Interesting article on Toyota and sports cars

Interesting article on Toyota and sports cars

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=102288

Found this part interesting. I totally disagree, I mean the 1st & 2nd gen MR2 and the MKIV Supra still look sexy as hell today. I think if Toyota can find the right thing it'll be popular for more than a year or 2.

"Ernest Bastien, vice president of Toyota's vehicle operations group, says: "Small and sporty is a tough segment, and it is contracting. The new thing in these segments look good for a year, and that's it."

Toyota should decide on these 2 supercar that they hav plans for... the Lexus LF-A or the Toyota Hybrid sports car the Alessandro Volta...

as for the small and sporty segments... they should bring back the MR2 w/ dual VVT-i 3SGTE...

^ Thing is Toyota has NEVER brought back a dead nameplate. I would like to see something similar to the MR2 come back. the MRS was FAR too girly looking and underpowered.

Toyota plan to make all model gas-electric hybrids by 2010.. gas saving slowass prius for all!

This new Lexus isn't going to be the same type of car as the Supra. I hate all this hybrid gasoline/hyrogen/electric powered, sequential manumatic CVT tranny BS. Just give me a light weight, turboed 6 cylinder engine, a 6 speed manual and rear wheel drive and I'll be set.

dude the prius isnt really that slow.. once you get into higher speeds yes but 0-60 its fast

i was thinkin abt this every since i took aircraft technicans cuz i was learning abt generators all that crap and when the teacher said the difference between electric motor and gasoline motor is electric motor gets full power rite away and gasoline hav to go up to certain rpm to hav full power... the first thing that pop into my mind is all these stuff means souping up a PRIUS can be done and i was thinkin if u can get more current to the electric motor thats if the electric motor can handle it, u can produce awesome hp and torque and make a gas saving PRIUS into a fast car but my friend was like u freaken idiot... imo the theory of it said it can be done its just who will spend the money to do it...

It reminds me those Tamiya 4wd model cars I played when I was a little kid. You can change the stock motor to a lots faster 30,000rpm motor!

someone's building a drag prius.

i will still laugh at it.

i didnt say it was fast only from 0-60

i belive the 04-05 0-60 is just under 10 seconds...not bad

come to think of it there was a drag prius in a Car & Driver article a few years back.

yeah..but they're using the new body style now.

<br />
Having access to 100% of an engine's torque instantly does suck.....<br />
<br />
I am still waiting to see who comes out with the first high performance hybrid. Toyota has eluded to it (as mentioned) and Honda had the DN-X concept. The &quot;slow&quot; hybrid is a myth, they just havent built any hybrids that are (more) speed oriented yet.

i agree the potentiol is out there to make a performance hybrid but i dont think there would be a market for it

You wouldnt buy a Supra style car, that has AWD thanks to electric motors, that gets 40 miles to the gallon in town?

I believe hybrids would be short lived.. even though it gets more MPG, it still uses the same damn fossil fuels for power. It also dosent help that they stick a ~200lb battery pack and ~500lb electric motor on top of the gasoline engine.. It wouldn't be logical to make a performance hybrid car because all around "performance" (acceeleration/braking/cornering) afterall rely on the power/weight ratio.

I believe hydrogen powered cars are the wave of the future. There already are some hydrogen powered supercars.

problem with that is infrastructure and cost...

An oil company (maybe BP... can't remember) is installing Hydrogen pumps at their gas stations, so infrastructure shouldn't be too much of a problem soon. They want to get in on that market since they have the real estate and to eliminate the possibility of competition from other companies.

I also think hybrid cars are going to be temporary, sort of like Beta tapes and laser discs. Hydrogen will take over because people, especially enthusiasts, don't want to deal with the weight and complexity of those electrical systems. A 15 year old gas/electric hybrid would be a pain the ass to maintain.

well accord hybrid is faster than the V6 why cant toyota make sport hybrid.

Try modding the hybrid's electrical powertrain without spending tens of thousands or getting a masters in engineering.

I saw a Toyota Prius which is modified with a few things 16"s with Pirrelli P zero nero 225-235 45 16 and and his exhaust is customized it sound like an R bike
and the acceleration is too quick and i taught the prius' goes 0-60 - 10 second and my Rolla is much faster but Im so wrong. 0-60 is i guess 4-5 seconds he even passed a redneck guy driving an SS Monte Carlo. do you thinks its possible to mod the motors to that rpm

no way in hell the prius is getting 0-60 times of 4-5 seconds. you're talking 911 turbo territory around 4s and faster than a stock wrx in the 5s.

Just because something seems quick doesn't mean it is. No way in hell will I believe someone has a prius doin 4-5 seconds from 0 to 60 until i see it with my own eyes.

the MRS has more power than the original AW11 did..

surprise surprise.. toyota just announced plans for Hybrid Camry

Arggggggggggg Hybrid Cars Are So Fag
How Did I Know Toyota Was Going To Plan Something Gay

its not gay its a part of there master plan.. to be number 1 in car sales