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Toyota Updates: New Yaris and Corolla Hatch for 2020.
After a break of a few years, Toyota’s baby car, the Yaris, has been given a substantial makeover. In a both surprising, and unsurprising move, there’s a solid resemblance to the recently released Supra. 
There are muscular guards, a sharpened look to the nose, and more room thanks to an increased wheelbase of 50mm. 40mm of height reduction adds more to the sporting look as do new LED lights front and rear. Adding to the looks are two new powertrains. Both are 1.5L in size, with one being a three cylinder and the other a hybrid. The new 1.5-litre is big for a three-cylinder, Named “Dynamic Force”, the petrol engine is coupled with a direct-shift CVT with mechanical launch gear. This helps get a car with CVT off the line quicker and easier. Toyota also fit their new-generation hybrid system with an Atkinson-Cycle version of the engine and a high-density lithium-ion battery. It’s a new system for Toyota and can trace its roots to what is already found in cars such as Camry and Corolla. There’s been some solid refinement work put into this. Toyota say that thermal efficiency runs at 40% and improved internal friction, plus reduced energy losses.
The tried and proven MacPherson struts system underpins the front front section of the new Yaris. The rear is a refined version of the previous torsion beam setup. This should help in improved dynamics and reduce body roll. Internal reinforcements, in areas such as the cowl, rear pillar, transmission tunnel, and inside the rear structure and rear wheelhouse, along with a stiffer dashboard panel will add to the stiffness and stability factor.
Toyota has gone minimalistic, too, with an increase of spaciousness thanks to a paring back of the space used by the trim and equipment. The inside is refreshed, with a new 10-inch Head Up Display the centrepiece. Naturally there are screens for the driver’s binnacle and the centre console. Safety goes up a notch too, with an advanced version of pre-collision safety. The latest system can potentially prevent crashes at intersections by detecting oncoming vehicles as well as pedestrians crossing the road.
Toyota have also provided some updates to the Corolla hatch. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are now standard. The SX and ZR versions have been given Rear Cross Traffic Alert plus what Toyota calls “Parking Support Brake”. It’s a low speed function, working at velocities of up to 15 kilometres per hour, and uses the car’s sensors to read static and mobile traffic at the rear. The ZR’s seats are now eight way powered, and also now have lumbar support. Outside is a new two-tone paint option, with a black roof being made available to order alongside the colours for the main body which includes a new Feverish Red shade.
The range has this pricing structure, with all prices not inclusive of dealer and government charges. Ascent Sport petrol manual starts from $23,335, Ascent Sport petrol CVT from $24,835, and Ascent Sport hybrid CVT $26,335. The SX petrol CVT starts from $28,235, whilst the SX hybrid CVT starts from $29,735. The top of the range ZR starts at a petrol CVT price of $32,135 and ZR hybrid CVT from $33,635.
Veloster Gets New Suit for 2020.
Hyundai’s 3 door sports hatch, the Veloster, has been largely untouched since it was released. For 2020 the pert little machine has been given a new set of clothes inside and out. Safety has been upgraded and there are new engines to punt as well.
A three model range is the situation here. There is the entry level, the Turbo, and Turbo Premium. The middle and top have the 1.6L engine, delivering 150kW/265Nm with the entry level a 2.0L Atkinson Cycle engine with 110kW/180Nm. That powers down via a 6 speed manual or auto, with the Turbos either 6 speed manuals or 7 speed dual clutch autos. Prices start from $29,490 plus on roads for the Veloster, $35,490 plus ORCs for the Turbo and $38,990 for the Premium. Metallic paint is a $595 option and two tone is $1,000.
Standard kit is impressive. The range opens with 6 airbags, tyre pressure monitoring, Forward Collision Avoidance with City camera, Lane Keep Assist, Parking Distance Warning – Reverse, auto headlights, a 7 inch touchscreen with Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, 18 inch alloys and Michelin rubber. Sports gauges in a digital format are in the driver’s dash and there’s the usual drive mode options. The Turbo is fitted with Pedestrian Detection camera and radar, Blind Spot Collision Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Warning, and Smart Cruise Control. LED lights feature front and rear, and there are a set of sports oriented body parts, and cloth/leather seats. Michelin features again on 18 inch black gloss alloys. The Premium has a Head Up Display, heated tiller, rain sensing wipers, full glass roof, and a wireless charge pad for compatible smartphones plus an eight speaker audio system from Infinity.
The bonnet has been lengthened and the roofline has been given a sharper angle, plus the wheel arches have been reprofiled. As usual, Australian imput has been used for the chassis tune to work with the extra body rigidity and refined independent multi-link suspension. The power steering system has a quicker-ratio and Torque Vectoring Control.
Hyundai offer a five year unlimited kilometres warranty, 12 months roadside assistance, a free first service, and a 10 year service & satnav upgrade if servicing the vehicle through Hyundai dealerships. Head to the Hyundai website for details.
Monterey Car Week: The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering.
The Quail. An unusual name, one big event. It’s part of the week that celebrates new and classic autos, new and classic aircraft, high end personal items and cordon bleu’ food in the coastal town of Monterey, California, every August. The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering itself is held in the beautifully manicured grounds of the Quail Lodge Resort and Gold Club in Carmel, just a few miles south of Monterey and a couple of miles east of Pebble Beach.
It’s perhaps the youngest of the numerous automotive themed events and shows that are held in the area, with this being more focused on motorsport. There are plenty of historic style vehicles that attend, but such is its stature, major brands such as Lamborghini and Bugatti, choose The Quail last year as the launch event for a new vehicle. Bugatti, for example, took the covers off of the Divo, powered by an 8.0L W16 engine. It’s a short-run car priced at “just” six million dollars…
This year’s event is to be held on August 16 and each year the organizers go for a theme or two. For this year, Bentley will celebrate and commemorate 100 years of motoring excellence, whilst McLaren will showcase a quarter century of its ground breaking F1. Modern times are given a nod with A Tribute To the Electric Car Movement also being part of the day.
Mclaren Senna (Photo Credit McLaren
It’s the sniff of petrol, the scent of grease, the raw appeal of well worn leather in the motorsports part of the event that draws the crowds. Traditional Classes such as Post-War Sports and Post-War Racing feature heavily, as do Custom Coachwork builds alongside Sports and Racing Motorcycles. There have been racing team displays such as Martini, who have brought along a selection of their legendary Lancias. Pagani have been here, Ferraris old and new gleam in the westering sun, performance companies such as Hennesy have highlighted their Venom F5, and Datsun/Nissan have provided rolling history lessons with classic rally cars.
Rimac’s California Edition C Two Hypercar (Credit: Somer Hooker/New Atlas)
Crowd management is simple. Tickets to enter are limited and this is done to maximise the usage of the location. It enables the cars to be properly viewed and enjoyed without fighting through crowds. It allows the useable space to showcase the event’s reason for existence: the cars. And it adds exclusivity which means the sponsors and haute couture suppliers aren’t pushed to the limit with supplies. Each ticket is fully inclusive too, so the once off cost covers an attendee for everything inside the grounds. However, there are tickets for the philanthropic which donates a portion of the ticket cost to charity, with a premium ticket granting access to helicopter transport to the Laguna Seca Raceway for associated events.
Genesis Essentia Concept: super smooth(Credit: Somer Hooker/New Atlas)
But it’s the judging, the concours, that brings the masses, and it’s done differently here at The Quail. Cars are put into classes and each car is judged by the owners of the other cars in the same class. The winner receives the “Best In Class” award and each of the winners then competes in a “Best Of Show” contest in the Rolex Circle of Champions, and again the winner is the one adjudged by the owners of the cars in competition. Last year’s winner was a truly beautiful example of the best from Italy.
Curtiss Zeus
A Pininfarina concept, a one off, and built upon the chassis of the Lancia Aurelia B52, the 1953 Lancia Aurelia PF200C owned by Anne Brockinton Lee stamped itself as being worthy of the accolade awarded from 235 competitors. A ten year restoration process ensured no part was left untouched in its meticulous rebuild. It’s this that makes The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering virtually unique in automotive week on the Monterey Peninsula.
50-11: Man's Greatest Small Step.
“Houston. Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
“Roger Tranquillity, we copy you on the ground, you got a bunch of guys here about to turn blue, we’re breathing again, thanks a lot.”
These two sentences marked the ending of the first part of mankind’s most audacious mission ever. Just eight years before, on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy had presented a speech which included the words:”First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”
Through an intensive recruiting process, the formation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Mercury and Gemini missions with one and two astronauts, the tragedy of the losses of Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Ed White in a test inside what would be called Apollo 1, those eight years would culminate in words spoken by Neil Armstrong just before 10:52pm Greenwich Mean Time on July 20, 1969.
“Ok, I’m just about to step off the LEM now.” And moments later:”That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Barely seven hours before, the lunar module dubbed “Eagle” had landed safely, but not without some peril, in an area of the moon called the Sea of Tranquillity. The proposed landing site was found, with barely a couple of minutes of fuel left inside the LM, to be dangerously strewn with boulders of a size that, if the Eagle had landed, would have been at an angle that may have resulted in the two level craft tipping over or at an angle that would not allow the upper or ascent stage to fire back into lunar orbit with Armstrong and the second man to walk upon the moon, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, aboard.
In orbit 110 kilometres above was Michael Collins, aboard the Command Service Module, named Columbia. He would soon be the loneliest human being in existence as Columbia would orbit to the far side of the moon and be the furthest human from Earth for up to 45 minutes.
At 13:32 GMT, or 11:32pm Sydney time, on Wednesday July 16, 1969, the massive Saturn V rocket fired upwards from Cape Kennedy. The five F-1 main stage rockets, delivering a million and a half pounds of thrust each, drinking 15 tons of fuel each, took the 363 feet tall behemoth to a low earth orbit point before separating from the second stage.
Once upon the moon’s surface the pair would speak to President Richard Nixon, lay out and perform experiments, and read the words printed upon a plaque fitted to one of the four legs of the descent stage. “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind” The first lunar moon walks would occupy just two and a half hours, which also included the collection of moon surface samples to be returned to earth.
Live footage of the descent of Armstrong descending the LM’s ladder was beamed to the world via the radio telescope in Parkes and Honeysuckle Creek, near Canberra. The back story of this, including the powerful wind storm that hit Parkes just as Armstrong began his historic descent, is immortalised in the film “the Dish”.
After just under 22 hours on the surface, Aldrin and Armstrong would lift off, but this too, was not without issue. A small but incredibly vital switch, the switch to fire the ascent stage engine, had been broken by Aldrin accidentally. Aldrin managed a quick fix with a felt tipped pen, jammed into where the switch should have been.
On July 24, the conical Command Module would re-enter the atmosphere, and successfully landed the crew and their ship in the Pacific Ocean. Battered and discoloured from the immense heat, this module now resides in the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. The ascent stage’s whereabouts are unknown but is thought to have crashed onto the moon after a series of decaying orbits.
The three astronauts would receive a hero’s welcome upon their arrival aboard the USS Hornet, the aircraft carrier tasked with retrieving them, and would be given a bigger welcome back in the U.S.A.
To date, just twelve men have walked upon the moon.
July 20, 1969, is the date, 50 years ago, that Apollo 11 landed the first two of those 12.
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