no time to call a taxi, and your co-workers with cars are stuck doing overtime.

Toyota Recalls 1.9 Million Prius Hybrids

TOKYO (AP) - Toyota is recalling 1.9 million hybrid Prius cars globally for a software glitch that could cause the vehicle to stall. Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday that 997,000 Prius cars in Japan, some 713,000 in North America, another 130,000 in Europe and the rest in other regions are being recalled for a problem in the software to control the hybrid system. No accidents or injuries have been reported related to the problem. The software could cause transistors to become damaged, causing warnings lights to go off, driving power to be reduced or the car to stop. The recalled vehicles were manufactured between March 2009 and February 2014. The Japanese automaker suffered massive recalls starting in 2009, affecting more than 14 million vehicles for problems including floor mats, gas pedals and brakes. Affected vehicles include: 2010-2014 Prius vehicles, 2012 Toyota RAV4, 2012-2013 Toyota Tacoma and 2012-2013 Lexus RX 350 vehicles sold in the United States. Related Gallery AOL Autos Test Drive: 2014 Toyota Highlander Recalls Toyota