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Toyota Recalling 516,000 Vehicles In Three Recalls

Toyota said Thursday it's recalling 516,000 vehicles worldwide - including 430,500 in the U.S. - for three separate safety problems, including brakes that can activate without warning. The company said it has no reports of accidents or injuries due to the defects. In all three cases, the company will alert owners and dealers will repair the issues for free. The largest recall, of 450,000 Sienna minivans from the 2004-2011 model years, targets vehicles sold in cold weather areas. Toyota said road salt can corrode the spare tire carrier under the vehicle and the tire can fall off. Siennas from the 2004-2010 model years were for the same issue in 2010, and a splash protector and anti-rust protection were applied. But the company says the splash protector can fall off and rust can still occur. The recall involves 370,000 minivans sold in the U.S., 80,000 in Canada and 400 in Europe. Also recalled Thursday were: - 16,000 Lexus GS 250 and 350 sedans from the 2013 model year because a manufacturing defect can cause the brakes to activate without warning, and without turning on the brake lights. Most of the vehicles - 10,500 - were sold in the U.S. Also included are left-hand-drive sedans sold in Canada, China and Europe. - 50,000 Highlander and Highlander hybrid SUVs from the 2014 model year. Toyota says a software glitch may prevent the vehicle from properly calculating the size of the front passenger when determining whether to fire the air bags. The affected vehicles assume the passenger is smaller, so the bags may not fire or they may fire at a lower speed than necessary for a larger passenger. Toyota says most of the affected vehicles - 45,287 - were sold in the U.S. Around 3,400 were sold in Canada and the rest were sold in Mexico and Europe. Related Gallery AOL Autos Test Drive: 2014 Toyota Highlander Recalls Toyota

Toyota to enter modern turbo four-cylinder era with Lexus crossover

Toyota has sat quietly on the sidelines as many of its competitors have armed themselves in recent years with lower-displacement turbocharged four-cylinder engines in an effort to gain better fuel efficiency numbers and flatter power curves. It's a strategy largely shared by fellow countryman Honda, who turned away from offering forced-induction four-cylinder models in North America after its first-generation Acura RDX failed to find buyers. Toyota itself has no lack of experience with turbo fours, having built some humdingers for cars like the MR2 and Celica All-Trac back in the 80s and 90s. It's also offered factory-warranted turbos through its TRD performance parts division more recently.
Now, Automotive News is reporting that the world's largest automaker is finally poised to rejoin the turbo-four production-car fray in North America, but it won't be a sports car that delivers the first force-fed punch, it will be a new small crossover model for Lexus. We first showed you spy shots of the NX last week in mule form, and Automotive News says the small softroader will carry a 2.0-liter turbo four in its engine bay when it rolls on to world markets in 2014 or early 2015. That model, the NX 200t, will be joined by the NX 300h, a hybrid variant. It isn't immediately clear when US buyers will see the turbo model, however, it's possible that the hybrid could bow first - the story quotes an anonymous company source suggesting that Americans might not see the engine offering until sometime in 2015.
AN further posits that the new 2.0-liter will likely supplant the company's 2.5-liter V6 in the IS sedan and the same-displacement four-cylinder in the Toyota RAV4, but does not indicate where the new engine will be built.

Lightweight Toyota GT86 spotted on Nordschleife with carbon panels, upgraded aero

We've seen (and frankly reported on) so many rumors of more powerful and performance-focused versions of the Subaru BRZ, Toyota GT86 and Scion FR-S at this point that haven't materialized that, at this point, we're almost tired of them. Almost. But what we have here was enough to pique our jaded interests as only a carbon-bodied sports car on the Nürburgring could do.
What we're looking at is, well, we don't quite know, to tell you the truth. What we can tell is that it's a Toyota GT86 (Scion FR-S for us) wearing new wheels and a carbon-fiber hood, roof, racing-spec rear wing and subtle lip spoiler. The vents in the hood indicate that the prototype in question could be packing an upgraded engine to go with the lighter body panels and upgraded aero, and the interior (at least as far as we can see) looks pretty well stripped out.
The right-hand drive configuration tells us this is either destined for former territories of the British Empire or for the racetrack. Considering the ride height, full glass and apparent lack of roll cage, our money's on this prototype is being developed for the Japanese Domestic Market, where Toyota badges the sports car simply as the 86. We can always hope, though, that some version makes it into Scion showrooms in North America... we just won't get our hopes up too high.