Either the U.S. government is waging a personal war against Toyota or years of cutting corners have finally caught up to them.

A few hours ago the NHTSA announced the launch of an official investigation into complaints received regarding the rapid frame corrosion of relatively late model Toyota Tundra pickup trucks. According to reports, 20 complaints have been lodged so far detailing excessive rust damage and the NHTSA is concerned by the evidence that the rapid deterioration has resulted in fairly serious issues like spare tire separation and brake system defects.

As of right now, the NHTSA’s inspection only pertains 2000-2001 model year Tundras and an official recall has yet to be issued. Toyota has not issued an official statement on the matter but they are expected to comment later this week after all the relevant documents have been shredded.

Source: TundraHeadquarters

The House has passed a bill, the Advanced Vehicle Technology Act of 2009, that might just lead to future new cars being made out of plastic. It still has to go through the Senate, but are we contemplating a future where we’re all driving polycarbonate cares with panel gaps larger than the federal deficit? Possibly … the bill calls for nearly $550 million per year in research into fuel-efficient cars and trucks that reduce dependence on petroleum. One of the funded projects is to have the Department of Energy demonstrate the production of “cost-effective lightweight materials such as advanced metal alloys, polymeric composites, and carbon fiber;” that is, plastics. Is the government going to require that your next Ford be an oversized Power Wheels car? More after the jump.

Now that you’ve made the jump, let’s all take off our tin-foil hats and take a step back. We reported just a few days ago that the US is a world leader in advanced lightweight steel components, so don’t fret about flimsy plastic unibodies – we’re likely to stick with mainstream metal frames for a long, long time. Body panels and interior materials are another thing: lots of cars throughout history have tried to use composite or plastic panels, Saturn being the most recent and directly applicable one. While those were known for huge panel gaps and thermal expansion woes, the idea is fundamentally sound: hanging nonstructural body panels onto a steel frame is old hat. It’s also lightweight, and the plastics can now be made from renewable sources like soybeans. Hopefully with some research dollars American petrochemical companies (who, by the way, welcome the use of “lightweight plastic and composite intensive vehicles” as it’ll boost their bottom line) can come up with something better than the flimsy polycarbonate pieces on the old Saturns. The result should be weight savings, less environmental impact, and greater fuel economy. What’s not to like? Bring on the Power Wheels!

Press Release:

Research and Development to Spur Innovation, Increase Energy Efficiency through Plastic and Composite Materials

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) represents the leading companies engaged in the business of chemistry. ACC members apply the science of chemistry to make innovative products and services that make people’s lives better, healthier and safer. ACC is committed to improved environmental, health and safety performance through Responsible Care(R), common sense advocacy designed to address major public policy issues, and health and environmental research and product testing. The business of chemistry is a $689 billion enterprise and a key element of the nation’s economy. It is one of the nation’s largest exporters, accounting for ten cents out of every dollar in U.S. exports. Chemistry companies are among the largest investors in research and development. Safety and security have always been primary concerns of ACC members, and they have intensified their efforts, working closely with government agencies to improve security and to defend against any threat to the nation’s critical infrastructure.

For all of you citrus-loving Prius owners out there, orange is the new green. Yokohama has developed a green, eco-friendly, gas-saving tire made out of oranges. Yup, those spherical objects that make your Orange Julius taste good and prevent scurvy are being recruited to help save the earth from performance driving. They’re called “db Super E-Specs” and they are most notable for replacing 80% of the synthetic, petroleum-based rubber in normal tire with a special compound made out of orange oil. If you really want to buff up on your green credentials, be sure to cover the back of your hybrid with pun-laden stickers that note that the Yokohamas are produced in a zero-emissions factory and have 10% less rolling resistance (we used to call rolling resistance “grip” before it became politically incorrect to have a car that could handle) than a conventional tire. What’s the catch? They cost a bit more, and they’re only made in three sizes that are compatible with several hybrid and compact cars. We assume they’ll stay in niche sizes, as we don’t know many hypermiling Nissan GTR owners.

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Source: Getty

Bet you wouldn’t have guessed that the US is a world leader in utilizing high-tech processes to produce some of the world’s most advanced steel for use in domestic cars. “Buy American!” ideologues aside, guy-on-the-street polling would probably reveal that most Americans think we get our advanced steel products from some country we either defeated or saved in WWII. Simply not true – if we do one thing right, it’s heavy high-strength metal. (We’ll pause here to let you crank up the Springsteen.) We’re not just talking stainless – the US is leading the way in incorporating such exotic steels, like dual-phase (DP) or transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP), which let domestic automakers build cars that are both safer and more fuel-efficient.

These new steels let Detroit break out of the impasse. In fact, the new steels are so precisely controlled as to be almost fully customizable – you can pick strength, deformity, and other characteristics and it all gets sorted out at the foundry. So that’s all well and good, but why is does it matter? If you’ve been to Pittsburg recently, you’ll note that American steel manufacturers are hurting because of super-cheap foreign competition. By adding unique value to a product you can’t buy anywhere else, suddenly American steel manufacturers are relevant again, and the supply chain for domestic automakers shrinks accordingly. No doubt foreign competition will get wise quickly, but a head start with technologies like these give American manufacturers the cutting edge. Hopefully Detroit will fully capitalize on the trend.

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It kind of makes sense that lead is still the primary material used to make wheel balancing weights, as one of the heaviest metals and relatively cheap, but with the countless studies showing how the toxic metal causes severe health and environmental damage, perhaps it would make more sense to ban the stuff and come up with a less deadly alternative. That’s the main point of a new proposal by the E.P.A., which has overturned the previous agency policy of kissing the feet of lead industry lobbyists studying the issue further and is now going to follow the lead of European nations (who are of course way out ahead on this issue) and finally ban it from our roads. You see, the little SOBs keep flying off folks’ wheels, landing in estuaries and such, leading to frogs with 12 legs and an uncanny taste for Taco Bell nacho cheese … that sort of thing.

Perhaps most surprisingly, the groups that use and produce these weights aren’t screaming bloody murder. Maybe they sense that getting on the wrong side of a “lead issue” isn’t the best PR move, after that recent Chinese toy scandal. Steel and zinc are two alternatives that industrial weight manufacturers can switch to with relatively little disruption, although because these metals are lighter, they will lead to thicker and more expensive weights. Even Wal-Mart is voluntarily on board, saying they feel it’s “the right thing to do.” Look, when Wal-Mart signs on to a public health move, you know it’s a done deal. Anyways, bully to politicians, the EPA, and the relevant industries for actually doing the right thing here.

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Image courtesy Powertec Engineering

Whatever you think of the current Nurburgring hoopla/controversy, its undeniable that the Radical SR8LM is an unbelievable car. And while a lot of that is simply its bantamweight nature, another reason is the head-explodingly badass Powertec Engineering RPA Macroblock V8 lump nestled under the bodywork. Heavily based on Suzuki’s GSX-R 1300 Hayabusa engine, it’s a seriously developed and extremely lightweight powerplant that is begging to be shoved into anything it might possibly fit into, and possibly some things it won’t (you will get massive RideLust bonus points if you engineer a Macroblock R/C car, even if it is absurdly nonfunctional). But while the insane Mosler-esque visions we’re having of dual-RPA engined CRXs doing 4-wheel burnouts are almost pornographic in nature, the reality of the engine in its Radical SR8LM application is almost as titillating.

Radical SR8LM

To be clear, this is a Hayabusa-derived motor, but it’s not simply two longblocks sharing a commonly geared crank or some such nonsense. The block itself is custom-milled, relying on the 1300cc engine’s basic dimensions but otherwise bespoke. The heads are directly pulled from Suzuki’s parts bin, however, and adapted to mate up to the dry-sump block. Let’s go through the numbers – it weighs 194 lbs dry and makes up to 450 HP in its Stage 3 2.8L version. That is a naturally aspirated 160 HP per liter, no doubt assisted by the engine’s ability to spin to 10,500 RPM before bouncing off the limiter. At those engine speeds, the damn thing probably sounds like some sort of otherworldly choir of massively oversquare (84mm x 63mm) pistons and rods doing their reciprocal dance of power. And this is all stuffed into what is essentially a LeMans Prototype-class vehicle that is completely street legal, at least in the UK. Are you still with me? Take a cold shower and watch this video of an older 2.6L RPA-based car, the standard Radical SR8, run around Nurburgring (the SR8LM Nurburgring run keeps getting pulled off of Youtube, so this will have to suffice). Then take another cold shower, just for good measure.

[Thanks to Powertec Engineering for the information.]

Despite their urgency to rid themselves of the under-performing brand, Ford apparently has no qualms helping themselves to Volvo’s wealth of cutting-edge technology. Fresh on the heels of the 2009 Ford Focus’ impressive win with the IIHS, Ford is again making headlines for yet another achievement in the field of automotive safety with the 2011 Ford Fiesta.

Apparently, over 50% of the new Fiesta’s body structure is constructed out of lightweight, incredibly high-strength Boron steel (which, for all you Liberal Arts majors, basically means that it’s indestructible up to 100,000 miles when – in keeping with the rich Ford tradition – it will begin to rapidly decompose). Unlike the Volvos from whence the technology is pulled, however, the super steel compound was only used in select key areas, including the Fiesta’s floor structure, front rails and beams, and the integrated “body-side reinforcement.” Essentially an extremely complex roll cage, the primary structural components of the body-side reinforcement include the slim A-pillar, the intrusion-resistant B-pillar, the rocker panels to which the B-pillar is fixed, the stabilizing rocker baffles, side roof arch and the lower A-pillar.

To demonstrate the Fiesta’s impenetrability, Ford Fiesta Movement agent Ryan Dembroski recently traveled to the “Will It Blend?” studio in Orem, Utah, to put a piece of the Fiesta’s Boron steel to the Blendtec Total Blender test. Having decimated objects including an Apple iPhone, marbles and magnets, Tom Dickson, founder of Blendtec and host of the popular YouTube videos, tried but failed to crack, cut or crush the steel. Check out the video below to view the results of Dickson’s experiment for yourself.

Source: Ford

The Car: 1993 – 2002 Chevy Camaro

For those that don’t know, the venerable F-body platform debuted in 1967. It was used exclusively for only two cars: the Chevy Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird. Refined and updated, it was produced all the way until 2002, when it underpinning all the 4th generation cars – including our subject today, the 1993 – 2002 Chevy Camaro. The 1993 version was an updated version of the previous car, as all previous generations had been revisions too. Think of the F-body as an experiment in evolution, having crawled out of the Detroit ooze in ’67 and changing with the times ever since.

LT1 V8.

As anybody will tell you, the big news with any Camaro is the engine. You might think of the Camaro as merely a rolling platform for the engine it’s designed to accommodate. Since the General’s pushrod smallblocks are universally regarded as excellent ways to move a vehicle to extralegal speeds, it’s no surprise that the ’93 Camaro debuted with the new LT1 V8 (which had appeared in the Corvette one year earlier). This 5.7 L lump made a healthy 275 HP and 325 ft-lbs of torque, which in the early nineties was a pretty big deal. Of course, many were offered with the anemic 160 horse V6, but we’re not interested in that. We’re more interested in the fact that you could get a Borg-Warner 6-speed cog-swapper right off the bat. You could also get your choice of roof configurations – coupe, convertible (starting in ’94), or T-top.

The LT1 was the most powerful motor offered in a Camaro since 1970, after which emissions restrictions strangled the crap out of the former pony car. At under $17,000 new, it offered a lot of Corvette-level engine at bargain-basement prices. So when the ’93 V8 models debuted, let’s just say that lots of long male hair was waving in the wind as backroads everywhere were filled with the acrid scent of tire-smoke. When the 305 HP SS version (produced by non-GM contractor SLP Engineering, at first) was a welcome upgrade. Furthermore, in ’97, you could pick up one of the rarest modern Camaros ever made – the Z28 SS, which produced 330 HP out of its Corvette-sourced LT4 engine. Only 106 were made. The engine upgrade march went on as the ’98 non-SS cars received the new LS-1 engine making 305 HP dead stock. This was the first all-aluminum Camaro engine since the insanely rare and expensive ’69 ZL-1. After ’98, the SS cars produced 320 HP.

And then, the upgrades stopped. Sales plummeted, revenue fell, and GM couldn’t devote the resources to redesign or upgrade thing with such low numbers. The Canadian plant that built all F-bodies shut its doors in August of 2002, and the Camaro and related Firebird were no more. But that didn’t keep a rabid fanbase and an enthusiastic aftermarket away. It’s still one of the cheapest ways to go fast there is.

Of course, let us not forget all of the niggling quirks that tend to saddle these cars. They were crude vehicles, with uncomfortable interiors, questionable ergonomics, and problematic build quality. You could hardly see out of the things, and with a short wheelbase and a live-axle rear end, they weren’t the best handlers in the world. Although the suspension can be sorted out with aftermarket tweaks, it’s never going to be a S2000.

Verdict: Draw

We’ve never had a draw on Rust or Lust before, so we’re as baffled as you as to what to make of it. The pros of this car are obvious – it’s a dirt cheap way to go very fast. Parts are easy to come by, and any bow-tie lovin’ aftermarket entity will sell you anything you want. How fast do you want to spend (to paraphrase Matthew Crawford)? PS – there was also a cop version!

But also, would you want to? Camaros are saddled with some class stigma – just like the a Corvette or a Ferrari. You don’t become a synonym for “mullet inside” for no reason whatsoever. Plus, with a car like this, there aren’t simply any “used cars.” You get two flavors of used Camaros – driven raw and put away bleeding, or waxed four times a day and driven only on leap Sundays. One is suicide, the other is going to cost you an arm and a checkbook (but will pay dividends in on-demand burnouts). Choose wisely.

I have a special place my heart for scrap yards, having worked at one for a few years. So I’m a fan of anything salvage-related. The carnage of ripping things apart can only be topped by putting those bits back together in a strange way, and making them work.

The artists of Transmutant are definitely salvage-related. They’re like a bizarre Euro version of a Burning Man version of Junkyard Wars. That’s a triple combination I can get into.

According to their website, they are “a collective of multi-skilled professional artists, performers, event organisers, sculptors, musicians and technicians who have joined forces to offer your event a whole sphere of services to take it beyond your wildest dreams.”

via Don’t Panic

Fanboys rejoice (and for once, that includes us), the 2010 Chevy Camaro droptop has been revived. Last week, GM announced production of the 2010 Camaro droptop would indefinitely postponed as it appeared GM’s convertible-top supplier was in imminent danger of going under. Although tentatively citing 2011 as a future launch date, sources cautioned that finding a replacement supplier was easier said than done, and the Camaro convertible might very well find itself sharing garage space with the Dodge Challenger convertible. Thanks to the $5 billion-dollar Supplier Support Program hastily introduced by Congress last week, however, GM’s Germany-based supplier has been miraculously pulled from the brink of bankruptcy. With their supplier back on board, GM has once again moved the Camaro convertible to the front of the assembly line, but it’ll still have to wait its turn. Despite initial rumors of a summer 2010 drop date, GM doesn’t expect the new open-top Camaro to hit dealer lots until early 2011.

Unfortunately, although the Camaro convertible was saved from certain extinction, the super-performance 2010 Camaro Z28 was not. Shelved alongside the convertible, the complications with the Z28’s production schedule run much deeper than a simple supplier issue. Expected to receive a revised version of the Corvette ZR1’s supercharged V8, the Camaro Z28 has been heralded as critical to GM’s success in competing against the likes of the Shelby Mustang. With a production costs estimated at a staggering $50 million, however, GM can’t afford to breathe life back into the project and has confirmed that the Camaro Z28 will remain cancelled.

Source: MotorTrend via AutoBlog