1994 Toyota Supra Turbo on 2040-cars

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We dialed a random Swede, talked about not driving Volvos

The Swedish Number is now a thing. It's a cool thing. You dial, a random Swede picks up, and you chat. Or, in my case, you dial and a random Brit living in Sweden for the past six year picks up and you chat. Since I was calling on behalf of Autoblog, when I got Martin from the small coastal town of Sundsvall, on the phone, we talked about cars, Volvos (natch), and cold-weather testing. Oh, and about plugging in his regular Toyota Prius. ABG: I was able to come to Sweden and test Volvos a month or so ago. Do you drive a Volvo? Martin: [laughs] No. I think Volvo is a fantastic car. It truly is an amazing car, but no. My girlfriend has a company car, so we drive a hybrid Toyota Prius. ABG: And how does that work in the cold winters? It obviously cuts down on the environmental problems. Martin: No problem at all. Because we have these cold winters, like you do get in the States as well, where we park our cars, we've got electricity posts where we can plug in the cars. Motor car engines have a heater, so you can have the heater going for some time before you get into the car. So it warms up the engine and there's a socket inside the car to warm up the inside of the car as well. It's very efficient. You just need to remember to set the timer when you climb out of the car and connect the cable. It obviously cuts down on the environmental problems as well because your car is already warm before you start them. ABG: I know that makes them overall more efficient, I just didn't know it could work with any car. It used to be you would keep the diesel engine blocks warm, but this works for pretty much any car in Sweden? Martin: Yes. Our temperatures here can vary. We do tend to get roundabout -18 to -25C [0 to -15F], where I live, sometimes. Normally, in the winter, we always plug the car in to make it more environmentally friendly, for starters, and then it's a nice warm car when you get in. The coldest I remember it getting here was -36 [-33F]. In the north of Sweden they've had, on record, -56 [-69F]. ABG: That's too cold. Martin: That is cold, yeah. Most countries, now, use the north of Sweden to test their cars because of the ice. Volvo S90 Prototype View 15 Photos ABG: That's actually why I came over there, to test out the new XC90s and S90s. Martin: Is that your job, then? ABG: I don't test the cars for the companies, but I test them for Autoblog. They'll invite us to test the vehicles so we can see for ourselves what the vehicles do in cold weather.

Toyota fires bullets into hydrogen fuel tanks, shoots down EV supporters

Many gearheads will remember that the 1970s-era Dodge Dart's claim to fame was that its motor was so durable (though not necessarily powerful) that one could shoot bullets into the engine block. Decades later, Toyota has taken a page out of that testing process. "Personally, I don't care what Elon [Musk] says about fuel cells." With some industry members and analysts questioning both the viability and durability of hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles, Toyota executive Bob Carter, speaking at the Automotive News World Congress this week, says the Japanese automaker went all Clint Eastwood on the fuel tanks of a fuel-cell prototype. Carter says that bullets from a small-caliber gun bounced off the carbon-fiber tanks, and that .50-caliber bullets barely made dents. The shoot-out motif kept going when Carter name-checked executives from Tesla, Nissan and Volkswagen in saying that he didn't care if other automakers question the future of fuel-cell vehicles. As you can see in the prepared text of Carter's speech below, he said, "Personally, I don't care what Elon [Musk], Carlos [Ghosn] or Jonathan [Browning] say about fuel cells. If they want to 'plug in and tune out' other technologies, that's fine." After debuting it in Tokyo late last year, Toyota showed off its FCV fuel-cell concept vehicle at the Detroit Auto Show this week as it get ready to start sales "around 2015." The car has a 300-mile range and should be priced somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000. Autoblog drove Toyota's fuel-cell prototypes last year, and you can read our impressions here. 2014 Automotive News World Congress- Bob Carter January 14, 2014 As prepared for: Automotive News World Congress Tuesday, January 14, 2014 Bob Carter, Senior Vice President, Automotive Operations, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. _________________ Thanks, Keith and good afternoon everyone. You know, I've been in the car business for more than 30 years, but I'm more excited about it now than EVER before Why? Because for the first time in Toyota's history, we did something here we've NEVER done before. We shocked people by unveiling two great looking, fun-to-drive cars that blow a hole in the theory that Toyota only builds "appliances". Just yesterday, we unveiled Toyota's newest concept, the FT-1 sports car. I'm already getting people asking me when they can get their hands on one. The FT-1 represents the latest in our heritage of sports cars like the 2000GT, Celica, Supra and most recently, the FR-S.

Latest Forza Motorsport 5 car pack leaves us scratching our head (in a good way) [w/video]

As we scrolled down the roster of the latest car pack for Forza Motorsport 5, the Hot Wheels Car Pack, our expression became bemused over the strange mix of vehicles that we now have at our disposal. This is quite unlike any of the other sets of DLC Turn 10 Studios has offered. Sure, there are the typical headliner cars – the Lamborghini Veneno and 2015 Audi S3 – that will appeal to the mainstream racing fan or auto enthusiast. But this latest car pack is so jammed full of nuggets of automotive weirdness that it's hard not to get excited. The Hot Wheels pack has no shortage of racers, with a particular focus on historical offerings. A 1939 Auto Union Type D covers the pre-war era of Formula One, while a 1967 Lotus 49 and a 1952 Ferrari 375 represent post-war racing. For a modern twist, a Mazda USF2000 car slots in below the Indy Lights car from the Nurburgring booster pack. From here, things get vintage and weird. There are a pair of delightfully offbeat coupes, in the form of a 1974 Toyota Celica GT and a 1973 Ford XB Falcon GT (here's hoping we get a vintage Holden Monaro in the future). Those two are joined by a 1956 Ford F-100, which your author already plans on converting into a dragster with vinyl flames down the side (because that's what all vintage pickups should be). The new ride we're most excited about, though, is the 1983 GMC Vandura G-1500. Yes, that's the van from The A-Team, and we're sure it will prove to be an excellent canvas for the artists of FM5 to cover with airbrushed, fire-breathing unicorns and mystical, gray-haired wizards (or just poorly painted letters that read "Free Candy"). This latest car pack is the final monthly car pack for FM5, although Turn 10 is quick to point out that while the monthly updates are over, there will still be new batches of cars made available to gamers. As for the Hot Wheels pack, it's available now on Xbox Live for $9.99. Scroll down for the press release from Turn 10 Studios, as well as a video of the newest additions to Forza Motorsport 5's vehicle roster. Forza Motorsport 5 Hot Wheels Car Pack Now Available Turn 10 Studios is bringing the Hot Wheels® Car Pack to "Forza Motorsport 5," available for download today. The pack features a collection of vehicles built from the ground up for the new generation that car fans can collect and customize while putting their virtual driving skills to the test.