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Toyota Hilux gets heart transplant from Lexus IS F

The Toyota Hilux might not be sold in the US, but Toyota's venerable pickup has an international reputation of being able to go anywhere and do just about anything. The trucks aren't really known for their speed, though, at least until Toyota South Africa Motorsport's new, one-off project. This bruiser ditches the usual diesel engine and replaces it with an unrestricted 5.0-liter V8 from a Lexus IS F making 449 horsepower. Of course, it takes more than power to handle the rigors of high speed off-roading. The motorsport team also adds bigger, competition-spec brakes, fully adjustable dampers, new springs, and retuned gearing to make the truck look practically ready for the Dakar Rally. The gearbox is really the only part that carries over. The V8 gives the special Hilux quite a mean growl, too. With the new Tacoma just launching in the US, maybe the engineers at TRD need to apply this same concept over here for its own Lexus-engined, one-off pickup.

Ford only automaker to make 2012 Buzz Rankings, Toyota most improved

Ford landed itself a spot among the top 10 brands in the 2012 Buzz Rankings. The annual index scores 1,100 brands in 41 categories to determine which nameplates had the most positive buzz throughout the year.
For the third year in a row, Subway took the top honors overall with a score of 40.3, and Ford was the only automaker to break into the top 25 by earning a sixth-place finish overall. The manufacturer earned a score of 32.1 points, which was enough to push it up one spot from the 2011 Buzz Rankings. Honda managed 21.2 points overall, which is still well behind 25th-place Kohl's at 26.5 points. Toyota, Volkswagen and BMW all round out the top five automakers.
The 2012 Buzz Rankings also keep track of which brands improved the most over the past year, and this year, Toyota was the manufacturer with the largest leap forward. The Japanese automaker jumped from just 14 points in 2011 to 20.5 in 2012. Chrysler, Kia, Dodge and Volkswagen all saw sizable steps forward as well. Be sure to head over to the Brand Index site for more information.

2014 Toyota Corolla details leaked

Toyota will launch the 2014 Corolla later this year, and thanks to the ever-leaky internet, a couple of key details about the new sedan have been revealed. Car and Driver was able to uncover these bits of information thanks to someone at a Toyota dealer in Kansas who has seen the car, as well as its order guide, though the dealer's site has since removed its original posting.
We got our first glimpse at the next-generation Corolla's design at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, where Toyota unveiled the Furia concept, pictured above. Yes, it looks all sporty and aggressive, but fear not, appliance shoppers, C/D says that the production car should have a couple of Furia bits mixed in with a huge helping of Camry-inspired styling.
The 2014 Corolla will reportedly continue to use a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, though the mill has been massaged a bit, adding Toyota's Valvematic continuously variable valve timing. A four-speed automatic (yep!) will be offered in the base model, though the manual transmission now has six gears, and higher trim levels can be had with a CVT. Both engine output and fuel economy numbers should improve slightly over the 2013 model. Currently, the Corolla produces 132 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque, and achieves 27/34 miles per gallon (city/highway) with the five-speed manual 'box.