2013 - Toyota Tundra on 2040-cars

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Toyota C-HR stays sharp from prototype to production

Scion is dead. While the troubled brand was given 13 years to make a case for itself, it never quite succeeded. And that's a shame, because we're pretty confident that this, the production-spec Toyota C-HR would have been one of its biggest hits. Instead, when it arrives in the US, it will be as a Toyota... where it will still likely be a big hit. The new small CUV made its debut after literally years of teasing concepts, the most recent of which was shown late last year in Los Angeles, where it was badged as a Scion. After seeing that car, it's quite clear that Toyota has strained itself to translate its style to the real world. Up front, there's clear inspiration from the Toyota Auris/Scion iM. But aside from the front, the C-HR's biggest inspiration appears to be the Nissan Juke. View 14 Photos It's like Toyota has tried to go even further, though. Its wheel arches are flared even more aggressively and they feed into a strong character line on the lower portion of the doors. In back, Toyota's designers seem to have just rotated the Juke's taillights 180 degrees while they sit below an extremely fast rear window. Said window is integrated into today's latest design trend, a floating roof. Mechanically, the C-HR rides atop Toyota's New Global Architecture, which is Japan's answer to Volkswagen's MQB architecture. Power comes from a hybrid drivetrain, good for a relaxed 120 horsepower. If you don't want hybrid power, Toyota will sell the C-HR with the Euro-market Auris' turbo 1.2-liter engine, but we almost certainly won't see that here in the US. Instead, American drivers will probably be left with nothing but a 2.0-liter, naturally aspirated four-cylinder. That engine will be exclusively paired with a continuously variable transmission that sends power to either the front- or to all four wheels. So there's Juke inspiration, but not in the driving character. Toyota says it will build the C-HR Hybrid in Turkey. We don't know if that facility will handle US-market vehicles or just Europe, but we wouldn't be surprised to see additional facilities come online to produce this stylish little bugger. Related Video: TOYOTA C-HR Toyota's Fresh New Take on the Crossover 2016 Toyota Motorshow Geneva Making its world debut at the 2016 Geneva motor show, the C-HR gives Toyota a powerful new presence in the crossover market.

Toyota asking NHTSA for waiver on 206K vehicles

Toyota has filed a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asking for a waiver to avoid recalling about 206,271 2012-2014 Camry, Avalon, Corolla, Sienna, Tundra and Tacoma vehicles, some of its most popular models. The affected vehicles contain seat heaters that might not meet government flammability standards. Toyota says in the waiver that "the chance of fire or flame induced by a malfunctioning seat heater is essentially zero," according to The Detroit News. The automaker notes the part makes up less than one percent of the seat's weight.
Initial reports of the problem arose in late January when Toyota issued a stop-sale order for 2013 and 2014 model year versions of those vehicles. The automaker says that there have no been reports of fires or injuries in the affected cars, and the problem was discovered during testing by the South Korean government, according to The Detroit News.
We've reached out to Toyota for comment on this development and are awaiting a reply. We'll update this post if and when we hear back.

Toyota's Copen GR Sport is a tiny, racy roadster

In its home market, Toyota has a designated sport brand called GR, which is meant to invoke Toyota's Gazoo Racing division. It has three tiers of sportiness: the entry-level GR Sport, GR, and all-out range-topping GRMN. Ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota announced it is adding to its GR Sport lineup a new mini convertible called the Copen GR Sport. Toyota pulled the Copen from Daihatsu's bank of cool minicars. Diahatsu announced its own Copen GR Sport at the Tokyo Auto Salon in early 2019. Now Toyota will sell its own hotted-up version of the tiny roadster. Toyota Gazoo Racing tweaked the new model and gave it sportier equipment and a visual update inside and out. First, let's talk basic stats. The Copen GR Sport weighs roughly 2,000 pounds and has a 0.66-liter turbocharged engine that makes 63 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 68 lb-ft of torque at 3,200 rpm. It's front-wheel drive and is available with a five-speed manual or a continuously variable transmission (CVT) with seven-speed Super Active Shift and paddle shifters. Toyota left the powertrain alone and chose to focus on body rigidity and suspension tuning. The Copen GR Sport has specific shock absorbers, updated spring rates, retuned power steering, a new front brace, and a redesigned center brace.  Toyota made the Copen a bit more visually aggressive as well. It has a unique front bumper with side air intakes, a larger front grille, and a rear bumper with a new diffuser look. It also comes with matte gray BBS forged-aluminum wheels, LED headlights, LED fog lights, and LED taillights. GR Sport emblems on the front, side, and rear assure passers-by this is not a regular Copen. In total, eight exterior colors are available, as are multiple color options for the roof. The black interior was spruced up with Recaro sport seats with GR embroidery, a MOMO leather-wrapped steering wheel with the GR emblem, piano black accents, and a new GR instrument cluster with red accents. Unfortunately, the pint-sized roadster is only available in Japan.