2007 Lexus Gs450h Base Sedan 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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Lexus' hoverboard 'is like floating on a cushion of air'

The Lexus hoverboard is real, folks. It's not computer-generated imagery you're looking at, and it's not smoke and mirrors. In fact, what looks a lot like smoke emanating from below the Japanese luxury brand's hoverboard is actually caused by the liquid nitrogen required to keep the 'board's insides cool. How cool, you ask? Put it this way: liquid nitrogen freezes at -346 degrees Fahrenheit. Ice cold, baby. If there is a bit of tricky deception in the video you see above, it's that the superconductors Lexus is using in its hoverboard will only cause the machine to lift off surfaces that are magnetic. In other words, a skatepark full of concrete won't work. For that matter, in true Back To The Future style, neither would water... even if you've got power. Does any of that techno mumbo-jumbo even matter, though? What we have here is a real-life hoverboard that doesn't look like a poorly conceived high-school science project (no offense to Hendo, featured in the video below). The Lexus hoverboard is beautiful, with bamboo decking, a carbon fiber base and, let's be honest, that awesome special-effects-style smoke. Ross McGouran, a professional skateboarder, seems to agree with our assessment of the merits of the Lexus hoverboard. In a new video from the automaker that you can watch above, McGouran compares the hoverboard to regular skateboards and says riding Lexus' invention is like floating on a cushion of air. Which sounds equal parts difficult and amazing. We look forward to more from McGouran and Lexus. Related Video: Related Gallery Lexus Hoverboard View 9 Photos News Source: Lexus via YouTube Design/Style Toys/Games Lexus Technology Gadgets Future Vehicles Special and Limited Editions Videos

Lexus to replace GX SUV with new TX crossover

There's been a lot of news regarding future Lexus products recently, including spy shots of new RC coupe and NX compact crossover, and reports that a 2+2 coupe based on the LF-LC concept is heading for production. Now, Automotive News says that Japan's #1 luxury automaker is planning to replace the fullsize, body-on-frame Lexus GX SUV with a three-row crossover called the TX.
The article says that the GX, which is based on the foreign-market Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, will get a styling update for 2014 before being phased out in 2016. In a similar move as Infiniti made with its new three-row JX/QX60, the new TX will be car-based, but details are still unknown as to whether it will be front-wheel-drive riding on the Toyota Avalon platform or rear-wheel-drive using the Lexus GS platform. Either way, this new luxury crossover could join the Lexus lineup as soon as late 2016.

Lexus IS, new and old, and LFA to make splash at SEMA

Lexus has announced its Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show cars: a group of eight Lexus IS sedans spanning all three generations, and a 2012 LFA supercar. One of the show cars, a custom 2014 Lexus IS 350 F Sport, is a creation penned by IS fan Rob Evans, the winner of a contest to design a Lexus SEMA show car.
The standouts in the group of Lexus IS show cars, in no particular order, are a 700-horsepower 2014 Lexus IS 340 (it has a heavily modified Toyota Supra inline six swapped in, which is stroked out to 3.4 liters, hence the nomenclature change) by Philip Case and a supercharged 2004 Lexus IS 300 by Maricar Cortez. Both cars prove that oldies can be goodies - the venerable Supra 2JZTE engine, which ceased production over a decade ago, lives on in a 2014 platform, and the 2004 IS 300 gets a supercharger and remains relevant through the use of electronics, such as a back-up radar sensor, upgraded headlights and more.
Of course, the LFA by Guy S. De Alwis will be a stand out on its own, but unfortunately Lexus only provided us with a couple pictures that don't do it justice. We'll have to take a closer look at it on the show floor. Same goes for the IS penned by contest-winner Rob Evans, of which only a rendering was provided.