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Toyota Pro/Celebrity race switching from Scion tC to FR-S [w/video]

Toyota has announced that the rear-wheel-drive Scion FR-S will replace the front-wheel-drive Scion tC as the racecar used by actors, singers and celebrities of all grades in its annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. It's the first time a rear-drive vehicle has been used for the event in 27 years, with the tC having been in use since 2005, and the FWD Celica before that. This year's race takes place on April 20th amidst the festivities of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend.
The racing FR-S, which debuted today at the Chicago Auto Show, won't be left stock either, but rather outfitted with a range of official Toyota Racing Development parts and equipment, such as a stainless steel exhaust, new coil overs and springs, upgraded brakes, a bigger air intake and 18-inch wheels, not to mention all of the safety equipment required to keep the celebrities and pro drivers safe. The company says the performance mods have lifted horsepower to 210 from the standard car's 200. Check out the build process for the cars in the video below to see just how much work's been done.
The Toyota Pro/Celebrity race is also about more than just letting celebrities and pros do battle on a road course. The spectacle helps raise money for "Racing for Kids," a non-profit charity that supports children's hospitals in the US.

Earthquake causes most of Toyota's Japan operations to shut down

Toyota is idling a large portion of its Japanese assembly plants as a result of the devastating earthquake in Hokkaido, Japan. The earthquake had such a big effect on the carmaker's supply chain that a number of its plants will have to be shut down for an undisclosed period, starting on Saturday. The 6.7 magnitude earthquake occurred early on September 6 th, resulting in more than dozen casualties and hundreds of injuries, cutting power to the entire island; the powerplant supplying half of the island's power was located so close to the earthquake's epicenter that it shut down automatically, bringing down the rest of the island's grid with it. Tens of people were also reported missing, as reported by Reuters. The affected factories are the Kyushu, Tahara and Toyota Auto Body plants, according to Automotive News, and they manufacture vehicles such as different Lexus models and the Toyota Land Cruiser. Some of the models produced in these factories are exported to the United States, but a Toyota spokesman said that North American operations are not likely to be significantly affected by the plant closures. As well as the automobile assembly plants in Hokkaido, Toyota also has a facility there that manufactures transmissions and transfer cases. As it was also without power, Toyota could not confirm when the plant would be back online. Out of Hokkaido's 2.95 million households, 1.54 million had regained power by Friday afternoon. All in all, Toyota has 18 manufacturing facilities in Japan; spokeswoman Akito Kita said that from Monday on, the shutdown will affect all Japanese Toyota and Lexus lines — not including two Daihatsu facilities that are also used for Toyota products. The shutdowns come directly after Toyota also announced a recall for Japanese-built hybrid models, mainly Prius. Related Video:

Toyota hydrogen vehicle visits CES, on sale in US in 2015

If there was ever any doubt that Toyota loves hydrogen vehicles, just listen to some of what Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales, USA, said today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas: "Fuel cell electric vehicles will be in our future sooner than many people believe, and in much greater numbers than anyone expected." "Hydrogen works beautifully with oxygen to create water and electricity and nothing more." "This [hydrogen] infrastructure thing is going to happen." "I believe what I'm going to tell you about today is going to change our world." Sounds like love is in the air. In all seriousness, Toyota is incredibly bullish on the future of hydrogen as a part of the automotive landscape, and is now gearing up for the 2015 launch of its hydrogen sedan. The concept version of the car was shown for the first time at the Tokyo Motor Show last fall and is making its North American debut at CES today, alongside the still-under-camo engineering prototype. The reasons for Toyota's hydrogen confidence? The debut vehicle is supposed to be a "reasonably priced" car that has a range of 300 miles and a refueling time of about five minutes. Carter highlighted the engineering work that Toyota has done over the past decades to get the fuel cell system downsized while upping power output to over 100 kW. He also said the vehicle will have carry enough energy to power a house for a week, so company engineers are working on an export power supply device. The H2 Toyota sedan will start sales in California (the only state in the US where there are currently any hydrogen stations) next year. The automaker is working with the University of California Irvine's Advanced Power and Energy Program (APEP) to figure out where to build the next series of public hydrogen fueling stations. Today there are ten, but the model Toyota is using "is based on the assumption that owners want to reach a refueling station within 6-minutes" and shows that 68 stations would be able to serve around 10,000 hydrogen vehicles. 'Toyota Car of the Future' On Sale Next Year; Opens 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Reasonably priced hydrogen fuel cell electric targets 300-mile range, 3-5 minute fill-up LAS VEGAS (Jan. 06, 2014) – "We aren't trying to re-invent the wheel; just everything necessary to make them turn," said Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A.