Car Throttle

If you're an avid Car Throttle fan, you'll know that we have a strong tendency to not do things "by the book". Take a simple car video review. Our "in-depth" research on YouTube has found far too many boring car reviewers (read: 50-year-old, bald blokes) who love to spout performance figures, chassis materials and snigger subtle digs at manufacturers who produce car fodder. Whilst there's a room in the reviews market for lateral G-ratings on a skid pan and all the knowledge that the older generation may bring to the table, us young Throttlers are developing videos which give a more rounded view of new vehicles, combined with some attempted banter and searching storylines. And where possible, we like to give individuals other than myself, the opportunity

Toyota FT-86 Concept, Toyota GT-86, Toyota 86, Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ - wow has this car had a lot of names or what? There has been wall-to-wall coverage of Toyota's much-anticpated enthusiasts entry. We're sure it is a welcomed change for Toyota, who has mostly endured negative coverage pertaining to recalls, quality issues and well...boring products. In the United States, the car is badged as the Scion FR-S, and it was just revealed in Los Angeles with few changes and a cheapened interior versus its Toyota counterparts. We thought the era of rebadging was over, but apparently Toyota didn't get the memo - there are very few changes between the Toyota, Scion and Subaru models. Now, two new videos have been released from Toyota and

Hot on the heels of yesterday's reveal of the Toyota GT-86,  Subaru has dropped it's first images of the BRZ.  If we've seen the Toyobaru, now we're seeing the Subieyota.  (Toyobarubieyota?)  If you were expecting something radically different from the GT-86, well - err, no. The Subaru BRZ is almost indistinguishable from the GT-86, except for the Stars of Pleiades badge on both ends, and a slightly different front clip.  The pattern inside the taillights is slightly different, and there's no "86" Boxer badge on the front fenders, but that's about it.

Even the same wheels.

Mechanically, it's identical to the GT-86.  That means a front-mid engine/rear drive chassis, a 2.0L "D4S" boxer engine with 197bhp/151lb-ft, and six speed manual or automatic transmission.  Subaru

It's a day I never thought would come.  After numerous teaser concept cars, the production version of the Toyota FT-86 is here.  First of all, it's going to be called the GT-86 in Europe, and just "86" in Japan.  The US version is still likely to be marketed as a Scion (probably called the FR-S), and there will be a Subaru version (for now being called the BR-Z, although we'll find out soon enough.)  Regardless of what it's called or where it's sold, the Toyobaru/Subieyota is finally coming into focus as a production car, and we have some of the greasy details and real pictures to share with you. A lot of these details are probably things you've already heard, but here are the basics. 

Here's Part II of the SEMA Preview coverage.  Alternative title: Turbos, widebodies, big brakes and roll bars, oh my!  In the previous post I covered GM, Mopar, Mazda, and Hyundai.  Now we're moving on to Toyota.

Toyota, Lexus, and Scion have always had a strong presence at SEMA. This year will be no different, with all three divisions bringing concept cars in a futile attempt to convince us the brand is still interesting. Toyota's "big announcement" was the introduction of the F-Sport package for the new-generation Lexus GS350 sedan, which makes the car better looking (negotiable) but not any faster. The exterior gets 19" alloy wheels with 235/40/19 tires (RWD F-sports get 265/35/19 rears, AWD's are square), a more aggressive front

Everyone who loves summer will be miserable just now, me being one of them, because summer is pretty much over and today, up here in Scotland, it is very cold and wet. The weather forecasters are saying that this year winter will probably be as harsh as the last two years which is fantastic news(!) Instead of moaning about it though we should think about the precautions we should take when it comes to driving in the forthcoming harsh conditions. There are the usual ones like make sure you have blankets and flasks full of hot drinks in the car with you as well as taking some extra snacks just in case you get stranded and that you should allow extra time for your journeys

I'm a big fan of comparisons.  Let me make one real quick: a Camry is to cars, what KFC is to Chicken.  As a society that accepts "good enough" as good enough, America loves the Camry.  There's not a whole lot to actually love about the Camry, but it's quiet, comfortable, and has good resale value.  And Toyota says it's reliable, when it's not experiencing demonic acceleration influence and catapulting you into your neighbor's hedge. The Camry is the unflavored ramen noodles of cars.  It's boring, and it's meant to be boring.  The less people you can offend, the larger a demographic your product appeals to.  So how do you make a Camry that fuel-in-their-veins car enthusiasts would like? Well, you give it 728 horsepower.  At

Tesla wasn't "supposed" to survive this long. Starting a new independent automaker is a difficult, and near impossible task. So far, Tesla has done it though. Tesla has had the advantage of major private financial backing, $465 million in Department of Energy loans, a successful Initial Public Offering and a few partnerships with large manufacturers along the way. One of which was with Daimler for an electric smart car - that included Daimler taking a 10% stake in the company reportedly valued at $50 million. Last year Toyota and Tesla began a partnership of their own. Tesla purchased Toyota's NUMMI factory in Freemont, California, for production of the Model S sedan. As part of the deal, Toyota took a similar stake as Daimler, valued at $100

Times are tough.  Credit used to flow like water, getting a job after securing a bachelor's degree in English was a sure thing, and the world was a lot easier place to live in.  Not so any more: those who once figured "Hell, I have a job and a pulse, I can get a new car" are now realizing that no, they can't.  They don't have a credit score of 700 and a 10,000 down payment sitting around.  What's a car enthusiast to do? If you're handy with wrenches and know a fuel injector from an EGR valve, you don't have to plunk down 40 grand for a car that will both plaster a smile on your face 95% of the time and not leave you

I always make it out to Raleigh's Cars & Coffee event the first Saturday of every month. It's always worth it, even though I abhor waking up early, because there's always awesome stuff to see.  A lot of the same cars show up, so I won't show pictures of stuff you've already seen - for those you can check previous Cars & Coffee coverage here, here, and here. For starters, here is one of 337 Porsche 959's ever built, which was Porsche's rolling technical showcase that blew everything else out of the water in the 1980's, and set the standard for supercar performance.  None were ever imported to the US; it's likely this one has been fitted with the Canepa Design engine