1996 Toyota Camry Le Sedan 4-door 2.2l on 2040-cars

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Toyota Prius sets a different kind of Nurburgring lap record [w/video]

Scroll down the leaderboards of Nürburgring lap times and you'll see mostly racing cars, supercars and sports cars. Delve deep enough and you'll eventually get to hatchbacks and sedans, albeit the most performance-focused of their kind. But a hybrid? Sure, the Porsche 918 Spyder posted the top time for a street-legal series production car, and it's technically a hybrid, but we're talking about another kind of hybrid here. We're talking about a Toyota Prius.
That's right: the Prius just set a lap record around the Nordschleife. But it wasn't for the lap time. In fact, miles per hour barely factored in (except for staying above the minimum 37-mph average speed mandated on the vaunted racing circuit). No, this was about miles per gallon.
Toyota took one of its Prius Plug-In hybrids to the Nürburgring, topped up the battery, put on a set of low-rolling-resistance tires and put automotive journalist Joe Clifford behind the wheel with a mandate to use as little fuel as possible. After one second shy of 21 minutes, the Prius completed its lap having used just five tablespoons of fuel.

Best trucks for the money in 2024, according to iSeeCars

Full-size trucks are some of the most popular vehicles on the road in the U.S., but they’ve become exceedingly expensive in some cases. That makes it even more important to choose the right full-size truck to maximize value and longevity. iSeeCars recently released its list of the best trucks for the money for 2024, ranking AmericaÂ’s full-size trucks on the cost to own over 10,000 miles. Though the Ford F-150 is the best-selling new full-size truck, it failed to break into the three best trucks for the money, landing at number four on the list. The top six pickups include: Chevrolet Silverado 1500: $2,863 per 10,000 miles Toyota Tundra: $2,868 Ram 1500: $3,352 Ford F-150: $3,469 GMC Sierra 1500: $3,598 Nissan Titan: $4,008 The list is short because there is only a handful of full-size trucks on sale. Though many are expected to last quite a while – some have lifespan estimates of more than 180,000 miles, and the Toyota TundraÂ’s average life is 226,032 miles – all of them are expensive. iSeeCars found that the average new truck purchase price is $61,353, with trucks like the GMC Sierra 1500 topping $66,000. iSeeCars ranked the trucks on their purchase price and 10,000-mile ownership costs, not on driving excitement, styling, tech, or safety. It also did not asses each truckÂ’s capabilities, such as towing and payload, but said that buyers looking to save money should only purchase one if they have “genuine truck needs.” The study looked at several vehicle types to find the best models for the money in each category. The Mitsubishi Mirage was the best car overall, returning a $1,099 10,000-mile ownership cost and a low $18,991 purchase price. The Toyota Tacoma was the best midsize truck, and Toyota landed a strong seven vehicles in the top 25 best cars for the money overall. Chevrolet Ford GMC Nissan RAM Toyota

Toyota will invest $210 million to expand West Virginia engine production

WASHINGTON — Toyota is investing $210 million to expand engine production in West Virginia and add 100 new jobs. The Japanese automaker said it would boost capacity by 70,000 engines a year at the Buffalo, West Virginia plant, up from the nearly 1 million transmissions and engines it produces annually for vehicles assembled in North America. The investment will increase assembly capacity of its four-cylinder engine line. The plant makes four- and six-cylinder engines for Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Lexus ES, Lexus RX350, RAV4 and Sienna. The investment comes as automakers around the world are shifting more focus to electric vehicles and away from vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. Toyota says hybrid vehicles, which includes internal combustion engines, will be a key part of its vehicle strategy in the coming decade as other automakers focus more heavily on battery electric vehicles, which only run on electric power. Toyota said last week that 16% of its U.S. sales were hybrid vehicles in 2020, a figure that will jump to at least 20% in 2021. Related Video: