New Toyota Yaris Wears a Sport Kit for its Australian Debut at the Melbourne Motor Show

After its world premiere in Japan last December as the Vitz, Toyota is gradually introducing the new generation of the Yaris in other markets around the world. Now, with the European version out of the way, it’s time for the Yaris to make its first appearance in Melbourne at this week’s 2011 Australian International Motor Show (AIMS).

Revealed in show car form, the Yaris is fitted with a TRD-like sports kit comprising of a honeycomb grille, a restyled front bumper with larger openings and a chrome trim around the lower grille, side skirts, chunky alloy wheels and a new rear bumper with a diffuser plus a roof spoiler.

Read more »

VIDEO: Toyota FT-86 Freshly Spied at the Nurburgring Race Track

If anything else, spy photographers have their work cut out with the new Toyota FT-86 sports coupe. As we are nearing closer to the launch of the production model, the Japanese automaker has increased its presence at the Nordschleife circuit in Germany to fine tune the chassis and mechanical hardware, with this latest scoop video showing a camouflaged prototype in action. Read more »

Gutsy Toyota Supra Driver Drifts Around $2 Million Bugatti Veyron

No matter how talented you are, it takes a lot of guts and an extra dose of craziness to attempt what you are about to see in the video clip after the break, because it’s one thing going around a Ford Pinto in circles and another when the car in question is a Bugatti Veyron priced close to $2 million.

The man behind this feat (if you can call it that) is 25-year-old pro drifter Derek "Buttsy" Butler from Ireland. Buttsy performed the…gutsy drift stunt around the exotic 1,001-horsepower supercar in a heavily modified Toyota Supra during this year’s Gumball 3000.

Read more »

New Toyota FT-86 / Scion FR-S Sports Coupe Scooped on Video

By now, you have probably already seen our spy shots of the kitted-out Toyota FT-86 prototype with the Supra-like rear wing, which was snagged during testing in Germany, but one scoopster managed to film the sports car on the road as well.

Read more »

Toyota Corolla vs Ferrari F430: Can You Guess Who Wins this Race?

Pitting a puny stock Toyota Corolla against a Ferrari F430 and asking which car would win in a straight line race sounds like a joke, right? Well, under any other circumstances, you would be right to take this as a shaggy dog story but this comparo, which was made for a Japanese TV show, has a peculiar twist to it: the race was run in reverse gear… So, now that you know, can you pick the winner? Enjoy the quirky drag race between the Corolla sedan and Maranello’s supercar in the video clip after the break.

Read more »

New 2012 Toyota Yaris / Vitz Breaks Cover in Japan [Photos and Video]

The new Toyota Vitz, or as we'll come to know it on both sides of the Atlantic, the third generation Yaris supermini, was unveiled Wednesday in Japan. Even though what you see pictured here is the Japanese domestic market (JDM) version, as was the case with the previous generations of the Vitz, we expect the European and North American Yaris to look more or less the same when it arrives in the market late next year.

Toyota's newcomer has grown 100mm in length and now measures 3,885mm long, but is 30mm lower while keeping the same width as its predecessor. The Japanese carmaker says numerous weight saving measures has shaved off 30kg or 66 pounds, with the car tipping the scales at 1,000kg or 2,204 pounds (depending on the model).

Read more »