Quick Drive: 2013 Toyota Prius c

It’s been twelve years since the original Toyota Prius came out. It wasn’t until the second generation, however, that people really started talking about the hybrid as the vehicle’s launch coincided with a spike in gas prices. Shortly thereafter, all the automotive experts were calculating the potential savings from buying “one of those new hybrids” versus a conventional Corolla or a Civic. The following years saw people talking about batteries and accident safety and, finally, the whole throttle pedal fiasco.

The Prius, like the tortoise in a long distance race, ignored all this, and did its own thing. In the process, it outsold all of the other hybrids on the market… combined. To call the Prius a success would be an understatement. Still, there’s always been the issue of its premium hybrid price tag versus the cost of comparable non-hybrids. With the all-new 2013 Prius c which starts at $19,710 that issue no longer exist.

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Prius Plug-in

We need to get something straight: the vast majority of automotive consumers neither know, nor care what’s powering their vehicle. They want reliability, comfort, efficiency, adequate room, style and some perception of safety. They prefer infotainment to chassis dynamics, crossovers to wagons and attractive lease rates to aftermarket support. We are not these people. We buy used, we do our own maintenance, and we know more about a vehicle than whoever’s selling it to us. We are, from the perspective of auto companies, dealers and government regulators, a statistical anomaly, barely worthy of attention. We refuse to buy cars as commuting appliances, beasts of burden to get from A to B, the way They do.

But let’s imagine a world where these vehicles get double the mileage they do now. This is a world where reduced demand pushes fuel prices downward and increased sales of high mileage vehicles leave more room under the CAFE ceiling for kickass sports cars. Fewer emissions from the masses could lead to a loosening of smog regulations, too. With this in mind, we should love a car like the Prius Plug-in, so long as They are driving it.

With that in mind, we’ve set out to see if we, as the Resident Car Guys and Gals wherever we go, can really recommend the Prius Plug-in for Them.

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2011 Toyota Sienna

Coolness is effectively the art of doing it wrong. The best music isn’t always the most pleasing to the ear and great paintings are rarely pretty. Fashionably good looking clothes are rarely well suited to any task and conversely, going about your business in combat boots, cargo pants and a tactical vest would make you look like a tool. The coolest kids at school take a lax view of their studies and tend to misbehave. The goody goody overachievers are dorks.

With that in mind, we bring you the Toyota Sienna.

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2010 Toyota Land Cruiser

There are some great, classic car names out there. The people who crafted those names did so to invoke images in your head. The Mustang makes me think of a wild, bucking rear axle horse that needs to be tamed. The Skyline hammers home an image of twisting Japanese roads climbing through the clouds. When I read the name Land Cruiser, the idea of a person being able to spin a globe, stop it with their finger, and have a vehicle in their driveway that can take them there, is conjured up crisp and clear.

A sense of what is possible is important to me when looking at at a vehicle. I may never cross a large desert to rescue a kidnapped loved one, but if I had a Land Cruiser in the driveway I would know it would be possible should this situation arise. There is a low probability that I will need to ford a flooded stream in Vietnam to bring much needed supplies to local villagers, but I would feel comfortable with the knowledge that my Land Cruiser would be up to the task. The Toyota Land Cruiser has been in production since 1954 and entered into its 10th generation (the 200 Series) with a total redesign  for the 2008 model year. Like most aging automaker staples it is bigger, heavier, and fitted with items to please a customer base looking more to please their neighbors than themselves. Is the intrepid explorer still hiding underneath the Sequoia-esque skin or has the 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser hung up its pith helmet?

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2010 Toyota 4Runner Part Two: The Trail

Yesterday we covered the aptly named 4Runner Limited, finding it to be roomy and pleasant, but largely devoid of the capability to justify its purchase over a crossover or wagon. We’ve got good news: the Trail is just as aptly named, with a host of features specifically engineered for hitting the dirt. Our tester came equipped with a offroad-tuned traction control, Crawl Control, the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System and the killer app of offroading: a rear locking differential. We needed to see if the assorted driver aide systems actually worked in the real world, so we hit the trail in the Trail (“yo dawg…”) and brought my ’00 Wrangler along for support.

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2010 Toyota 4Runner, Part One: The Limited

In a way, you could call this A Tale of Two 4Runners. Toyota was kind enough to loan us two 2010 4Runners: a Limited and a Trail. We’ll get to the Trail tomorrow, but today we’re focusing on the Limited. The Limited is what we’ve come to know and expect from SUVs: an oversized truck based vehicle with luxury interiors and no real expectation of offroad capability. Of course, if you need to transport five adults and a ton of gear while towing, this is still a pretty dang good option.

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Drag Race Review: 2008 Toyota Tundra TRD Supercharged

Not many people know that Toyota makes weapons. They calmly focus your attention on their everyday vehicles like the Camry, Prius, and other vehicles built for the daily grind. However, deep in the darkest parts of their automotive stable lies an assassin. Parked among the discarded carcasses of turbocharged Supras sits a vehicle that doesn’t make sense. I am not eloquent enough to properly describe it, so here are a few choice words from other folks:

“It’s like driving a ballistic building…” – Aaron Robinson, Car & Driver.
“A quick jaunt in this Tundra will humble the most jaded sports car purist. It’s too quick. It’s a truck. It feels so wrong.” – Thomas Voehringer, Motor Trend.
“Milk milk, lemonade, in this Tundra, fudge is made…” – Jeff Glucker, Hooniverse.com.

See, I told you I wasn’t as eloquent. However I think my statement conveys the gist of what Toyota has handed me the keys to. It’s the 2008 Toyota Tundra TRD Supercharged, which produces 504 hp and 550 lb-ft of torque…and I’m taking it to the drag strip.

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