1999 Toyota Corolla 1 Owner on 2040-cars

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HQ move based on study, not pitch from Gov. Perry, Toyota says

Toyota's surprising announcement on Monday that it will move its North American headquarters from Torrance, CA location to the Dallas suburb of Plano, TX is allegedly not due to any political wrangling from the state's Republican governor, Rick Perry.
Perry (above) has been up front in his aggressive pursuit of businesses and jobs for Texas, traveling to California, Missouri, Illinois and New York to tempt corporations to his state. And it's not just about the promise of much lower taxes, a Perry spokesman reminds Automotive News that the state boasts, "a workforce that is skilled and ready to do any job."
For his part, Jim Lentz, Toyota's North American CEO said Plano was chosen through an internal process, with the location helped by its proximity to the company's massive pickup factory in San Antonio rather than any campaigning from the governor.

2015 Toyota Sienna

It's hard to love a minivan, but it's very, very easy to use one. More than any other kind of vehicle - save a panel van, perhaps - the minivan is the most appliance-like of four-wheeled transportation devices. And most minivan buyers don't need to love their purchases; they just need to use them. So when it comes to a minivan's driving dynamics, who cares?
Well, we do. So we perked right up when Toyota talked about refinements it made to the 2015 Sienna, starting with some 142 added spot welds made to the body structure. Normally not stop-the-presses stuff, but Toyota says the added reinforcements prompted Sienna engineers to recalibrate the springs and shocks for improved handling, and our very limited wheel time along the (admittedly benign) roads on the Big Island of Hawaii revealed the 2015 Sienna SE model's handling to be tidier and more engaging than you'd expect for a porky, 4,560-pound, eight-passenger box on wheels.
Driving Notes

Evo pits Toyota GT86 vs. Mazda MX-5 Miata

The latest Deadly Rivals episode from Evo gets the Mazda MX-5 Miata and Toyota GT86 (our Scion FR-S) on track for a shakedown and a whole lot of drifting with Dan Prosser behind the wheel. The UK-spec coupes have slightly different power ratings than ours, but it's all close enough to be comparable. Their Miata has 158 horsepower (ours has 155), 148 pound-feet of torque, takes 7.3 seconds to run from naught to 60 62, and costs 22,695 pounds. The GT86, on the other hand, lists a 7.6-second dash to 60 62, and a base price of 25,000 pounds. The GT86 also weighs 400 pounds more than the Mazda. That's true in the States, too – curb weight for our MX-5 is 2,332 pounds, whereas the Scion FR-S comes in at 2,758 pounds. Both cars lauded for excellent shifting, but one of them has a better front end, a sweeter engine note, more controllable cornering behavior, and is faster by a tenth of a second around the test track. And Prosser doesn't mention it, but one has a lot more body roll. But it takes more than all that to make a winner, so check out the video above to see which is which. News Source: Evo via YouTube Mazda Scion Toyota Convertible Coupe Performance Videos toyota gt86 evo