Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Toyota Takes Fun to the Masses With 200-hp Sports Coupe

Check out the Toyota 86!

Toyota President Akio Toyoda unveiled his company's new 200-hp rear-wheel-drive sports coupe before thousands of fans at a Formula One race track on Monday in his bid to spice up a brand better known for bland but utilitarian offerings such as the Corolla and Camry.

The car, to be called the Toyota 86 in Japan and sold as the Scion FR-S in the United States, has been in the works for five years and received close scrutiny from Toyoda, who is banking on the car as an affordable halo model to burnish the company's performance credentials.

The 86 hits a top speed of 142 mph and can do a 0-to-62-mph run in six seconds. But raw speed is not the goal, says chief engineer Tetsuya Tada. The model's true mission is multifold:

-- Achieve a low price point that can lure recent college graduates.
-- Strive for fun-to-drive handling with a low center of gravity.
-- Strip out fancy electronic-control systems and turbochargers.
-- Deliver a ride that can be easily customized and tuned by car buffs.

Toyota hasn't disclosed a price or gas-mileage estimates. But the company has said it is targeting a sticker around 2 million yen ($26,000). Tada said the goal is to price the car in a range that would be affordable to recent college graduates.

Going low-tech
"A lot of cars these days are controlled by computer chips, and that leads to a sense of the car driving you, instead of you driving the car," Tada said after the 86's introduction Monday at the Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway outside Tokyo near the base of snow-capped Mount Fuji. "We decided to use as few computer controls as possible. We wanted to go back to basics."

The 86 was jointly developed with Subaru, which debuts its version--the BRZ--at this week's Tokyo motor show. Toyota did the styling, while Subaru provided the four-cylinder horizontally opposed boxer engine. Subaru will build both versions at its factory in Gunma, Japan.

Toyoda--clad in a red-and-black racing suit--introduced the car himself by flooring a bright vermillion 86 down the straightaway at the Fuji Speedway, where some 20,000 car buffs gathered to witness the debut and participate in the annual Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival.

The car's name in Japan--86--is a nod to the popular AE86 line of Corolla-based sports cars that Toyota rolled out in the 1980s. Toyota evoked its sporty roots at the tuner festival with a parade of vintage sports cars that included Toyota fan club members driving their original 86s, 2000 GTs, Sport 800s from the 1960s and a sampling of souped-up Supras.

The 86 first appeared as a candy-apple-red FT-86 concept at the 2009 Tokyo motor show. In Japan, the production version drops the "FT" nomenclature for concepts that means "Future Toyota." In Europe, the car will be sold as the Toyota GT 86.

No design by committee
Tada admits the car won't satisfy everyone, and he's fine with that. Toyota broke with a long tradition of designing by committee to deliver a car rendered by sports-car enthusiasts assembled from within the company, he said. They focused on driving feel, not on numbers.

"When you show a sports car to the board of directors, the first thing they ask is how fast it is, what is the lap time, how does its speed compare with rivals. Marketing initially opposed the concept, saying it's not fast enough and didn't have enough new technology," Tada said.

"But what is unique about this car is that we didn't target numerical performance goals. We ignored the traditional Toyota development pattern," Tada said. "And the only reason we could do that is because there is a man on the board of directors named Akio Toyoda."

Toyoda, a racing fanatic, was especially hands on in flavoring the 86--checking in monthly on the car's development. He often test-drove the 86 and gave orders on what to fix.

The Toyota 86 gets a 2.0-liter four cylinder, DOHC boxer engine from Subaru equipped with Toyota's D-4S fuel injection system. It comes mated to either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission, while delivering 200 hp and topping out at 7,000 rpm.

The fuel-injection system has twin injectors for both direct and port injection.

The car enters production next spring and goes on sale next year in the United States.

Nimble, customizable
During a test drive for journalists on Fuji's short circuit, the 86 demonstrated lively pickup, good balance and nimble handling--all with the distinctive growling rumble of Subaru's boxer power plant. More-punishing journalists had a field day screeching and drifting through the turns.

Handling is improved by the boxer engine's low center of gravity.

The interior styling reflects what Tada calls "neofunctionalism." It is a no-frills, utilitarian look focusing on old-school dials and switches--with the meter cluster built around the tachometer.

Some paneling is simply shiny black plastic, while other trim gets a faux carbon-fiber texture. The deep bucket seats have sporty red stitching with ample side bolstering.

The steering wheel is the smallest in the Toyota lineup with a diameter of 365 millimeters (14 inches). Toyota says this provides optimal steering performance and grip.

The 86 seats four with cramped rear leg room. But the back seats fold down to provide space for luggage or--as Toyota pitches it--racing tires and tool kits.

Toyota envisions the car as being popular with the tuner crowd and aims to promote that use by making the car easily upgradable with a plethora of accessories and add-ons.

Read more http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blogs/autosblogpost.aspx?post=682ce915-37b1-4f16-b50c-3fbd5b7f5272&_blg=2

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thanksgiving Travel Tips

If you're driving anywhere this Thanksgiving, please make sure to stay safe on the roads. AAA says that "Thanksgiving is the busiest travel holiday of the year, and unfortunately the deadliest." Check out these travel tips to make sure you have a safe and happy holiday!

As travelers throughout the Philadelphia region and beyond begin to finalize their travel plans for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday weekend, AAA reminds motorists to put safety first when behind the wheel in the coming weeks, and is offering tips for a smooth journey.

Despite higher gas prices this year over last year, the overwhelming majority of Thanksgiving travelers will go by car. Thanksgiving is the busiest travel holiday of the year, and unfortunately the deadliest.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Thanksgiving has more traffic crashes than any other holiday travel period in Pennsylvania – more than 4,300 statewide last year, killing 55 people from Thanksgiving Eve to the Sunday afterward.

Many of those highway fatalities were unbuckled, and involved alcohol.

AAA urges all motorists to drive safely, buckle up, and never drive impaired, and strongly supports the efforts of local and state police in keeping our highways safe this holiday season, with the “Click it or Ticket” campaign and DUI enforcement.  Additionally, motorists can help insure a safe trip in other ways: getting enough rest before hitting the road; checking tires for proper inflation; and packing an emergency car kit with key items such as jumper cables and an ice scraper.

“This year there will be another 55 empty seats at this year’s holiday gatherings, in addition to many other lives that are needlessly lost on the highways throughout the year,” said Jenny M. Robinson, Manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic.  “We urge motorists, during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and throughout the year, to drive safely, buckle up and never drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. AAA thanks Pennsylvania law enforcement for keeping our highways safe throughout the holiday season.”

AAA Mid-Atlantic also has been a strong advocate on many other traffic safety issues in Pennsylvania, including support for a ban on texting while driving, which was signed into law by Governor Corbett just last week, and a stronger teen driver safety law, also known as "Lacey's Law", which was signed Oct. 25.

AAA Thanksgiving Holiday Travel Tips

Plan travel times.  Traffic congestion and delays are part of holiday travel, but try to plan your trip for off-peak hours.  The busiest travel days are typically the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Sunday afternoon/evening.

Rest up.  Get 6-8 hours of sleep the night before a long trip.  Fatigue decreases reaction time and awareness. A recent AAA study found that about a third of motorists admit they have nearly nodded off at the wheel - don't be one of them.

Plan in advance:

  • Fuel Price Finder (AAA.com/fuelfinder) locates the lowest fuel price in your area.
  • Fuel Cost Calculator (FuelCostCalculator.AAA.com) helps budget travel expenses.
  • TripTik Mobile (AAA.com/mobile) plots fuel prices along your travel route.
  • Check tires for proper inflation.
  • Take breaks and rotate drivers.  Stop every two hours or 100 miles and share driving time.
  • Buckle up.  Make sure everyone is wearing safety belts or has age-appropriate child safety seats.
  • Pack a winter car emergency kit: shovel, jumper cables, ice scraper, wiper fluid, de-icer, kitty litter or salt for traction, first aid kit, flashlight, blanket, water, food, cell phone.
  • Never drink and drive.  Although Thanksgiving is known for travel and turkey, it's also a big party night for some folks.  Stay over where you are, arrange for a cab ride, or get a sober friend to take you home.
  • Never text and drive.  Governor Corbett has signed a new law that bans texting and driving in Pennsylvania - and although it doesn't take effect until early March 2012, why wait to be safe?  Pledge now to put the cell phone down and focus on the road ahead.

AAA Mid-Atlantic serves 700,000 members in the Philadelphia (5-county) region and nearly four million members in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, with personal insurance, financial, automotive and travel services through 53 retail branches, regional operations centers and the internet, at www.aaa.com/community.

Read more http://uppermoreland.patch.com/articles/thanksgiving-travel-tips#photo-8457699

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Toyota says hybrids offer best fuel economy gains

Hybrids are a “core technology,” says Toyota.

Toyota will explore various power trains and fuel sources, but sees hybrids as the core technology for improving fuel economy, an engineering manager says.
Ankil Shah, manager for materials engineering at Toyota's technical center here, says hybrids offer "the best short- to midterm gains in fuel economy."

Given that battery energy density is far less than that of liquid fuels such as gasoline and diesel fuel, the cost and weight of battery packs needed to produce an acceptable range in an electric vehicle are prohibitive, Shah said.

"This makes electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles a great challenge in a mainstream vehicle," Shah said recently in a speech at a conference sponsored by Plastics News on lightweight and electric vehicles.

Plastics News, like Automotive News, is published by Crain Communications.

Toyota has sold 3 million hybrids globally, Shah said. The Prius is by far the best-selling hybrid in the United States, with sales of 104,251 units this year through October--nearly half of the 211,598 total U.S. hybrid sales.

Aside from market leadership, Toyota uses the hybrid architecture as the basis for other alternative drivetrains such as plug-ins and EVs, he said: "Hybrid components can be easily adapted to other power train systems."

Shah said that Toyota sees a future for hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles, and plans to begin commercial sales in 2015. Its fuel cell vehicle has a range of nearly 500 miles per tankful and functions well in cold weather, he said.

Toyota sees fuel cell propulsion as optimum for large vehicles such as buses and delivery trucks, Shah said, particularly if they travel long-distance routes.


Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-57324363-48/toyota-says-hybrids-offer-best-fuel-economy-gains/

Picture from: http://www.toyotainthenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/toyota-hybrid-x-concept-image.jpg

Friday, November 11, 2011

Greensburg neighborhood never forgets 87 who fought in WWII

Happy Veterans Day to all of the brave men and women who fought for our country.

(A photograph of returning veterans from the neighborhood hangs at the Hill-Top Social Club)

Veterans Day is a holiday that resonates in Hilltop, an Italian-American neighborhood of Greensburg that shipped out 87 sons and daughters during World War II.

One of every 10 Americans -- 16 million men and women -- was in uniform between 1941 and 1945, according to Department of Defense statistics

From cities to towns, farms to tight-knit communities, all rallied for the cause.

One was Hilltop, roughly 16 streets sandwiched between Vine Street on the north and Bierer Street on the south. There were 181 households in the neighborhood then; nearly half were Italian-American.

Eighty-four of Hilltop's sons -- and two daughters -- went to war. Three of them died.

John DePaul of Jeannette, a retired Pittsburgh marketing and public relations executive, and local historian who has studied and written about his old neighborhood, said he could not "help but think that Hilltop, because of the size of the families, gave more men to the war than just about any section of the city."

After examining the data, DePaul concluded that 14 percent of Hilltop's World War II population was in uniform. The number was even higher in the Italian-American population -- 21 percent. "That 21 percent figure is well above the national average -- in fact, 84 percent higher," DePaul said.

Among them were both of his older brothers, Ozzie and Mario DePaul, who grew up in a house on Steck Street and became soldiers in World War II.

Sending away their sons

Frank and Concetta Salvatore of 413 Margaret St. had seven sons, five of them old enough to serve in the war.

James, the oldest, spent the war years stateside; Anthony shipped off to the Pacific for the fighting at Guadalcanal; Thomas fought in the Battle of the Bulge; Frank Jr. saw action on a PT boat; and Richard was a Navy swabbie.

"My dad hated the Germans and the Japanese," recalled Lou Salvatore, who, born in 1932, was too young to serve in the war. "He called them "brutto bastards - ugly bastards."

Salvatore's mother was "always a little sad" during those years. The anxiety of having five sons in the service "took a toll" on her, he said.

Knowing that Germany and Japan had to be defeated, Childers said, was little comfort to wives and girlfriends, moms and dads, sisters and brothers who had sent their loved ones to battle zones, according to University of Pennsylvania World War II historian Thomas Childers

Looked upon suspiciously

"The war was a strain on all the mothers in the neighborhood," said Tony Testa, who was 18 in 1943 when he was drafted. "I'm sure a day didn't go by that they didn't worry about it."

Testa, who lives on Truby Street, three doors from his childhood home, said being drafted "made me wonder what I was getting into." His mother, Mary Ann, who was born in Italy and spoke little English, wept when she was told the news.

Testa, 86, doesn't talk much about his service years. An infantryman, he was part of the invasion of southern France in August 1944.

He recalls the day he left Hilltop for the Army. He and a neighbor, Frank DeFloria, drove to the Greensburg rail station, where a troop train was waiting.

"The fact is that the people who migrated from Italy to the United States between 1900 and 1925 fell in love with this country," said DePaul, whose mother and father were born in Italy.

For all of their patriotism, many Italian-Americans began the war under a cloud, a result of Italy's early alliance with Nazi Germany. In the earliest days of the war, scores of Americans of Italian descent were jailed on the flimsiest of charges, a 2001 congressional report found.

DePaul remembers begging his parents not to speak Italian on the bus on their way downtown. "I didn't like the glances" the family got from the other passengers, he explained.

Like the old country

Like many 1940s neighborhoods, Hilltop was a world unto itself. It had DeBone's Market on Steck Street, Hilltop Pharmacy on Tremont Avenue, Angelo's barbershop on Tremont, Felice's bar and restaurant at Highland and Bierer, and Zappone's auto repair shop on Vine Street.

"Hilltop was alive with the sights, sounds and aromas of the old country," DePaul said. He recalled the scent of tomato sauce and meatballs, seasoned with garlic and fresh herbs, wafting from homes on Sundays. The aroma of bread, baked in outdoor ovens, was "sensational," he said.

Many families planted backyard vegetable gardens, the neighborhood had a World War II victory garden on land adjacent to 8th Ward School.

Hilltop produced some war heroes as well.

The most renowned was Frank L. "Hank" Spino of 408 Wood St. At 23, he became a B-17 bomber pilot. A slender 123 pounds, Spino was on his way to the East Coast from Salina, Kansas, when he flew his Flying Fortress over Greensburg, managing, as he said, to "buzz the old Hilltop neighborhood."

Angelo Rose, who grew up at 410 White St., remembered "everybody was at the window" at her school when Spino brought his plane in fast and low.

In an unpublished oral history for St. Vincent College, Spino, now living in Florida, said "people still ... call it 'the day the chimneys shook.'"

In 1943, Spino and his crew were shot down over Germany. He spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp.

Anthony "Tutta" Reno of Highland Avenue was part of an amphibious combat engineering team that waded ashore on Utah Beach hours before the main Normandy landing of June 6, 1944.

Three Hilltop men died in service to their country, according to the 1946 publication, the Service Album for Greater Greensburg

Tony Deverse of 519 Catherine St. was a tailgunner in the 22nd Bomber Squadron, 341st Bomber Group, when his plane was lost in March 1944 somewhere in the Pacific.

Lt. Jack Reamer of Highland Avenue died on Dec. 18, 1945, when his plane crashed. He is memorialized at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines, according to the World War II National Memorial Registry.

Julian Poli of 436 Steck St. was injured in a preflight training accident. Hospitalized before he was discharged from the service in June 1943, he died as a civilian 18 months later.

Greensburg veterans – we thank you for your service.

Source: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_766737.html#ixzz1dQ0ekaqH

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Toyota Shows Machines to Help Sick, Elderly Move

This new technology from Toyota would be amazing to have here in PA with our large population of elderly residents. Can’t wait to see these products hit the market!

Toyota unveiled its ambitions for high-tech health care Tuesday, displaying experimental robots that the auto giant says can lift disabled patients from their hospital beds or help them walk.

The company aims to commercialize products such as its "independent walk assist" device sometime after 2013 — seeking to position itself in an industry with great potential in Japan, one of the world's most rapidly aging nations.

Eiichi Saitoh, a professor in rehabilitation medicine, demonstrated the "walk assist" device on Tuesday, strapping the computerized metallic brace onto his right leg, which was paralyzed by polio.

He showed reporters at a Toyota facility in Tokyo how the brace could bend at the knee as needed, allowing him to walk more naturally and rise from a chair with greater ease than the walker he now uses. Wearing a backpack-like battery, Saitoh walked up and down a flight of stairs, smiling with delight.

Saitoh said he had tried Toyota's machines with patients and was confident they helped people recover more quickly from strokes and other ailments that curtailed movement.

"It may be difficult to predict the future, but the era of an aging society is definitely coming," he said. "We need partner robots to enrich our lives."

Toyota also demonstrated an intelligent machine with padded arms that can help health care workers lift disabled patients from their beds and then carry them around. Another mobility aid worked like a skateboard to help people relearn balance.

Toyota officials said technology for autos such as sensors, motors and computer software are being used in such computerized gadgets to help people get around, and what they learn about mobility for people will likely be of use in future cars.

Prices and overseas sales plans of all the machines are still undecided, according to Toyota.

General Manager Akifumi Tamaoki said more tests were needed on more people to insure safety and reliability, and gain user feedback, but the commercial products in the works were going to be smaller and lighter than the prototype versions shown.

"We define gentle and smart machines as partner robots," he said.

Toyota has previously shown human-shaped robots that played the trumpet and violin, and those that move around and talk about Toyota cars at showrooms.

Rival Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. has developed a sophisticated humanoid robot called Asimo, which can run, talk and dance. But Asimo has been limited to showrooms and labs and has yet to enter any hospital or home.

Toyota faces competition from other manufacturers that are all working on gadgets to tap into the health care business. Honda also has demonstrated machines worn on the legs that help people move, as have some universities.

Hirohisa Hirukawa, a robot exert at the government-backed National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, said more time would be needed to see the full busineses potential of the Toyota machines but was upbeat.

"I feel that the walk-assist device has real potential to sell to consumers," he said in an email.

Tamaoki said Toyota is keeping its offerings simple, compared to those from Honda, so they can enter everyday life easily.

Read more http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/toyota-shows-machines-sick-elderly-move-14855252