Wow JimA! I didn't know you were such a corporate big wig!

Carps, I put some glass in that blue 1958 Toyopet that Toyota USA just restored. It came out far better than original

 

Aint it funny how the museum cars always seem to be much better than they really were? We have a few like that in our local collection.

 

hahaha, SOHC/DOHC in nascar? do you guys forget what the point is?

If you started letting them running anything in them it would be just another IRL/CART race in a circle with different bodies.

They do it to Limit Power, Even the playing field, so 95% of it comes from the driver.

If they want to play in nascar whey in the hell should we change the rules to Suit them?

and as for it being based off of a production motor you show me one example of the Canted valve heads on the SB2 motors used in NAscar being used on a production GM motor.

if Toyota wants to come over here and race with us, they have to play by our Rules.

~Aaron

 

Racing is so backwards now! Can-Am banned the Chapparal 2J for it's technological superiority, Indy banned the Turbine, F1 banned the Turbine, and F1 banned the Brabham "fan car", a car that worked on the same principle as the 2J. Think of what racing would be today if this stuff was allowed to be tested on the track.

Now, I'm reading that NASCRAP is making Toyota use pushrods when they don't manufacture a pushrod engine? That's nativism at it's worst. Okay, they might beat us. Innovate. Don't try to push the sport into the stone age. When Toyota released the 1UZ-FE back in the early 90s, GM should have been paying attention. I think it's a shame that such massive companies have to resort to "sanctions" on the competition to stay on top in such a trivial pursuit in the grand scheme of things.

I know this kind of opinion probably isn't favorable, but Toyota used to make some damn good cars. the Lexus SC, the Supra, and the Camry of two generations ago were all the best in their segment. there was a time when a Toyota pickup was bulletproof, literally. Now, it seems like they've gotten complacent, as their recalls have gone up over 100% since being in the running for the title of "world's largest car manufacturer".

 

Innovation hasn't gone out of racing.....yet. Look at the Audi R12 for Le Mans. Its a twin-turbocharged, V-12 diesel. Running in the Manufacturer's championship where the Ford GT-40 and the Porsche's ran. The innovation is there...only where the "rules" allow for it.

The IRL is stagnating because nobody wants to build for their formula. Only Honda is building IRL racing engines, and only for the next couple of years. The racing money is on a tight budget and the manufacturer's can only afford to race in some of the series, not all of them. That's why Toyota is NOT building racing engines for the IRL and has gone to NASCAR. They can get more exposure with the car-buying public by building engines for NASCAR and racing there.

Its all about selling cars. Toyota is doing better selling them because they have a better product. GM is falling on its a** because they can't build the cars and trucks the public wants. They could sell a ton of the Pontiac Solstice and make a lot of money; but they've chosen (stupidly) to "limit" production. My daughter's boyfriend has been waiting for them to "produce" his Solstice for more than six months, since before Christmas!!!

Its a complex business, and it takes money to innovate and go racing. If you don't sell cars that people want, then you can't go racing.

 

Doesn't is have something to do with STOCK car racing?

I think that's what they are doing isn't it? Why else would they build a pushrod V8, surly wouldn't be to use in a production vehicle, they moved on from that tecnology years ago.

 

The cars are still the best in their segments, although it's the Koreans who are catching up fast, not anybody else.

So what's changed? They've moed to global manufacturing in order to be good corporate citizens in the countries where they build and sell their cars. Previously they made most of their parts in house, nowadays they source from suppliers in the countries where thecars are built. I know I'm gunna cop some shit for this, but if the recall rate has increased in the US, there's a good chance it's a product of US manufacturing principals and technology, not entirely of Toyta's doing.

Here, in the last ten years GM has had some 29 or so recalls whilst Toyota less than five, that's still not a bad result. A ten percent increase in recalls at one US corporation is still going to be worse by more then double, than a 100% increase at Toyota.

Interestingly, Toyota is more likely to do a precautionary recall than other car companies, trather than wait for the wheels to fall off and people get hurt.

 

Nope, and I don't think it'll be long before Mr T is racing a Hybrid.

Yup.

Yup and because they are investing in R&D plus marketing in the right types of motorsport, the stuff people are watching.

Mr T has a bit of a problem with the ability to build to meet demand, but again they've come up with some innovative ways to get around it without building plants that may fall idle in 12 months when the market changes.

I'm not sure of the exact numbers but industry pundits calculate Toyota is currently spendingg as much on R&D each year as it would need to buy GM outright. Problem for GM is that they don't have that sort of cash. And sadly the answer is in some of the advertising I've seen recently. Like their promo that they employ 29 people for each car they build in the US whereas Toyota only employ 9. You may not like the numbers but if you are a business person, I'm sure you'll understand the sennse and wish you could run your business so efficiently.

PS - Please don't blame me for this thread, I didn't start it and only stumbled on it by accident.

 

ACTUALLY,you CAN get a small block in a Monte Carlo.

 

CEO or not, we will always remember you like this!

pigpen

 

I don't think they were asking for the rules to be changed. Just the one that says they can't play. Which, considering all the cars in the competition are based on front engine front drive chassis that normally feature much newer engine technology and that more Camry's are made in America than anywhere else in the world, seems a little unfair.

So that rule has been changed and Toyota are playing with the big boys.

Toyota have been there since the late 1950s playing by local rules, so i don't think they have a problem with that. However, if the rules are wrong, then surely somebody needs to question them. And I'm inclined to think that a rule which prohibits one of the biggest players in the local market from competing in a sport based on what appears to be nothing more than the location of their global head office, is grossly unfair.