Lexus debuts $375,000 supercar at Tokyo Motor Show

A $375,000 Lexus? Toyota seems to think it's a good idea. The Lexus LFA, which debuted today at the Tokyo Motor Show, isn't, after all, one of their normal wares; it's their new supercar.

The low-slung, angular body design houses a 4.8-liter V-10 engine that distributes a meaty 552 hp and 354 pound-foot of torque to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox (don't hold your breath for a third pedal). It also clocks a 3.7-second 0-62 mph time at a top speed of 202 mph. Try racing your RX350 against that.

The price may be prohibitive, but exclusivity generally wins out; Lexus is only producing 500 units for worldwide distribution, and we have little doubt every last one will sell.

-- Alison Lakin

Alison Lakin is a staff writer for DriverSide.com.

Photo: Lexus LFA. Photo Credit: Toyota

New Lexus hybrid: No price premium over itself

When it comes to luxury hybrids, the cost/benefit equation generally shows ugly results.

Perhaps the most extreme example would be the Lexus LSh, which starts at $106,910. That's a roughly $22,600 premium over the non-hybrid, fully loaded LS, despite only a 3 mpg bump up in efficiency. That means it would take several decades, at least, to break even on cost, based on normal driving and today's gas prices.

Carmakers hate those kinds of comparisons, since they tend to convince shoppers to go for the cheaper car and instead find other ways to be green. It may help explain why the non-hybrid LS outsells the hybrid by a ratio of 30 to 1.

Toyota has a proven solution: eliminate the possibility of comparison. It worked wonderfully for the Prius, which is the world's best-selling hybrid and happily has no non-hybrid version to rival it.

Now the Japanese auto giant is trying it with a new Lexus dedicated hybrid, the HS 250h, which it announced in Detroit earlier this year and has since been EPA rated at a combined 35 mpg.

Set to hit dealerships late next month, it has no conventionally powered doppelganger and will start at $34,200, Toyota said today.

First Drive: Lexus IS 250 and 350 convertibles

“Live a little, a lot.” No it’s not the new slogan for Las Vegas; a zero-calorie, eat-'em-all-day chocolate bar or a website arranging illicit rendezvous. Rather, it’s the slogan for the new Lexus IS 250C and 350C that you can expect the company to begin slinging throughout the advertising ether for the summer.

Yet after spending a day throwing various 250C and 350Cs around the hills and coastline of Newport Beach, I would borrow from the Army a different slogan for Lexus’ latest effort in open-air motoring:  “Be all you can be.”

To wit: The IS 250C and 350C are entirely competent variants of the IS sedan given what Lexus had to work with. And Lexus gets extra credit for hitting a key price point with the base IS 250C. But the accomplishments end there, despite some expensive attempts by the luxo automaker to reel in performance-oriented customers headed toward a BMW dealership.

We reviewed the aesthetics of the IS convertible when it made its U.S. debut at the L.A. Auto Show and have been eager to get behind the wheel since. 

Toyota finally takes on OnStar

Toyota said today that it would introduce a safety and driver assist system this summer in some Toyota and Lexus models. Dubbed Safety Connect, the system is Toyota’s first attempt to compete with GM’s popular OnStar product.

Introduced 12 years ago, OnStar currently has 5.7 million subscribers who pay $18.95 a month and up for such services as GPS tracking to locate a stolen vehicle and a button that calls for help in case of a crash or breakdown.

Systems on Toyota and Lexus vehicles will include similar safety features. Lexus will offer additional convenience services such as voice control of some of the car’s systems, such as the satellite radio.

It won’t offer everything OnStar does, such as a remote unlocking system and hands-free calling. But the Lexus version will have a few unique twists. The eDestination feature, for instance, will allow drivers to program directions to up to 200 destinations for the navigation system through the Lexus website.

GM took the latest move by its Japanese rival in stride.

“It’s not a surprise,” OnStar President Chet Huber told the Associated Press. “Frankly, if there was a surprise, it’s: What’s taken so long for those folks to get their technology to the point where they can launch some base services?”

Toyota said it would release pricing information later.

-- Martin Zimmerman

Photo of Safety Connect from Toyota 

Top 10 turkeys of the L.A. Auto Show

The L.A. Auto Show runs through Thanksgiving weekend, which seems appropriate, because there is a lot of turkey on the show’s menu. From Honda’s hydrogen-powered hypercar -- a guess that’s tofurkey, of a sort -- to a huge, steroid infused, poultry-yellow Rolls-Royce that is lacking only a wattle, the show’s collection of large, flightless birds is certainly worth a, um, gander.

I know, I know. You’re stuffed. You’ve loosened your belt, maybe even undone your trousers … ahhh. But perhaps there’s room for one … more … tiny …morsel?

>>Click here for the complete list: Top 10 turkeys of the L.A. Auto Show. After-dinner chit-chat can commence in the comments section.

-- Dan Neil

Photo: Honda's tofurkey, er, FC Sport concept. Credit: Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images

L.A. Auto Show: The Lexus IS; first rabid, now topless

[Update: read the review of the Lexus IS 250C and 350C here.]

Ah, the cliches of Paris in October. Cool air, warm baguettes, hot espressos.  What better way to enjoy all the niceties of a French automne then driving down the Champs-Elysees … in your Japanese hardtop convertible?

Well, it made sense to Lexus, who chose October’s Paris Auto Show to introduce the world to its new drop-top, the IS 250C and IS 350C. Why it didn’t wait for an auto show in a warmer, more appropriate clime is a little vague. Maybe company officials like France's crepes more than our huevos rancheros. Regardless, we North Americans had to wait another month before Lexus debuted its latest convertible to our continent at the L.A. Auto Show.

L.A. Auto Show: Lexus' popular pug goes mainstream

Since every other review of Lexus’ debut of their 2010 RX line will focus on the fact that 20 years ago this fall Lexus introduced their “L” logo (but no car) to the public , we’ll skip that part and go directly to the part where we tell you the quirky styling of the RX line is no more. Buying a 2010 RX 350 or RX 450h will now net you what appears to be only a slight variation of the 2009 Toyota Venza in the front, and some amalgamation of a Mazda CX-9/Buick Enclave in the rear.

Yes, the styling is handsome, but gone are the progressive, swooping headlights and the bug-eyed taillights that set this precedent-setting car-based SUV apart from its competitors. It will be a lot harder to distinguish your Lex at the mall parking lot now. It will, however, be marginally easier to distinguish the RX 350 from its ecologically compassionate brother the RX 450h…