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Toyota U2 urban utility concept inspired by Maker Faire [w/video]

There's a quiet revolution happening in US cities. People want to mix an urban lifestyle with a connection to nature and appreciation for craftsmanship. The result of all of this is folks pursuing things as varied as urban farming, home brewing and the whole maker movement. Toyota thinks it has the perfect concept for these intrepid customers with its new Urban Utility concept that it is debuting during a panel discussion hosted by Make: magazine in San Francisco and debuting publicly on September 20 at the World Maker Faire in New York City.
The Urban Utility concept can best be described as a modern take on the old panel van. Designers from Toyota's Calty Design Research center in California interviewed Maker Faire participants to find out what its users want from a novel vehicle like this. "Toyota saw an opportunity for a new approach to an urban vehicle based on increasing re-urbanization of our cities and urban drivers' desire for flexibility, fun and maneuverability," said Kevin Hunter president of Calty.
On the outside, the Urban Utility doesn't really scream for attention. It's meant to meet users "desire for greater utility but a smaller vehicle footprint," according to the release, but the shape is still very much a van. The designers do try to lend it some panache with the LED headlights up front and checker board side panels. It's really more about utility than looks, though, because the roof can roll back for taller loads, the rear glass retracts into the tailgate, and the whole rear can fold down as a ramp to load stuff more easily into the cabin. Toyota isn't talking about a powertrain yet but claims that the underbody is also especially durable for a long life in the big city.

Toyota makes $100M investment to boost Indiana Highlander production

Toyota has announced that it will be making a $100 million investment in its Princeton, IN factory in a bid to increase production of its popular Highlander CUV. The move will create 300 new jobs by 2016 and increase the total number of crossovers the plant can produce by 30,000.
Toyota currently builds the Highlander, alongside the fullsize Sequoia, at Toyota Indiana's West Plant. The additional capacity, though, will be sent to the East Plant, which is currently responsible for production of the recently refreshed Sienna minivan.
"The Highlander has been a great product for our plant," Toyota Indiana President Norm Bafunno said in a statement. "Establishing Highlander as the 'bridge vehicle,' as we call it, between the East and West plants increases our ability to meet customer needs for our outstanding products. This exciting news is a true testament to the capability of our hard-working and dedicated team members."

RC car drift video brings Fast and Furious style in 1:10 scale

Taking a cue from Lexus' 2015 Super Bowl ad Let's Play, Falken Tire is proving that RC cars can drift just as well, if not better, than their full-size counterparts. However, to make things four times as exciting, this clip eschews a single hopped-up model hanging its tail out in favor of a quartet of them sliding around together. Starring 1:10 RC versions of popular drift machines like the Nissan S15 Silvia, Mazda FD-chassis RX-7 and Initial D star Toyota Corolla AE86, these cars also get a suite of blinking LEDs to lend some extra color to all of the tire spinning. Plus, the use of well-positioned cameras and a scale model environment almost makes this group look like they're at work in the real world. News Source: Falken Tire via YouTube Motorsports Toys/Games Mazda Nissan Toyota Racing Vehicles Videos drifting drift rc car mazda rx-7 nissan silvia toyota ae86