2012 Toyota Sienna Le Mini Passenger Van 5-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata battles Toyota GT86 on track

It's got two doors and a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine up front, driving the rear wheels. It's made in Japan, and as far as bang-for-your-buck goes, it's a downright bargain. So which are we talking about, the Mazda MX-5 Miata, or the Toyobaru coupe known alternately as the Subaru BRZ, Scion FR-S, or Toyota GT-86? The answer is "yes," and it just goes to show, roofs notwithstanding, how close these two vehicles really are to one another. Which one is your favorite may come down to a matter of personal taste, but for its latest video, Auto Express set out to find out which laps faster around the track. On paper at least, the Toyota's 200 horsepower will trump the Mazda's 155 any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. Then again, the Miata does weigh a good 400 pounds less, even with the 2.0-liter engine and despite its convertible bodystyle – but is that enough to make up the difference? You're going to have to just watch the video for yourself to find out. All we'll tell you is that the match is pretty darn close – what you might call a photo finish, if they were actually racing each other at the same time as opposed to each racing the clock separately. So watch the video above and voice your support for your favorite little Japanese sports car in the Comments section. Related Video:

Unintended acceleration settlement hits Toyota's Q4 bottom line

Depending on how you want to look at things, the US Attorney's Office $1.2-billion dollar settlement with Toyota in March over its unintended acceleration recall was either a big blow to the company or completely inconsequential. From January to March, net income fell five percent to 297 billion yen ($2.89 billion), compared to 313.9 billion yen ($3.05 billion) a year ago. However, the automaker still posted record full-year profits worldwide.
Operating profit also fell in the US by 9 percent to $498.1 million for the quarter, but sales were up by 6 percent to 581,261 vehicles. According to Automotive News, global revenue was still up from January to March by about 13 percent and vehicle sales were up 6 percent to 2.58 million units.
However, the payment to the feds did little to hold the company back last year. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, Toyota had net income of 1.82 trillion yen ($17.7 billion), compared to 962.1 billion yen ($9.5 billion) in the last fiscal year. Total vehicle sales were also up.

How many Toyotas are potentially affected by seat fabric problem?

When we reported yesterday on Toyota's stop-sale order of certain 2013 and 2014 models due to an issue with the fabrics on models with heated seats not conforming to flammability regulations, one of our many questions was how many vehicles were affected? More importantly, how many of those cars have already found homes?
Kelley Blue Book has the troubling statistics. Every 2013 and 2014 Avalon features heated seats. 6.2-percent of 2013 and 4.5-percent of 2014 Camry sedans, meanwhile, were sold with heated seats. That doesn't seem as bad as 100-percent of the larger Avalon, until you consider the Camry's huge volume - the 5.6-percent average still accounts for a lot of cars. Sienna minivans are heavily affected as well, with a total of 37-percent of 2013s and 46-percent of 2014s fitted with butt warmers. The stop-sale only affects 7-percent of 2014 Corolla models, but like the Camry, that number is rather misleading due to the sheer volume of cars Toyota moves. You can see the entire breakdown of percentages by clicking on the inset image.
According to Karl Brauer, a senior analyst for KBB, this problem comes at the worst possible time. "Given that much of the US is currently in the grips of a record cold snap, there's sure to be high demand for models with seat heaters," Brauer notes. The stop-sale order is a good first step, but it doesn't do anything to inform consumers who currently own the affected models and may, in these frosty temperatures, want to use their seat heaters. "Should owners of those vehicles stop using the seat heaters?" Brauer asked.