2008 Toyota Solara Sle Convertible 2-door 3.3l Leather, Heated Seats, Alloys on 2040-cars

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Would you pay $17 a month to give your older Ford connectivity?

When it was first introduced in 2007, there was nothing like the original Ford Sync system, since it allowed car owners to connect and use a portable device better than anything that came before it. And because it was a brought-in/tethered and software-based system, Sync leveraged a device's connectivity and was easily updated. It took competitors awhile to catch up: Toyota Entune wasn't available until 2011, and Chevy MyLink didn't roll out until 2012. But now Ford is the one playing catchup since it stuck with the brought-in strategy while most other automakers were quicker to add connectivity via an embedded cellular modem. Ford initially installed 2G/3G modems in its small fleet of electric and plug-in electric vehicles starting in 2012 so that owners could keep tabs on charging. Embedded connectivity came to Lincoln in 2014, and Ford began adding onboard 4G LTE via Sync Connect to select cars starting with the Escape in 2015. To get more cars connected more quickly, last week the automaker rolled out its FordPass SmartLink solution that plugs into the OBD port of 2010 to 2017 model year vehicles. This lets owners retroactively get onboard Wi-Fi, set up a "geo-fence" to keep tabs on a car's location, receive vehicle health reports and allows remote engine starting and door locking/unlocking using a smartphone app, among other features. But to connect older Ford vehicles will cost owners $16.99 a month for two years, not including installation. Ford throws in 1 GB of data or a 30-day trial, whichever comes first, after which owners have to add the vehicle to their Verizon shared data plan, which supplies connectivity for SmartLink, or establish a new account. (Disclosure: Autoblog is owned by Verizon.) By comparison, GM's 4G LTE data plans start at $10 a month for 200 MB and goes up to $30 for 3 GB, and owners can also add a car to an AT&T shared-data plan. But OnStar doesn't have a separate monthly subscription for the embedded modem or an installation charge, and standard features via the RemoteLink Mobile App are free for the first five years of ownership. FCA's Uconnect Access service also uses an embedded modem to provide similar telematics features for $20 per month following a free one-year trial, while a la carte in-car Wi-Fi is offered for $10 per day, $20 per week or $35 per month.

Toyota and Suzuki partner up on autonomy with capital alliance

TOKYO — Toyota and Suzuki will take small equity stakes in each other, the Japanese car makers said on Wednesday, as they seek to develop newer technologies and meet sweeping changes upending the global auto industry. The tie-up is the latest example of automakers chasing scale to manage costs and boost development. Automakers — especially smaller ones like Suzuki — are struggling to meet the breakneck growth of an industry transformed by the rise of electric vehicles (EVs), ride-hailing and autonomous driving. Toyota will pay around 96 billion yen ($908 million) for a 4.94% stake in Suzuki, while Suzuki will acquire in the market around 48 billion yen ($454 million) worth of shares in Toyota. That is equivalent to 0.2% of Toyota's shares as of Wednesday's closing price, before the announcement. The companies said in a joint statement they intended to overcome challenges facing the industry by "building and deepening cooperative relationships in new fields while continuing to be competitors". They said they would strengthen technologies and products in which each of them specialize in. The firms had said in 2016 they were exploring a partnership, citing technological challenges and the need to keep up with industry consolidation. Earlier this year they said they would produce EVs and compact cars for each other. Automakers around the globe have been joining forces to slash development and manufacturing costs of new technology. Ford and Volkswagen have said they will spend billions of dollars to jointly develop electric and self-driving vehicles. Shares of Toyota and Suzuki closed little changed before the announcement. TOYOTA'S ORBIT The deal brings Suzuki firmly into Toyota' orbit, alongside Daihatsu, Hino Motors, Subaru, Mazda and Yamaha. Rival Nissan has an alliance with France's Renault, although that has been shaken following the ouster of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn, and with Mitsubishi Motors. Honda has a tie-up with General Motors. Toyota has been looking to expand scale in next-generation technology and said this year it would offer free access to patents for EV motors and power control units. It believes that move would help it cut by as much as half the outlays for expanded electric and hybrid vehicle components in the United States, China and Japan. Supplying rivals would greatly expand the scale of production for hardware.

Toyota Land Cruiser vs Lexus LX 570 Suspension Flex Test

There’s no need to explain the Toyota Land Cruiser, one of ToyotaÂ’s earliest successful products. The 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser Heritage Edition celebrates some 60 years of popularity of a vehicle that has survived the segmentÂ’s “mall wagon” phase and the rise of crossovers. Its already-sterling reputation has received an additional recent push from the rise of overlanding — an outdoor pastime that has always existed but only recently got a press agent. By comparison, the Lexus LX is a more recent development. Debuting in 1996, the LX 450 was little more than an 80-series Land Cruiser with cladding, a Lexus badge and a higher price. The amount of styling differentiation and luxury specialization has increased over the years to the point that the newest LX 570 actually seems like a completely different vehicle. In truth, the 2020 Lexus LX 570 and the 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser are both 200-series Land Cruisers under the skin. They share the same thirsty 5.7-liter V8 engine and the same frame that features a double-wishbone suspension at the front, a five-link coil spring suspension at the rear and a 112.2-inch wheelbase in the middle. The styling is strikingly different, of course, but so are the hidden details of their suspensions. The Land Cruiser employs a simple set of coil springs and shock absorbers, but with an interconnected pair of automatically disconnecting stabilizer bars called KDSS (Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System). The Lexus, on the other hand, has fixed stabilizer bars and coil springs, but its “shocks” are really hydraulic cylinders that perform height adjustments and transmit suspension movements via piping to remote electronically-adjustable damper valves mounted along the frame rails. All of the above begs a question: Which of them will go farther up my RTI ramp and, by extension, offer better suspension articulation in an authentic off-road situation? Right away, the very approach to the ramp demonstrates a huge difference and a serious issue for the LX. Its normal cruising height (there is a lower height, but this isnÂ’t that) doesnÂ’t provide enough approach clearance to attempt the ramp. The front spoiler contacts the nasty grating before the tire does. ItÂ’s a close-run thing, but from this point on, clearance gets SMALLER as the left front suspension compresses on the way up. If it's touching now, itÂ’s only going to get worse if I go forward.