1993 Toyota Mr2 Turbo Coupe 2-door 2.0l No Reserve on 2040-cars

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GT Academy returns, and why Gran Turismo 6 demands a pedal/wheel setup

The path to become a racing driver is a difficult one. It requires starting early, with karts, and then building up through the years and if you're really, really good (and really, really lucky), a team will notice you and sign you up. Or, you know, you could just become really good at Gran Turismo, and beat out other like-minded fanatics for a seat in the GT Academy.
The racing school, which culls its students from the ranks of Gran Turismo players has already pumped out successful racers, most notably, Lucas Ordoñez, who has a second and third-place finish under his belt at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With the 2014 GT Academy kicking off April 21 and running through June 16, you could have a chance to be the next Ordoñez.
That won't be easy, though. We recently had a playthrough on GT6 the proper way - with a racing seat, pedals and a steering wheel, complete with column-mounted paddles. (Our setup looked just like the one you see above, though that image is from E3.) In other words, it was as close to driving an actual car as most console games can get.

Toyota Corolla Cross, Audi Q4 Sportback E-Tron and which beers are like which cars | Autoblog Podcast #635

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. They're thirsty this week, but first, they talk about the Subaru Forester and Lexus NX they've been driving. They dig into the news about the Toyota Corolla Cross, Audi Q4 Sportback E-Tron and J.D. Power's surprising Initial Quality Study results. A longtime Autoblog Podcast listener suggested our editors try to relate some of their favorite beers to their favorite cars, and they happily oblige. Finally, they help a listener choose a new car in the "Spend My Money" segment. Autoblog Podcast #635 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving Long-term 2019 Subaru Forester 2020 Lexus NX 300h News Toyota Corolla Cross is headed our way Audi Q4 Sportback E-Tron concept revealed Dodge and Kia lead J.D. Power 2020 Initial Quality Study Cars and their beer counterparts Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Show full video transcript text - Hey, everybody. This is Autoblog Podcast producer Eric here. I'm just hopping in quickly at the beginning of the episode to let you know that this episode of the Autoblog Podcast is brought to you by these SoFi Daily Podcast. Reaching financial independence starts with having the right information. So every weekday morning, SoFi keeps you up to date with important business news and stock market happenings and how they affect your financial life. So get your money right and search for SoFi-- that's S-O-F-I-- wherever you get your podcasts. On with the show. [THEME MUSIC] [ENGINE REVVING] [CAR DRIVES AWAY] GREG MIGLIORE: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Autoblog Podcast. I am Greg Migliore. We have a great show for you today on this hot, sizzling Thursday afternoon in July. Joining me today is senior editor for all things green, John Snyder. What's up, man? JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Hey. Just trying to beat the heat with some iced coffee today. GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good, sounds good. My coffee is just cold because I haven't microwaved it in a while. And chuckling at that remark-- charitably, I guess-- is consumer editor Jeremy Korzeniewski. How you doing? JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I'm doing good. I-- I mean, unlike you guys, I stopped drinking coffee about an hour ago.

Japanese dealer petitioning Lexus for luxury van [w/poll]

Used to be that if you wanted a luxury automobile - especially one to be chauffeured around in - your choices were basically limited to a sedan. It could be bigger or smaller, more or less expensive, depending on your needs and budget, but it was always going to have four doors and a trunk. But these days the rich and famous are looking elsewhere for their commodious forms of pampering transportation. There are, of course, the crossovers and SUVs, which only seem to be getting bigger and more expensive thanks to the likes of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Range Rover L and upcoming Bentley sport-ute. But luxury vans are becoming the new big thing.
That's the point that one dealer in Japan is trying to make to Toyota. The dealership owner himself reasons that if he's going out on the town, he's likely to take his chauffeured Lexus LS. But if he's taking a few friends along, even the biggest sedan isn't going to cut it. So he takes a Toyota Alphard (pictured above, also known as the Vellfire), a JDM van that's even bigger than a Voxy/Noah or Sienna but hardly a high-end affair. That's why he's asking Lexus to make a luxury van.
The idea may seem a little far-fetched, but isn't without precedent. It didn't take much for Lexus to transform the Land Cruiser into the LX and thus create its first luxury SUV. And as Mercedes has shown with pimped-out versions of the Sprinter and now with the debut of the new V-Class in Geneva, there's clearly a market for it... in some countries, anyway. The only question in our minds is how long it's going to take other luxury automakers to catch on, because let's face it: the Chrysler Town & Country ain't gonna cut it for those used to be driven around in a Maybach.