Toyota Debuts TRD GT86 at Goodwood, Confirms UK Launch for Early 2013

Not to rest on its laurels, Toyota presented a tuned up version of its GT86 sports coupe (the Scion FR-S' European doppelganger) prepared by Toyota Racing Development, or TRD for short, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed that runs from June 28 to July 1.

Toyota originally revealed the TRD accessories for the Japanese market 86 at the 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon this past January, however, this is the first time it showed a complete model in Britain. The company also confirmed the launch of a special TRD edition of the GT86 that will go on sale in the UK in early 2013.

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This is What Happens When You Play with a Lighter While Filling Up Your Car

Evidently, common sense took a day off this past Sunday when a young Australian motorist decided to play around with his…cigarette lighter while filling up his Toyota Corolla's tank at a gas station in Thomastown, a suburb of Melbourne.

Footage from a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera shows the reckless driver leaning inside the car and then for some reason, flicked the lighter which instantaneously sparked a fire.

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Toyota Gets Playful with Customizable Camatte Concept for the 2012 Tokyo Toy Show

In case you didn't pay much attention to our title, that's the 2012 Tokyo Toy Show (…and not the Tokyo Motor Show), which will open its doors to the public on Thursday, June 14, and continue to Sunday, June 17.

Toyota will be represented at the event by a very playful concept model called the Camatte that was designed as a big toy for the family with customizable body features that even children can drive.

"The Camatte aims to convey the joy and dreams of motor vehicles to current and future drivers, by providing an opportunity for parents and children to experience together the fun of driving, car customization and car enthusiasm," the Japanese automaker said in a statement.

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Toyota Updates its Nürburgring EV Record Holder to Race at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb

Say hello to the new TMG (Toyota Motorsport GmbH) EV P002, Toyota's pure electric racecar with which the Japanese brand will compete at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado on July 8.

The EV P002 is the racing version of Toyota's road-legal EV P001 prototype that set a new lap record for electric vehicles at the Nürburgring Nordschleife last year with a time of 7 minutes and 47.794 seconds.

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New Toyota FT-86 Launches in a Cloud of Drift Smoke in Indonesia

Toyota and Subaru continue to roll out their co-developed rear-wheel drive sports coupes in individual markets around the globe.

This past Friday, it was Toyota's turn to launch the GT 86 in Indonesia, with the Japanese company organizing a special drift event starring local racer, Demas Agil. You can get a taste of what when down during the presentation in the video after the jump.

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Toyota Employs the Help of R2-D2 and C-3PO to Promote Prius Plug-in Hybrid

The Force continues to be strong with two of the most memorable robots to ever grace the silver screen, C-3PO and his plucky astromech companion, R2-D2, from the legendary Star Wars movie series.

In fact, it's so strong that Toyota used the two droids in a new commercial for its Prius Plug-in Hybrid in Japan.

Mind you, as noted on Leopaul's Blog, Toyota is not the first Japanese carmaker to employ the help of C-3PO and R2-D2 in a car advertisement as Mitsubishi had done the same for its Pajero SUV and the RVR back in 1996.

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Consumer Reports Doesn't Recommend New Toyota Prius C Hybrid

Toyota’s least-expensive hybrid model, the $18,950 (excluding a $760 delivery and processing fee) 2013 Prius C, is the latest car to be tested by Consumer Reports magazine.

Unfortunately for Toyota, the product-testing magazine asserted that the Prius C is not good enough to be recommended.

"This subcompact hatchback, which is related to the lackluster Toyota Yaris, suffers from a stiff ride, very noisy cabin, slow acceleration, and cheap-looking interior trim," said Consumer Reports.

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Toyota iQ Collects Imagery for Street View in Belgium

[Updated] The diminutive Toyota iQ (sold under the Scion nameplate in North America) has been chosen to complete the filming of streets in Belgium that were too small for Google's traditional camera cars

The "iQ Street View" project is a collaborative effort of Toyota Belgium and local marketing agency "Happiness Brussels".

Toyota said that the campaign will run until the end of the year when all new street imagery and data developed by the project will be presented to Google to complete and optimize Belgium’s Street View service.

The Japanese automaker has published a special promotional website and even released a video of Google's Street View iQ on the job, which you can check out for yourself right after the break.

VIDEO

GOOGLE STREET VIEW BELGIUM

A Toyota Supra with 1,000 WHP, a Group of Motorcycles and a Cop

We are not aware of the laws in Sweden, but we have a hunch that the driver of the 1,000 wheel-horsepower, mid-1990s Toyota Supra and his motorcycle buddies featured in this video from Superretards broke at least a couple of them during their ride in the city of Västerås, located some 100km (~62miles) west of Stockholm.

No word on what happened after the police car appeared at the end of the short film. You can watch the two videos right past the jump.

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A Toyota Supra with 1,000 WHP, a Group of Motorcycles and a Cop

We are not aware of the laws in Sweden, but we have a hunch that the driver of the 1,000 wheel-horsepower, mid-1990s Toyota Supra and his motorcycle buddies featured in this video from Superretards broke at least a couple of them during their ride in the city of Västerås, located some 100km (~62miles) west of Stockholm.

No word on what happened after the police car appeared at the end of the short film. You can watch the two videos right past the jump.

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This Toyota Land Cruiser Feels Like a Train on Rails

Like any other country in the world, Russia has its fair share of traffic jams with motorists always trying to find a shortcut to avoid wasting hours on end waiting in line.

Some, of course, are much more imaginative and reckless dare-devilish than others, like the owner of this Toyota Land Cruiser (unless we are mistaken and it is the SUV's Lexus sibling) who placed his vehicle on the train rails.

If you happen to read about a train accident in Russia, you will know whom to blame…

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This Toyota Land Cruiser Feels Like a Train on Rails

Like any other country in the world, Russia has its fair share of traffic jams with motorists always trying to find a shortcut to avoid wasting hours on end waiting in line.

Some, of course, are much more imaginative and reckless dare-devilish than others, like the owner of this Toyota Land Cruiser (unless we are mistaken and it is the SUV's Lexus sibling) who placed his vehicle on the train rails.

If you happen to read about a train accident in Russia, you will know whom to blame…

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Onboard Video of a Toyota GT86 Racer Exercising on the Nürburgring

We are only days away now from the 2012 edition of the famed Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race, which will take place at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife circuit in Germany this weekend.

Among the many cars that will compete in the race is the new Toyota GT86, also known as the Toyota 86 in Japan and Scion FR-S in North America.

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Onboard Video of a Toyota GT86 Racer Exercising on the Nürburgring

We are only days away now from the 2012 edition of the famed Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race, which will take place at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife circuit in Germany this weekend.

Among the many cars that will compete in the race is the new Toyota GT86, also known as the Toyota 86 in Japan and Scion FR-S in North America.

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Man Unintentionally Accelerates Brand New Venza into Prius Inside Toyota Dealership

A man's car-hunting trip to the Herb Chambers of Boston Toyota and Scion dealership at 32 Brighton Ave on Wednesday morning led him straight into the hands of the police after he somehow crashed a brand new car into another vehicle inside the showroom.

According to a report from Boston's WCVBTV, eyewitnesses said that the unnamed man was seen sitting inside a black Toyota Venza and revving the engine before the crossover accelerated forward smashing into a silver Prius that was marked as "Sold". Fortunately, no one was hurt.

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Man Unintentionally Accelerates Brand New Venza into Prius Inside Toyota Dealership

A man's car-hunting trip to the Herb Chambers of Boston Toyota and Scion dealership at 32 Brighton Ave on Wednesday morning led him straight into the hands of the police after he somehow crashed a brand new car into another vehicle inside the showroom.

According to a report from Boston's WCVBTV, eyewitnesses said that the unnamed man was seen sitting inside a black Toyota Venza and revving the engine before the crossover accelerated forward smashing into a silver Prius that was marked as "Sold". Fortunately, no one was hurt.

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Tool of the Month: We Have a Winner!

As if it wasn't bad enough that the owner of this Toyota Camry sedan parked the car illegally at the end of a crosswalk, thus forcing pedestrians to stand inside the road, the driver proves to be an even bigger tool by backing into a kid returning from school who was waiting to cross the street!

Head past the break to watch the video.

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Tool of the Month: We Have a Winner!

As if it wasn't bad enough that the owner of this Toyota Camry sedan parked the car illegally at the end of a crosswalk, thus forcing pedestrians to stand inside the road, the driver proves to be an even bigger tool by backing into a kid returning from school who was waiting to cross the street!

Head past the break to watch the video.

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Who Sat on this Celica? Now That's One Comically Crazy Negative Camber...

Some of you may remember the visible negative camber on the rear wheels of older BMW cars like the '02 series and even the first 3-Series models. Well, that's nothing compared to what the Japanese owner of a last generation Toyota Celica did to his car. Just look at the angle of those wheels!

The car was spotted as it was driving out of the Nagoya Exciting Car Showdown's hall. Head past the break to watch it on film.

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Who Sat on this Celica? Now That's One Comically Crazy Negative Camber...

Some of you may remember the visible negative camber on the rear wheels of older BMW cars like the '02 series and even the first 3-Series models. Well, that's nothing compared to what the Japanese owner of a last generation Toyota Celica did to his car. Just look at the angle of those wheels!

The car was spotted as it was driving out of the Nagoya Exciting Car Showdown's hall. Head past the break to watch it on film.

Read more »