Autoblog

LA 2009: Toyota and Billabong craft one funky Venza

Frank Filipponio — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, LA Auto Show, Wagon, Crossover, Toyota, Specialty, Off-Road

Billabong Toyota Venza - Click above for high-res image gallery

No, this isn't a leftover post from SEMA, although to be perfectly fair, it is a leftover vehicle from SEMA. While reporting on the Hot Rod Toyota Tundra and Tacoma All-Terrain Gamer, we somehow missed this tricked-out Venza. Kitted out by the Australian surfwear mavens at Billabong, it's called the Ultimate Venza Concept. Umm, yeah. While the vast majority of Venza crossovers are probably never going to be used off-road, this Ultimate Venza apparently wants us to know that any extreme sports fan will be happy in one.

Toyota had Street Image do the build. They started with a 2009 Venza and added a body kit with Outback-worthy fender flares and alloy wheels. That crazy custom roof rack can accommodate surfboards, snow boards and wake boards, and can be lowered for easier loading. There's even a hidden cargo rack that allows skis and snow boards to be mounted at the back. There are front and rear hitch receivers, a Grinch Winch to "pull wake boarders into waves or snow boarders and skaters across flat land to a jump or rail," and a TRD big brake kit in there as well.

Besides being identified by the massive graphics along the flanks, Billabong also chipped in wet suit material for the seats and an homage of sorts on the headliner which features a collage of Billabong athletes in action. The vehicle also incorporates certain "living" features like a heated shower system to help you rinse off after surfing and a Verizon Wireless access point router to keep you abreast of current surf and snow conditions. Look for it at upcoming Billabong surf events, read more about it in the press release after the jump, and see it in our high-res gallery below.

Gallery: LA 2009: Billabong Toyota Venza

Photos copyright (C)2009 Frank Filipponio/Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading LA 2009: Toyota and Billabong craft one funky Venza

LA 2009: Toyota and Billabong craft one funky Venza originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Time Magazine lists its "10 Most Exciting Vehicles of 2010" - Do you agree?

Jonny Lieberman — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:12:00 EST

Filed under: Etc.

Time Magazine's 10 Most Exciting Vehicles of 2010 - Click above to begin

Before we begin, let us say that when it comes to cars, Time Magazine can get it right. Like the time they hired Dan Neil to write The 50 Worst Cars of All Time. That was really good. However, now Time has the "10 Most Exciting Vehicles of 2010," and boy is it really awful. In fact, it's so awful that we're dying to hear what Dan Neil thinks of it. Time's list isn't just regular bad, it's take all your credibility on a given subject and light it on fire bad. Akin to letting Glenn Beck run the civil rights desk. OK, but in car terms how bad? The Volkswagen Golf is one of Time's most exciting vehicles of 2010 - and that's not even the really terrible part. We're making you follow the jump for the really bad stuff.

Gallery: Time Magazine's 10 Most Exciting Vehicles of 2010

Continue reading Time Magazine lists its "10 Most Exciting Vehicles of 2010" - Do you agree?

Time Magazine lists its "10 Most Exciting Vehicles of 2010" - Do you agree? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tall wagon/hatch segment drawing more new entries, but not many customers?

Chris Shunk — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Trends, Wagon, Crossover, Hatchback, Honda, Earnings/Financials

The Chrysler Pacifica lasted all of four years before it was unceremoniously dumped from the Pentastar's lineup. The Ford Freestyle endured a name change after three model years, then lasted two more as the Taurus X before being sent out to pasture. The Cadillac SRX lasted six years as a tall wagon before being completely redone as a more traditional front-drive -based crossover for 2010. Mercedes-Benz's R-Class, essentially a lux'd out minivan without sliding doors, has been gathering moss since it rolled into U.S. dealers for 2006.

Despite the less-than-stellar sales numbers of the aforementioned vehicles, there are a surprising number of tall wagons, genre-bending tippy hatches and style-over-utility people movers on the market, and more are on the way. The most recently announced entry into the tall wagon segment is the Honda Accord Crosstour, which is destined to hit the showroom floor this Fall. As far as we can tell from spy shots, it's taller than a standard Accord and has a hatch-like boot, giving it an aerowagon or "touring" style appearance. It certainly won't hurt the Crosstour's case that it's a Honda, and any association with the Accord name is likely a good thing, but customers have proven to be very picky when it comes to the angular tall wagon format.

What passes for success these days? We think Toyota's Venza is a particularly well-done example that manages to marshall an extra dose of style with still-reasonable utility. It's roomy and almost luxurious, yet Toyota has only sold 20,000 copies through June. The Japanese automaker was hoping for 50,000 sales per year, but Toyota national large car GM Bob Zeinstra tells Automotive News that the Venza is just now starting to pickup steam at the dealerships, and one has to factor in the perilous economy when considering total sales of any new vehicle.

For its part, BMW's X6 crossover, perhaps the poster-child for this automotive platypus segment, has actually been selling well for the German automaker, albeit in significantly smaller numbers than more mainstream models.

If Honda's Crosstour succeeds where the Freestyle, Pacifica and SRX failed, the segment may have some life in it. If it doesn't pass the sales test, we're wondering if automakers will finally give up hope on a segment long on new entries, but short on success stories.

[Source: Automotive News subs req'd | Images: M. Balisky]

Tall wagon/hatch segment drawing more new entries, but not many customers? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: 2009 Toyota Venza is one surprisingly slick wagonoid

Alex Nunez — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:58:00 EST

Filed under: In the Autoblog Garage, Crossover, Toyota, Reviews

2009 Toyota Venza - Click above for high-res gallery

The wagons we all know, love and grew up with gradually fell out of favor as the minivan took hold in the '80s. Led by Chrysler's practical little boxes, the van became the king of Mt. People Mover, only to be usurped by the SUV, which took the wagon formula and added a heaping dose of machismo. The wagons have all but vanished, and today, both SUVs and minivans resemble Hollywood stars whose salad days are clearly behind them.

The so-called "crossover" is the new king, at least according to marketers who coined the maddeningly broad term, which now applies to everything from large, car-based pseudo-SUVs to what are - by all rights - traditional wagons, albeit with tall roofs and occasionally all-wheel drive. When Toyota elected to make the Highlander a substantially larger vehicle with three rows of seating, it left a void in its line-up for people seeking a utilitarian five-seater. The lack of a Camry wagon, which has been dead for ages, meant there was an opportunity for Toyota to fill-in the blank with something to compete against the Ford Edge, Nissan Murano and rest of the CUV set. And so we have the Venza.

Gallery: Review: 2009 Toyota Venza

Continue reading Review: 2009 Toyota Venza is one surprisingly slick wagonoid

Review: 2009 Toyota Venza is one surprisingly slick wagonoid originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Geneva 2009: Nissan previews wacky Qazana crossover concept

Chris Paukert — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 03:33:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Geneva Motor Show, Europe, Crossover, Nissan

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Nissan Qazana Concept

To borrow a phrase: Great Googly Moogly. Looking something like a Apple-branded lunar rover, Nissan has released its first images of its Qazana concept, an "intelligent, all-wheel drive crossover which is masculine, agile, lean, and designed for the tough city streets."

The compact crossover appears to be the latest take on the emerging sportscar softroader aesthetic populated by genre-benders like the BMW X6 and Infiniti FX, and to a lesser extent, lower-to-the-ground mainstream offerings like the Toyota Venza. For whatever it's worth, the Nissan Design Europe team says that they were influenced by the "motif of a modern day beach buggy and a four-seat motor-bike." Why this idea didn't result in a more skeletal open-top off-roadster on balloon tires (the Qazana rides on modest-for-a-concept 20-inch wheels), we're not sure, but we think this design has merit on its own regardless. While we wouldn't expect a greenhouse quite this radical or the some of the motorcycle-inspired interior details to see production, a UK-built smaller counterpart to the smash hit Qashqai has been promised, and the Qazana could well influence the design.

Sadly, at this juncture Nissan is mum on what sort of powertrain (if any) motivates the Qazana concept, so we'll just go with the obvious: moon rocks and space ice cream. High-res gallery below, official press release after the jump.

Gallery: Geneva 2009: Nissan Qazana

Continue reading Geneva 2009: Nissan previews wacky Qazana crossover concept

Geneva 2009: Nissan previews wacky Qazana crossover concept originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 03:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2009 Toyota Venza

Jonathon Ramsey — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Crossover, Toyota, First Drive

2009 Toyota Venza - Click above for high-res image gallery

There's a workout regimen called Crossfit that aims to increase one's abilities in eight different areas. Crossfit doesn't reward the specialist, it rewards the well-rounded; it doesn't create marathoners, it creates decathletes. The point of Crossfit is to allow you to enter any situation with the confidence that you have things like the agility, strength and conditioning to do well. The Toyota Venza has the same ethos: pitched as 70-percent car, 30-percent SUV, the Venza wants to do everything well. And when we say "well", we mean it wants to do everything better than the competition: 10,000 people were leaving Toyota every year to get into something between the Camry and the Highlander, things that ended up being the Ford Edge, Mazda CX-7 and Infiniti FX. The Venza is Toyota's request to those buyers to "Come back to papa." Follow the jump to find out whether you should heed the call.

Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Toyota Venza

Continue reading First Drive: 2009 Toyota Venza

First Drive: 2009 Toyota Venza originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota Venza priced from $25,975

Chris Shunk — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:59:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Crossover, Toyota

Click above for high-res gallery of the Toyota Venza

It's been almost a year since Toyota debuted its new Venza crossover at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, and we've heard nary a peep since. With the launch of the V6 model only a month away, though, we've finally received pricing info. The rather ungainly looking Venza will start at $25,975 with Toyota's new 2.7L four-cylinder engine and front-wheel-drive, and top out at $29,250 for the 3.5L V6 model with AWD. This makes the Venza's pricing very close to its competition from Nissan and Ford, though Toyota's model is the only one available with a four-cylinder engine.

Standard features on the Venza include traction and stability control plus plenty of safety features, and the options list looks like it came straight from Lexus. Some of the dollar figures on those options are Lexus-like, as well. DVD Navigation with upscale JBL sound will set you back $2,590, and just the upgraded stereo will cost an additional $1,090. Toyota also offers four levels of luxury packaging ranging from $1,600 for leather seats to $4,345 for a package with leather, HID headlights, mahogany wood finishes and heated mirrors. For full pricing info, check out Toyota's official press release after the jump.

Gallery: 2009 Toyota Venza

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading Toyota Venza priced from $25,975

Toyota Venza priced from $25,975 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SEMA Preview: Toyota Venza AS V by Five Axis

Damon Lavrinc — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:28:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA Show, Tuners, Crossover, Toyota

Toyota gave a sneak peak of its two tuned Venzas ahead of their unveiling at SEMA, and the first, designed and executed by Five Axis, is an attempt to portrait the jacked-up wagon as the go-to vehicle for active lifestyle types.

The Venza AS V (Active Sports Versatility) features a custom body kit, Five Axis-designed AD R6:F_SPEC 20x10.5-inch deep dish wheels wrapped in Yokohama Advan ST tires (305/45s all around), TRD big brakes with six-piston calipers gripping 15-inch discs up front and four-piston calipers clamping 13.6-inch rotors in the rear, along with a custom rear cargo unit and a Magna Car Top cargo lifter mounted on the rear bumper.

All the details are in the press release below the fold and expect more live images to follow in a few weeks.

[Source: Toyota | Image: Jalopnik]

Continue reading SEMA Preview: Toyota Venza AS V by Five Axis

SEMA Preview: Toyota Venza AS V by Five Axis originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Subaru Exiga heading to production, teaser leaks out

Damon Lavrinc — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:32:00 EST

Filed under: Wagon, Japan, Crossover, Subaru

Click either image for a high-res gallery of the Subaru Exiga.

We received word from a little birdie last week that Subaru was gearing up to release its brand-new Exiga into journalist's hands in Japan. Coincidentally (or not), a teaser shot of Subaru's new pseudo-CUV popped up on the NASIOC forum over the weekend and it's clear from the darkened profile that many of the elements from the show car have migrated over to the production model.

The Exiga, which appeared at last year's Tokyo Motor Show as a lightly veiled concept, will likely form the basis for the new Outback, slotting in between the Legacy and the Tribeca CUV. However, it's doubtful that when the Exiga (or Outback) makes the trek across the Pacific it will be sporting seven full seats. Its closest competitor here in the States is the forthcoming Toyota Venza, which aims to define a new segment between wagon and crossover, but in reality, both vehicles own their inspiration to the AMC Eagle, the original wagon on stilts.

Gallery: Subaru Exiga Concept

[Source: NASIOC via Straightline]

Subaru Exiga heading to production, teaser leaks out originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 12 May 2008 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Details remain scarce on Toyota's new inline-four

Damon Lavrinc — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:33:00 EST

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Crossover, Toyota

click above image for high-res gallery of the Toyota Venza

When Toyota unveiled the Venza in Detroit, the only details about what would motivate the CUV/wagon/Camry-on-stilts were two possible powerplants. The first was the range-topping 268-hp 3.5-liter V6, while details about an "all-new" 2.7-liter four-cylinder were scarce. KickingTires tapped CSM Worldwide who made an educated guess on the new engine's output and pegged it at 188 hp, a predictable though sizable bump in power over the 157-hp, 2.4-liter four currently used throughout Toyota's lineup.

The new engine will not only power the base Venza, but will also find a home in the engine bay of the Camry and Highlander. The only concern is how fuel economy will be affected by the extra .3-liters of displacement, but Toyota assures that "excellent fuel economy" will be achieved when mated to the Venza's six-speed automatic.

[Source: KickingTires]

Gallery: 2009 Toyota Venza LIVE

Gallery: 2009 Toyota Venza

Details remain scarce on Toyota's new inline-four originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Detroit 2008: Toyota Venza crossover to challenge Edge, Murano

Alex Nunez — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:26:00 EST

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Crossover, Toyota

Click image for a high-res gallery of the Toyota Venza

Toyota just unveiled the Venza "crossover sedan," which is really another name for, you know, "crossover." With the Nissan Murano and Ford Edge obviously in its sights, the 5-passenger Venza neatly and stylishly fills the void left when the Highlander grew a third row and got bigger. Powered by either a 268-horsepower V6 or a 2.7L four-banger, the North America-designed and built Venza will be sold as a single trim level vehicle. The primary differences are that the six gets dual exhausts and 20-inch wheels, while the 2.7L has a single outlet and 19-inchers. Both engines are connected to a six-speed automatic with sequential shift, and the V6 has a towing capacity of 3,500 pounds, which exactly matches that of the Ford Edge and the current Nissan Murano. The front end clearly communicates Toyota's current styling themes while being Edgelike in its bright, large grille, and headlights that arc out towards the fenders. Inside, the Venza has an upscale, airy cockpit with niceties like contrast-piped leather seats. Storage is typical for vehicles in this class, and like its main competitors, it offers a panoramic glass roof. Pricing is to be announced, but if past performance is any indication, we expect to see a lot of Venzas filled with families on the road before long.

UPDATE: live video of the unveiling of the Toyota Venza is available after the jump.

Gallery: 2009 Toyota Venza LIVE

Gallery: 2009 Toyota Venza

Continue reading Detroit 2008: Toyota Venza crossover to challenge Edge, Murano

Detroit 2008: Toyota Venza crossover to challenge Edge, Murano originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Detroit '08 Preview: Toyota Venza Crossover Sedan coming to NAIAS

Damon Lavrinc — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:40:00 EST

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Crossover, Toyota

Toyota's presence at the Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) will be punctuated by what the automaker is calling a "crossover sedan" that incorporates elements of both a sedan and an SUV. The U.S.-designed and engineered 2009 Toyota Venza will seat five and be built alongside the Camry, Avalon and Solara at ToMoCo's plant in Georgetown, Kentucky. That pretty much means it's a go for production despite never having been glimpsed by the public.

The idea of a "crossover sedan" may just mean that the Venza is a jacked-up Camry, but we'd suspect that this new model would take aim at Ford's Edge and possibly GM's line of Lambda-based CUVs, with car underpinnings and a hatch. In fact, it sounds similar in form to the upcoming BMW X6. Failing that, we're picturing a Toyota version of the AMC Eagle (shown above), which would certainly open up yet another niche into the market.

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading Detroit '08 Preview: Toyota Venza Crossover Sedan coming to NAIAS

Detroit '08 Preview: Toyota Venza Crossover Sedan coming to NAIAS originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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