LEXUS F LINE CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY

Lexus RCF

Lexus has launched special editions of its high-performance RC F coupe and GS F sedan to mark the 10th anniversary of the upmarket Japanese marque’s F Line. Both models have a 470 horsepower V8 Lexus and are finished in matte grey paint finish ‘Fuji Graphite’, which is also applied to the door handles, mirror housings, side skirts and shark fin antenna. They ride on black polished 19-inch alloy wheels. Visible inside the wheels are Competition Blue brake callipers that bear the F logo. The same blue shade surrounds the discreet… Read more

WHERE TO SEE THE MELBOURNE CUP?

Want to see the Melbourne Cup? Not just the race but the famous Cup itself? Now you can, Lexus Australia and the Victoria Racing Club have organised a “people’s tour of the Lexus Melbourne Cup” to 39 locations in Australia The $200,000 gold trophy that is the Melbourne Cup has just returned from a tour of the UK and Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the first foreign-trained horse to win the Melbourne Cup, Irish galloper Vintage Crop in 1993. The Lexus Melbourne Cup took pride of place at… Read more

2018 LEXUS RX350 L REVIEW

Lexus RX has been a major player in its SUV class in Australia for close to 20 years now. Early in 2018 a stretched seven-seat model was added to the range for the first time. Using the moniker of Lexus RX L its body is 110 mm longer and the roof 10 mm higher than in the ongoing five-seater RX range. The all-wheel-drive Lexus RX L is sold in two grades, Luxury and Sports Luxury, with features almost identical to their five-seat equivalents. Our test vehicle for the past week… Read more

LEXUS CRAFTS A SPECIAL EDITION RX SUV

Lexus has introduced a special-edition of its RX five seater SUV. Based on the RX Luxury grade the Lexus RX Crafted has black coating on its 20-inch alloy wheels and black accents for the grille, foglamp surrounds, door mirror caps and the rear bumper. Added features are a moonroof, colour head-up display; an extra large 12.3-inch high-definition infotainment screen and a premium 15-Speaker Mark Levinson sound system with Clari-Fi technology. The standard Lexus RX Luxury is not short of features: leather-accented trim, heated and ventilated front seats, dual-zone Lexus Climate… Read more

ALL-NEW LEXUS LS

How time flies, 28 years ago the first Lexus LS sedan (or should that be saloon?) arrived in Australia to be greeted with a fair bit of scepticism. Many felt that Toyota was taking a huge risk by introducing an upmarket sub-brand called Lexus to tackle the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, BMW and Audi. Yet the Japanese giant succeeded and has not only survived, but also shown the big name Europeans a thing or two about highly impressive quality control and near-silent running. The Euros were shocked into making big… Read more

A ‘SPEC ‘N’ TECH’ SPRUCE-UP SPURS LUXE NX LEXUS

“Not to be messed with”: that, we are told, is what the powers that be at Lexus wanted to get across with its upgrade to the NX line of luxury sports utility vehicles. Said one exec: “Improvements to the NX styling and dynamics will enhance its appeal by projecting a sportier character from what is already one of the sharpest luxury SUVs on the road.” And, like the genie in the bottle, the team tasked with the job, the boss’s wish was its command. Did it work? The ‘spec ‘n’… Read more

LEXUS LX GETS TURBO-DIESEL OPTION

Until now the large Lexus LX series SUVs have only been sold here with a 5.7-litre twin-cab petrol V8, if you wanted a turbo-diesel you had to opt for the LX’s close cousin, the Toyota LandCruiser 200. The reasoning being that diesels didn’t necessarily give the sort of near silence and refinement the upmarket Japanese marque has been renowned for. These days diesels are almost as refined as petrol units so Lexus has added a diesel LX, the 450d. With a capacity of 4.5 litres this twin-cam, twin-turbo V8 diesel… Read more

LEXUS RC UPGRADES

Lexus has introduced significant upgrades to its RC F coupe including an improved infotainment system and expanded safety technology. Infotainment is now shown on a 10.3-inch screen, significantly up from the previous 7.0-inch unit. The Lexus Remote Touch pad is larger and we are assured this is now easier to use. We did criticise the touch pad during our previous testing so will borrow an RC sometime soon and comment on the changes. The controls for the active cruise control system have also been simplified. The topline V8 RC F… Read more

LEXUS ES 2013 – 2016

2013 Lexus ES 300h

The Lexus ES300 began life way back in 1991 as a re-bodied Toyota Camry with higher levels of materials and added extras. It was criticised by some as not being a ‘real’ Lexus, though that really didn’t hamper sales the way the purists had predicted. The ES disappeared from Australia in 2005 because the new generation released that year was built with the steering wheel on the wrong side for us – by far its biggest market was, and still is, the USA. Late in 2013 a new generation Lexus… Read more

LEXUS RX NOW OFFERED AS SEVEN-SEATER

Lexus has introduced a stretched version of its popular RX that expands seating capacity to seven occupants. The tag of Lexus RX L indicates the important new model. The body is 110 mm longer and the roof a touch higher, raised by just 10 mm. The tailgate has a steeper slope to give the RX the sort of sleeker look that’s becoming increasingly popular in the midsize SUV class. For easy third-row access, one-touch levers on both sides of the Lexus fold and slide the second-row seats forward. The second… Read more