Latest news with #Fiero
Miami Herald
09-08-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Toyota Admits ‘Many Challenges' With Its Mid-Engine Sports Prototype
Toyota's GR Yaris M Concept, a testbed for the company's compact mid-engine sports car engineering, has yet to make its planned 2025 race debut as the manufacturer grapples with significant developmental challenges. After the GR Yaris M Concept missed another race in Japan's Super Taikyu Series this past weekend, Toyota announced: "While many challenges have been identified and improvements are ongoing, there are difficulties unique to midship-mounted vehicles in terms of braking, steering, and driving, and Toyota has therefore decided not to participate with this vehicle at Autopolis to refine it further." Toyota added that it "has its sights set on entering the vehicle in future races," but there are only two more Super Taikyu Series rounds left in the 2025 season. The Super Taikyu Series consists of seven rounds, with its final two races scheduled to take place over a three-hour event on October 26 at Okayama International Circuit and November 16-17 at Fuji Speedway. Toyota unveiled its GR Yaris M Concept in January. According to the manufacturer, the GR Yaris M Concept features a new G20E engine with an IHI turbocharger, producing 400 to 450 standard horsepower. A version with a larger turbo is also available, offering up to 600 horsepower. Mid-engine sports car development issues have occurred with other automakers, such as General Motors (GM), which encountered several problems with its Pontiac Fiero produced during the mid-1980s. The Fiero sports car used a three-quart oil pan instead of a four-quart one during its first model year, resulting in the engine sometimes running hot due to an oil shortage, according to MotorTrend. Pontiac's 1984 Fiero also had weak connecting rods and a wiring harness mounted too close to the exhaust manifolds, which increased the risk of engine fire. One in every 400 debut Fieros experienced a fire, and GM didn't recall the vehicle until 1987. So, what makes a mid-engine car difficult to perfect? These vehicles have a low center of gravity, which aids stability but makes regaining control harder during spins. Mid-engine sports cars are also more expensive on average to make, posing challenges to companies like Toyota. In contrast, companies like Ferrari, known for using this configuration, aren't as restricted in this area. Since mid-engine parts are more difficult to access, repairs can also come at a higher expense. Rumors of Toyota using the GR Yaris M to help revive its mid-engine MR2 sports car have excited many, but this concept's slow development raises doubts about a near-future MR2 release. Toyota hasn't yet pulled the plug on its mid-engine sports car testbed, but those waiting on an MR2 revival shouldn't necessarily hold their breath. The automaker has until mid-November to fulfill its goal of entering the GR Yaris M Concept into Japan's Super Taikyu Series, and whether this happens will likely influence release timelines for future mid-engine models. Toyota's current struggles with its compact mid-engine sports car concept underscore the challenge of striking a balance among performance, reliability, and affordability in these vehicles. Still, the manufacturer appears to be carefully navigating these obstacles to facilitate smooth debuts of future mass-market models using the configuration. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
These Are Your Worst Experiences With A Recall
Car owners worldwide wish that every vehicle rolled off the assembly line perfectly designed and manufactured, but nobody's perfect. We asked earlier this week for your worst experiences with a recall. The comments section was filled to the brim with tales of mechanical woes and lackluster customer service spanning decades of automotive. There were faulty cars that were refused recall service, and vehicles claimed to be repaired but still had the reported issue. Not to spoil anything, but not even dealership employee are immune from a frustrating recall. Without further ado, here are the most egregious stories: Read more: These Are The Dumbest Looking Cars Of All Time, According To You In 1991, I had a 1986 Fiero and there was a recall about the exhaust manifold, which could crack and lead to a fire risk. I was in college and took it into the local Pontiac/BMW place for the recall, which took a couple I drove off, the gauges were all messed up, the windows rolled up and down without commands, the headlights came on and turned off randomly, etc . I turned around within 100 feet of the dealership and drove it back, and told them they had messed it up, which of course they claimed they did not. So, I opened the engine hatch/truck and found the of unplugging the wiring harness to get to the exhaust manifold, they had cut it. They butted the two halves together and wrapped it with tape. They claimed the car was like that when they got it, but I happened to have a picture of the engine bay available. They refused to replace the wiring harness, but they did splice each wire they cut. I ended up with the car running right, but a ball of electrical tape the size of a softball back entire time, the BMW salespeople kept strongly suggesting that I get a new car. They offered $100 for the Fiero in trade-in because it was messed up. Submitted by: hoser68 The Kia Stinger forums are filled with horror stories of people getting their Turbo Oil line recall done and the dealerships having no idea how to work on the engines, Kia quoting a 3-hour job that supposedly takes six and some places thinking they need to drop the whole engine.I need to get mine done, and I'm worried. Submitted by: ProjectNeo My dad had a 1975 Corvette and back around 1978 or so he had a set of Firestone 500 radials put on the car. They were recalled and replaced before there was any issue, forward 20 years and my dad lets me take the car on a road trip about 200 miles from home. My buddy and I hear a noise from the right rear and sure enough, the tire's gone flat. I nurse the car to a safe spot, jack it up and drop the spare from underneath and, boom... there's a 20-year-old Firestone 500 just waiting to finally see daylight. Submitted by: BuddyS Getting a recall taken care of from a defunct OEM is really difficult... I had a 2006 Saab 9-2X (essentially a rebadged Subaru Impreza) that fell under the Takata recall. I get the recall letter from GM telling me that the car needs to be taken to a certified Saab service center in order to get it taken care of. Problem is, Saab had gone under 8 years prior. Logic would dictate that any GM dealership or even a Subaru dealership could handle it but nope. I had to call GM's customer support line to find an aftermarket shop that GM was willing to work with to handle the recall. The shop was a 2-hour drive in a complete different county from mine. Submitted by: RemainKalm916 Where to start? Well, my worst experience with a recall was the Chrysler A-604 transmission back in the early '90s. Good old Lee Iacocca pushed this new FWD application 4-speed auto out to the market well before it was fully was a disaster on all a young Chrysler District Service Manager at the time, I had the misfortune of dealing with a lot of VERY angry customers who bought new cars that very quickly failed the cars went into limp-in mode, which locked them in 2nd gear and made them barely drivable, aside from limping them into one of our overwhelmed dealers who neither had the parts nor enough transmission techs to fix issue was not so much that there was a recall. It was that we were ill-prepared to fix them, even when the recall came out. One of the challenges with NHTSA regulations is manufacturers are required to send recall notices out within a very tight time window, regardless if they have the parts or training to do the course, being Chrysler in the early '90s, we ran fast and loose with quality on most fronts. There were plenty of disasters somewhat akin to the A-604, but it was the pinnacle of doing things the wrong way.I still remember driving in one morning to see one of my dealers when my own company car's transmission went into limp-in mode.I was not amused. Submitted by: Factoryhack 2017 Kia Optima PHEV. Get a recall notification to install anti-knock software to keep the engine from grenading. Never had an issue with knocking or ticking before this. Pick the car up after the work is "done". Within 20 miles of driving, engine starts knocking on the freeway and completely grenades. Between that, hybrid battery failure, wiring harness failure, and a short in the stereo that drained the 12V system, it sat at the dealer for 18 months between Dec 2021 and April 2024Cherry on top: they offered me a $2000 "goodwill" payment tied to an NDA and a clause that said if I sold the car and the next owner sued them, I was on the hook for the damages. No thank you Submitted by: dubgasm 2018 Pacifica hybrid. It was undrivable due to a wiring issue in the transmission. We had to wait 4 months for a new transmission because of the UAW strike. Chrysler did cover a still waiting to get the charging system recall fixed (again) so it doesn't burst into flames when charging. We haven't been able to charge it for over a year, and that's the main reason we bought it over Honda/ first and absolutely last FCA product we will ever buy... Submitted by: DCnative The Hyundai engine recalls on my manual 2014 Elantra mid-2021, I got the knock-sensor recall upgrade from Hyundai Canada meant to monitor my engine for signs of engine knocking. It would put my engine into a safety mode if any engine knocking was discovered. Potentially, I could get the engine replaced under warranty. The warranty had been extended to 10 years or 200,000km. I fell within both criteria, January 2022, the knock sensor engages and I limp back to the dealership in safe mode (can't rev the engine over 2000 RPM in safe mode). Hyundai Canada had the car for 4 weeks, no communication with me. Finally, they gave me back the car, claiming my oil filter was the issue (they said it wasn't OEM and that caused the knock sensor to falsely engage). Next day, the knock sensor kicks in while on the highway as I drove 110kmph; it was like someone slammed on the brakes and I nearly got rear-ended getting off the highway when it happened. I parked the car at home, called the dealership back, told them to come tow the car back and fix the issue and that I wouldn't drive it again until fixed as it was not safe to 3 weeks, they wouldn't give me an update or rental. Finally, after 4 weeks, they said they found metal shavings in the oil pan and engine and I got a rental car. 6 weeks total elapsed before I got the car back with a brand new engine, but they made me pay for a new oil pan (they said the warranty wouldn't cover it and it was needed). Sold the car only a few months later. Submitted by: Jeffaulburn Here in Canada, some Hyundai models have a recall for premature rusting on the brake lines and subframe. My 2015 Veloster was under this recall. As a tech of a Hyundai dealer, I knew it had to be done. The day I drove it in, the brakes were getting worse and worse. After being left in the parking lot for a few hours, the brakes were completely lost and it had to be driven in using the handbrake to stop it. Submitted by: ThatYoteGal The airbag recall for Acura several years ago.... Was told to park my car and not drive until parts became available.... That ultimately was 6 months... Fortunately, my lawyer got Acura to supply a free rental from Hertz for the entire time. The Hertz rental experience is a whole other story and near disaster. Submitted by: Jdg000 I got a ticket due to a recall once. I brought my Miata in for an annual inspection/preventative maintenance. The recall fix required a computer reset, which they did before running the emissions test. But when you reset the computer, you've got to run the engine for some number of miles (maybe 100?) before you can run the test. I only drive the car maybe 1500 miles a year, so it took me a while to hit 100 miles. And in that time, I got a late registration ticket. Submitted by: Give Me Tacos or Give Me Death I knew a guy in college who was on his way to pick up some mail that had been delivered to his previous address. On the way, he was in an accident and was seriously injured by a bad Takata airbag. The mail he was going to get included a recall notice for the airbag. Submitted by: Tycho Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This Lamborghini Diablo Kit Car Has More Aura Than Any Real Supercar Ever Could
Kit cars are typically an inherently uncool subgenre of the enthusiast world. By driving a kit car you're living a lie, pushing a narrative that you can afford more car than you really can. Supercars are already decidedly uncool, but spending the time and effort to emulate the supercar looks without any of the supercar performance is just pure dork behavior. That is, unless you lean into it and build something that nobody would ever mistake for the real deal. Pushing your kit car build from mere facsimile to wild manga drawing brought to life is a step toward making your fake Lamborghini kind of cool again. This fiberglass job is slapped over the top of a stretched Pontiac Fiero chassis, because of course it is, and it's on its way toward being a really cool machine, but I think I know how to make the switch flip all the way to cool as heck. It needs an engine swap. All V6 Pontiac Fieros used the unkillable but hardly high-performance L44 2.8-liter making 140 horsepower and 170 lb-ft of torque. This engine is holding this Lam-faux-ghini back from its true potential. Some Fiero enthusiasts will swap in the relatively easy-to-install Cadillac 4.9-liter L26 V8 with a slightly more impressive 200 horsepower and 275 lb-ft, but this is even still not enough. An early 5.7-liter Lamborghini Diablo, by comparison, pushed 485 horses and 428 lb-ft of torque from its V12 engine, so in order to make this kit car really something special, it should be able to exceed that number. Thankfully General Motors made a 303 horsepower transverse FWD V8 that can be installed in the Fiero engine bay, and fitted with a supercharger for at least 550 ponies. Yeah, that should do it. Heck, maybe I should buy it and do that very thing. Read more: Apparently It's Illegal To Put A 'For Sale' Sign In Your Truck Now From the seller: "I have a lamborgini diablo kit car runs drives stops and everything functions as it should both doors go up and down custome interior new exhaust car was built on a fiero frame that was stretched v6 motor 5peed trans" This car is an aesthetic victory looking like it was ripped from the pages of a comic book, it needs enough power to back up its good looks. The show should never outshine the go, it has to have enough cash in the bank to cover the checks its bodywork has been writing. The Fiero is pretty uncool, but fitting it with a Diablo body made it deeply uncool. Kicking it up a notch with a "manga livery" makes it slightly cooler than a stock Fiero, but it won't be truly cool until it can embarrass a stock Diablo at every race track in the world. Spend a lot of time and effort perfecting the handling, balance, grip, and power of this mean green machine, and you could have one of the coolest cars ever made. A factory Diablo ran a quarter mile in about 12 seconds, so you'll want to make sure this one can do it in 11 seconds. Don't worry if it makes sense, just do it. Beating a Diablo at its own game with good old-fashioned American hot rodding is the way forward, my friend. None of us can afford to go pick up the Diablo we dreamed about in the 1990s for a cool quarter mil or more, but maybe we can build our own. This seller, in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, is asking a measly $15,000 for this car. At this point it's just another cool-looking kit car with nothing to back it up, but with another fifty to one-hundred thousand dollars invested, you could have a home-built hypercar for a fraction of the money. Oh dang, we can't afford that either, can we? Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
