2000 Lexus Rx300 Base Sport Utility 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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Lexus jumps head first into turbocharging with its 2015 NX 200t

If Lexus is going to stay competitive, it needs to turbocharge sooner rather than later.
If there's anything that Lexus is experienced with, thanks in large part to its corporate parents at Toyota, it's hybrid powertrains. The automaker has hybridized tiny little four-cylinder engines, massive honkin' V8s and everything in between. So synonymous are hybrids and Lexus that it would be a shock to see a brand-new model released without an accompanying version with blue badging and a little "h" appendage to its name.

2014 Lexus IS350 F-Sport

Is A New Kind Of Lexus Hiding Under That Radical Skin?
When the now-outgoing Lexus IS generation was launched back in 2006, the company would not have been wise to bring the compact luxury sedan to be driven by journalists to a track like Driveway Austin Motorsports. Taking along a BMW 335i for comparison loops would have proved an ill choice as well.
Our own Jonathon Ramsey found the current-generation Lexus IS250 to be fairly nimble over a tightly wound autocross course, when he drove it back-to-back with the prototype version of this 2014 IS a few months ago. Our track for testing the fully realized version of the IS350 F-Sport meanwhile - again with the 2013 version along for competitive driving - was on a circuit designed to string together recreations of some of the best tracks in the world. Laguna Seca, bits of the Nürburgring and sections inspired by Imola and Ferrari's Fiorano test track all make for a far more enticing road course than you'd expect to find plunked down in a nondescript area a few miles east of downtown Austin. Critically, this environment highlighted what strides Lexus has made in the sport sedan race with its new IS.

Refreshed 'exciting' Lexus ES takes a bow in Shanghai along with RX 200t

We were expecting a refresh and that's what we got. The 2016 Lexus ES, taken to "the next level of elegance and progressive luxury." A new front fascia design goes even bolder on the spindle grille, hiding the crossmember that separated the upper and lower sections, and rimming the whole thing with satin chrome. It's flanked by new LED projector headlights with the brand's pronounced "arrowhead" DRLs, and new triangular foglights laid into a matching sharp-edged motif. In back you'll find new taillights and chrome-tipped rectangular exhaust tips. In between those two ends, the body has been stiffened and gotten more sound-deadening material. The list of exterior hues grows to ten with the addition of Amber, Nightfall Mica, Caviar, and Eminent White Pearl. A new 20-spoke wheel joins the options list for non-hybrid models, whereas hybrids get a 10-spoke design. The cabin also broadens its tonal range in a variety of materials, with seats available in Flaxen, Parchment, Stratus Gray, and Black, and trim pieces in a choice of Illustrious Piano Black, Linear Dark Mocha Wood, Espresso Bird's Eye Maple with Shimamoku ornamentation, and matte Bamboo. Other touches include a new steering wheel, an embossed pattern on the seats, a leather boot for the gearshift, and a larger TFT display in the gauge cluster. Our engine options here won't change, but China, Russia, and Taiwan will be offered a 2.0-liter, direct-injected four-cylinder designed for China's emissions scheme. A new engine was also the news with the Lexus RX 200t rocking the dais at the Shanghai Motor Show, unveiled to the world next to its ES sibling. Available in certain international markets but not in the US, the RX 200t is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder working through a six-speed automatic transmission. Lexus hasn't released its official horsepower number, but says it's going for more than 228 horsepower; in the NX 200t it gets 235 horsepower 258 pound-feet of torque. You can check out the press release below for more details. Related Video: Refreshed 2016 Lexus ES Fuses Striking Design with Refinement and Safety at Shanghai International Motor Show Lexus RX 200t Also Makes Global Debut Active Safety Technology Integrated Into Lexus Safety System+ April 19, 2015 SHANGHAI, China (April 20, 2015) - As the best-selling sedan model in Lexus' impressive stable, the ES has come to define the very essence of near luxury sedan.