Toyota Car guides

With the pandemic still looming over our heads, 2021 was a pretty action-packed year for the auto industry. Sure, you had challenges, with automakers having to contend with issues like chip shortages, causing delays to consumers. But regardless, the show had to go on and we got some pretty cool cars making their debut, predominantly towards the latter half of 2021.

Let’s get one thing out of the way, 2021 really was also the year, when the market as a whole began to embrace EV’s and you could see several automakers both the legacy as well as EV startups bring several new models to market. Having said that, we did see some pretty cool ICE cars, also make their debut. Now there were several cars that made headlines this year, it was very difficult to pick out the best ones, but the cars on this list definitely stood out. Here’s our list of some of the most highly anticipated and important cars that were unveiled in 2021.

The 2022 Toyota Tundra came out with all guns blazing. It doesn’t offer a plethora of engine options like its American rivals, but it still has a strong and loyal fan base who swear by its reliability. No wonder the Tundra and the Tacoma have a high demand even in the pre-worshipped market. While the 2022 model’s highlight was the new hybrid engine, there’s one other thing that deserves attention – its composite bed. It is said to be more abuse-friendly, but is that true?

We talk about how the upcoming electric pickup trucks are fast and heavy on performance. Trucks like the Tesla Cybertruck, the Rivian R1T, the GMC Hummer EV, etc. are all quicker than some of the famous supercars of this era. Although internal combustion-engined trucks aren’t known to be ‘fast’, there are a handful of them that could are quite agile. Doug DeMuro decided to list 10 such cool fast trucks, and we agree with every entry on this list.

Nowadays, hybrid supercars are as common as a VW Jetta. Well, not quite, but you get the idea. Pretty much anyone into cars can name at least a few hybrid supercars off the top of his head – Ferrari SF90 Stradale, Lamborghini Sian, McLaren Speedtail, Aston Martin Valkyrie, Koenigsegg Regera, and others. What you may not know is that back when hybrid supercars were even considered, Toyota beat everyone to it. They did so with the Toyota Alessandro Volta, and this is everything we know about it.

By now, it’s painfully obvious that Toyota isn’t interested in reliving the glorious 1990s. Back in those days, they had the SW20 MR-2/MR-S, the Celica GT-Four and SS3, and let’s not forget the venerable Supra Mk IV. However, sports cars cost a lot to develop and their market niche is insignificant compared to something like a Corolla. You can see why, nowadays, Toyota has two front-engine rear-wheel-drive sports cars and both of which are not pure Toyota products – the GR Supra and GR86. The latter, though, is more worthy of the Toyota badge and here’s why.

With less than impressive sales in one of the most profitable segments of the American vehicle market, and an ageing, 14-year old generation still on dealer lots, the Toyota Tundra is arguably due for a complete overhaul. And I’m here to tell you that the all-new and improved 2022 Tundra is closer than ever, with an estimated launch date sometime towards the end of 2021 as a 2022 model year.

Keep reading to find out all the latest information regarding the third generation Toyota Tundra, a truck that will be „dominating” soon.

The 2022 Toyota GR86 and Subaru BRZ twins are back in their second generation and better than ever. Given that cars are getting more and more expensive, it’s good to see manufacturers are still willing to make cars that more people are able to buy. The GR86 and BRZ have a bigger 2.4-liter naturally-aspirated flat-four with 231 horsepower and 184 pound-feet (249 Nm).

With that being said, the new BRZ still costs $28,845 and the GR86 around $31,000, which is more money than some people are willing to part with. Luckily, there is a surprising amount of alternatives out there that can provide similar levels of fun at a lower price.

Among the many engines Toyota has built, two stand out. Both of them were conceived in the early 1990s and would go on to power some of the most recognizable Japanese cars ever made. We are talking about the 1JZ and 2JZ engines. Although the technology behind them is now over 30 years old, they are still some of the most popular engines used in builds. But do they differ simply in displacement, or is there more to it? Here’s what you need to know about both these Japanese straight-sixes.

The current-gen Toyota Hilux has been around since 2015. The 2021 Hilux was around the corner and multiple leaks and spy shots gave us an idea of what it would look like. Just a couple of days back,the company even officially released a teaser with Fernando Alonso behind the wheel. Now, finally, Toyota has revealed the 2021 Hilux with noticeable changes inside and out to go with some changes under the hood.

The Venza nameplate has made a return to Toyota’s stable after a five-year hiatus. The new Venza is a two-row SUV that slots between the RAV4 and the Highlander in the company’s lineup. This SUV is essentially a rebadged Harrier that’s sold in the Japanese market. To make it stand out from the competition and offer a fuel-efficient SUV to the customers, the Venza will be offered as a hybrid-only SUV.

But, is this enough to waive off the competition in the thickly stacked segment where almost every automaker has a presence? Here’s how the Venza stands when pit against the Ford Edge, Chevy Blazer, Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, Honda Passport, and the Nissan Murano.

Toyota’s usual lineup for the SEMA Show is centered mostly around SUVs and trucks, but the 2019 edition brings the fifth-generation Supra into the spotlight. The Japanese carmaker took the 2019 SEMA Show by storm with a handful of modified Supras, either built by aftermarket tuners or developed by Toyota itself to preview upcoming parts and accessories. Here’s the four most interesting coupes you’ll find on the show floor.

It seems fair to say that many people were underwhelmed by the Toyota Supra. People knocked Toyota for the Supra’s looks. Some were upset about its high pricing. And a lot of other people didn’t think too kindly to the engine choices that Toyota prepared for its returning sports car. A base version that produces less than 200 horsepower? Really? The range-topping version of the Supra does have 355 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque at its disposal, but even that came from a BMW-sourced engine. Truth be told, the Supra’s 355-horsepower output isn’t that bad. But it also could’ve been higher, especially when you consider that so many other models from different segments can carry that much power without having to be a sports car, specifically one that has to carry the legacy of one of Toyota’s most iconic nameplates. If you’re wondering how many vehicles have more power than the 2020 Supra, we compiled a list made up of 10 of them. And, if for nothing else, this list may surprise you.

The fifth generation Supra A90 is no longer aspiring to be a Porsche 911 slayer, but, given its price, you can pit it against some pretty brisk, fun-to-drive cars. Toyota designed the latest Supra to be fun to drive, its proving ground being the Nurburgring. Company CEO Akio Toyoda was heavily involved in the development process of the A90. He said that he gauged the experience of driving the new Supra, which is more compact than ever before, in comparison to the old model he used to drive around the ’Green Hell’ to learn the track.

The production version hasn’t been put to the test yet, but journalists were allowed to take turns driving some development prototypes around the Jarama track last year. Car & Driver wrote that "there is a smoothness to the Supra that we haven’t felt in a BMW in years," and we know that it will joyfully slide, but what other cars you can look for if you’ve only got Supra money in your pocket? Well, We’ve decided to explore the diverse range of models that you could go for with that "Supra" money you’re hanging on to.

The Toyota Camry is available in Europe for the first time in decades, sold as a luxury sedan that undercuts the usual luxury sedan suspects on price. The model is a firm favorite not only in America, but also in Russia, yet it has not been available for European buyers who where offered the Avensis sedan instead.

Now that the Avensis was phased out in mid-2018, there is space in Toyota’s Euro range for a large-ish sedan and the global Camry seems like a perfect fit. It is bigger and more expensive than the Avensis, though, and it will not really face off against the Ford Mondeos and VW Passats, but instead a different car that’s very similar to it in terms of formula: the very talented and much loved Skoda Superb, a car that offers the space of a limousine and almost limo-like levels of luxury for a fraction of what an equivalent premium car of the same size would cost.

The Superb is definitely the Camry’s biggest European rival, and once buyers do get accustomed to the Camry being available, these two models will undeniably be cross-shopped. The only problem is the Camry is only sold as a hybrid in Europe and it can’t really compete with the strong powertrain lineup of the Superb - the big Czech sedan even gained a plug-in hybrid version along with the recent mid lifecycle refresh.

The arrival of the Toyota Supra earlier this year marked the culmination of year’s worth of development from Toyota. Most people forget this now, but word of the Supra’s revival goes all the way back to 2007 when Toyota unveiled the FT-HS Concept at the 2007 North American International Auto Show. That never materialized, but it also didn’t stop the speculation surrounding the Supra’s fate, especially when Toyota filed a trademark for the “Supra” name back in 2010. Then, in 2014, Toyota debuted the FT-1 Concept at the same show as the FT-HS Concept seven years before. For all intents and purposes, the FT-1’s arrival kick-started the development of the new Supra. Toyota and BMW worked together on the development of the sports car alongside the latter’s Z4 Roadster. It took some time, but after five years, the world finally saw the production Supra at this year’s NAIAs. As expected, a lot of what made the new Supra what it is today can be tied back to the FT-1 Concept from five years ago. How much, exactly? Let’s find out.

Mid-Size, seven-seat SUVs are taking over our roads, our car parks, and our highways. There’s nothing we can do about the invasion of cars like the Palisade, the Telluride, the Explorer, and now the Toyota Highlander. What we can do, however, is ask manufacturers to make them as good as possible. That is why the scheduled introduction of the new 2020 Toyota Highlander at the 2019 New York Motor Show is such a big deal. The new Toyota Highlander should be the best Highlander to date and this is what we know about it.

Few sports cars can rustle the ‘ole jimmies quite like the 2020 Supra and 2019 BMW Z4. Built as a collaborative effort between the two automaker giants, each is a rebirth of a long-lost nameplate, sliding into a market where sports cars are on the decline. However, despite efforts to meet the demands of an enthusiast-driven public, many decry the Supra and Z4 as nothing more than badge-engineered twins designed to leverage fond memories. But the question remains - how do these two machines stack up against one another?

Ford has just launched an all-new, fourth-generation Escape crossover, a model known as the Kuga in Europe and some other markets. The vehicle enters one of the most competitive and hotly contested segments where all rivals are hugely talented (there really isn’t one bad car to speak of) and picking one above all others is by no means an easy task. But if you were to choose an important rival to compare the Escape to, then that has to be the aggressive-looking Toyota RAV4.

Toyota went for a dramatic visual reinvention of the RAV4 for its fifth generation since the model had really become rather boring to look at in its previous incarnation. Frankly, no subsequent RAV4 had anywhere near the visual flair of the first generation model, a car that looked better without painted bumpers and side trim - that’s how quirky and cool it was. Now, thankfully, the latest RAV4 tries to rekindle that flame, albeit with fresh, edgy styling that makes it look contemporary, although it doesn’t look visually related to the original RAV4 in the way older generations did.

The Blue Oval, on the other hand, didn’t want to risk anything with its new Escape, so it made the vehicle look pretty much exactly like a puffy high-riding Focus. That’s literally all there is to its design, so in this respect, the RAV4 is already starting to look like the more daring, flamboyant option, yet being a Toyota, it doesn’t automatically have associated shortcomings.

Only weeks after the official debut of the new 2020 Toyota Supra, the Japanese brand has released what could be considered a spiced up version of the same car - the Toyota Supra TRD Concept. Revealed at the Osaka Automesse, the GR Supra Performance Line TRD Concept is a looker, but I wonder do you find it as dashing as the Supra mk4 TRD 3000GT. Yup, that was a thing, and that particular Supra had the TRD developed body kit along with a number of other attachments. I will leave the comparison between the awesome Supra TRD 3000GT with the new Toyota Supra TRD concept for another day, but now, I’d like to explore and propose to you what the modern Toyota Racing Development team prepped for the latest Supra. I told you numerous times that I like the way the new car looks, but can the TRD Concept further sharpen my desire for it?

As one of the most anticipated Toyota vehicles in recent years, the newest 2019 Toyota RAV4 debuted as a completely redesigned model. With an all-new exterior, new modern-age interior, and more tech than ever, the new RAV4 managed to jump up the highest step in the imaginary hierarchy of the compact SUV segment in one swing. Safety was paramount for Toyota engineers, and the new RAV4 now has a full safety suit as standard. This includes features like automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and lane departure alert with steering assist. No other similar car has a safety suit as comprehensive as the one in the Toyota RAV4 in its standard form. Regardless of all the imaginable family-friendly features, the Toyota RAV4 somehow managed to stay cool with an appeal that never ends. Now, I’m going to give you 12 awesome facts about the new 2019 Toyota RAV4.

I have been in the business of car journalism for more than a decade, yet, not once in all this time have I witnessed so much scrutiny of a car as we’re seeing right now with the new 2020 Toyota Supra. I can’t say it was unexpected, but literally, everybody is so mesmerized by the newcomer. Not necessarily in a good way, either. Personally, I do believe that this car is possibly one of the best to appear in this decade, but the question is, is this really a Supra? While that question may never be answered, I can tell you a lot of cool things about the new car, and we’re here to talk about them.

Did it all go too far with fakery on modern cars? After a whole eternity of waiting, Toyota finally revealed the new Toyota Supra. The impressions are mixed, but it seems that the Internet warriors aren’t fond of it. At all. And while I personally do like the exterior design and actually believe that the Supra will be a wonderful car to drive, I can pinpoint some obvious problems with it. One of the biggest concerns I had after I saw the prototype appear at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed was the incredible amount of fake vents on the Supra. Sure, I did say at the time that I don’t mind it a lot, but I believed that Toyota would, at least, make some of them real. It did not. Our live experience at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show taught us that the new 2020 Toyota Supra GR has as many as five different fake vents.

As much as I want this car to succeed (because I do believe it is seriously good), that much fakery simply puts me off and casts a massive shade over the whole Supra lore.