The latest spy photos of a similar prototype on the same track reveal a few more details than before. Up front you can clearly see the detailing of the headlights. With their amber marker lights and single projector beam in the middle, the clusters are significantly different from those of the concept. Other revisions worth noting are the three large air intakes and F1-inspired front airdam.

In profile this LF-A prototype doesn’t reveal much more than before. You can see the actual body panels this time around, but there’s not much in the way of character lines other than a slightly swept-back B-pillar, yet another change to the concept. The flat shoulder panels and side air intakes look as though they’ll make it through to production as well. In back, the center-mounted exhaust pipes remain along with the thin taillights and twin-tunnel diffuser. We hope to see a near production version of the LF-A at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.

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Because the transmission is stepless and the two motors are so quiet when they operate, the sensation is an understatement as the 5220-pound sedan drives down the road. Lexus proudly claims a 50-to-70-mph time of 3.5 seconds. The fuel consumption should be about the same as the LS460L’s, which requires 6.2 seconds to hit 60 mph. Under the 2008 EPA testing regime, the LS600hL is rated at 20 mpg city and 22 highway. We estimate that for 2008 the LS460L will have a rating of 17/25. More telling is that our observed consumption with the LS460L was 13 mpg, whereas the LS600hL returned 20 mpg during its week-long visit with us.

Lexus claims this car has V-12 performance with V-8 fuel consumption, and it’s hard to argue with that comparison unless the V-12 in question is in a Mercedes-Benz twin-turbo model, and in that instance, Lexus should expect to get its butt kicked. This new Lexus hybrid is extraordinarily quiet, with particular attention paid to suppressing noise wherever it’s found. There are additional insulators around the V-8’s cylinder-head covers.

The inverter has a reinforced case to reduce the high-frequency vibrations these devices usually emit. And there are myriad other techniques and materials used to bring noise levels down to about half of those found in other luxury cars, according to Lexus’s measurements. The company also paid extraordinary attention to safety in the 600, adding advanced precollision with brake activation to the extensive array of safety mechanisms. This system detects objects, determines the likelihood of a collision, and then applies the brakes up to 40 percent of maximum force without any action by the driver.

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The Lexus ES has come a long way. When Toyota launched its Lexus brand of luxury cars in 1989, its entry-level car was the ES 250, a thinly disguised Camry chassis and powertrain with an upgraded body and interior. This car’s role was to give the new dealers some sales volume to help support the big LS 400.

With each of the succeeding four generations of ES, the car has better met the needs of the upper end of the entry-luxury segment, with more room, more space, more power and more standard equipment. The all-new 2007 ES 350 makes the greatest single leap in ES history.

The ES uses front-wheel drive, while the Lexus is models are rear-wheel drive. In short, the ES is designed more for luxury and a smooth, comfortable ride, while the IS models are designed more for performance and handling.

The ES 350 will be competeing with the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, BMW 3 Series, Infiniti G35 and M35, Audi A6, Saab 9-3, Volvo S60 and a host of domestics in this popular class. Pricing for the 2007 ES 350 was not available at press time.

The 2007 Lexus ES 350 comes as one model, but the buyer can opt for a huge range of equipment by selecting Premium, Premium Plus, Ultra Luxury, Pre-Collision, and Adaptive Cruise options packages. Freestanding options include park assist, a power rear sunshade, heated and ventilated front seats, a full-size spare tire, a wood and leather trim package, and DVD navigation with backup camera.

Safety features that come standard on the ES 350 include dual front airbags, a knee airbag, side-impact airbags (for torso protection), curtain airbags (for head protection), electronic stability control, traction control, antilock brakes (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), and a tire-pressure monitor system. A new two-chamber passenger airbag is designed to stop your passenger’s upper body and torso with minimal facial contact and neck stress on deployment.

The Pre-Collision package includes a radar-based cruise control system that automatically maintains a preset distance between the ES 350 and the car ahead. If the system senses an imminent collision, it retracts all the outboard seatbelts and triggers full panic-braking power at the pedal (but it doesn’t close the windows and the sunroof like the Mercedes-Benz system).[NewCarTestDrive]

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In an era when manufacturers claim faster and faster development times, Lexus takes pride in the fact that developing the LS460 took four and a half years of concentrated work. One of the engineering goals was for drivers of the new LS460 to find the cars “seamless and intuitive” in use. Lexus spent as much time on the psychology of potential buyers as on engineering.

Chief engineer Satoru Maruyamano approached the project as though his 1500-member team were creating a fine musical instrument. For instance, they wanted the doors to sound and feel like a heavy wooden architectural door when being shut. The prototype vehicles that we drove in Austria all had show-car-quality paint jobs that are actually the production standard. It includes two complete hand-sanding operations in preparation for the final coats, as well as final buffing by six-axis robots so that every surface is polished to a deep, lustrous finish.

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Lexus says that the engine allows the RX to accelerate from zero to 60 mpg in just 7.3 seconds (7.4 seconds with all-wheel drive).  But even with the increase in power, Lexus was still able to increase fuel economy slightly over the 2006 model, said Bob Carter, Toyota’s Lexus Group vice president and general manager.  “Our engineers were able to accomplish this through a new application of variable valve timing to both intake and exhaust valves,” he said.  EPA fuel-economy ratings for the RX 350 with front-wheel drive are 20 miles per gallon in the city and 25 mpg on the highway, compared with 19 city/25 highway for the 2006 RX 330. With all-wheel drive, the ratings for the new model are 19 city/24 highway, up from 18/24 for 2006.   And even with the big boost in power, the new model has the same ultra-low-emissions certification as the previous model, the automaker said.  Raising power without lowering fuel economy is a goal in today’s market with widely fluctuating fuel prices, and despite increased fuel costs, Lexus was still able to sell more than 109,000 RX models during 2005, Carter said.

“We’re expecting to have equal amount of sales for 2006,” he said. “The RX is one of our franchise cars, along with the EX sedan, and it’s one of the most popular luxury SUV on the market. In 2005, RX sales accounted for 26 percent of the segment.”  As the most current RX design begins its fourth year, Carter said, Lexus felt that an increase in power was important to help keep the RX in its high position.  “Our feedback showed that the RX 330 was doing well, but customers were looking for a little more power and performance,” he said.

Besides the increase in power, the ‘07 RX comes with many other enhancements, some of which include a new limited-slip differential for the all-wheel-drive version, along with the new Lexus Generation 5 navigation system, which comes with “more data points and a higher screen resolution,” Carter said.  “It’s just a crisper display for the navigation and the backup camera system,” he said. Rear-wheel-drive versions of the RX 350 start at $37,400 (plus freight), while all-wheel-drive models start at $38,800. For each car, that’s an increase of $1,030 over the price of the 2006 model.

Most of the RX sales in Texas are of front-drive models. Popular options that can help raise those prices include the navigation system and other items such as upgraded audio systems and special wheels. The small base-price increase has prompted some customers to hold off on buying a 2006 model and to wait for a 2007, dealers say.  “When someone can buy an early new model like the RX 350 for nearly the same price as the previous version, and get a big increase in power at the same time, they usually will wait and do that,” one Texas dealer reported.

Don’t expect rocket-sale prices on the leftover models, though.  Customers liked the old model just fine, and dealers expect the new one to sell just as well, if not better.  The RX and ES are still the best-selling Lexus models in Texas, dealers say, and customers really appreciate the comfortable ride of the RX. Because it is a car-based SUV, on the same framework as the ES sedan, it offers the best of both worlds – the utility of an SUV, but the comfort of a luxury car. It’s nothing like the traditional SUV, which has a separate body mounted on a truck frame.

Lexus won’t be in a hurry to redesign the RX because it still is “quite competitive in its segment,” Carter said. And a major redesign would also have to be made first on the hybrid version, the RX 400h, which was introduced last year.  The hybrid version is the priciest of the RX models, beginning at $44,660 for a front-drive model and $46,060 for the all-wheel-drive version.  The front-drive hybrid model was introduced in November, and at that time, Lexus dropped the base price of the all-wheel-drive model by $2,350 for model year 2007.  The RX hybrid comes with a combination of gasoline engine and electric motor that is able to generate 268 horsepower, yet is able to achieve EPA fuel-economy ratings of 28 miles per gallon in the city and 33 mpg on the highway (with front-wheel drive).  The hybrid’s overall power isequal to or more than that of some V-8 powered SUVs in the same class, but with significantly better fuel economy. The hybrid also has lower fuel emissions – “about 80 percent cleaner than most other vehicles on the road,” Carter said.

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For the first year of its three-year stint as presenting sponsor of the event, Toyota F1’s TF106 racecar will be in attendance with full team support, including team driver Ricardo Zonta, giving fans unprecedented access to a state of the art F1 car as part of Toyota’s “Working Paddock Display.” Also in attendance will be a full array of Toyota racing machinery, past and present, including the GTO Toyota Celicas developed by Dan Gurney’s All American Racers that dominated U.S. sports car racing in the late ’80s. More modern machinery will include Rod Millen’s Pikes Peak hillclimb Celica, a Lexus Daytona Prototype, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck, and a Nextel Cup Camry.

Lexus is sponsoring an exhibit of motorsports artist Hector Luis Bergandi, well-known for his frequent contributions to Road & Track magazine.

The Monterey Historic is often described as an “automotive museum brought to life,” and it’s the largest event, with over 40,000 visitors, of the renowned classic car weekend in Monterey, California. The 33rd Rolex Monterey Historic will be held August 18-20, 2006 at the historic Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Complete information on this event can be found here.

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But it’s fast. Stomp on the gas and the RX 400h jumps off the line significantly quicker than the regular RX 330. It can go head-to-head with a V8-powered Mercedes ML500.

And it’s a luxury SUV, loaded with power-hungry features: dual-zone climate control, available GPS navigation, power seats, power windows, a power rear door, available rear-seat DVD, an optional megawatt audio system by Mark Levinson®. You can run all that stuff at the same time without any fears of draining the battery.

And no, you do not plug this car in to recharge it. There is no electrical cord dangling from the grille, no need to look for recharging stations. Living with it is quite similar to living with a regular car. Like other gas-electric hybrids, the RX 400h recharges its battery packs as you drive. The gas engine helps propel the car and recharges the battery.

The RX 400h combines a regular 3.3-liter V6 gasoline engine with one high-torque electric drive motor-generator driving the front wheels and another one driving the rear wheels. It uses a planetary gearset and generator to help route power to the motors and recharge the batteries. It sounds complicated and we haven’t even discussed the all-wheel drive, the elaborate stability control and electronic brake system. The more you study it the more you realize its complexity.

But it’s easy to drive. It isn’t all that different from driving a regular RX 330 with one major exception: The RX 400h is considered a full hybrid. Most of the time, it uses a combination of the V6 and electric motors. But in certain conditions it will run strictly off the V6 engine. In other situations it will run strictly off the electric motors. Gliding around silently in parking lots and heavy traffic is a different sensation that’s quite enjoyable. Also enjoyable is the performance. Step on the gas and RX 400h takes off with enthusiasm.

The RX 400h offers the same 3,500-pound towing capacity as the RX 330, attesting to its capability. The electric motors should work well in the Rocky Mountain states because high elevations don’t drag batteries down the way they do gas engines. But RX 400h drivers should stick to the pavement. Batteries are no match for boulders.

This vehicle is an amazing piece of technology and an interesting vehicle. It’s also complex. To quell concerns about reliability Lexus warrantees the hybrid drivetrain for 8 years or 100,000 miles.

Overall, the 2007 Lexus RX 400h offers more power, more features and better fuel economy than the regular RX 330. That may be enough justification for the approximately $5,000 premium over a loaded RX 330. A better justification may be knowing that you are driving one of the most environmentally sensitive vehicles on the planet, cleaner than electric cars when the big picture is considered. Yet you’re not suffering for this, instead enjoying the luxury and practicality of a Lexus. Another justification is a little less tangible: The RX 400h is a technological marvel and would be an interesting vehicle to own.

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Lexus

“We’re taking dead aim at the top of the class with the new IS,” said Lexus Marketing Vice President Mark Templin. “We plan to offer a compelling range of models and options with class-leading performance and luxury.”

Four separate models will form the basis of the new IS family in the US market, featuring two completely new V6 engines and both rear and all-wheel drive. The new IS 250 and IS 250 AWD will feature a 2.5-liter engine rated at more than 200 horsepower. The top-line IS 350 will be powered by a potent 3.5-liter V6 engine which will develop more than 300 horsepower.

Two new transmissions will facilitate power delivery to the wheels. Standard in the IS 250, a new 6-speed sequential manual transmission is designed to take full advantage of its free-revving V6 engine. A new sequential-shift 6-speed automatic will also be offered in the IS 250 and will be standard in the IS 350 and IS 250 AWD. Steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters for the automatic are designed to provide maximum involvement and control for driving enthusiasts.

The IS 350 receives Lexus’ new Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management (VDIM) system to provide superior dynamics and control, while continuing the IS legacy of driving fun.

The new look continues inside, where a roomy, luxurious yet sporty cabin is complemented by intelligently designed displays and controls designed to make driving both simple and pleasurable. Bright, clear Optitron gauges and smartly integrated metallic and available maple trim help create a luxurious, yet no-nonsense ambience.

A comprehensive list of safety, comfort and luxury features seldom found in its class will be offered in the newest IS family. For example, Smart Access keyless entry with push-button start will be standard, and features such as a power tilt/telescoping steering wheel and navigation system with back-up camera will be available.

These and other features available on the new IS, such as the Adaptive Front headlamp System (AFS), Dynamic Radar Cruise Control and ventilated front seats are normally found only in more expensive luxury cars.

The 2006 Lexus IS 350 Gets a New Engine

A newly-designed fuel injection system and dual VVT-i will help the new 3.5-liter V6 engine achieve more than 300 horsepower, resulting in zero-to-60 mph acceleration in less than six seconds. With an estimated combined city/highway fuel economy in the high twenties, the IS 350’s fuel efficiency is similar to the EPA average for compact cars with 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines.

As with all 2006 Lexus IS 350 models, low-friction engine design and carefully matched drivetrains also make significant contributions to fuel efficiency. And all of the new IS models are expected to carry the ULEV-II emissions rating.

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A new J.D. Power/What Car? 2006 U.K. customer satisfaction survey has just ranked Lexus as the country’s top brand, with the brand’s IS sedan taking high honors as as the highest ranking car.

In customer satisfaction ranking of car models, the Lexus IS narrowly beat out the Honda Jazz, with the Suzuki Liana coming in third.

Two British brands rank in their home-market top 10 – MINI and Jaguar, although only the Jaguar S-type cracked the top 10 model listing.

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As it’s distinguished from the rest of the range by a discreet hybrid badge below the rear door and a GS450h logo on the boot, only the keen-eyed will spot you’ve opted for a car powered by both a petrol engine and an electric motor.

Unfortunately, the vastly reduced lug-gage space gives the game away. Lexus has fitted 240 Nickel Hydride batteries directly above the rear axle, which produce 288V to drive the electric motor.

Press the start button and the GS whirs into life in near silence. The electric motor is capable of driving the car on its own, but most of the time it needs the petrol unit’s help. However, a major benefit of battery power is that torque arrives instantly, so from zero revs there is 275Nm turning the rear wheels.

On the road, the 450h rockets off the line, often calling on its traction control. Once cruising, the Lexus uses a blend of petrol and battery power, charging itself up as it goes. Unlike Toyota’s Prius, the hybrid GS is not designed to be a fuel-saving green car. The emphasis is on performance, and while the 35.8mpg claimed figure is acceptable, our test drive saw economy fall to about 23mpg.

So the newcomer is no fuel sipper, but is it a genuine super-saloon? The Lexus comes as standard with a sport button which firms up the suspension dampers, while a ‘power’ switch also sharpens the throttle response. Despite these hi-tech aids, the GS450h’s handling is not up to the standard set by BMW’s 5-Series when it comes to handling, and offers few thrills.

Many will find the price list more enticing. Starting at £38,015, the 450h is around £280 more than the equivalent V8 petrol model, but will save com-pany drivers thousands of pounds in tax. It might be fast, yet the GS450h will be a money-saving option for some.

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