Friday, 25 November 2011

Toyota Motorsport GmbH to participate in 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours


Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) has confirmed that it will take part in several races of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship, including the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The entry will be based upon an LMP1 prototype chassis from TMG, and a petrol-hybrid powertrain produced by Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan.
TMG’s high-performance technical centre in Cologne, Germany, where the LMP1 chassis has been designed, developed and produced, will be the base for the team.
The car is planned to take part in a roll-out around the turn of the year prior to an extensive test schedule in early 2012. Further details will be confirmed in due course.
Tadashi Yamashina, Toyota Motor Corporation senior managing officer and TMG Chairman, said that while Toyota has entered the race before, using its hybrid technology this time would pose a completely new challenge.

TOYOTA releases an even tougher Landcruiser


Toyota has listened to the demands of miners, farmers and other customers by launching an even tougher LandCruiser 200 Series wagon.
The turbo-diesel GX has the features much-loved by owners who tend to torture, not just drive, their LandCruisers. They include vinyl floors, twin barn doors at the rear (vertically hinged), 17-inch steel wheels, a snorkel, 93-litre main and 45-litre auxiliary fuel tanks, five seats, under-body protection plates and a standard car key.
Based on the GXL variant, the new GX is the spiritual successor to the 100 Series Standard Grade.
New GX is not without creature comforts, but they are designed to complement the tough work life of the vehicle and its owner. They include a single CD player, manual air-conditioning, power windows with driver’s auto up/down and power-operated exterior mirrors.
There is no skimping on protection because the new variant keeps all the GXL safety equipment, which is important for drivers and for the OH&S requirements of companies running fleets. It includes driver and front-passenger airbags, curtain-shield airbags, vehicle stability control, active traction control, hill-start assist, multi-terrain anti-skid brakes and Toyota CRAWL – effectively an off-road cruise-control system.
The GX has a 195kW/650Nm 4.5-litre V8 twin-turbo diesel engine, six-speed automatic transmission, full-time 4WD with Torsen limited-slip centre differential and two-speed transfer case. Other features include a 60/40 split-fold rear seat with adjustable seat-back recline and adjustable head restraints and tilt-and-telescopic steering-column adjustment.
Its four-spoke urethane steering wheel has control switches for the four-speaker CD tuner audio unit.
The audio head unit has facia-mounted 3.5mm AUX/USB# input, MP3/WMA compatibility and Bluetooth™*# hands-free/audio streaming capability.

# Not all devices will be compatible and functionality will vary depending on the device.
* The Bluetooth™ word mark is owned by The Bluetooth SIG, Inc