ALL NEW AUTO CARS

Auto shows seem to have become risky business for car manufacturers. After the BMW 750i that was stolen at the Detroit motor show earlier this year, now more disturbing news comes from the Chicago Auto Show, where the Toyota booth attracted unwanted attention.

According to local newspapers, seven new Toyota models had their interiors vandalized by three young men, aged 20, 21 and 28. We don't know what really caused this deviant behavior, but one report attributes it to the fact that the three vandals were allegedly angry "about American jobs going overseas".

And it seems they wanted the Japanese cars to suffer badly, judging from the tools they used - screwdrivers and razor knives. The three young men were arrested on Wednesday evening before the show's closing time when guards noticed them acting suspiciously around a Toyota Camry. The mess they made inside the seven cars is substantial: dashboards were left smashed and ripped, seat upholstery sliced, windshields scratched, speakers cut open and turn indicators broken.

According to the police, the damage to the cars is estimated at $30,000. Interestingly, they had no preference for a particular model, vandalizing a Camry, a RAV4, a Land Cruiser, a Prius, two Tundras and one Lexus ES350. Funny thing, no accelerator pedal or floor mat were damaged...

Lexus has unwrapped the limited run 2011 IS 350C F Sport Special Edition convertible, which is set to go on sale in the U.S. later this month. Only 175 units will be built, each carrying a $55,120 (not including $875 destination) sticker and some styling and performance upgrades over the standard model.

The limited run hardtop convertible comes in a choice of two new colors (Starfire Pearl or Obsidian), and features bi-Xenon headlights with LED daytime running lights, special exterior badging and 19-inch alloys in a dark graphite finish, wrapped around in 225/35 Michelin Pilot Sport tires. Heated and ventilated black-red leather sport seats with red stitching plus a new wood trim spice up the cabin.

Lexus is also offering a comprehensive standard equipment package, which includes navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, rear back-up camera, voice command, Lexus Enform telematics system with Safety Connect and various XM services.

To improve handling, the Japanese brand's engineers fitted the F Sport model with new Bilstein shock absorbers, shorter springs and a sway bar.

“The F Sport Special Edition builds on the IS 350C and takes the fun of the convertible up another notch,” said Mark Templin, Lexus Division group vice president and general manager. “The racing inspired F Sport accessories on this car were precision engineered specifically for this vehicle, allowing us to provide performance without compromise.”

A 10-month long probe done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA found no link between software-driven throttles and unintended acceleration in Toyota Motor Corp vehicles. The investigation concluded that the previously suspected sticking accelerator pedals and loose floor mats are to blame for the unfortunate incidents, which allegedly caused some 89 deaths.

“There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas”, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.

While the result of the government inquiry on this matter is in Toyota’s favor, the Japanese maker is still not off the hook. First of all, Toyota has been found 'guilty' in regards of the two mechanical safety defects including the 'sticky' accelerator pedals and a design flaw that allowed the floor mat to trap the accelerator pedal.

Besides losing massive amounts of money due to having recalled nearly 8 million vehicles in 2009 and 2010, the automaker also had to pay almost US$50 million in fines and lawsuit settlements. And that’s not the end of it, as there are still many cases in federal and state courts, which have an estimated potential liability of up to US$10 billion.

Last but not least, the government may demand that all vehicles must be equipped with braking systems capable of automatically counteracting unintended acceleration, which could deliver another blow to Toyota’s budget.

In response to the NHTSA/NASA study, Steve St. Angelo, Toyota’s Chief Quality Officer for North America, said:

"Toyota welcomes the findings of NASA and NHTSA regarding our Electronic Throttle Control System with intelligence (ETCS-i) and we appreciate the thoroughness of their review. We believe this rigorous scientific analysis by some of America's foremost engineers should further reinforce confidence in the safety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. We hope this important study will help put to rest unsupported speculation about Toyota's ETCS-i, which is well-designed and well-tested to ensure that a real world, un-commanded acceleration of the vehicle cannot occur."

“We will continue to develop and equip Toyota and Lexus vehicles with industry-leading safety technologies, including many based on breakthroughs in sophisticated electronics systems. We will also continue to cooperate fully with NHTSA and respected outside experts in order to help ensure that our customers have the utmost confidence in the safety and reliability of our vehicles. Everyone at Toyota – all 30,000 of our team members in the United States and the many thousands of Americans at our dealers and suppliers across the country – is focused on listening to our customers and constantly improving our products and service”, Mr. Angelo concluded.

A few things happened in the past 24 hours that grind my gears on the subject of Toyota Motor Corp.'s "unintended acceleration" saga. The first thing that ticked me off were some smart-ass headlines for the findings of NHTSA-NASA study from the same sources that were bashing the Japanese company with Daily Mirror-like titles a little over a year ago. That's something like looking at the mirror and saying who's the dummy now... No need for further explanations on that.

The other is that, Toyota, its PR associates and even some news sites / blogs are focusing on the software-related findings and either leaving outside or playing down the two mechanical defects - a.k.a. the “sticking” accelerator pedals and a design flaw that enabled accelerator pedals to become trapped by floor mats. These defects lead to some 8 million vehicles being recalled in the United States alone.

Yes, the study by NHTSA and NASA found no evidence for electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration, but that doesn't mean Toyota is innocent for the rest of the sudden acceleration-related issues nor for neglecting to notify the government agency of the sticky pedal defect for more than four months after the company found out about it.

By John Halas

[From NHTSA]

Timeline of Major Events

• March 29, 2007: NHTSA opens a preliminary investigation into pedal entrapment on MY’07 Lexus ES350 models based on five consumer complaints alleging three crashes and seven injuries. The all weather floor mat is identified as the possible cause of these incidents.
• July 26, 2007: A fatal crash occurs in San Jose, CA involving a ‘07 Camry in which the driver suffers serious injuries and the driver of the struck vehicle is killed. The incident also appears to have been caused by a pedal trapped by an all weather floor mat.
• September 13, 2007: After determining the fatal San Jose crash was caused by floor mat entrapment, NHTSA tells Toyota a recall is necessary.
• September 26, 2007: Toyota recalls 55,000 floor mats in ’07 and ‘08 Camrys and ES350s.
• August 28, 2009: A fatal crash occurs in Santee, CA, involving a loaner ’09 ES350. The vehicle is found to have an all weather floor mat from another Lexus vehicle. Investigators find that the vehicle’s previous driver had reported an entrapment incident to the dealership.
• September 25, 2009: NHTSA meets with Toyota and tells the company that the floor mat recall is insufficient and the agency expects a recall for the defect in pedal design. Three days later, Toyota tells NHTSA the company will recall the gas pedals.
• October 5, 2009: Toyota recalls 3.8 million vehicles for pedal entrapment by floor mat and sends an interim letter to consumers telling them to remove floor mats. The defect remedy involves gas pedal reconfiguration, floor pan/carpeting revisions, and ‘brake pedal override’ software for vehicles with keyless ignition.
• December 15, 2009: NHTSA officials meet with Toyota executives in Japan to explain NHTSA’s defect recall process and underscore Toyota’s obligations under U.S. law to find and report defects promptly. Toyota commits to making improvements.
• January 16, 2010: Toyota informs NHTSA that certain CTS-brand pedals may have a dangerous ‘sticking’ defect. NHTSA calls an in-person meeting on January 19.
• January 19, 2010: At the meeting, Toyota provides field reports on sticky pedal incidents, and NHTSA tells Toyota the agency expects prompt action. Toyota informs NHTSA several hours later that the company will issue a recall.
• January 21, 2010: Toyota recalls 2.3 million vehicles for the sticky pedal defect.
• January 27, 2010: At NHTSA’s urging, Toyota expands its pedal entrapment recall to cover an additional 1.1 million vehicles.
• February 16, 2010: NHTSA launches an official probe into the timeliness and scope of the pedal entrapment and sticky pedal Toyota recalls.
• March 30, 2010: At the request of Congress, the U.S. DOT announces two studies into unintended acceleration. One looks at possible electronics causes for unintended acceleration in Toyotas; the other examines unintended acceleration and the safety of vehicle electronics across the automotive industry.
• April 5, 2010: NHTSA demands the maximum, $16.375 million, civil penalty on Toyota for its failure to notify the agency of the sticky pedal defect for more than four months after discovering it. Auto manufacturers are legally obligated to notify NHTSA within five business days of determining that a safety defect exists. Toyota pays the full fine on April 19.
• December 20, 2010: Toyota agrees to pay the maximum $16.375 million civil penalty as the result of another NHTSA investigation into whether their recall of 5.5 million vehicles for pedal entrapment was conducted in a timely manner.

Nearly 3 months after the start of production of the standard LFA, Lexus will debut the more track-focused Nürburgring Edition at the Geneva Motor Show in March. While we've known about the bespoke version of the LFA since May, 2010, according to the Japanese automaker, this is the first time that the supercar will be shown in public.

Available as a special package on the options list, Lexus will build a maximum of 50 Nürburgring Editions out of a total of 500 LFAs. The limited production model gets additional aerodynamic features and technical revisions to improve handling and downforce, increases the V10 engine output by 10bhp to 562bhp and speeds up gear shifts in the six-speed sequential transmission.

In the United States, the Nürburgring package is priced at $70,000 while a Matte black finish carries an additional cost of $20,000. The MSRP of the standard LFA is $375,000.