Toyota_Blogger
From Antarctica to the Atacama - The Hilux proves its extreme toughness again!
By Toyota_Blogger on 2012-02-21 16:07
While the Imperial Toyota South Africa team was adding another chapter to the history of the Dakar Rally – in temperatures of up to 48ºC in the Atacama Desert of South America – another South African team was making history in temperatures of as low as -50ºC on the desolate white plains of the Antarctica.
In both these quests – in the harshest of climates and the most extreme environmental conditions imaginable – specially adapted Toyota Hilux vehicles built in South Africa played a vital part, emphasising the fact that when it gets tougher than tough, there is a Hilux around.
Toyota confirms FIA World Endurance Championship entry and two cars for Le Mans
By Toyota_Blogger on 2012-02-08 09:37
• Toyota Racing enters 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship
• Toyota TS030 Hybrid to make debut at the Six Hours of Spa Francorchamps on 5 May
• Two-car entry for Le Mans 24 Hours
Toyota Racing has expanded its plans for the 2012 season and entered the FIA World Endurance
Championship.
The team had originally planned only to take part in selected races – fewer than required to be
considered a full-time entrant – but revised its programme after unexpected changes faced by the
championship. This means the Toyota TS030 Hybrid will make its racing debut at the Six Hours
*By: Carla Pegg
My FJ Cruiser Ambassador experience was an awesome one. I really enjoyed it and am rather sad that it is all over.
We were lucky enough to be sent to Cape Town to be at the J&B Met.
It was great that we were able to drive around in the FJ Cruiser in Cape Town. I still love that car. It definitely suits Cape Town, although I did notice there were fewer of them around than in Johannesburg. So we once again got the attention of other drivers on the road as well as pedestrians.
The first-generation Toyota Avanza was a pioneering ‘no-frills’ compact MPV that delivered exactly what it promised on the tin – it got as many people as possible from one place to another in comfort. However, the all-new Avanza which goes on sale on the 6th February 2012 has upped the ante considerably by going big: it’s big on style, big on space and big on comfort.
Toyota NS4
Toyota recently unveiled the NS4 advanced plug-in hybrid concept vehicle at the 2012 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The NS4 signifies Toyota’s vision for future mobility with a focus on connectivity and the human interface. Toyota engineers were challenged to design a new mid-sized concept for potential global market introduction by 2015. The NS4 concept is a dedicated plug-in hybrid, separate from the Prius family, designed with future mobility requirements in mind.
Dream finish for the Imperial Toyota team at the 2012 Dakar Rally.
By Toyota_Blogger on 2012-01-16 11:17
Dream finish to the Dakar 2012. Team Imperial Toyota concluded their maiden foray into the ultimate test of endurance with a 3rd place for Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz in the number 301 Hilux, an 11th place for Duncan Vos and Rob Howie in the number 313 sister car, while the team Overdrive entered South African Hilux of Lucio Alvarez and Andy Graue finished 6th in the 2012 edition of the Dakar – Argentina, Chile, Peru.
What a boytjie ! Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz led the last real stage of the 2012 Dakar until confusion at a waypoint caused them to slip back to a second place for the day, cementing their 3rd place overall. Dirk von Zitzewitz: “..we were on km 240 where there was supposed to be a waypoint, but it did not come up. We could see bike tracks to our left, the West and went looking for the waypoint in that direction. We saw a helicopter had landed there, at a big drop off that was not on the road book – because we weren't supposed to be there.
Peru provides toughest challenge. If anyone thought that the Atacama ended in Chile, they were proven wrong today, on day 13, stage 12 of the Dakar. Not long after the cars disappeared into the seaside dunes, the running order started to change tales of woe started to emerge from the dunes. Conditions were not what most people expected.
Giniel de Villiers: “These were the trickiest dunes we've had so far, anything could happen out there. They're not that big, but steep and tricky, very, very difficult.”
Time to keep it all together. With only three stages to go, all three the South African Hilux's are in the top ten, with Giniel in third place. Today's stage from Arica to Arequipa was another long, harsh trek through the Atacama, alternating between steep rocky climbs and the perils of fesh-fesh.
Giniel finished 4th, Duncan 9th and Lucio 10th, to not only finish inside the top ten, but to also keep all three vehicles in the top ten overall. As on previous days, the Imperial Toyota's ran like clockwork, making their music across the desert without any major mechanical trouble.
The Dakar starts to bite. The terrain for today's 11th stage was very hard on the cars and their crews. Now, firmly in the second week of the race, attrition has become a fact of life for many of the competitors. The organisers, who are familiar with the ways of the Dakar, has taken this into account and the bivouacs have been getting steadily smaller as the race progressed.
It is hard to imagine a more desolate landscape than the one the teams traversed today. Barren and vast, the entire Atacama is inhospitable and unforgiving.
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