Unfairly called a stuffy automaker because of their focus on quality, reliability, practically, in popular vehicles like the Camry, Corolla, Prius, Rav4 or Sienna, while something dope like the MR2 or Supra or LFA released periodically proving that Toyota can make a supercar thats interesting, while the pre-95 Lexus LS400 the most reliable car ever sold, its giant naturally aspirated 4 liter V8 means 10 miles per US gallon poor fuel economy or very high operating cost over its 2 million + miles of reliable operation. The 1UZ engine pre-95 non-interference so fault tolerant & reliable & smooth running, that it exists as a virtual paradise of engine technology or superlative and should result in its developers being awarded a Nobel Price in engineering or technology.
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| Euphoria : 2012 Lexus LFA "Japanese Supercar" |
My current daily drive a 22 Toyota Corolla Hybrid with the 2ZR-FXE used since 2009 in Prius 3 & 4 respectively, Toyota opted to put the 4th & 3rd generation Prius drivetrain in the Corolla Sedan body E210 in order to sell even more hybrid electric cars to improve their C.A.F.E score or cooperate average fuel economy, that way they can sell Land Cruisers & GX460 with huge V8 engines that guzzle fuel without violating US laws :)
Similar fuel economy restriction, engine displacement based taxes, and emissions control laws exist in Japan and Europe regarding vehicle fuel consumption & vehicle toxic tailpipe emissions, namely requiring the automakers to use a mixture of technologies like EGR or exhaust gas recirculation to cool combustion to limit NOX or oxides of nitrogen formation, variable pulse-width computer controller fuel injection & computer controlled variable spark ignition, after exhaust header catalytic converters with an O2 sensors upstream before the cat and downstream after the cat so the exhaust gas temperatures creates voltage reference signals for the ECU to adjust the fuel air mixture using data from the hot wire cooled MAF or mass air flow sensor the measures the intake air temperature enabling the ECU to calculate the air density because of the known throat cross sectional area of the MAF, + PAIR or exhaust air injection, and many other technologies designed to reduce tail pipe emissions. One of the most cleaver tricks that Toyota came up with is a thermos bottle that stores hot engine coolant when the vehicle turned off, then pumps the warm coolant back into the engine the next day to preheat the block to warm the engine up faster, which radically reduces cold start emissions which are the worst since the engine tight & oil not lubricating as well & the cat does not work until fully hot. Later they ditch the complex thermos bottle pump storage system and went with an exhaust valve that takes hot exhaust gas and routes heat back into the block during cold start, then it opens to let the hot exhaust take the normal route out the resonator, suppressor, muffler, tailpipe system.
When a hydrocarbon fuel combusted in an engine, air made of mostly nitrogen with about 20% oxygen. Combustion means a reaction between oxygen the atmospheric oxidizer and a reducer fuel mist or vapor injected like gasoline or diesel, sometimes natural gas, or propane, typically E10 unleaded gasoline 87 octane widely sold in America as Regular Unleaded Gasoline as fuel pumps by the million. Combustion reactions between fuels and air produce mostly water vapor and carbon dioxide as emissions.
Sadly combustion is rarely perfectly efficient, especially during cold start when an engine is first started after sitting unused all night, especially in cars parked outside that cool off even more, meaning the block of the engine even cold on cold start, especially during the winter. It takes between 60 seconds and 10 minutes for a typical automobile engine to reach 187 F or 192 F full operating temperature. At this point the exhaust system fully hot and the catalytic convert ceramic red hot so that unburned fuel vapors, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide & other pollutants like HC or hydrocarbon or particulate can be burned off by catalytic decomposition into non-toxic safer gas emissions of CO2 which humans breathe out naturally from respiration, and water vapor which is part of Earth's water cycle naturally.
Broad calls worldwide for the decarbonization of transportation means that eventually government laws doomed to impose huge fuel taxes, making gasoline and diesel much more expensive. It is possible to make gasoline & diesel & common jet fuels from propane, butane, natural gas, biogas and coal gasification products, such that we as a civilization will be making liquid transportation fuels for hundreds of more years, though with currency inflation, crypto and other economic factors the relative cost of these fuels should continue to rise relative to incomes, making fuels proportionately and increasingly more expensive, though governments often subsidize the oil industry to keep gasoline costs low, especially in America where so many Americans are dependent on gasoline fueled vehicles to function as the only practical way of getting around.
I refer to this as the American ICE vehicle trap & have 3 automobiles, a motor scooter & a motorcycle + a gasoline fueled pressure washer & backup generator. That's 7 different combustion engines that burn gasoline, the two smallest are carbureted a GX100 and GX220 made by Honda respectively.
If you interested in buying a new car, here are my top picks:
I was reflecting on how I didn't own any engines as a small boy, though I did ride around in my parents cars, used my dads Honda lawnmower to make money mowing our neighbors lawns for a fee, mostly to fund my childhood science experiments inspired by Mr. Wizard on TV early in the morning episodes before school. I would wake up at 5am naturally and still do, so that I could watch reruns of Mr. Wizard. There is a YouTube channel host that reminds me of Mr. Wizard, on the Tech Ingredients channel or you an visit their website techingredients.com
The first engine that I was gifted by my dad was a small unguided spring start helicopter that burned Nitromethane Mix fuel out of a small 15cc plastic fuel tank in a tiny glow plug engine that released oily stick smoky exhaust. We used a lantern battery 6V with a cord to a small metallic clip connector to warm the glow plug before winding the plastic propeller to spring start the engine. It was called a COX sky jumper. I am not sure what happened to it. See https://coxengines.ca/public/files/Helicopter.pdf
This early experience with engines propelled me into rebuilding the engine of my first car, a 1985 Nissan 200SX with the help of Kyle Music and his marina mechanic step father Tom who loaned me a lot of tools and shared a lot of tricks and know how, especially to remove one of the block bolts that spiral cracked and broke in place when I was using a long wrench to remove the head. It took me almost all summer, almost 1000 plastic sandwich bags and many rolls of painters tape & a dozen sharpies to label and catalog all the parts, so I could document for proper reassembly without instructions, using reverse analysis during the disassembly to make the notes.
The Lexus LFA my personal favorite, though not accessible or affordable. Only 550 were made, they are collectors items & the embodiment of the emotion euphoria in automobile format. If someone were to sell me or give me a Lexus LFA it would be better than winning billions of dollars in a lottery. A virtual wet dream of automotive excellence, the LFA can only be understood by this amazing documentary film https://youtu.be/AZ_C-MAR1LQ?si=9KCuirj3lIm9XFQz
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