2011 Toyota Highlander on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Vehicles awarded IIHS Top Safety Pick awards skyrockets for 2015 [w/video]

By practically every measure, passenger vehicles in the US are continuing to get safer. With the year rapidly coming to an end, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is releasing its annual list tallying of the scores for the latest vehicles to see how they compare to last year. Judging by the agency's evaluations, the numbers look quite positive. According to the institute, 71 vehicles earned either the Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ rating so far in its testing for 2015. Among the latest winners, there have been 33 TSP+ awards and 38 TSP medalists. That's a healthy increase over the 22 TSP+ and 17 TSP grades in 2014. The figures appear even more impressive when you consider that it keeps getting harder to earn the + designation. In the latest round of testing, a vehicle must offer some form of front crash prevention automatic braking to get the mark. Previously, just a warning to drivers was necessary. This list also illustrates the ways that automakers adapt to new testing procedures. In 2013 there were 117 TSP ratings and 13 TSP+ awards. Then, the IIHS mandated that to be a safety pick, a model had to score Good in the institute's four crash tests, plus a Good or Acceptable in the small overlap front test. That brought a plunge in 2014 to just 17 TSP grades. With the numbers climbing again, companies apparently have deciphered how to perform better. Some brands especially stood out on this year's list. The IIHS praised Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Acura for offering standard front crash prevention systems on some models. Subaru received at least one of the awards for all seven of its models. Toyota also had seven, and the Honda brand did too – though the institute counts the two- and four-door versions of the Civic and Accord separately. Check out the full announcement below and a video about this year's winners. The full list can be viewed, here. Safety gains ground: More vehicles earn top honors from IIHS The number of vehicles earning either of the Institute's two awards has jumped to 71 from 39 this time last year, giving consumers more choices for optimum protection in crashes. The number of winners in the top tier - TOP SAFETY PICK+ - has increased by 11 for 2015, despite a tougher standard for front crash prevention. "This is the third year in a row that we are giving automakers a tougher challenge to meet," says IIHS President Adrian Lund.

2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata named World Car of the Year

Kicking off Day Two of the New York Auto Show, the World Car of the Year awards are finally being handed out. The overall winner is, as God himself intended, the Mazda MX-5 Miata. It beat the Audi A4 and the Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class. The unique thing about these awards are that they aren't limited to the US domestic market (that's why they're called the World Car of the Year awards). For example, nominees for the overall award included the Skoda Superb, Renault Kadjar, and Subaru Levorg. In the Performance category, the forbidden fruit was repped by the Honda Civic Type R. But both the Civic and the Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupe were beat out by a far more expensive competitor – the new Audi R8. The fourth-generation Toyota Prius and the second-generation Chevrolet Volt, were two of the big finalists for the World Green Car of the Year award. They both lost out, though, to the Mirai fuel-cell car. Yes, a hydrogen car beat out two of the world's premiere hybrids. The luxury race that was perhaps the hardest to predict. That's because each of the three finalists have received near universal acclaim. In the end, though, the BMW 7 Series beat out the Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90. Finally, we have the World Car Design of the Year, where the overall winner (MX-5) and the Mazda CX-3 faced off against the new Jaguar XE. While both the CX-3 and XE are handsome vehicles, the WCOTY committee realized the answer is always Miata, and awarded Mazda's iconic roadster another 2016 award. Related Video: AND NOW THERE IS ONE... MAZDA MX-5 - 2016 WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR NEW YORK – March 24, 2016 - For Immediate Release The Road to World Car journey ended today with the declaration of the MAZDA MX-5 as the 2016 World Car of the Year. The winner was announced during a press conference hosted by the New York International Auto Show, Bridgestone Corporation and Autoneum. 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the partnership between World Car and the New York show, and the third consecutive year that the World Car Awards have retained their ranking as the number one automotive awards program in the world in terms of media reach. Mazda Motor Corporation is no stranger to the World Car Awards program – now in its 12th year. The Mazda2/Mazda Demio was the 2008 World Car of the Year. While the Mazda3 (2014), Mazda6 (2013) and Mazda MX-5 have all earned "Top Three in the World" status as voted by our 70 plus international automotive journalists that make up the jury.

Toyota turning landfill gas into hybrid vehicles, indirectly

Chamillionaire certainly wasn't referring to the Toyota Avalon or Camry when he rapped about "ridin' dirty" but maybe he'll change his tune soon. That's because some of the future energy sources for the Kentucky factory that makes those two models will come from gas created from the breakdown of solid waste. So the power behind some of the production at Toyota's largest North American factory will indeed be funky. Toyota is working with Waste Services of the Bluegrass to build a network of wells at a nearby landfill in order to collect the gases. Construction of the system starts next month and will be finished by early next year. The upshot is that the system will produce one megawatt of electricity per hour, which is the equivalent to the power used by 800 houses. Last spring, Toyota said it would start producing the Lexus ES at the Kentucky plant after getting almost a $150 million offer from the state. That's because that model is expected to add 50,000 vehicles to the existing production numbers at the plant. And those production numbers are already large, as Toyota makes both the standard and hybrid versions of both the Camry and Avalon there. Mind you, Toyota's not the first to go this route for factory-energy production. In 2011, General Motors' Orion Assembly Plant started getting about 40 percent of its energy for production of models such as the Chevy Sonic and Buick Verano from methane captured from a landfill nearby. The General estimated at the time that the process would cut the company's energy costs by about $1.1 million a year. Check out Toyota's press release about the Kentucky plant and its future landfill gas below. Landfill Gas to Build Cars and a Greener Community Partnership between Toyota and local landfill turns garbage into good March 24, 2014 GEORGETOWN, Ky. (MARCH, 24 2014) – Can a car company be a vehicle for change? Toyota thinks so. The Kentucky plant that manufactures some of the greenest cars on the road, including two hybrid models, will soon be powered in part by green electricity. Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. has teamed up with Waste Services of the Bluegrass to generate power from local landfill waste, marking the region's first business to business landfill gas to energy initiative. Toyota estimates the locally-generated landfill gas will supply enough power each year for the production of 10,000 vehicles. How it Works As solid waste naturally breaks down in a landfill, it creates gas.