That’s because The Prius Cup pits Japan’s Toyota dealerships against one another in a contest of fuel economy and crew service, not speed.

Read more @ “At Prius Cup, Slow And Steady Wins Race”.

More FT-86 yumminess @ Toyota’s concept cars website: Toyota-Global.com

For “before” pix of the same engine, go to this older post:

(BIG) High Quality Photos Of 3VZE Engine Before Rebuild

High Quality Photos Of 3VZE Engine Being Rebuilt For 1988 Toyota 4Runner Truck:

[Click on thumbnails to see larger image, then click on big image if you want to see full size image...]

Tesla Motors

According to CarScoop:

Tesla hopes to build as many as 20,000 units per year in the southern California facility that’s capable of building one million units annually.

Other than some potential spin-offs using the Model S platform (like an electric GT), there’s a lot of capacity. That’s where Toyota steps in. Toyota and Tesla will be working together to develop electric vehicles. their parts, and the engineering behind them.

Read more @ “Tesla Partners Up with Toyota to Develop EVs, Acquires NUMMI Plant” on CarScoop.

Here’s a [very badly dubbed, sorry] excerpt from episode 1 – the opening line sums up the entire show for regular folk, while the visual around 6:06 sums it up for racers & motorheads everywhere:

It’s all about the impossible inertia drift @ 6:06! And I love the other guy’s reaction too – “What is it? An Mr2? No, it’s… an Eight Six!” It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s that Toyota Feeling!

Watch the rest of this Stage/Series/Season here:
Initial D Episode 1
Once you get there, you can choose subbed or dubbed (or neither), even the link says dubbed in the URL…

Here’s how the story lines tie together:

Initial D The Movie – live action movie that closely follows the storyline of the 1st & 2nd Stages (with a few major deviations like Bunta is a drunk who beats Takumi with a stick, totally not the wise and reserved father you get to know in the tv series)

Initial D 1st Stage = Season 1
Initial D 2nd Stage = Season 2
Initial D 3rd Stage is really a 1-hour 44-minute long episode = Season 3
Initial D 4th Stage = Season 4

Initial D 3rd Stage – streaming in full right here:

Initial D 4th Stage:

The best place to watch the 4th Stage is at the source – the official FUNimation site. It has HQ streaming vids and it’s 100% legit.

Initial D 4th Stage page on FUNimation.com

You can also buy the DVDs and support the amazing animators and clever creators:

[Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood] announced the government is seeking to impose the largest fine ever imposed on a carmaker – $16.4 million – against Toyota for having hidden what it knew about sudden acceleration defects. In September, Toyota had sent dealers in Canada and Europe information on how to repair known defects in accelerator pedals but failed to tell the NHTSA what it knew until January. Federal law requires carmakers to notify the NHTSA of a safety defect within five days of its discovery.”

Read more @ Knoxville News Sentinel – “Finally Feds wise up and crack down on Toyota”.

From Title To Tune Up In 6 Days

When I bought my 1st 4Runner (already 20+ years old and poorly maintained by previous owners), it was leaking coolant and overheating. Within a week I removed the entire cooling system, all the belts and everything else in front of the block. Now, I’m a mechanical person by nature – I love to take things apart and see how they work. But I had never worked on a Toyota engine before in my life. Everything I needed to learn was available online, for free. The 2 most useful resources, beyond a doubt, have been the YotaTech Forums and the Factory Service Manual (FSM). Another vital resource is the local flea market – a treasure trove of quality tools at bargain prices. Every time I got stuck on a part I couldn’t budge, I went to the flea market in search of tools I didn’t know existed until I saw them. This is how I finally loosened the 181 ft/lb of torque holding the crankshaft pulley bolt on plus countless nuts & bolts in hard-to-reach spaces.

Here’s pix from before and after my 1st Toyota Tune Up:

(BIG) High Quality Photos Of 3VZE Engine