2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hatchback 4-door 1.8l on 2040-cars

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Honda Accord barely edges Toyota Prius as California's best-selling car

The Toyota Prius definitely still matters, at least to car buyers in California. The long-lived hybrid was the state's second-bestselling vehicle in 2014 by moving 71,210 units across all of its variants, including the Prius C. The Toyota was the leader there in 2012 and 2013 but lost the sales crown this time – just barely – to the Honda Accord, which sold 71,578 examples. The results in the Golden State illustrate just how different the auto market there is compared to the rest of the country. Prius sales slumped last year nationwide with a drop of 11.5 percent to 207,372 examples sold. However, according to the LA Times, the model's numbers ticked up two percent in California in 2014. Taken by itself, the standard hatchback model would have been the sixth-bestseller there, with 39,036 units purchased. While the Toyota showed modest growth, it wasn't enough to fend off the Accord's 17 percent year-over-year jump in the state, though. According to the Los Angeles Times, the rest of the California top ten included the Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, Corolla, Ford F-Series, CR-V, Nissan Altima, Sentra and Chevrolet Silverado, respectively. That list was quite a departure from the nationwide bestsellers in 2014, which was led by the F-Series, Silverado and Ram pickups. The Camry was the country's foremost car on the list in fourth place overall to beat the Accord in fifth. The Prius didn't break into the ten biggest sellers in the US last year. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2014 Honda Accord V6 Touring: Review View 42 Photos News Source: LA TimesImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Green Honda Toyota Car Buying Hatchback Hybrid Sedan sales California hybrid sales toyota prius c

Cosworth announces Power Packages for Subaru BRZ, Scion FR-S with up to 380 hp [w/video]

Cosworth stands on the list of the most famous engine tuners in the world with its DFV engine engine dominating Formula One for a time in the '70s. So when it teases plans to take on the FA20 engine from Subaru and Toyota found in the BRZ, Scion FR-S and Toyota GT86 abroad, our interest is indeed piqued. Cosworth is promising to take the 2.0-liter, four-cylinder boxer engine from its current 200 horsepower all the way to 325 hp and even 380 hp in a future track version through a series of staged Power Packages. At the moment, only the first stage is available that takes the mill to a potent 230 hp.
Cosworth says that its new strategy is to offer its upgrades in kits rather than individually so that it can be sure that everything works and fits when owners receive it. The Stage 1 Power Package emphasizes helping the FA20 breathe better and includes a nearly complete replacement for the stock exhaust system. There is a sports exhaust with four-inch, diagonally cut, polished tips and Y-shaped muffler, an overpipe front pipe with a spherical resonator and a new manifold header that is 22 percent lighter the standard unit. In addition to that, the kit comes with a software reflash, low temperature thermostat, Cosworth badge and plaque.
The stage one kit is available now, and stages two and three go on sale later this summer, according to its website. Autoblog contacted Cosworth for pricing information for the kits. We will update this story, if we hear back. The company also released a video showing off the exhaust upgrades. Scroll down to watch it and read the full release, below.

Toyota to drop regular-cab Tacoma as small pickups take another hit

Even as General Motors prepares to redesign its midsize pickups, the market for sub-fullsize trucks continues to shrink. The remaining competitors in the segment are the well-aged Nissan Frontier, Honda Ridgeline and Toyota Tacoma, and now Truck Trend is reporting that the latter will be dropping its regular cab model due to poor sales.
According to the article, the available configurations for the Tacoma lineup will be whittled down in 2015, which apparently spells the end for the two-door Taco. The Tacoma is currently the last truck in its class to be offered in a regular cab configuration, with the Frontier no longer offering a standard cab model and spy shots of the next-gen Chevrolet Colorado not revealing any glimpse of a short cab, either.