New Lexus models
April 8, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
Lexus boss John Roca has told The Australian that the Japanese luxury brand is currently developing multiple new variants as well as a new model.
First of the lot to arrive will be the Lexus IS-F, a competitor to the new BMW M3, Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG and Audi’s aging RS4. The IS-F will pack a 5.0-litre V8, good for around 300kW. It will put its power down through the rear wheels using an eight-speed automatic gearbox.
But the “F” is not going to be limited just to the IS series, much like BMW with the M series, Audi with the RS series and Mercedes with its AMG models, Lexus plans to introduce “F” variants across the range, including GS-F and even LS-F limos!
As important as the “F” variants will be, Toyota’s Luxury arm will also add hybrid variants to every model. So the choices will range from a full-blown performance machine to a hybrid system – all in the same model!
All this extra work is in preparation for Lexus to meet its goal of selling over 1 million cars in the next two-three years. But the “F” and hybrid variants just won’t be enough, there needs to be an entry-model Lexus, one to compete with the Audi A3 and BMW 1-series – and there will be.
According to Roca, Lexus is currently working on a smaller and cheaper Lexus model to compete in the bottom end of the luxury market. However that won’t be here for another few years.
Lexus will also bring the IS coupe/convertible to Australia later in the year, having recently lunched the IS250 X (a feature-packed IS250 from $64,790) to sustain interest.
Saving the best till last, the Lexus model which should scare the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini is the LF-A supercar, the car which has apparently set records around the infamous Nürburgring is now delayed till 2011.
Source: The Australian.
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Yeah but when are they bringing the IS350 out??? The IS250 is just too slow!
Urban, the 250 is a tourer not a show pony, have driven these on a few occassions for lengthy trips and they are a joy to drive, smoooooth as, so easy to sit on 150kms without even realising it. Not made for performance.
I also ask the question, if they want to sustain “interest”, when ARE they going to release the IS350?
We’re talking figures like 0-100km/h in some 5 seconds flat.
Might i also bring up that the IS250 is by no means “slow”, especially considering it’s near 1.7 tonne weight (that is with options such as GPS) and 2.5L V6 engine. Comparing to the competition (think E90 325i) it’s actually very close (acceleration).
And yes, it is very smooth, that’s greatly due to the fact that it weighs so much.
I love the fact that it ALMOST sounds like a 350Z, especially with a Borla/Tannabe/HKS exhaust (Lexus do the HKS as a “sports exhaust” option in the US).
Lexus as finally matured as one of the worlds great with some fantastic new examples recently released.
The IS250 is a great unit while the IS350 would be a wonderful addition to complete the ‘IS’ family in Australia once the 311kw/500nm 5.0 v8 8-speed IS-F arrives down under later this year. Checked out the sales of the IS-F in the US and in February 2008 sold 220 units which leaped to 380 in March.
The new GS460 is a very nice car with punch to go from it’s 255kw/460nm 4.6 V8 also mated to the silky smooth 8 speed transmission while the LS460 and LS600hl are certainly amoung most luxourious cruisers that can purchased anywhere in the world today.
And this month, Lexus releases the new LX570 which replaces the aging LX470. As per designation – the new Lexus LX is powered by a powerful 5.7 v8 compared to the 4.7 v8 that has been revised and will continue in the LandCruiser which will help diffientiate the two markets. That said, the RX350 and RX400hl continue to sell well in the market aswell.
The Lexus IS250 (V-6 153 kw) is not slow compared against the C-200 (1.8 litre engine called ‘pedestrian’ in Wheels Magazine); BMW 320 (even less power than the C-200) and the Audi A4 (1.8 litre engine with less power than C-200).
The level of standard equipment in the Lexus also leaves the others for dead (just look at the price of metallic paint on those germans).
Quality, fit-n-finish and overall craftmanship of a Lexus is also of a higher standard then BMW, Audi and Merc.
^Depends what model your talking about.
nice cars, but bit sad knowing that the US gets more engine options plus AWD option.
Jaradd … correct – in the US the ‘IS’ series comes with an AWD derivative while in Europe the ‘IS’ is optioned with a 2.2 diesel called the IS220d
As usual – Australia misses out some models including the IS350 because personally the IS250, IS350 and IS-F will make a formidable combination for Lexus in Oz
Jarrad said: “nice cars, but bit sad knowing that the US gets more engine options plus AWD option”
Even more sad that the base model of Merc C-Class is the C-300 (V6 3 litre) with sunroof as standard, at US$32,000. The Lexus IS250 is almost the same price as that C-300 in US. Over here, the C-280 is A$90,000, without sunroof.
I have a IS250 sports with sat nav. and mark levenson audio and tanabe exhaust beautiful car it is not slow at all i am waiting for the new is-f pricing with the c63
If they brought the is350 out i would buy it straight away but with IS-F we pay dearly in taxes and where will you use all that power in the choked up city.
I did look at the new merc,C280 a few more kws but it added up to more than $90000 AUS to get to some where near what my IS250 had standard for $15000 less.
Bring on the IS350 LEXUS PLEASE.
Agree, Lexus make great cars and these new F series models will make a great brand even better. Go Lexus !!!
Oh what fun I could have here but hey whats the point it will just end up like the Lexus that tried to have a run with me yesterday,he got nailed! Pity Lexus didn’t have passion in their product ,but hey they are part of the worlds most boring car manufacturers!
A lot of money for a rear drive Aurion?
Cars have “passion and are boring”.
What a wanker.
Could get a TRD Aurion for this with change to spare!!!
Hey LukeGT, your sposed to be on drive.com Me and TP get paid for spamming this site not you.
looks like Toyota only offers skid steer(FWD)for the proles whilst the Toffs get RWD in all LEXUS. Even AWD is the bullshit front drive mostly type in the Toyota whereas Lexus gets the real deal AWD.
Lucky most Toyota buyers don’t know the difference and how they are being ripped off!!!
Oh what a ripoff!!!
Yes, the Lexus brand certainly has matured in the five years since they made them RWD and stopped calling them Toyotas.
Oh and the Lexus name is a nice touch. Think it is Latin for
RWD Toyota.Ha Ha Ha.
Yes also agree Mercedes should be flattered because Lexus want u to mistake their cars for a Mercedes!!!
Ah BM… another “I beat someone” story, did you know them? If not, how do you know they were actually flooring it? Dream on.
As for Lexus BRING OUT IS350… that thing is a beast, IS250 is nice but no matter how you sugarcoat its slow, the IS350 does the 100 in 5s!
“Oh what fun I could have here but hey whats the point it will just end up like the Lexus that tried to have a run with me yesterday,he got nailed! Pity Lexus didn’t have passion in their product ,but hey they are part of the worlds most boring car manufacturers!”
Sounds like the typical response from an uneducated slag who’s never even driven one before.
Look up on the highway,is it a Camry? is it an Aurion? is it a Corolla?
nooooo
It’s a Lexus!!!!HA HA HA.
Yes Johny and only the educated pay double to have RWD!!!!
hA hA hA.
Realcars,
I actually think that they have an uncanny resemblance to the Mazda 3.
Lexus obviously dom’t have much faith in their product. I mean in the photograph of the red IS-250 above and they’ve put an “X” next to it..
so what do they think is wrong with it? [apart from the fact its an overpriced Toyota]..
could it be they’re admitting it’s not as good as its rivals in terms of features value for money or performance.
Zoom Zoom……
As usual you spam this site with utter rubbish Realcars. And as usual we have to hear about BM’s M3… There is a very good reason why as an “enthusiast” I tend to stay away from caradvice. Objective opinions are few and far between these days.
If you weren’t going to utilise the power and technology that your Lexus [or Lexii if you happen to have 2] posesses; every now and again; and drive it like the performance car that we are lead to believe it is..
then you might as well by a Camry – then check that you have a pulse
agree titan, each article is followed by a tirade of bashing, though some good comments may come, but when it gets to these comment-troll behaviour it just annoys me.
Why mighty Titan do u find the truth confronting?
and Joober am I not correct when I say that u are a Toyotaphile of longstanding who lambastes Ford and Holden Blogs at every opportunity?
Comparing Lexus to the likes of BMW/Mercedes/Audi are u serious?
I am sure Roca would have a lot of input when it comes to deciding the Lexus lineup.
u compare these bland bloody things to real marques and u call yourselves enthusiasts!!!
Your ability to acknowledge ‘talent’ is somewhat flawed, your always under Toyota’s desk. The Caprice isn’t made by Daewoo and represents good value, even when compared to Lexus models. It is an outstanding car that beats Lexus for driver appeal. However, I acknowledge Lexus has more features and they are great cars, but I’d rather throw a BMW, Mercedes or even a Caprice at a set of twisties.
One day everyone will be driving Toyotas or Lexus’s. Oh what a feeling as we all fell asleep at the wheel.
NoName said “One day everyone will be driving Toyotas or Lexus’s. Oh what a feeling as we all fell asleep at the wheel.”
LOL…suicide rates will triple as car enthusiast would have nothing left to live for.
Its just crazy…
I think more people who know about manufacturing, engineering and design needs to be in this site…
Anyways, the Lexus is a different echelon of cars from Toyota, yes technically by the one company. But… seriously… again read this carefully… Lexus are more expensive for a reason…. they literally are made of the same material grades, same tolerance-accuracies, same performance (durability) targets etc as the top notch Euros…
Realcars… now you spew “Its an Aurion”… seriously WHAT THE FCK you smokin? You on drugs? or just PLAIN hate anything with a Toyota badge on it?
Would you say a Nissan Tiida is the same as a Infiniti G37??
And other people bagging on this…. I suppose you are a BMW, Mercedes, or Audi owner… its understandable to bag or diss another product that competes with the product you spent your money on…. its very very very understandable.. makes you feel better with the purchase.
Love Audis!, Beamers! and Mercs… but Lex can be mentioned along the lines now….
if you pass on it, because you dont like “Toyota” or anything that is related to them… then its your loss…
And about the article, I dont think Audi RS4s are “aging” per say…
Gotta agree, Lexus has been releasing fantastic cars lately and getting better all the time. Lexus has virtually revamped it’s entire fleet over the past couple of years and have to admitt that they have come of age as one of the greatest of all. Performance of these new breeds can not be refuted either. Great job Lexus and keep up the good work. Love ‘ya cars
jamison Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 3:45 am
Would you say a Nissan Tiida is the same as a Infiniti G37?
No, but its still a nissan and a good one at that.
Prior to getting my R32 I had decided my new car would be the Lexus IS250 Sports. Amazing looking car with a great brand behind it. Only problem is the manual I wanted was terrible (rubbery shifts) and the numerous rattles that owners had experienced.
Go on any Lexus forum and take a look at the current owners complaining about the rattles. My R32 is solid as a brick and *touch wood* hope it stays that way. My previous car had its fair share of rattles and its the last thing you want when you are forking out 65 large.
Oh what fun I could have here but hey whats the point it will just end up like the Lexus that tried to have a run with me yesterday,he got nailed! Pity Lexus didn’t have passion in their product ,but hey they are part of the worlds most boring car manufacturers!
I doubt it was the IS-F or LF-A…
Anthonii, does that mean that BMW has no passion if you outrun a 318i? Or theres no passion in a porsche if you outrun a Boxster or worse a 924?
You dont get to be one of the top luxury brands without having a passion for what you do.
Perhaps you should go and nail someone else while driving your Kia.
Why don’t you guys and gals take a 250 for a drive, its a beautiful car, a fantastic tourer(rear seating tho is well, flawed!!) This isn’t a performance car and wasn’t designed to be one, thats the 350.
Wheelnut, value for money against the germans is a no brainer, lexus blows them away, isn’t the fold down armrest in the backseat an option for some BMW’s?(I’M NOT JOKING)
Performance to the Germans tho, nobody does it better :)
Depends what you want, it’s your money :)
ah….TP he was obviously suffering from some inferiority complex cause he came darting through the traffic chasing me,get a life you would be lucky to have driven anything with more than 110 kws….ok that was a bit harsh Im sorry!
Hey Paul would have love to have you mobile number got a great T shirt the other day that you would have loved,send the other guys a pic of me wearinfg it but looks like you missed out, didums .Poor baby
Whats the matter Titan………you prefer to hear every bodies personal opinions than experience.
We all know the Aston is the one of the worlds best looking and most likely best sounding car you can buy,do we care about build quality or reliability….na I just want one,thats passion!!!!!!!!!
Lexus…..yawn you awake No Name
Hello! I have a Lexus IS350 in Japan,my home country. She’s a 2009 model,and her acceleration is as fast as the Jaguar XF 5.0 V8 and the Mercedes-Benz E550(5461cc/387ps),with fairly loosen-up engine pumping 0W-50 oil. For example,my elapsed 0-100km/h acceleration data is 4.9sec!,faster than the comparable BMW 335i.
On the other hand,in Australian market,there’s still no Lexus IS350 imported officially. The only offering is the IS250 with 2499cc/V6 yielding 153-156kW(208/212ps) here. And there’s also an IS-F the monster machine vastly above it,but it’s not for everyone.
I’m doubtful about Lexus’ such timid and frillless model policy for several export markets,even considering main models of 3-series and C-class being 4-cylinder powered plebeian 320i and C200K. Consequently,the Lexus IS series sold in Australia seems mere a guise somewhat faster than the Citroen C5 2.7diesel.
According to the rumor,the Lexus people want to release their products for competitive price,thus such “just enough yet hardly withstanding” offerings are launched to several destinations. Indeed,the IS250 has commendable power,as posting 0-100km/h in 6.66sec! with automatic transmission(according to some Japanese sources),but it’s not astonishing for its price,as potent as 6-cylinder Commodore and Falcon level.
On the contrary,the GS variants are reasonably and competitively arranged. With 3.5-litres and V8/4.6-litres motors she is very competitive with the Mercedes E-class,Volvo S80,and BMW 5-series. Especially V8 4606cc/347ps(GS460 guise) motor makes her a favourable machine. With jittery ride and somewhat numb steering improved,she’ll become a formidable rival to the likes of 5-series,A6,and Jaguar XF.