Category: Toyota

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COROLLA CROSS SETS THE BENCHMARK FOR SMALL HYBRID SUVS

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Launched here in 2022, and given an upgrade in mid-2025, the Toyota Corolla Cross is – as the name suggests – an SUV crossover version of the all-time world’s biggest selling motor vehicle. Corolla Cross is the largest of Toyota’s three-model range of compact SUVs above the smaller Yaris Cross and the sportier C-HR. It shares the same platform as the C-HR and Corolla. On test was the GXL front-wheel drive model. The original Corolla Cross was available with the choice of petrol or petrol/electric hybrid powertrains but, in line… Read more

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TOYOTA C-HR GR SPORT – IT’SALL ABOUT STYLE

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Great to finally catch up with the Toyota C-HR GR Sport. We missed out on driving this car the first time around when it just got the suspension job. But it was worth the wait because the GR Sport now gets some extra power, with a larger 2.0-litre based hybrid system. And it shows, remaining responsive to the throttle even with two adults and a couple of kids on board — although we weren’t surprised when they complained about a lack of legroom in the back. More on that in… Read more

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TOYOTA YARIS CROSS IS CUTE, COMPACT AND CAPABLE

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As the name suggests, the Toyota Yaris Cross is a crossover version of the popular Yaris small hatchback bulked up to provide access to the booming compact SUV market segment Launched here in late-2020 Yaris Cross is available in four grades: GX, GXL, Urban and GR Sport. The first three models each come with the choice of two- or four-wheel drive. GR Sport is 2WD only. Originally available with the choice of petrol or hybrid powertrains, effective from the 2024 upgrade, all Yaris Cross variants are now exclusively hybrid. Prices… Read more

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COROLLA AT ‘CROSS’ ROADS

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With the automotive industry increasingly switching on to electric power, getting into a new Corolla was like putting on a comfy cardigan. Not that the Toyota favourite that has been around since 1966 was at all moth-eaten and had seen better days. Far from it, the latest iteration, the Corolla Cross SUV, unlike back in the day, does not run on fossil fuel (petrol) alone. With the latest Toyota hybrid system on hand, there are a few electrons whizzing down the wire here too. The ‘Cross’ is Toyota’s way of… Read more

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TOYOTA YARIS HYBRID … CHEAP LOW EMISSIONS TRAVEL

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Toyota’s small but practical Yaris is often overlooked in the rush to buy larger more powerful models. But for environmentally conscious buyers the hybrid-powered pocket rocket offers a very real alternative to fully electric vehicles. The three cylinder hybrid powertrain offers super low fuel consumption and with it incredibly low engine emissions. In many ways, you could say it is the perfect city car. STYLING Yaris has come a long way since the debacle over its name when introduced as the Toyota Echo back in 1999. It is now one… Read more

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COROLLA – PREMIUM PEDIGREE FROM START TO FINISH

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The GR Corolla is not something cobbled together from old race car remnants. Its roots may lie in the Celica GT-Four World Rally car from the end of last century, as far as pedigree is concerned, it is among today’s genuine hot hatches. Back in the day, with Carlos Sainz Sr behind the wheel, the Celica was crowned world champion in 1990 and 1992. Five years later the Celica turbo ST205 was shunted in favour of the Corolla, with Sainz taking up with Toyota Team Europe to win the Monte… Read more

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TOYOTA bZ4X THROWS LIGHT ON BRIGHT FUTURE

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The 100 per cent pure electric car uses a battery only for power, forgoing other forms of traction such as petrol/electric, or plug-in electric systems and, according to Sean Hanley, Toyota Australia vice-president sales, marketing and franchise operations, represents an important step in the company’s new-found eclectic approach to electrification that includes a range of technology. The new BEV is the first vehicle to use the company’s e-TNGA platform designed for a new range of electric vehicles and integrates the battery and motor generator into the vehicle’s structure providing extra… Read more

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SAHARA: SHIFTING SANDS OF TECH AND SAFETY

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How time flies . . .not! It’s been a full four years since the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series had the rule run over it by the maker. The last upheaval to the LC 300, which first made landfall Down Under in the Snowy River Scheme more than half a century ago, was in 2021. Who’d have thought then that the premium Sahara would be knocked off its pedestal by, not only one but two claimants – the ZX and GR Sport – to the Cruiser crown? Slow forward to this… Read more

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TOYOTA COROLLA – STILL KEEPING AHEAD OF THE GAME

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It’s amazing how the Toyota Corolla has evolved over the years. Back in the day it was basic, vanilla transport and that’s the way it stayed for years. Then someone, somewhere flipped a switch and things began to change dramatically, starting with the 11th gen Corolla in 2012. But it was just a warm up for the current model which arrived in early 2018, with its complex, unrepentant, multi-faceted design. Sitting lower than before with a steeply raked windscreen, it presents a predatory nose, with a design that is as… Read more

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BIG BROTHER GIVES PRADO A LIFT

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The pride of the Toyota SUV parade, the Prado, is showing off a new stiff upper lip thanks to TNGA-F architecture shared with its bigger LandCruiser 300 Series sibling. Also on board is the latest in the company’s on and off-road driver assistance technology, including a new 48-volt V-active powertrain mated to a new eight speed automatic shifter. The pedigree has its origins in the iconic LandCruiser with all its on- and off-road capability and functionality. The latest generation consists of five members – GX, GXL, VX, Altitude and Kakadu… Read more