Remember when Joe Gibbs Racing dropped Chevy for Toyota last September? Not only did Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin trade in their bow tie stickers for an adhesive Camry grille, but Toyota gained some serious driving talent. The move has paid off quickly for Toyota, which just scored its first NASCAR win thanks to Denny Hamlin, who won the second Gatorade Duel qualifying race in Daytona yesterday thanks to his teammate Tony Stewart, who finished in Second Place. Stewart was able to both give Hamlin push and hold off a charging Jeff Gordon to give Hamlin the win. It’s not a points race, but with Hamlin taking the checkered flag and Stewart the No. 2 spot, it means there’ll be three Toyotas in the first three rows of the Daytona 500 this weekend.

In other NASCAR news, Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued his comeback by winning the first Gatorade Duel qualifying race yesterday. Add that to his victory in the Bud Shootout earlier this week, and it’s clear that Junior has regained an edge he lost during his many year driving for DEI. Jaqcues Villeneuve, meanwhile, who made his NASCAR debut in trucks late last year, crashed his Toyota during the second Gatorade Duel yesterday and took out three other cars. You know what they say, rubbin’s racing!

[Source: AutoBlog]

While walking around the Toyota display during the last day of the NAIAS press preview, we encountered an FJ Cruiser we’d never seen before tucked iaway in the corner. Finished in white with a white roof along with black wheels and accents, it featured “Trail Teams” badging on the IP and bodywork and “PROTOTYPE” lettering on the rear window. We rang up Toyota to get the skinny, and found out that this vehicle is coming in February.

A limited edition truck in the vein of the all-black FJ Cruiser TRD Special Edition that was offered last year, 3,200 FJ Trail Teams will be built, each with the white-and-black motif you see here. In addition to the exclusive color combo, the FJ Trail Teams’ standard equipment list includes 16″ TRD wheels, a TRD exhaust, rock rails, skid plates, auxiliary lamps, all-weather floormats, and the contents the Off Road Package that’s optional on regular FJs. Inside, white body-color inserts can be found in the door panels and on the stereo surround, and the knobs for the shifter and transfer case are metallic. Pricing for this spiffy-looking new FJ variant hasn’t been announced yet, but we should know more before its launch next month.

[Source: AutoBlog]

After the first day of the 2008 Detroit Auto Show press days ended, some of us decided to take up Toyota on its invite to a reception at which we were greeted by the live reveal of the A-BAT concept hybrid pickup. Though images of the A-BAT were released some time ago and we know all about the unibody pickup’s hybrid synergy drivetrain and Chevy Avalanche-like midgate, we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves not hating the design as much as we thought we would. It’s odd, for sure, but it’s a concept and there’s artistic license to be had there. The actual size of the A-BAT, however, is smaller than its chunky flanks and expanse of sheet metal suggest. It makes us long for the compact pickup segment to be revived with trucks that are actually, you know, compact. Like the new 2009 Dodge Ram, the A-BAT also features storage compartments in its bed rails, as well as a first-aid kit in the tailgate. Aside from the hybrid drivetrain, its green cred is further bolstered by solar panels embedded in the dash to drive the accessories. All good stuff, of course, but we just want a small pickup with one of those efficient yet torquey clean diesels everyone’s talking about. Perhaps if Toyota hears our collective demand for such a vehicle, a version of the A-BAT might actually be produced.

[Source: AutoBlog]

Regarding Toyota’s poster child for “green” motoring, I had never really been a fan and I’m as guilty as anyone of taking the occasional swipe at the petro-lectro hatch. Hey, it’s an easy target. With some followers who see it as a kind of four-wheeled Messiah capable of preventing the sky from falling, it’s easy to look at the Prius, roll your eyes, and scoff at the hyperbolic ridiculousness that is “Prius Culture.” I had done all these things. Call me a hater. I don’t mind. To top things off, I had never even driven a Prius. So I asked Toyota for one, figuring that if I was going to continue being a smartass, I might as well be an informed one.

Source[AutoBlog]

Since starting its F1 team in 2002, Toyota has poured in an unprecedented – although undisclosed – amount of money into its Formula One team. But after five years of lackluster performance, even Toyota’s patience – and cash – is beginning to run out. Team principal Tadashi Yamashina revealed in his annual report that the company has given him until 2010 to increase the team’s level of performance.

Although it hasn’t been specified exactly what consequence it will bring if the Cologne, Germany-based team fails to meet the company’s expectations, one could not imagine the coffers staying filled if the team continues to disappoint the bean-counters back in Japan.

In his report, Yamashina pinpointed aerodynamics and a failure to adapt to the new uniform Bridgestone tires as the principal reasons why the team failed to score even a single podium finish this past season, declaring that the team needs to improve in these areas in order to succeed. But Toyota’s overall performance in 2007 was about par for the team, which hasn’t placed better than fourth in the constructors’ championship.

Better luck next year, Toyota. You’re going to need it.

[Source: AutoBlog]

Perhaps in response to the criticism that Toyota has received over the past year from environmentalists for its ever larger and thirstier trucks, the Japanese automaker is switching direction with its 2008 Detroit concept – the A-BAT hybrid pickup concept. Toyota and Nissan pioneered the idea of modern compact pickup trucks in the U.S. market, but Toyota has largely left it behind over the past decade. The new A-BAT concept pickup is 27 inches shorter than an extended cab Tacoma and nine inches shorter than the regular cab model. In profile, the uni-body truck looks somewhat like a shorter Honda Ridgeline with rounder contours. The A-BAT is the first Toyota to have a mid-gate allowing cargo longer than the standard four-foot bed to extend into the cab. With the tailgate down, drivers can pack the proverbial 4×8 sheet of plywood. Power for the A-BAT comes from Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive mated to a four-cylinder engine, although so far there is no indication of which wheels get propulsion. Based on the snub-nosed styling, it seems probable that the engine is transversely mounted and driving the front wheels, but we’ll find out for sure when the A-BAT officially debuts at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month.

[Source: AutoBlog]

The bucket of parts that makes up the Toyota Corolla also gives life to several other vehicles worldwide. In the UK and other parts of the world, they get the Auris, a three- or five-door hatch-type-thing. While Toyotas in the United States are sleepy affairs, the Auris is ringing in 2008 with a sporty, well-equipped SR180 version. Looking great with a lowered suspension from Toyota Motorsport and blacked out rear glass, the Auris appears intimately involved with the pavement. There’s a subtle spoiler atop the hatch, which always gives a nice finish to the back end of this style car, and the wheel arches are nicely filled with 17-inch alloy rims. Underhood, Toyota’s D-4D Diesel provides 175 horsepower and a whopping 294 ft-lbs of torque through a six-speed manual while returning 38 mpg (US) on a combined cycle.

Equipment levels are up, providing the driver with such goodies as dual-zone climate control, automatic headlamps and wipers, and cruise control. Stability and traction-control systems are standard, too. It all sounds and looks very good until you run the roughly £18,500 price through a currency conversion – coming out the other side at about $37,000 greenbacks. Some people would sell a kidney on eBay for the opportunity to get something like this Stateside, and it certainly is a rare Toyota that makes us say “That’s cool.” If you’re someplace where you can take advantage of it, order yours now for January delivery.

[Source: AutoBlog]