2011 Toyota Prius Ii 5 Dr Hatchback on 2040-cars

Auto blog

New autonomous testing ground in Michigan will help battle bad weather

If one of the big weaknesses of autonomous vehicles is their ability to navigate in the snow, consider this a trial by fire. The American Center for Mobility says it has opened its $110 million driverless car testing facility on the site of a former General Motors assembly plant in Michigan, with Toyota and auto supplier Visteon the first to begin testing this week. The ACM proving ground is a 500-acre site at historic Willow Run in Ypsilanti Township, near Ann Arbor. It's one of 10 sites designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as pilot proving ground sites to test AV technologies. It features a variety of simulated environments to test driverless cars, including a 2.5-mile highway loop, two double overpasses, intersections, roundabouts and a 700-foot curved tunnel. It also opens just as the region experiences a series of snowstorms and the first frigid temperatures of the season. That ability to test autonomous vehicles in a wide variety of weather conditions is important, as autonomous vehicle sensors have struggled to handle cold, wet and snowy conditions. Google parent Alphabet in October said its Waymo division was expanding its winter testing operations to Michigan, making it the sixth state where it's testing its driverless car systems. In a Medium blog post, Waymo CEO John Krafcik wrote that "This type of testing will give us the opportunity to assess the way our sensors perform in wet, cold conditions. And it will also build on the advanced driving skills we've developed over the last eight years by teaching our cars how to handle things like skidding on icy, unplowed roads." Waymo also opened a development center in suburban Detroit in 2016, working with Fiat Chrysler to integrate its autonomous technology into Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans. Visteon began testing and validating its DriveCore autonomous driving platform to evaluate algorithms, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure technology and other systems. Toyota used the facility Wednesday to begin orientation and driver training. ACM has so far secured $110 million to construct the first two phases from founders Ford, Hyundai America Technical Center, Toyota and Visteon, and says it expects to announce more investment soon.

5 highlights from the 2018 Petersen Automotive Museum Auction

From the avant garde exterior design to the collection of vehicles between the walls, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles is one of the coolest car museums in the U.S., and possibly the world. Among several others, the Petersen has two featured exhibits, The Porsche Effect and Legends of L.A. But the museum has a different type of viewing coming up at which you could touch, or even buy, a variety of special vehicles. After hosting its SoCal auction on the coast in Santa Monica for several years, RM Sotheby's has moved the event to the more central location of the museum. In addition to several works of art, the auction which takes place the weekend of December 7, will show several dozens of blue-chip vehicles, chosen by RM Sotheby's 30 car specialists. After sorting through lots that range from microcars to new-age supercars, here are five of the highlights that caught our eyes. 1956 Ferrari 290 MM by Scaglietti Projected Value: $22,000,000-$26,000,000 Without question, this is the crown jewel of the entire show. As the eldest and most experienced of the 11 total Ferrari lots, its estimated value of $26 million is more than five times the values of the other five cars listed below combined. From the jump, Ferrari threw the 290 into the line of fire. Starting its life with a four-cylinder 860 Monza engine and a Tipo 520 chassis, its first race was the Mille Miglia. Peter Collins was behind the wheel and racing photographer Louis Klemantaski was his copilot. Ferrari took the top five spots in the race, with this car, chassis No. 0628, finishing second. It went on to see multiple races and took on multiple forms, including a V12 swap at one point. After switching through the hands of multiple owners, it was sent to Ferrari Classiche in Maranello, where it was restored to its form at the time of the 1957 12 Hours of Sebring. It retains its original chassis, original bodywork, and original transmission, and houses the V12 from its 290 MM spec. The restoration was completed in 2015, and the car remains in incredible shape today. 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV by Bertone Projected Value: $2,100,000-$2,500,000 Simply put, the Miura is one of the most significant supercars, and therefore one of the most important cars, of all time. Its two-seat, mid-engined configuration seismically shifted what a performance could and should look like, and its V12 gave it the power to be the fastest car in the world when it debuted.

Toyota's refreshed Sai is a Lexus HS by any other name

Toyota first launched Lexus in the United States back in 1989, but it wasn't until 2005 that it brought the luxury marque home to roost. But don't think that Toyota didn't find a way of selling many of its premium models in the Japanese Domestic Market in the meantime. The Lexus LS was sold as the Toyota Celsion, the ES as the Vista and Camry Prominent, and the SC as the Soarer. (We could go on, but you get the point.)
These days Lexus sells in markets around the world, including Japan, but Toyota still spins off its own versions of Lexus models to sell domestically as well. Like the new Sai, for example. Sharing its platform, hybrid propulsion and much more with the Lexus HS (which you may remember as the world's first dedicated luxury hybrid until it was pulled from the market early last year), the Sai was introduced to Japan at the same time as the HS was rolled out around the world. Now nearly four years on the market, Toyota has given it a bit of a refresh.
Boasting a far more aggressive front end and a restyled rear, the revised Sai features LED headlights, 16-inch alloys and a higher-quality interior in which JDM buyers will find a new center console and trim, along with an optional 10-speaker infotainment system. Toyota also boasts that the new Sai is made of 20-percent Ecological Plastic and recycled resin.