Toyota has announced that it will recall some 3.8 million cars and trucks to reshape and/or replace their accelerator pedals. The action is the result of fears that loose floormats may cause the accelerator pedal to stick, increasing the risk of an accident. The recall will be the largest in the Japanese automaker's history, and it will cover a wide range of vehicles from the 2004 model year through 2010 – a complete list is available after the jump. The move comes after an earlier action where Toyota announced it would recall 3.8 million vehicles to only swap floor mats.

Working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Toyota will effect the recall by sending letters to owners of its Avalon, Camry, and Lexus ES 350 models by year's end. Five other models, including the Prius, Tacoma, Tundra, and Lexus IS 250/IS 350 will receive similar notices sometime in 2010.

The plan includes training dealer service representatives to reshape gas pedals, and Toyota will develop and ship redesigned gas pedals beginning in April. Those customers who have elected to have their pedals initially reshaped will still be able to have the pedal replaced when the updated unit becomes available. Vehicles fitted with Toyota or Lexus-made all-weather floor mats will also receive a new set of redesigned front mats.

Interestingly, Toyota will also install a a brake override system that will turn off the engine if both the accelerator and the brake are depressed simultaneously. According to Automotive News, this update will occur on "involved Camry, Avalon, and Lexus ES 350, IS 350 and IS 250 models 'as an extra measure of confidence.'" This action appears to be limited to vehicles that employ Toyota's push-button start system, but interestingly its hybrid-only Prius has apparently been excluded.

Source: AutoBlog

Back in April, we told you about the new partnership between Chris Fesler's custom car shop and Jon Moss, the former director of General Motors' specialty vehicles division. At that time, we only had renderings of the proposed Fesler-Moss Camaro, but these fresh photos of a pair of completed cars is evidence that the duo has been hard at work since then.

The Fesler-Moss Camaro is currently available in two flavors. First up is the Competition Package, which commands a $50,000 price tag in addition to a donor car, and it mainly focuses on a variety of carbon fiber or billet body components, but it also features performance upgrades like a supercharger and six-piston brakes. For customers who want the ultimate Fesler-Moss Camaro, they can opt for the Limited Edition Package. This adds even more carbon fiber items, color-matched leather seating surfaces, a custom sound system, and best of all, swaps out the LS3 for a supercharged LS9 V8. Just sixty will be built at a daunting price tag of $150,000. Full details at the source!

Source: AutoBlog

LeMans-winner and Jay Leno Show racing coach, Justin Bell, heads out onto Fontana's California Speedway with this very same LFA, getting some instruction himself from fellow racer Scott Pruett before taking the better seat for a lap. Hit the source for the vid!

Source: Jay Leno Garage

It's the Mazda that’s guaranteed to send rivals into a spin! These illustrations are the best yet of the forthcoming RX-7– an all-new two-seater sports car, complete with a turbocharged rotary engine.

Although this model will be a natural successor to the RX-8, the logical RX-9 badge is to be shunned in favour of RX-7 – evoking memories of the rear-wheel-drive Mazda produced in various forms between 1978 and 2002.

Reports from Japan have revealed that new design chief Ikua Maeda has already sketched plans for the next RX-7, and is said to be pushing the three-door model to the firm’s board of directors. Mazda has chosen to use the light and compact Renesis 16X Wankel engine – the same unit as fitted to 2007’s Taiki concept car.

With an equivalent capacity of 1.6 litres to improve torque, and the addition of a turbocharger to boost power beyond 300bhp, the RX-7 will be much more sporty than the RX-8.

By sticking with a rotary engine, Mazda will ensure the model can be adapted to run on hydrogen in future. Plus, it would retain the RX-8’s appeal as the only rotary-engined car in production.

Rumours that an RX-7 concept could debut at October’s Tokyo Motor Show came to nothing; it may not appear until next year’s event. A production model would then follow early in 2011.

Source: AutoExpress

Lug nut won't come off? Time to sawzall that wheel off!

Source: HondaTech

AutoExpress' amazing scoop pictures show how the Audi range is set to develop – and here’s its crowning glory. These images show one designer’s take on how a new R10 – a V10-engined flagship supercar – could look.

But this isn’t just a flight of fantasy. According to Auto Express sources, Audi is seriously considering a new supercar to sit above the acclaimed R8. It’s set to share the chassis of the forthcoming Lamborghini Murciélago replacement.

As well as a sculpted body, the car would get a mid-engined layout and a low-slung, two-seat cabin. Audi’s famous aluminium spaceframe chassis technology will be combined with carbon fibre to keep weight down and provide supreme strength.

The R10 will also be wider and longer than the R8, while four-wheel drive ensures it’s firmly planted on the road. Power is expected to come from a turbocharged 5.0-litre V10 with up to 600bhp – that would give 0-60mph in just over three seconds.

Preliminary prototypes, disguised as Lamborghinis, have been spied near the Nürburgring in Germany, although the car is unlikely to arrive before 2012.

Source: AutoExpress

After riding in on a white horse, Koenigsegg Group AB has pulled out of negotiations to buy Saab from General Motors, leaving the Swedish automaker's future very much in doubt. In a brief statement issued by GM (available after the jump), president and CEO Fritz Henderson says that the company is "very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase."

It is unclear what will happen to the brand now, but if Saab fans can hold on to any hope, GM says it will "take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week." It is worth noting that this is different from the brief announcement that GM issued when Roger Penske's group pulled out from buying Saturn – GM immediately announced that they would begin "winding down" the brand. There was at least one other serious bidder interested in purchasing Saab previous to Koenigsegg becoming the preferred purchaser, but it isn't immediately clear if they are still interested, or if their financial backing checked out to begin with.

Source: AutoBlog

Lexus confirmed Monday that it will only lease its new LFA supercar to customers in the U.S. and Canada, with a provision to buy the car at the end of the two-year lease.

On the official LFA Web site, Lexus said it was "targeting to offer the base LFA" at 37.5 million yen — around $420,000 at current exchange rates — with any customization charges added to the price.

Lexus began accepting "purchase applications" in October. LFA production begins in December 2010 at Toyota's Motomachi plant in Japan. Cars will be hand-built at the rate of 20 per month for 25 months, with total production limited to 500 cars.

A Lexus spokesman told Inside Line only 150 cars will be coming to the U.S. Previously, Lexus said only 10 LFAs will be available to Canadian customers. Lexus will only be offering the lease-only program in North America.

In an interview with Automotive News, Lexus executive Brian Smith said no LFA will be built until it is ordered.

Source: InsideLine

This year, for the 28th running of our annual 10Best competition, the rules were simple. First, they raised the price cap from $71,000 to $80,000 (roughly three times the average transaction price of a new car) in the belief that 80 grand is the current point of automotive excellence’s diminishing returns. Cars get more expensive than that, but they don’t get much better. More important, raising the cap makes eligible nominees in two other vital categories: luxo-sport GTs and luxury sedans. Never mind that only two new cars qualified (and one was about to be replaced in a few months, so they left it out).

Second rule: As is the norm, they invited back 2009’s 10Best winners and all the new or significantly altered cars for 2010. Every qualifying vehicle must be on sale no later than January 2010, ergo the complete absence of vaporware.

In all, they hosted a total of 58 automobiles at our secret base hidden amid the farm plots of southeast Michigan. C&D flogged the cars for a week over our long-standing route, which serves up everything from smooth curves to pockmarked apexes to first-gear corners to high-speed straights to elevation changes. Winners in the jump!

If you missed Top Gear this past weekend, you missed a pretty exciting segment where Jeremy Clarkson test-drives the Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10 and compares it to GM’s Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. Wondering who won? Watch the video!

From 1960s Chevelles to modern Camaros, speedy Chevrolets have always been identified with two letters: SS.

But does the tradition-laden performance designation have a future in the new General Motors, which is under pressure to cut costs, make money and meet stricter fuel-economy regulations?

“Absolutely,” Mark Reuss, GM vice president of global engineering, told AutoWeek.

In fact, the SS line could be better--or at least more clearly defined. Reuss envisions cars outfitted on a case-by-case basis, rather than somewhat generically adding horsepower and red-letter stitching to Chevys across the board. Or as he put it, “Not trying to peanut-butter SS for everything.”

“If you look at Chevrolet's heritage, it's important to remember where SS was,” he said.

Source: AutoWeek

Yes, at $375,000 the 2011 Lexus LFA is one expensive supercar; however, when the model goes on sale in January 2011, Lexus will only offer two-year leases, according to Brian Smith, vice president of sales and dealer development for Lexus division. That means Lexus will hang on to the vehicle’s title while you drive it around for two-years.

“If someone buys it the first month and then decides to sell it, that could be damaging for the ownership experience,” Smith told Automotive News. “If it is not controlled and hits the speculation market, all bets are off.”

Lexus has plans to build only 500 units of the LFA over a two-year period beginning in Dec. 2010. No vehicle will be built until it is ordered. Smith said Lexus wants each customer to pay about the same price for the LFA.

“We want people out driving the car and not just parking it in a museum or selling it at an inflated price,” he said.

The 2011 Lexus LFA will make its U.S. debut at the 2009 LA Auto Show next week.

Source: eGMCarTech

So many other cars I'd buy for that amount of money. Christ.

Source: eBay

German brand Audi has just announced that it will debut the company's new flagship model on November 30 in Miami in the Audi Pavilion, a temporary museum. Unfortunately, Audi hasn't released details of the car but, if we trust the rumors, the new model is projected to go on sale in 2010. It was believed that Audi will showcase the car for the first time at the Detroit Auto Show in January, in spite of some voices hinting that it could star at Geneva in March.

“Our claim “Vorsprung durch Technik” also embraces design, which is one of the outstanding elements of the Audi signature. And as top design has now emerged as an acknowledged art form, we see the bridge between art and architecture as a logical step in advancing our brand," Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi AG, said about the event.

The future A8 is believed to be offered with a similar engine lineup, but most units will probably undergo an upgrade to become more environmentally friendly and release less emissions. A 2.8-liter petrol V6 and a 4.2-liter V8 FSI will be available, while a 6.0-liter V12 TDI is also considered.

Overall, the car will be developed on an extended platform of A4 and will comprise lightweight materials especially employed to cut fuel consumption and improve engine performance. Aluminum and magnesium are two of the materials likely to be used on the next generation A8.

Source: Auto Evolution

The Cadillac CTS-V coupe has been back on ever since GM vice chair Bob Lutz said it was back in July.

Today we learned the production 2011 CTS-V coupe will be in Cadillac's booth at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, so we'll expect full details and photos to be released in early January. And we'll expect the car to follow the CTS-V sedan in every detail, 556-horsepower supercharged V8 and all.

Source: InsideLine