**Toyota's Teammate and GR86: A Fun-Filled Day at HQ**

Today, I experienced the latest in self-driving technology with Toyota's Teammate system. Advanced drive activated, and we're driving! The track was a perfect spot to put Teammate through its paces, and I have to say, it felt incredibly smooth.

As a level two autonomous vehicle, Teammate can accelerate, brake, steer, change lanes, and even merge from freeway to freeway. I got to experience this firsthand on the track, where the GR86 was waiting for me. Ken Gushi took me for a spin in the car, and I was impressed by its performance.

The GR86 is an affordable, fun-to-drive sports car that's all about having a good time. And it looks great too, with a spoiler on the premium model and a sleek design that's realistically doing something for aerodynamics.

But the real challenge came when we headed off-road. Ken had never been off-roading before, so I got to be the driver. We were equipped with a stock SR5 looking Tacoma, which was supposed to be able to make it through the trail. As we made our way up the incline, I could feel the traction slipping – we were sinking in! But Ken didn't give up, and with Austin's help, we managed to make it to the top.

The day was filled with excitement, laughter, and a few close calls. Huge thanks to Toyota for sponsoring this trip and allowing us to share it with you. Stay tuned for more updates on Teammate and GR86, as well as other fun content coming your way!

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Today I experienced the latestin self-driving technology.-Advanced drive activated.- There we go, we're driving.Hit the track and Kengets stuck on a rock.- Oh, I don't like this.Oh, I don't like that at all.- And it's all thanks toour friends over at Toyotafor sponsoring this video.So our friends over at Toyota invited usout to their headquartersfor HQ confidentialwhere they announced anumber of new vehiclesbut they also gave me asneak peek at Teammate.To understand what makes Teammate special,you first need to understand how toclassify a self-driving vehicle.Odds are the car youdrive today is level zero,AKA you, as a human have to doall of the driving yourself.Stepping up to level one isstarting to become more commonas it allows you toremove yourself somewhatfrom things like steeringand acceleration.Think radar cruise controlthat handles the accelerationand braking, along withthe lane keep assistto mostly keep your carcentered in the lane.Teammate is a step above thisas it qualifies as level two.Here, the vehicle can not only accelerate,brake and steer but itcan also change lanesand even merge from freeway to freeway.- Just a very light touch.- Whoo, that is really, really trippy.I'm not doing anythingright now for the record.I'm keeping my hand touching the wheel,a very, very light amount of pressureso that it knows that I'm herebut it's doing all of this.There are a lot of sensors whenit comes to using Teammate.There's lidar, there's a numberof different radar, cameras.There's a lot of stuffgoing around the vehiclebut what it allows you to do, the driver,is to really experience what feels likea person is driving.I will say it is incredibly smooth.There are certainly systemsthat have some levelof autonomy when it comes to drivingbut I've found that noneof them feel like you'rebeing driven by a person.It's always a little bit,how you're ping pong between the lanes.It never feels quite right.This feels incredibly smooth.Now, it is important to note that you,as the driver, still needto be ready to take controlat any time but for most freeway driving,the only thing you reallyneed to do is pay attention.The car can handle the rest.Teammate isn't some far future tech demo.While I drove in a prototype,this system will beginshipping later this year.Switching gears a bit,I also got a quick lookat the Toyota bZ4X concept.This is Toyota's firstfully electric vehiclein a very long time.Since this is a concept,sadly I couldn't drive itbut it is on a fast track to production.The bZ4X should be on sale mid 2022and I am very curiousto see how it comparesto other fully electric vehicles.All right, so today is the fun day.So we're out here at Toyota HQand the main goal today is to experiencesome of the fine Toyota'sthat they've given us to try.Not only do we have a one hour drivein whatever Toyota we wouldlike, but on top of that,we get to do a little funthing called a track day.You've maybe never heard ofit but it's my favorite thing.The new Toyota GR86 is a big step forward,Not only does it look great in my opinionbut it's also got a bigjump to not only powerbut especially torque thanksto the larger 2.4 liter engine.And it also happens to sound rad.While I was waiting formy turn in the GR86,I had to take a quick drivein the very fast Supra.I mean, come on.How often do you get a trackday in someone else's car?All right, ready?And...Whoa, there's a lot of grip in the Supra.Woo and we're immediately coming around.God, it sounds so good.Yeah, there we go.Okay, tuck it in, swing wide.It's not a good line.Not a good line.I'm sorry, I can't showyou what I'm looking atbut just trust me, it's very cool.And we're done.Wow, that's fun.That's fun.Okay, okay, whoa, okay.Here we go.I was, yeah.All right, how you doing, sir?- Great.I love that six cylinder Supra.- Haveyou driven in the GR86 yet?- I have not.- It's just great.It is great.So you can't drive it 'causeyou have to be driven...- Yeah, yeah.- But Ken Gushi gave mea ride and I was like...- Whoo, I want to see your face.- That's stock?- That's stock.- Wow, that sounds great, dude.- The power delivery comesearlier now, 3700 RPM.- So I got a ride withKen Gushi on the trackwith the GR86.And the thing is there'ssome major improvementswith this car.First of all, I like the way it looks.When I first saw thephotos, it looked nicebut seeing it in person,seeing how they've reallydone away with any like, fake grills,like, all of this stuff is actually,realistically doing somethingfor the aerodynamics,same thing behind the rear tires.I think it's a good looking vehicle,especially with the spoilerthat comes on the premium modelbut with the GR86, thisis all about havinga affordable, fun to drive sports car.And this thing on the trackwas seriously impressivebut there's a lot morethan just the 86 here.So now that it's starting to rain,it is perfect for thenext part of the day,which is going to be the off-road trail.Now I've been told that this very stock,SR5 looking Tacoma willbe able to make the trail.So we'll see.Ken, have you ever beenoff-roading before?- Nope, so this is,this is a trip of firsts.- Wow, you've never, wait, so you've neverbeen off road, like at all, at all?- Well, I mean, I'vedriven my Corolla on a dirt road.- WaitKen, why am I driving?You should be driving ifyou've never off roaded.- Can I?- Well, you know what?We've got time, we'lldo, we'll do two rounds.Oh, here's some, what,water crossing time.- Let's go.Yeah.- I can tell all this,that was some deep stuff.- You got the deep stuff.Oh God.- So I can tell there'svery little traction'cause we don't have likefull mud tires on this thing.So like, I can feel like, asI get on it, I just like..- We're sinking in.- Like, we basically can slip and slide,just sitting right here,straight flexing on it rightnow we're straight flexing.It's smooth, right?Well...- It's the best day ofwork I've had in awhile.- For someone who's neveroff roaded before, are you ready?- I am ready,This, oh my God, I can'teven see out this window.So I've done years of doingoff-road in video games.I think I can get this.Just as a slight note,Austin is holding my phone.I trust myself to hold my phone morethan I trust Austin to hold my phone.- Do you want me to stick itout the window like this?- You can, there's just alot of sharp rocks under you.And I'm not, I don't havea case on that today.We're not sponsored byRhinoshield for this video.That's a, that's a future video.- You gotta,you gotta punch it, okay?Commit, commit.- Where do I punch it?When do I punch it?- Go, go, go.Yeah.Those are cones, thoseare cones, those are cones,ah, you missed 'em!Best of luck.- Okay, okay, I can do this, right?- All the way up.- All the way?- Keep going, keep going up.Yup.- Okay.- There you go.Right, right, right, hard right.You'll pull all the way up, there you go.All the way up to the sky, yep,Left, left, left.Yep, there you go, there you go.There you go.- Oh, I don't like this.Oh, I don't like that at all.Cars are not supposed to do this.Okay.- You did it.- Yeah.- Gnarly shotof you with one wheellike three foot off the ground.- Ah, let' go.- Huge thank you to Toyotafor having us out hereand sponsoring this trip.And I am very excited to show you someof the other things that we'll be talkingabout very shortly.So make sure you stay tuned.I'm going to go up, borrow the GR86.I'll see you later.