Car Throttle

A frequent complaint about Toyota has been the company's focus on uninspiring, bland designs that forsake any kind of excitement. For those looking for performance models and an engaging driving experience, there are no offerings. That is a dangerous position to be for a mainstream manufacturer that needs to engage enthusiasts and the youth market. The super expensive LFA isn't going to cut it in this regard. The joint Toyota/Subaru sportscar, previewed by the original FT-86 Concept and followed by the Scion FR-S Concept, is Toyota's answer to this problem. A new report on fan forum Club4AG says that the car is being developed with no expenses spared, and sheds light on some interesting details about the cars program. This information was gleaned from a meeting

Since Toyota's acquisition of a 17.1% stake in Subaru's parent company Fuji Heavy Industries in 2008, the automotive press has speculated by a sports car developed between the two. The FT-86 Concept at the Tokyo Auto Show in 2009 previewed Toyota's version of the car. We haven't heard much from Subaru until a recent confirmation of a concept coming to the Geneva Motor Show. Now it's Toyota's turn, confirming an FT-86 for the Geneva Motor Show. Notice A FT-86 not THE FT-86, because the new car is just a concept once again. It is dubbed the FT-86 Concept II, and promises to be much closer to the final production version. We just want to see the production car already though. Toyota, with a spate

Toyota's efforts to capture the youth market haven't performed as well as they had hoped. The Toyota brand has been bogged down by recalls and reliability issues, but there is a deeper underlying problem. The company has seemingly abandoned the enthusiasts altogether, and with it the youth market. The Toyota FT-86 Concept was introduced in an effort to combat that. Toyota has aimed to attract young enthusiasts by producing an affordable, rear-wheel drive coupe. That definitely is a good way to start doing that. The latest reports have pegged the new model coming under the Scion brand here in America. But what about the Subaru version....the much-discussed "Toyabaru?" It has been confirmed to make an appearance at the Geneva Motor Show. Subaru is one of the only

Toyota, at one time seemingly viewed by consumers and the media as "invincible", had seen a lot of issues plague it over the past few years. Aside from the unintended acceleration fiasco, Toyota has also seen itself trending upward in buyer age. To us, there is an easy explanation - product. President Akio Toyoda has supposedly set out to fix that, and one of the signs of that realization was the FT-86 Concept at last year's Tokyo Auto Show. The FT-86 Concept is a vehicle that looks very close to production, and offers a compelling specifications list. A price tag in the $20K range, two-doors and a rear-wheel drive layout is something that appeals to enthusiasts. At the time, production was pegged as a certainty. Not a whole

Not much time has passed since the introductions at the Tokyo Motor Show. Toyota was no doubt the winner of the show, debuting two performance models, the Toyota FT-86 Concept and the Lexus LFA. The former probably of the most interest to performance enthusiasts (unless you have $375,000.....and even then). So we know the FT-86 concept is a lock for production and now speculation is turning to what it will be named. FT-86 is obviously not the final production name, with the moniker chosen to pay homage to the Toyota Corolla AE-86 GT. The names under consideration, as reported by Autocar and The Detroit Bureau are Celica and surprisingly - Scion tC?  In producing the FT-86, Toyota's goal is to make a vehicle

For a while, Toyota seemed unstoppable, with it's cars garnering quality accolades and the sales increasing to a point where it has overtook General Motors as the world's largest automaker. Toyota President Akio Toyoda has made some interesting comments lately, saying that Toyota is in a state of decline and needs to excitement to help pull them out of it. Is the sky falling? No, but there are things that need to be fixed. Toyota is in desperate need of excitement and design injected into it's products. Toyota's effort to connect with a younger demographic through Scion hasn't fared very well (or as well as the company hoped). The FT-86 is the company's attempt to do that for the Toyota brand. The FT-86 was designed at Toyota's