Japan-market Toyota Corolla gets upscale and safety features

Toyota Motor Corp. is packing the redesigned 11th-generation Corolla with new technologies in a bid to give the compact a more upscale feel. Standard or optional on the Japanese version of the Corolla are such features as climate-controlled seats, automatic high-beam headlamp dimmers, safety belts with pre-tensioners and interior lights that turn off automatically.

Susie Wolff ready to make F1 history

SUSIE WOLFF is ready to make Formula One history on Friday, although is eager to play down its apparent significance. It has been 22 years since a woman took part in a grand prix weekend, with Italian Giovanna Amati failing to qualify in the opening three races of the 1992 campaign in a woeful Brabham before being replaced by a promising young Briton at the time - Damon Hill. On Friday, in her role as Williams development driver, 31-year-old Wolff will compete in Friday's first practice session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, taking over the wheel from Valtteri Bottas.

Pioneer App Radio officially unveiled

Pioneer has officially unveiled the App Radio that AutoWeek told you about earlier this month. Now that it's willing to talk, Pioneer claims that the radio and audio system is "the first in-vehicle product designed to utilize the processing power, storage capacity, network connectivity and apps of the iPhone and iPod Touch as the primary source for its information and entertainment capabilities." That does sound a lot like what Mini Connected and, in a more platform-agnostic sense, Ford Sync are doing. Pioneer said it couldn't speak to the similarity of those systems, but Ted Cardenas, director of marketing for Pioneer's car-electronics division, briefed us on installation of the device and what Pioneer is doing to minimize driver distraction.