Keeping up with the Joneses may be finally taking its toll. Andy Richter and James Adomain are comparing cars in this mock commercial put together by the comedy troupe The Upright Citizens Brigade.
Andy Richter is rejoining Conan O’Brian when he takes over the Tonight Show, so hopefully by then Richter will be able to afford a Prius of his own... that is if he’s not in jail (watch the video and you’ll understand.)
There is a new kind of green racing going on in Japan. The Prius Cup was started in 2007 to familiarize dealership staff with Toyota’s hybrid. The goal of the series is to promote conservation and teamwork. “Through this race, our teammates will understand exactly how these cars work, and I think this will benefit all my associates," said Kazuo Oguri, executive vice president of Nagoya Toyopet Corp, one of Japans largest Toyota dealers.
The Prius Cup is a 20 lap race comprised of both a service and a race portion. For service, the teams are clocked on how fast and how accurately they are able to service their car. This consists of everything from checking the oil to rotating the tires. During the race portion, three different drivers take turns behind the wheel. Teams are penalized for going too fast or even going too slow. Drivers strive to keep the car running as efficient as possible. A key strategy is accelerating slowly at the green flag and after pit stops, letting the hybrid vehicle’s electric motor do most of the work. Both the service and race scores are then combined to determine the winner of the day.
There is newfound enthusiasm for the Prius Cup in Japan due to the upcoming release of the third model. This is a perfect forum for dealers to show the manufacturer that they are ready and capable to sell the new Prius.
Not many people missed the original Honda Insight. But for those few who just have to have their hybrid car look like a bug, AutoLabo, a Japanese tuner, will transform a Toyota Prius into an insect.
The kit consist in a front bumper, a new set of side sills, a new set of wheel covers for better aerodynamics, a carbon fiber rear roof spoiler, a redesigned rear bumper with integrated air diffuser and a new exhaust system.
With all these modifications, the car may be more fuel efficient. More importantly, it should be faster, which is good because who would want to be seen it this?
PriusChat seemed to have gotten the scoop on everyone else and possibly posted the first studio images of the 2010 Toyota Prius. They say its not part of Toyota’s new teaser campaign, so there’s even a little room for doubt about the picture’s authenticity.
If this is a photoshop job, then whoever made it has a future in car design. The images are in line with the spy shots we’ve seen. The door line has new creases and follows a new pattern. The front is in line with Toyota’s new family face. The interior has a nice smooth finish to it. So with all these elements, if this isn’t the car that Toyota has actually made, it is probably now wishing it had.
We’ll know for sure in January when the car debuts at the Detroit Auto Show. We do know that the third generation Prius will be larger and more fuel efficient when it takes on Honda’s new Insight. It will go on sale shortly after the world debut in January.
While driving a Prius, one of the best mileage giving cars around, you might get the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing the best you can for the suffering enviroment but you might also get the heart wrenching pain of waking up and seeing your car blown apart.
The incident happened at about 7a.m on a Friday morning in the month of July when a loud explosion sent a Prius owner rushing outside, only to see his car in flames. Investigators later reported the work to have been of an arsonist .
This is not the only report of the highly revered enviromentalist car being the victim of violence. In Petaluma, California, at least seven Toyota Priuses were attacked and damaged during a rampage in April. One owner woke up to banging and found out someone was using a hammer against the body and windshield of her car. Yet another owner had her Prius damaged twice and while it was being repaired, a large rock was used to mutilate the Prius that she had rented.
While it is not uncommon for people to dislike a certain brand and model, this type of violence can only to described as disturbing at the least. John Hanson, a Toyota spokesman said that people who were peturbed by the whole enviromental movement were probably justified in beating up a car that had become an icon for it.
So if you happen to be a Prius owner, please take extra care of your car, because no one likes having their vehicles damaged.
Lotus has decided to tackle the recently voiced concerns over hybrid vehicle safety concerns. Since the hybrid cars produce very little noise at slow speeds, there is an increased chance that the cars can catch a person by surprise. This is especially true for visually impaired pedestrians who rely heavily on audio inputs to judge what is occurring around them.
Lotus has created a working prototype, using a Toyota Prius, of an external sound systems that would make engine-type noises. The Prius was fit with a waterproof speaker next to the radiator that works only when the car is being electrically driven. The speaker will emit engine sounds with the appropriate pitch and frequency to match the speed of the car. This will enable pedestrians to judge how far and fast the approaching car is moving. When the hybrid’s gasoline engine starts up, the system stops emitting sound and restarts seamlessly when the electric motor takes back over.
Toyota will unveil the new Prius next year at the Detroit Auto Show, with sales to begin in USA in April 2009. The latest spy shots revealed that the differences between the current and the future generation will be minimal.
Toyota will unveil a whole family for the Prius: a station wagon and a convertible are also set to be released.
Under the hood Toyota will place a new 1.6 liter engine, while the Hybrid Synergy Drive system will be carried over. The fuel consumption will be improved despite the new engine. The 2010 Prius will be built in both Japan and USA, at the Toyota’s Mississippi plant.
A new Prius is on the way, and as it turns out, a lot of them are on the way. For 2009, Toyota will increase Prius production by 70%, meaning around 480,000 units a year. Toyota now builds most of the hot-selling gasoline-electric cars at its Tsutsumi factory in central Japan and another plant belonging to affiliate Toyota Auto Body. It also assembled 320 Priuses in China last year.
In 2007 Toyota sold 281,300 Prius cars worldwide and now there are thousands of client waiting months for delivery, especially on the US market. The world’s biggest automaker also recently announced a plan to start building the Prius at a new facility in Mississippi by 2010.
Toyota has already sold over one million hybrid vehicles worldwide. Now its new goal is after 2010 to sell at least one million hybrid vehicles annually. Considering that the Prius can get it halfway to the goal alone, the hybrid versions of the Highlander and Camry won’t have to sell too much to finish the job.
Toyota confirmed today that the Prius hybrid sedan will be built in USA, at a plant under construction in Blue Springs, Miss. Production is scheduled to begin in late 2010.
Also, the Highlander mid-size SUV, originally scheduled to be built in Mississippi, will now be manufactured in Princeton, Ind., beginning in Fall 2009.
The production of Tundra, that by the way has been busted to 50.000 units a year, will be moved to the San Antonio plant in Spring 2009.
In addition, Toyota will temporarily suspend Tundra and Sequoia production beginning August 8 due to the declining overall market for full size trucks and SUVs. Production is scheduled to resume in early November.
The Japanese magazine Nikkei reports today that the next generation Prius will feature solar panels, in this way Toyota becoming the first major automaker to use solar power for a vehicle.
Toyota would equip solar panels on the roof of the high-end version of the Prius when it redesigns the gasoline-electric hybrid car early next year, and the power generated by the system would be used for the air conditioning.
The solar panels will be made by Kyocera Corp.
Next generation Prius will make its world debut in 2009 at the Detroit Auto show.
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