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Technology,
Toyota
Aside from its hybrid technology,
Toyota has fallen behind the competition in terms of vehicle powertrains which could leave popular cars like the
Toyota Camry and
Toyota RAV4 lagging behind the competition. While most of its rivals have started using
gasoline direct injection, turbochargers and some have moved to
Continuously Variable Transmissions (CVT) to balance performance and fuel economy, many Toyota models are still using underpowered engines and outdated transmission technology. According to a report in
Autoweek, Toyota is finally going to start dabbling in all of these technologies over the next couple years.
In the States, Toyota only currently uses direct injection on the
Scion FR-S,
Lexus GS and
Lexus LS, but AW says it will be introducing two new GDI engines over the next two years: a 2.5-liter Atkinson cycle engine for its hybrids next year and a sportier 2.0-liter turbocharged mill a year later. It sounds like Toyota is also looking to convert its AR family engines to direct injection as early as next year for use in cars like the
Venza and
Lexus RX, but it won't be used on the
Prius due to higher cost that would likely only return an "incremental benefit." The 2.0-liter turbo engine would be a derivative of the 2.5-liter AR engine, but there is no word as to what models this would go into. Based on the success of the
Ford EcoBoost engines, we'd have to guess at least the Camry, RAV4 and
Highlander.
Toyota's transmission lineup will also get some much-needed updating with wider-spread use of CVTs and six- and eight-speed transmissions for its bigger cars. Toyota is one of the few remaining automakers still using a four-speed automatic on its small cars, and this is rumored to be ending with the
next-generation Corolla receiving a new CVT.
Toyota planning 2.0T, more CVTs among other powertrain developments originally appeared on
Autoblog on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:31:00 EST. Please see our
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Report: Toyota planning 2.0T, more CVTs among other powertrain developments
