Have 2008 Gen II, Gen III Plug-in on order :)

Well, it's up to Toyota to make the TS030 a household name, so to speak, and I'm frankly surprised that the company hasn't had a big PR push to do just that. I mean, why didn't every Prius owner in the world get an email proudly announcing the creation of ToyotaHybridRacing earlier this year?

Toyota says that an important reason to race the TS030 is to help push the development of the hybrid drive system so that we at street level can look forward to ever more efficient generations of Prius. So why wouldn't the company want to trumpet to the whole world the team's existence, especially now that it is having some success? After all, isn't it just another form of advertising? And what about that old saying, "win on Sunday, sell on Monday"? I say make the connection and reap the rewards, but what do I know?

I talked to my dealer about all this and he told me that he reckons it has something to do with the Japanese culture, i.e. one doesn't blow one's own horn, and he has seen this sort of thing a number of times over the years in his dealings with Toyota Canada HQ.

So dang it, I guess it's up to me and other like-minded Prius and TS030 fans to do the trumpeting that Toyota seems reluctant to do, and thereby, I hope, bring some of the excitement of the TS030 to the Prius and make the latter more interesting and more desirable to more people. And then no more climate change!