2011 Toyota Camry Le Sedan 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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VW Finds CO2 'Irregularites', SEMA Recap, and More | Autoblog Minute

Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal gets a new wrinkle, US regulators hit Takata Corporation with a substantial fine, and we head to Vegas for a look at tuner paradise at the 2015 SEMA show. Autoblog Senior Editor Greg Migliore reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. Acura Chevrolet Honda Mazda Mitsubishi Toyota Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video Acura Legend

Toyota wants improved crash scores with midcycle facelifts

The performances of some Toyotas in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) regimen of crash tests leave something to be desired. Consider the small overlap frontal crash test: only six Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles have undergone the new test, yet all but one of them received a poor rating. Osama Nagata, CEO of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc., says midcycle vehicle updates are in the works to address the safety issues brought to light by the IIHS test, Automotive News reports. He confirmed that the RAV4 is getting safety updates following its crash test performance last month, but he didn't name any other models.
All three Toyotas that were tested - 2013 RAV4, 2012-2013 Prius V, 2012-2013 Camry - received poor ratings. The 2007-2012 Lexus ES 350 and 2006-2013 IS 250/350 also received poor ratings. The only other Toyota Motor Corp. vehicle to score better than poor is the 2014 Scion TC. It received an acceptable rating in the small overlap frontal crash test and is the only recent vehicle in Toyota's line-up to get the IIHS Top Safety Pick+ rating.
The small overlap front crash test measures the safety of a car when its front left corner is strikes an object during an accident, bypassing traditional crumple zones, which deform in a way to protect passengers. In 2009, automakers were alerted to the forthcoming addition of the test, which was first implemented last year, IIHS spokesman Russ Rader says. They responded with differing intensity, he says, pointing out that Subaru and Honda started incorporating design changes early on so their cars would perform well in the tests.

New version of Toyota FT-1 Concept gets racy for Gran Turismo 6

Gran Turismo 6 has been the preferred marketing springboard for quite a few brands and concept cars since its debut last winter. Specifically the GT Vision concept idea - allowing manufacturers a built-in place to offer up new, original, drivable content - has enticed the likes of Mercedes, Nissan, Volkswagen, Toyota and more to dream big on the digital stage before pulling the sheets back on real concept cars.
In fact, Toyota teamed its live reveal of the FT-1 Concept at the Detroit Auto Show with an in-game launch of the car, just this past January. Looking for a second bite at the GT6 apple, Toyota has just released a teaser video for a new, FT-1 Vision GT version of the same concept.
The company isn't giving us much to go on save for the 30-second video, saying only that the concept was penned by Toyota's Calty Design Research team in California, and that it will "soon be available for download." By the looks of it, the new FT-1 seems to be more of a racecar than the original, without obvious changes to the basic form. No word on whether or not there's a physical concept car in the offing at a yet-to-be-named auto show. Stay tuned.