Websites

Lexus USA has added official press photos and information to a new CT 200h page on its website:

Billed as “the darker side of green,” the CT 200h sportback will be heading to the US market once it becomes available—the site also shows different angle views of the white CT 200h, with the rear 3/4 view revealing the aft windshield wiper which was left off the Geneva floor model and other press photos:

There is an option to sign up for e-mail updates and a future CT 200h Dark Ride, an “up-coming movie experience that allows you to virtually drive the all-new CT 200h.”

The CT 200h has also been added to Lexus.com’s hybrid power of h minisite, which shows much of the same information along with a rendering of the Lexus CT in silver:

[Via: Club Lexus]

For the Tokyo Auto Salon, Japanese tuner company Wald International outfitted a 2010 Lexus LS 460 Sport with their Executive Line body kit and Renovatio wheels:

Wald’s tendency to overcomplicate the simple Lexus design is too over-the-top for my tastes, especially with the front-fender vents and the massive 22” Renevatio wheels, but it isn’t hard to see the appeal of muscling up the LS with some more aggressive lines.

Superb photography as well, here’s the full gallery:

[Source: Winding Road]

Agent 00R of Autospies drove from New York City to the Detroit Auto Show in a 2010 Lexus LS 460 AWD, and has shared some observations on how the sedan handled the trip.

Read this story

Autoblog has posted their review of the 2010 Lexus LS 460 Sport, where they were pleasantly surprised by the sedan’s newfound sportiness:

Approaching the first tight turn along this curvy hillside ribbon of asphalt, we instinctively wanted to tap into the upgraded Brembos to scrub off some momentum. Expecting a fair amount of body roll, we planned our line accordingly, but amazingly, the LS – with its re-calibrated suspension, beefier stabilizer bars and uprated shocks – was well planted and barely bobbed to either side. We pushed a little harder into the next bend and the stately sedan just hunkered down and carved a perfect arc. This can’t be right.

As the road straightened out we were scratching our head trying to figure out what just happened. Is this Lexus actually fun to drive? Did these seemingly minor suspension changes really transform the LS from a perfectly wonderful boulevard cruiser to a genuine back road bomber?

These positive reviews of the LS Sport are very exciting—with no (reported) sacrifice in ride quality, a tasteful body kit, a handsome interior color scheme with beautiful matte wood, and all the performance upgrades, there doesn’t seem to be a single drawback to this package.

Best of all, this bodes well for the future of the Lexus’ flagship sedan—maybe these performance upgrades should be standard.

(I also recommend going through the photo gallery, great detail photos in there.)

[Source: Autoblog]

The Lexus LFA mini-site has been updated to include a Sound “Gallery”, where you can listen to the LFA in its various aural states—and lucky for us, Youtube user supercargasm has posted up each soundclip for our listening pleasure:

Engine Start

Acceleration

Full Flight

Downshift

Every time I almost get used to Lexus having a production LFA, I hear that engine note and I’m back to barely being able to contain myself.

Autoblog has just published their first drive of the 2010 Lexus GX 460—here’s a excerpt of their impressions:

The engine feels strong on the road and the new six-speed transmission makes the most of that power. The cabin is quiet even when matting the throttle to the floor, and over the course of a 30-minute run down a blissfully traffic-free Southern California freeway, we never had to raise our voices to be heard. It’s sedan quiet and nearly sedan smooth.

The ranch route gave us a chance to try out the adjustable suspension settings, full-time four-wheel drive, crawl control feature and even the front and side wide-view cameras. The GX handled everything we threw at it with so much aplomb that we suddenly realized what this vehicle is all about…The fact that not many people will need to ford a stream or tackle a mud bog – let alone drop hay bales around their hilly 2,000 acre ranch – doesn’t negate the value of the GX 460.

Some other facts that jumped out: the current GX 470 currently holds a 25% share of the full-size luxury SUV market, and the entire 2009 US production allotment of the GX 470 were sold. This would explain the GX sales figures this year—there wasn’t enough supply.

(Perhaps the best part of Autoblog’s review is the photo gallery, some really nice detail photos.)

[Source:

< a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/09/2010-lexus-gx-460-first-drive/">

Autoblog]