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Gazoo heads to the N"urburgring with Lexus LFA Code X

You'd be forgiven for thinking just because the Lexus LFA has ended its production run (it's been over a year now) that Toyota would have ceased its development. You'd be forgiven, but Gazoo Racing is here to tell you you'd still be wrong.
One of Toyota's many works racing teams, Gazoo is returning to the 24-hour endurance race at the Nürburgring this year with a trio of entries. One is based on the Toyota GT86 (which we know as the Scion FR-S), and one is essentially the same LFA that it's entered in years past. But the third vehicle is dubbed Code X.
It's also based on the LFA, but its 4.8-liter V10 engine has been bored out to 5.3 liters, raising its output to untold levels. It's got a full carbon-fiber chassis and a range of other enhancements that Gazoo isn't telling us about just yet, but they should turn the LFA Code X from a road-going supercar beyond a racecar and into a rolling research lab. Considering that Gazoo has been racing at the 'Ring since 2007 and fielding versions of the LFA there since 2008, it'll be interesting to see how the Code X version fares.

Cars we're thankful we drove in 2019

We drove a lot of cars in 2019, and there's still a month to go. We drove them in our home office in Michigan, at our remote offices in Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Columbus, Ohio, and throughout the globe on myriad press launches. We could count them, but hey, that seems boastful.  Instead, we want to be thankful. Not only for the opportunity to do this wonderful task some might describe as a "job," but for the new, shiny cars that brighten our days (and most hopefully yours). We asked our fellow editors which car they were most thankful to drive in 2019 ... here are our answers. 2019 Hyundai Veloster N Performance Senior Editor Alex Kierstein Every once in a while a car comes along that changes the narrative on a company or its segment, and everyone scrambles to experience it for themselves. This year, for me, that car’s the Veloster N Performance, perhaps the most transformative car the companyÂ’s ever built. Everyone whoÂ’s driven it, here and elsewhere, says it captures all those intangibles that make great driving hatchbacks great. And IÂ’m thankful that I got a go in it before all of them left the fleet, because it does. It upends the segment long dominated by the GTI, a car that nails its brief. The N is rowdy and loud, sure, but it also has some of the most deftly tuned suspension IÂ’ve come across in a front driver. My advice: if youÂ’re in the market for something fun and unique, go test drive a Veloster N. I think youÂ’ll be thankful you did. 2019 Hyundai Veloster N View 47 Photos 2019 Audi E-Tron Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder IÂ’m pleased that I got to drive the Audi E-Tron. ThatÂ’s high praise for a year in which I also drove the stellar Jaguar I-Pace. The E-Tron, while not as sporty as the Jaguar, is excellently executed, and feels like a more refined, polished offering. ItÂ’s quick, whisper-quiet, comfortable, stylish inside and out, and incredibly sturdy. Some may lament that it doesnÂ’t do much to stand out from ICE vehicles, but I donÂ’t think it needs to. What it does need to do is win over the electro-skeptical, and I think Audi put its best foot forward with a crossover that can do just that, and more. So, yeah, not only am I thankful that I got to drive it, IÂ’m glad that itÂ’s compelling enough that itÂ’ll hopefully make potential customers feel the same. 2020 Audi E-Tron View 13 Photos 2013 Peugeot 508 West Coast Editor James Riswick My choice totally sucks.

Toyota to buck engine downsizing trend, may go larger and turbo-free

Turbocharging isn't really Toyota's specialty, and the Japanese automaker isn't being shy about acknowledging it. Koei Saga, a senior managing officer in charge of drivetrain research and development, says that eschewing turbos and increasing displacement of engines using the Atkinson cycle can produce better power gains without sacrificing fuel economy, Automotive News reports.
Toyota is investing heavily in larger-displacement Atkinson-cycle engines in addition to turbocharged engines, but Saga doesn't think the automaker will use turbocharging across many product lines. He apparently remains unconvinced that the technology "makes the world better."
In Toyota's eyes then, Atkinson cycle engines do make the world better, and here's how. Their pistons complete four processes - intake, compression, power and exhaust - in one revolution of the crankshaft, and the power stroke is longer than the compression stroke. Traditional Otto cycle engines require two crankshaft revolutions to accomplish those same four operations and have equal-length compression and power strokes. Atkinson cycle engines are more efficient, but less power dense, though increasing displacement can offset that shortfall.