Lexus Lexus GS Hybrid News & Information

We’ve already taken a look at the RX & IS Art Works special editions released by Lexus Japan today, but I’ve saved the best for last — just take a look at this GS in Sunset interior:

Here’s some close-ups:

This color combo is really something else (reminds me of the LS Sport interior), tasteful but energetic — I can’t stop looking at this pic:

(Hopefully this interior mimics the infamous Passionate Black GS and makes its way over to North America.)

[Source: Lexus Japan]

There’s a big interview with Lexus’ head of global design, Simon Humphries, at Lexus Magazine that brings some major insight into the direction of the brand — I definitely recommend reading the full thing, but I want to focus on three quotes:

LEXUS: First of all, now that we know that the 2011 IS will have body changes, are there any big design updates coming for other 2011 models?

HUMPHRIES: At this point I can say only that there will also be a change in the front-end design of the GS, most likely arriving in 2012. Both the IS and future GS updates are dramatic changes—they’re much more distinctive, much more unique. In our minds, these aren’t complete black to white sort of changes, but they are an evolution.

This is about as close to a confirmation on the next-gen GS coming next year that we’ve had, though it’s curious that emphasis was placed specifically on the front-end redesign — must be quite dramatic.

The fact that the IS is also mentioned is confusing — the 2011 IS is an improvement, but not what I would classify as a dramatic change. Perhaps he’s referring to the next-generation IS as well.

Continue reading this article…

Lexus USA will be formally submitting their recall of approximately 138,000 Lexus vehicles next week with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The recall will apply to certain 2006, 2007 & 2008 GS, IS, and LS models equipped with 4.6 and 5.0L V8 and 3.5L V6 engines. Here’s the full breakdown:

• GS 350: 2007-2008
• GS 450h: 2007-2008
• GS 460: 2008
• IS 350: 2006-2008
• LS 460: 2007-2008
• LS 460 L: 2007-2008
• LS 600h L: 2008

The recall is due to the possibility of foreign material contaminating a small number of valve strings in the engine, which may cause abnormal engine noise or idling, and in extremely rare cases, the engine may stop while the vehicle is being used. However, Lexus estimates that “the likelihood of a customer vehicle experiencing this condition is two-tenths of one percent (0.2 %)”, and that no accidents or injuries have been reported due to this issue.

For some additional background information, I recommend this recent Autoblog article, which included this photo of the offending part:

Finally, some logistics for owners:

Lexus will send owners of the involved vehicles a recall notification via first class mail.  Owners are requested to contact their local Lexus dealer for diagnosis and repair after receiving their notification.  The repair will involve replacement of the engine’s valve springs at no charge.
 
Owners can continue to drive their vehicles. If symptoms are noticed, such as vibration, rough idling, unusual engine sounds or poor performance, the vehicle should be brought to a Lexus dealer for service.

[Source: Autoblog & Lexus]

Toyota has announced today that they may be recalling 270,000 Lexus cars after discovering a problem with the 4.6L V8 and 3.5L V6 engines used throughout the lineup — from the Wall Street Journal:

The auto maker has found a problem with the valve spring of 4.6 liter V8 engines and 3.5 liter V6 engines installed in the Lexus LS460, Lexus LS600h, Lexus LS600hL, Lexus GS350, Lexus GS450h, Lexus GS460 and Lexus IS350 and the Toyota Crown.

The problem could cause the engine to stall, the Toyota spokeswoman said.

Of the 270,000 vehicles powered by the affected engines, 90,000 were sold in Japan and the rest overseas.

Toyota has received 200 complaints about the engine problem, the spokeswoman said, and no related accidents have been reported.

It’s important to note the 270,000 units would only account for a fraction of vehicles with the 4.6L V8 and 3.5L V6 engines, meaning this recall is likely due to a temporary manufacturing issue. This is backed up by a Voxy NZ article:

Routine long-term reliability tests in Japan have discovered a manufacturing flaw in some springs, which could cause abnormal engine noise or unstable idling.

Debbie Pattullo, National Manager for Lexus New Zealand, says the springs will be replaced over the next few months, purely to remove the possibility of future problems.

Even more than that, here’s a quote from Mike_TX of Club Lexus, who was affected last year by what seems to be the same issue:

According to them, there is a set of robots that assemble these engines. In late 2007/early 2008, one of the robots was found to be out of adjustment, such that when it installed the spring, it scraped it and caused a “score” mark on it. That small score mark created a weak point that can cause a failure of the spring after thousands of cycles.

At this point, it’s all speculation, but more details are sure to be released shortly.

Lexus UK has published a very nice photo gallery of the 2010 Lexus GS 450h:

All in all, the 2010 edition of the GS 450h is a very nice upgrade over the 2009 model — upgraded pre-crash safety system, hard drive navigation, three new exterior colors (Vanilla Mist, Richmond Green and Atlantic Blue) and one new interior color (Venaro Grey), plus the new grille and wheel design.

(I’m still not crazy about the wheel design change (to me, the previous GSh rim was second only to the chrome-strip IS F wheels), but there’s no arguing that they would be much easier to clean. Love that new grille, though.)

Read the Lexus UK press release…

Lexus Russia held a new Hybrid Art exhibition at the Vetoshny Arts Centre in Moscow in early April, and here’s the official video:

The Hybrid Art official site listed multiple exhibits ranging from camera obscura (darkened room) displays to software-generated art and interactive sculpture. Additional exhibit images are on the official Facebook page along with this description:

As leader in the automotive sector Lexus is the first car developer in Russia to introduce a new kind of art: hybrid art.  The project LEXUS.HYBRID ART shows the art of the future. Hybrid art, a new language of art!  Hybrid Art is a new way to translate the present, a format for artworks.  Hybrid art blurs the traditional boundaries between painting, sculpture, film, architecture, installation, and performance art.

(In addition to the official video shown here, on YouTube there are a number of Hybrid Art videos uploaded by exhibit visitors, showing a series of rooms with esoteric and sometimes dazzling displays.)

[Source: Lexus Hybrid Art and ITAR-TASS news]