By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

I've developed a bad habit of waiting until the very last minute to install my daughter's car seat into whatever new press vehicleI have on test every week. Usually, since I've installed the seat in hundreds of different cars in the 30 months she's been around, it isn't much of a challenge. Manufacturers are getting better at making LATCH tabs and attachment points easier to access and seat shapes that better conform to the child seat's frame. The Audi A7, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Chevrolet Equinox and Volvo S60 were all great examples of the practice, and other than swearing a little trying to adjust the Volvo's rear headrest properly, these were no-tears mornings.

This morning, however, the Magical Car Fairy (tm) had left a bright white Toyota Prius V in the driveway. I blearily figured that since the 'V' was Toyota's attempt at a Prius station wagon (i.e. something friendly for families) it would be a relative breeze in the car-seat department.

Oh, how very wrong that was.

It took me a good 20 minutes of frantically searching for the top-tether LATCH point, checking the seatbacks, the expanded cargo area floor, the ceiling (like our Subaru wagon). Nothing. Had to consult the manual... Discovered that I'd been pretty close, but no gold. Finally found it and got the seat in place.

Attatching the bottom belt was doubly frustrating because Toyota decided to hide the LATCH points under two incredibly tiny zippers that were impossible for a tired parent to operate properly, especially one with fat fingers like me. The 'pleather' got caught twice in each zipper...

Sweating and swearing, I finally gave the child seat its final single-knee tug, and went back inside to fetch my daugther. Not a great way to start the day.

If that sounds like petty griping, I have a long list of other things I've discovered that make it unfriendly, but will say they're equally frustrating, especially on an all-new vehicle that purports to be a family machine...

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

We all know that bad math can cost you thousands when picking a car. Guess wrong on the running costs, the insurance payments, or any other variable, and it won't do your wallet any good.

That's what the old argument against hybrid vehicles has been - the fuel savings over a similarly sized gasoline-powered vehicle can't overcome the price premium required. So using the magic of the internet, Toyota, whose push towards hybrids has been long and steady, finally put the numbers together for customers to see.

The Hybridizer is easy to use and lets users choose from four different types of vehicles - gas only, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, pure electric - and compare how they would do in various driving situations. Everything from the daily commute to the weekend run to the cottage, to a 1,000-km road trip. As you might have guessed, the pair of hybrids seem to come up aces more often than not... But it's still a worthy exercise.

To entice people to give the Hybridizer a shot, Toyota will give five winners the chance to drive a Prius Plug-In Hybrid model for a week. Follow the link, follow the instructions, and explain to Toyota why you should be given the chance... Contest closes at the end of April.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Last week we brought you the sad news that Peugeot was canning its endurance racing program in light of recent economic issues, with a little addendum about Toyota readying its new competitor for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Now, we have a few more details and great photos of the TS030 hybrid that'll take the fight to Audi this coming June. It's designed and built by Toyota's European motorsports arm that used to run its Formula 1 team, and will be run by the French Oreca team, which has plenty of wins at Le Mans over the years.

Like the cancelled Peugeot, the TS030 is a hybrid-electric car that uses a gasoline-powered 3.4-litre V8 that is supplemented by a 500 kJ capacitor that gets recharged when the driver gets on the brakes. Apparently, there's still a question as to whether the Toyota will be rear- or four-wheel drive... the pair of electric motors could be mounted at either axle. Lots of testing will be done to figure out which would better suit the rigours of Le Mans.

There will be two cars entered in the car's race debut at the 6 Hours of Spa this coming September.

For a more detailed analysis of the car, its aerodynamics and driver feedback, check out this excellent article at Racecar Engineering.

Toyota’s new poor-man’s Prius breaks cover in Tokyo

By Jeremy Sinek for MSN Autos

It’s been almost a year since the 2011 Detroit auto show, when Toyota revealed plans to add an entry-level subcompact to its growing family of Prius hybrid cars.

At Detroit, the “c” was presented as a somewhat ambitious looking concept. Now, however, we’ve had a chance to poke and prod the actual production vehicle at the Tokyo Auto show. Although it goes by the name Toyota Aqua here, the Tokyo debutante is basically the same car as the Prius c that will go on sale in North America this spring.

Compared with the Detroit concept (and compared with its bigger brother) the Aqua is a rather conventional-looking five-door hatchback. With an overall length 5 mm shy of four metres, the new hybrid fits squarely within our subcompact segment, at least on the outside; inside, it feels quite roomy by subcompact standards, with a normal-size trunk that hasn’t obviously sacrificed much room for battery storage.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

After yesterday's post about Toyota's GT 86 and its sibling, the Subaru BRZ, we had up-to-date photos of the 'Yota, but were still using shots of the Subie's STI-themed concept. No more.

Here are the official photos of Subaru's upcoming BRZ in all its fridge-white glory. It's funny just how many common parts are shared between the two - we figured at least the headlights would be different units, but apparently not.

So which would you prefer: the Toyota or the Subaru? It would be a tough choice for me...

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

For about 15 years, there was a complete lack of affordable rear-wheel drive cars. Memories of tossable Nissan 240SX's, Toyota MR2's and Corollas were but a fading memory, and the pony cars offered by Ford and General Motors weren't worth the effort.

Now, the Mustang is back in a big way, offering 300 horsepower and neat handling for $21,000, while Hyundai's $25,000 Genesis Coupe will get a revised 275-horsepower turbocharged four-banger in 2012. The Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger both offer well over 300 horses for just under $27,000.

Bing: Learn about the benefits of rear-wheel drive.

But the latest pair to join the fray come from corporate cousints Toyota and Subaru: the Toyota GT 86, released today in Japan and due to hit Canadian shores as a Scion soon, and the Subaru BRZ will use direct-injection 2.0-litre boxer engines and six-speed transmissions to send 200-odd horsepower to the rear wheels. Chances are they'll be light and tossable. And hopefully relatively inexpensive given the increasing competition.

Do either of the new Japanese cars interest you? And how much would you pay for one? Would you bite if they were a Genesis-matching $25,000?

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

One of my wife's Facebook friends posted a great question to the 'world' the other day, and I thought it would make for a perfect post here. Here's her question:

"Question of The Day: Do you have a car-model nemesis? You know, the model of car that is always frustrating you in traffic. You're always either stuck behind it or it's always braking for no apparent reason? Mine is a Toyota Corolla – I tell you, if there is a car on the road that is ticking me off, 99 times out of 100 I look up and of course: it's a Corolla! What is yours?"

Oh yes, I agree completely on the Corolla, especially beige ones, which somehow invariably are used as driving school cars that spend their entire lives just hanging out under the speed limit in the left lane...

Bing: Find your perfect beige Corolla.

But Corollas are almost too easy here, so I'll pick another: the Dodge/Ram 1500. Thanks to some aggressive pricing and cash discounts, it`s reallly easy to get one of the company`s big Hemi V8s underhood. The majority of these in my area, though, rarely stay 'as delivered' for long. There's invariably a five-inch lift, light bars, grey fender flares, giant off-road tires and exhaust pipes I could fit my fist into. Those drivers around me are ususally flouting the laws of physics by tailgating, passing aggressively, speeding, not signalling, and more.

Now don't get me wrong: there are plenty of Chevrolet Silverados and Ford F-150s that are treated the same way, but for whatever reason, it's the Ram that always sticks in my head.

So what's yours?

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

One of the recent fads of new technology is the 'unboxing' video: where someone very carefully records the unpacking of some brand-new gadget, phone or computer they've just gotten home. They're usually pretty breathless and obvous, and their populariy is a little confounding.

Toyota have taken a riff at the whole unboxing wave with a video done on its new Yaris. The short piece is clever and cute. And who knew that a glovebox was perfectly sized to hold a burrito?

Do be warned, though: following the link back to the Toyota.com/itsacar microsite results in videos and games that are simply insulting. After gaining so much with the unboxing, the rest of the It's A Car theme is pretty contrived.

By Jake Lingeman, AutoWeek

A lap of the Nürburgring in 7 minutes, 47.794 seconds is pretty impressive--and even more so when you find out that it was done with a 100 per cent electric powertrain.

Toyota driver Jochen Krumbach was at the wheel. He pushed the TMG EV P001 to beat the previous lap record for an electric car - 9 minutes, 1.338 seconds - set by the Peugeot EX1.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Canadians love minivans. Maybe its our more practical nature, our lower relative take-home income and our gear-heavy national obsession that means we respect excess cargo capacity. But there has been a huge shift towards large SUVs and taller crossovers as the stigma of minivan moms became too great.

With the latest offerings from Honda, Toyota and now Nissan being better than ever, and the ubiquitous Dodge and Chrysler models getting key updates to become highly competitive, it's almost the golden age of minivans. Even more telling are the 'mini' minivan, led initially by the Mazda5 - and sorta the Kia Rondo - but now facing stiff competition from the upcoming new Chevrolet Orlando and Ford C-Max.