Toyota will only make about 1,100 Scion tC Release Series 6.0 cars, marking each with an individually numbered stainless steel badge. The cars will be “Speedway Blue,” which looks like a color you’d find on a video game.

Toyota has already said it will price the car at $18,620 for manual transmission and $19,420 for automatic. The car will hit dealer lots in March.

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It showed how the owner of Scion EV could get paid everytime they plugged it in for charging. How? The spare electricity stored in your car could be sold to the electric company at times of surge in the area’s usage e.g. during Superbowl, holiday occasions etc.

The modified Toyota Scion xBThe was showcased during the Annual American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting last week, having organized by a few scientists interested in showing the capabilities of V2G (vehicle to grid) technology. Basically, the idea behind this is not only to benefit its owners, but also the environment. Take for instance the reduction in the carbon footprint if energy suppliers could rely on these V2G cars to ‘top up’ its supplies at times of need instead of having to burning more oil and coal.

While it is unsure exactly how much more efficient an electric car’s battery is over a massive power station, the concept seems solid. However for this to really be put into practice, you would need a few million electric vehicles capable of connecting to the the V2G systems on a regular basis. Easier said than done when you consider that most cities, which are the biggest users of electricity, have their residents living in apartment blocks. So unless there are multiple outlets along the streets, it won’t be easy to wide-spread its use.

Furthermore, if this technology is widely implemented, the most crucial feature would be the actual ‘discharging limits’ of these EVs. Imagine if you woke up one morning to find your electric car dead on the street just because the AFL Finals were on the night before and the entire nation had their tellys on.

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Over the weekend we heard unconfirmed rumors that Chris Rado had driven his Scion tC into the 6’s at Pomona, making it the first front-drive drag car ever to do so. There has been a little discrepancy regarding the time, but I just got off the phone with Chris who gave me the the quick rundown of what happened. With the car running faster than ever, and a solid coating of rubber on the track Chris laid down an astonishing 6.97 second ET during eliminations.

Unfortunately the incredible traction that the car had off the line caused the timing beams to misread the 60-foot time, technically making the ET “unofficial”. Nonetheless, the complete 1/4 mile time is still legit by all accounts.

The drag racing was just part of Rado’s wild week, which included record breaking time attack runs at both Buttonwillow and Fontana. He’ll be posting a blog here soon with the story in his own words.

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“It’s a concept,” was the initial answer. Yeah, right.

Carter added, “When you come into sports cars, that’s the fun. That’s what gets your blood boiling. The reality of it is, there are pluses and minuses for both. It’s an exciting car, but when you get into sports cars and compare them with Corollas, Camrys and RAV4s, the volumes just aren’t there. So it becomes a debate, where can you best market low-volume? Is it better to market that as a Toyota product or a Scion product? And it could go either way.”

If it becomes a Scion when it comes here in early 2012, it would likely be the most expensive model in that lineup, probably well over $20,000. Given what Carter said about Corolla/Camry/RAV4 volume, though, I’d bet Toyota in the U.S. is leaning toward the Scion brand instead of the Toyota brand.

In the short-term, Carter says Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. plans 10 new models in the coming calendar year, both all-new models and replacements for existing models. The Sienna minivan will be all new save for the tires, with a big fuel economy story, he says. It makes its debut at the Los Angeles International Auto Show later this year. He says Toyota remains committed to the North American-only Scion brand, and will refresh its model lineup quickly.

Toyota plans to enter the battery electric vehicle market in 2012, in keeping up with Nissan, and plans to add a hydrogen fuel-cell model about 2015. Will it be a volume model, or more like Honda’s FCX Clarity?

Depends on infrastructure, Carter says.

As for the big issues Carter addressed at the outset:

* “When GM exited bankruptcy, their decision to no longer buy product from NUMMI (the joint-venture Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Corolla/Tacoma assembly plant in Freemont, California) left us with no alternatives for continuing our joint ventures. The plant is not financially feasible without a partner, so we announced our intention to stop sourcing product there at the end of our current fiscal year next March.” Tacoma production moves to the Tundra plant in San Antonio, Texas, and Corolla will be split between Canada and Japan, eventually shifting the portion from Japan to North America when possible.

* “Next is the floor mat recall. We issued a major consumer safety advisory urging owners to remove driver side floor mats on a number of our models to eliminate the potential for a loose or incompatible floor mat to pose a threat to our owners.” However, Toyota believes there is no problem with factory floor mats properly attached to original equipment fastener hooks. “The question of unintended acceleration involving Toyota vehicles has been thoroughly investigated by NHTSA’s engineering experts without any finding of defect other than an unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mat. … In one example of (NHTSA’s) stringent testing, multiple signals were introduced into the electrical system to test the robustness of the electronics against failures due to interference.” NHTSA found no such interference, he says.

* President Akio Toyoda followed up his statement that he thinks Toyota is at “stage 4″ of the management book, “How the Mighty Fall,” described as “grasping for salvation,” by saying he thinks Toyota can move out of stage 4, “because it is blessed with the best dealers and employees in the world.” Carter added that “many people online expressed admiration for Akio’s honest assessment and his desire to change the company for the better.”

No question, Toyota is facing more scrutiny and criticism since it became the world’s largest automaker in the last couple of years. And Carter addressed Detroit journalists to try and rebuild some of the goodwill — real or perceived — that it had up to that point, thanks to revered management and production techniques and cars like the Prius.

I asked Carter about the current Toyota Tundra, the truck its maker hoped would start to challenge Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado and Dodge Ram with high volumes, until the pickup and then the entire market collapsed. Carter says that when Tacoma production moves to San Antonio, the plant will have the type of production flexibility for which Toyota is known. Toyota still holds out hope that its Tundra will become a major player in the full-size pickup market. Even if it doesn’t, the flexibility assures that the big, state-of-the-art multi-million-dollar production facility will be a Toyota-style success.

Toyota FT-86

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Last week, we gave you an update regarding Subaru’s progress with its half of the Toyobaru project, complete with a sketch-tastic rendering from the UK’s Autocar. Fast forward to today, and although we can’t be sure if this Nürburgring-circling, cobbled-together prototype is a Subaru effort or a Toyota joint, it appears to be a development of the FT-86 that we know is headed for production.

As shot here by our friends at KGP Photography, the little coupe is well disguised, but it looks like a Fuji Heavy project to us, as it shares some Subaru design hallmarks. Up front, the masked prototype takes on the basic shape of the WRX, with bold, bulging curves and a snub nose. There is no trademark Subaru hood scoop, but the big hood has a very aggressive appearance. Out back, the car’s rump is also Impreza hatch-like, with a massive rear wing disguised by some heavy camo. It isn’t at all clear that what’s seen here is in any way, shape or form production bodywork, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see the Scooby crew adopt a chunkier aesthetic than their compatriots at Toyota.

The basic layout of the vehicle also appears to favor motivation via the rear wheels, as the 2+2 cabin is pushed back over the rear axle. The Subaru will likely sport the same direct injection 2.0-liter boxer engine currently sitting under the hood of the Toyota concept. If the little boxer can indeed produce nearly 200 horsepower as has been rumored, we’re thinking it will be solid punch for the Subaru, as the Toyota FT-86 is nearly a foot shorter than an Impreza and the spy photos show what appears to be a very small form factor. Add turbocharging down the line and we suspect you’ve got a tuner’s delight capable of taking on the big boys.

Word on the street is that Subaru isn’t quite sold on the idea of the Toyota-designed rear-wheel drive platform, which may or may not be able to accommodate Subaru’s signature all-wheel drive setup. We’re not sure that theory makes much sense if the two are collaborating on concept versions of the vehicle, and it would be difficult to understand how Subaru could enter such an agreement without first knowing whether it could add its trademark drivetrain, but we’ve heard this word ourselves from Subie folks as well, so perhaps Toyota is throwing some of its weight around.

Check out the high-res gallery below and our spy shooter’s thoughts after the jump.

Gallery: Toyobaru Testing on the ‘Ring

source

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“It feels like I’m down on power!” yells Tanner Foust in the general direction of the gathered throngs containing both his crew and assorted media. Tanner and myself are currently five-point bolted into his new stock car-engined Formula D Scion tC. We’ve just exited an aborted lap around the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale because something – so says Foust – is amiss with the car.

Rockstar Energy Drink Drift captain Stephan Papadakis comes charging towards the Scion and begins earnestly, if not frantically, checking the car’s vitals through the steering wheel’s digital readout. Steph floors the motor a few times, checks the numbers and exasperatedly tells Foust that everything looks fine. “Oh,” says Tanner, patting me on my beer belly. “Must be him.” Very funny, jerk.

Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
Rockstar invited us out to Toyota Speedway at Irwindale to take a few laps in Tanner’s ludicrous new sideways ride. In fact, the last time we’d seen Tanner drift it up was at the Speedway last year when he became the first ever back-to-back (and first ever two-time) Formula D champion. Meaning he knows the track pretty darn well, thank you.

Today is a shakedown day: aside from giving husky journalists hot laps, Papadakis and the rest of the Rockstar crew are trying to iron the kinks out of the mighty Scion before next weekend’s 2009 Formula D final event known as Judgment Day, taking place October 16-17. They’ve been having some sort of fuel problem and are (obviously) hoping to get it fixed.

In case you haven’t heard, Mr. Foust is no longer behind the wheel of a supercharged Nissan 350Z. Instead he’s been rocking the absolutely earth-shaking NASCAR Scion. Why earth-shaking? Well, the Toyota V8 for one. Yup, the same Toyota V8 that Toyota runs at NASCAR events. While it’s ostensibly a Toyota motor, it was 100% designed in the USA by TRD and Ed Pink Racing Engines.

The carburetor has been removed and replaced with fuel injection, but other than that, this is the same engine you’d find under the hood of a NASCAR stock car (with shorty track pistons, shorty pipes, etc). Power? “Oh, about 600 or so to the wheels,” says Papadakis. All that small block fury gets routed to the smoky rear tires via a four-speed Muncie-style dog-engagement G-force gearbox, then through a MKIV Supra rear end. The car is essentially a little ball of wow. And you have to hear it to believe how deaf I am.

Ace photographer Drew Phillips and I spent the morning standing behind concrete barricades in the middle of Irwindale’s infield watching Tanner and fellow Scion dorifto driver Ken Gushi (in his Avensis-based tC) make dozens upon dozens of practice runs. You’d think they’d take fewer runs than that, seeing as how a set of rear meats is only good for about two laps, but hey – that’s what tire sponsors are for.

Eventually, they both left the track but then Foust came back in golf cart to set up the clipping cones. Tanner was nice enough to give us a lift back to the paddock as long as we helped him with the cones. I should have been asking him auto-journo type questions at this point (“compare this new car to your old Z”) but instead we just joked about the golf cart’s Momo wheel and how Tanner’s should take it drifting.

Right, so after Tanner’s little joke (the one where he made fun of my fat gut), it was time for two laps with arguably the world’s best drifter on his home track in a snorting monster of a car. And we’re off. There’s a Mitsubishi EVO IX camera car in front and to the right of us filming the laps. At first the acceleration isn’t all that. But then Tanner drops it into second gear. I’ve felt some epic thrust in my time, but the only way I can describe the experience of a 650+ hp Scion at full tilt is to ask you to imagine a big guy standing behind you and swinging a baseball bat as hard as he can into the small of your back. CRACK! The little “Scion” takes off like a moonshot. A moment later we are traveling at well over 100 mph, rocketing towards both the EVO and a cement wall. Suddenly, up goes the handbrake.

Somehow, and honestly I really have zero idea how, Tanner threaded the Scion through a maybe seven-foot wide gap between the Mitsu and the wall. We’re totally sideways at this point, with the Scion’s rump pointing at the curving concrete barrier and its snout nearly facing the middle of the track. I was reminded of a time when I got a couple laps in a decommissioned stock car on the California Speedway’s big oval. My right ear was less than a foot away from a huge wall and we were going over 180 mph. In both instances, what’s actually taking place is so loudly violent, so cataclysmically crazed, so on the ragged edge of both the laws of physics and my own sense of self-preservation that I just let go. It’s as if you must turn to faith to get you back alive in one piece, as logic and reason have long ago exited the car. Doing so turns everything almost serene.

We slow down (a little) as we approach the first clipping point and by doing so some of the seemingly endless smoke generated by the quickly-melting tires begins filling the cabin. I would later ask Papadakis what the lung-cancer rate amongst drifters is, and he replied, “The sport’s too young to tell!” It turns out, that tire smoke not only tastes awful, it prefers clinging to exposed metal over human flash and t-shirts. Which is why for a second I’m convinced that the A-pillar corner of the roll cage is on fire. Before I have time to process that thought, the handbrake goes up again and we’re pointed nearly 180 degrees in the other direction. Oh look, another solid concrete wall accompanied by triple digit forward velocity. Were today actually a Formula D event, this particular part of the track would be home to the VIP grandstands. Meaning that this is where the real action/showboating happens.

And dude, did it happen.

Tanner yanks hard on the handbrake and the Scion pitches itself more than 180 degrees to the left. I was told later that for some reason, Tanner took this particular run a little deeper than he’d been doing earlier with other passengers (jerk). As the turn is such an incredible change of both direction and momentum, the result is almost nothing but smoke. Tons of it. So much smoke that people on the other side of the wall (and probably riding in the camera car) lose sight of us for a second. Tanner quickly transitions it back the other way (more like fishtailing it from where I’m sitting) for the last set of cones and this time, he really punches it, trying to use up what’s left of the Hankooks for a sort of mini grand finale. More smoke, more stupid silly sideways g forces, more deafening roar. I’m beginning to really like this.

I’m in a daze as we make a U-turn in the paddock for lap two. Foust asks me how I liked it. I begin applauding. First of all, I’m stunned that not only didn’t we crash and burst into flames, but somehow, I’m still breathing. Second, how in the hell did he just do that? I make up my mind to watch Tanner’s hands and feet on this lap to try and see how he’s able to maintain such phenomenal control. Big mistake. Foust is making so many moves, and dancing between the pedals, wheel, stick and handbrake so quickly, that it’s nonsensical. I just can’t process it. To me, he’s having a seizure. My poor little brain can’t cope with what my eyes are telling it and for the first time I’m frightened. Best to just look out the side window at the looming mass of approaching concrete. Honestly, that calms me down.

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Auto Express Car Reviews

Toyota is ready to take its hybrid technology a step further in Frankfurt. Taking centre stage will be the Auris HSD Full Hybrid Concept. A milestone in Toyota’s long-term hybrid strategy, it represents the first step in introducing Hybrid Synergy Drive from the Prius into a mainstream model – and eventually across the entire range.

Alongside the Auris will be the latest Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept. Allowing pure electric operation with a petrol engine only needed to top up the batteries, it offers significant advantages over the current car. And they willl be hitting UK roads as early as next year, when over 150 units will be leased to selected fleet customers.

Two customised show cars – the IQ for Sports (essentially a rebadged Scion IQ Concept first seen at the 2009 New York Motor Show) and the IQ Collection, featuring a panoramic glass roof and cow-print interior trim, will also be unveiled at the show.

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Eau Claire (WQOW) – A car that was a popular sell during the cash for clunkers program is being recalled.

Toyota is recalling almost 100,000 Toyota and Scion-brand vehicles due to a possible brake malfunction. Affected vehicles are some 2009 and 2010 Toyota Corollas and 2008-2009 Scion xd vehicles.

If you have one of these cars return it to the dealer where a new in-take air connector will be installed.

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Wednesday, August 26th 2009, 4:00 AM

When I’m listening to the radio and I happen to hear a song come over the airwaves sung by Ringo Starr as a solo artist, I always say to myself, “He was really an underrated Beatle.”

In other words, he’s much better than he ever got credit for. That’s sort of how I view Scion.

This is a brand that’s not getting its proper notice. It’s the Ringo of the Toyota trio. Everyone knows the star performers — Toyota and its rich sidekick, Lexus. And there’s little Scion, a Johnny-come-lately, strumming away in the background with its three-car lineup.

As I spent time this week in the 2009 Scion xB, with a base price of $16,700, I kept thinking of all the different types of people who would get enjoyment from ownership of this five-door car. Tops on my list are older folks who need a functional utility-type car that is easy on the knees.

The xB is box-shaped like a sport-utility vehicle, yet it is more user-friendly with its low-to-the-ground entry/exit status. The xB has a ground clearance of 5 inches, whereas most SUVs have 8 to 9 inches of ground clearance.

The xB offers a cavernous interior with five-passenger seating capacity. Cargo volume when the second row is folded is nearly 70 cubic feet.

Scion describes its xB interior as lounge-like. The driver has a right-side armrest and the seats recline fully, not only for cargo space but also for a roadside rest. Adding to the flexible functionality is the array of interior storage units.

I wasn’t expecting much in the area of performance, but there I go, underrating the Scion. I stepped on the accelerator and was really pleased with the smooth, linear response from the electronically controlled 4-speed automatic transmission as it seamlessly and quietly moved through the gears.

Contributing to the smooth ride is the MacPherson suspension system up front.

The xB is quite easy to maneuver with a curb-to-curb turning circle of 35 feet. The xB rides on standard 16-inch steel wheels.

The engine breathes so well, allowing all of its 2.4-liter four-cylinder capability to be enabled. Variable Valve Timing with intelligence is the key to better performance, as well as the lightweight aluminum alloys used in the engine block and head.

The four-cylinder in the 2009 Scion has 55 more horsepower than the previous generation. The new xB has 158 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 162 pounds-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm. The xB is offered in both 5-speed manual and 4-speed automatic; and both transmissions get the same EPA estimated fuel consumption of 22 miles per gallon city and 28 mpg highway.

Copyright, Motor Matters

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First shown as a concept (above) at the New York Auto Show earlier this year, Scion will reportedly bring the iQ to market by the Fall of 2010.

After receiving an excellent reception at the show, Scion’s VP, Jack Hollis has said he is fighting to get the car to market. One large Toyota dealer has however, spilled the beans, telling the folks at AutoWeek that an agreement has been reached to bring the diminutive car to the U.S.

At a length of just 117.5-inches, the iQ is only slightly larger than a SMART fortwo. Unlike the SMART, however, the iQ can fit three adults and a child… at least that’s what Scion says. Taking a look at the car, however, it appears as though seating for two is about all there’s room for.

While several engine options are available in Europe the iQ will most likely get the largest (1.3-liter four-cylinder) when it debuts in the U.S. That engine makes 99hp and gets 66 mpg.

Scion is a company desperate to reinvent itself, as its popularity is based as much on fresh product as it is on customizing that product. “Scion is a good business mode that will be valuable and viable in the future, but for the business model to be successful, product freshness is key,” said Toyota North America president and COO Yoshi Inaba. And fresh-product isn’t something Scion has much of. Currently the company is working on a replacement to the tC coupe while the iconic Scion, the xB, is already starting to lose out to new models like the Kia Soul.

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