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Xcar gets Lexus LFA serviced at TMG

Toyota has made all manner of vehicles, from sedans and hatchbacks to crossovers and pickup trucks. It's even done a handful of sports cars over the years. But it's only ever done one real supercar, and that was the Lexus LFA. The ten-cylinder supercar was built at the dedicated, purpose-built LFA Works, a facility within Toyota City in Japan that's since moved on to making everything from bicycles to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. But if you were lucky enough to be among the 500 customers to get your hands on an LFA, you may not be inclined to send it back to the factory every time it needs servicing. Especially not if you live in, say, Europe. That's why Toyota Motorsport GmbH was tasked with handling service for the LFA for Europe. The facility in Cologne, Germany, was once home to the automaker's F1 team, now runs its championship-winning endurance racing team and will soon again serve as the home base for its renewed assault on the World Rally Championship. So it's just the type of facility that could handle whatever comes up with Lexus' high-strung exotic, from servicing the V10 engine to repairing the carbon-fiber chassis if need be. After checking out the underground collection in its last episode, the guys at Xcar popped their heads in at the LFA service center. There they spoke with TMG VP Rob Leupen, who seems convinced that Toyota should make a new hybrid supercar. We hope he turns out to be right.

Production Lexus NX small CUV headed for Geneva

Just five months ago, our spy photographers caught what appeared to be a mule for the forthcoming Lexus NX crossover with the body of a CT 200h for disguise. Then the LF-NX Concept CUV debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show (it showed up at the Tokyo Motor Show as well) with a massive spindle grille and an extreme version of Lexus' sharp-edged new styling language on full display. Now Auto Express reports that a production version of the LF-NX concept will grace the Geneva Motor Show next March and go on sale next summer. If the names that Lexus trademarked a while back are any indication, it'll come in two trims, NX 200t and NX 300h.
Concept vehicles often look outrageously bold, with more extroverted styling than what eventually makes it into the production version. But Lexus reportedly will leave much of the LF-NX concept's styling alone for the production version, citing its customers' changing tastes.
"What we're finding is that these days customers want to be more expressive, so a lot of the concept's inherent design will come out in the finished car," says Paul Van der Burgh, Lexus' European director. "Why would you want something that looked like everything else in the segment?"

2016 Lexus IS 200t Quick Spin

When Lexus revamped its IS sedan for the 2014 model year, the car polarized in terms of design, and offered bipolar driving experiences, trim to trim. The entry-level IS 250 used a 2.5-liter V6 that felt like a lightweight for the segment. The stronger 3.5-liter six, especially when tied down to a car with the F-Sport package and subsequent handling improvements, was more of a sporting thing. Thankfully, Lexus has replaced the base powerplant for the IS with an up-to-snuff turbo 2.0-liter four. I drove the newly christened IS 200t for a week – with that enhancing F-Sport pack – and found it to be a vast improvement. Modest-budgeted buyers with eyes for Lexus' edgy styling seem to be in good hands. Driving Notes If the "200t" part of the model name looks familiar, you've probably seen it affixed to the rear end of Lexus' new NX small crossover. Of course the IS is lighter than its crossover sibling. Meaning the directly injected turbo engine's outputs of 241 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque are more thrilling in this application. At more than 3,500 pounds, the IS 200t still isn't exactly rapid – Lexus rates the 0-60 time at 6.9 seconds – but the torque pop is enough to jet around town authoritatively. Being a newly minted engine and a Toyota-brand product, you'd expect the IS 200t to be class-leading (or right there) in terms of fuel economy, too. With ratings of 22 and 32 miles per gallon, city and highway, it isn't. Both the BMW 328i (22 City / 34 Highway) and the Mercedes-Benz C300 (25 City / 34 Highway) do better, and while making similar power. The eight-speed automatic transmission is quite well suited for the brand and the car, I'd say. It mostly stayed out of my way, while in D, shifting unobtrusively during normal driving. The paddle-shift option is great for the occasional flights of motive fancy, but it's not lightning-quick, nor super engaging. Handling is nippy with the F-Sport package, at least within the normal boundaries of public roads. The car stays neutral and flat under cornering loads, and the front end feels rather light and quick to turn in. Of course, take the same corners more aggressively, and you'll feel the car default to understeering, with power cut on exit until all four wheels are fully set and gripping. Don't expect to slide the IS around, in other words. The chunky steering wheel feels good in the hand, and doesn't have the unsettling lightness I remember from the last-generation IS 250.