Lexus Announces Brand Transformation Concept Coming March 30th

Posted by Kevin on March 23rd, 2021

Lexus will announce details on a major brand transformation during a press conference on Tuesday March 30th.

Accompanying the announcement will be a new concept vehicle that illustrates the future direction of the Lexus brand. Looking at the teasers provided, it is obvious that this is the same concept that was shown during the Direct4 all-wheel-drive announcement, and again in February when mentioning a new “brand identity concept.”

While we can only see the side profile of this concept for now, it does look like Lexus’ first foray into the crossover coupe segment, and that would make sense based on speculation around the LF-Z and RZ 450e trademarks. A trademark for the Lexus LF-Z was registered in Europe last month, likely revealing the concept’s name. This fits nicely with another recent trademark from Lexus, as they registered the RZ 450e nameplate in both North America and Europe late last year.

We will provide full coverage on March 30th beginning at 7:00pm. Here’s the full press release:

Lexus will announce details of its brand transformation efforts online on Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at 7:00pm, along with the Concept Car which symbolizes the next generation of Lexus. Ahead of the digital world premiere, Lexus has released an additional preview image of the Concept Car.

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mikeavelli said
Direct4 is superior to torque vectoring? No?
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I don't think so Direct4 is just to adjust between front and rear power/torque.

Still superior to any existing hybrid Toyota/Lexus hybrid/BEV setup I suppose.
CRSKTN
mikeavelli said
Direct4 is superior to torque vectoring? No?
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Add torque vectoring to the list of stuff that doesnt actually matter to the EV buyers, like having ridiculous 500 mile range expectations when most people don't do more than a tenth of that in a day.
mikeavelli
CRSKTN said
Add torque vectoring to the list of stuff that doesnt actually matter to the EV buyers, like having ridiculous 500 mile range expectations when most people don't do more than a tenth of that in a day.
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That is a real good point
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CRSKTN said
Add torque vectoring to the list of stuff that doesnt actually matter to the EV buyers, like having ridiculous 500 mile range expectations when most people don't do more than a tenth of that in a day.
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It matters to me and it's not a one-size fits all approach if you ask anyone in Marketing or just running their own business. Only piston heads will require 500 mile ranges. That's just their excuse and nothing in the world will make them buy an EV that is full of compromises compared to similarly price ICEV, especially in the used car market. Just look at a lot of forum discussions, for $1500-2000, torque vectoring is one of the best feature someone can spend on to improve the car's handling. Not everyone wants that but I do.

I mean it's available on ICEVs or HEVs but there's no point for me to buy a BEV when all I get is instant torque and fuel savings. I would love a sporty enough BEV though and without rear torque vectoring, there's really no point for the time being especially when BEVs are as heavy as a tank, the lower CG helps but not entirely.

If I have to get a Macan BEV three to four years down the road because of that electric torque vectoring, then so be it. Can always buy a Lexus when it finally meets my requirements. Have three cars I can replace so the Lexus can wait.

The depreciation alone on any new car of any type will eat up all that savings and if a BEV, wait until the car is past the battery warranty and see how much the residual value holds.


To a true potential adopter like me, the simplest question is not whether it can go 500 miles but how long that Li-ion battery will last and will there be after warranty support like refurbishment service from the manufacturer.

The torque vectoring requirement is only so I don't have to keep changing cars just to get something way above average in the handling department. @Will1991 did share a video that Toyota would like to build BEVs than can last over 20 years.
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CRSKTN said
Add torque vectoring to the list of stuff that doesnt actually matter to the EV buyers, like having ridiculous 500 mile range expectations when most people don't do more than a tenth of that in a day.
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You are right. But German car brands are regarded highly just because of the useless staff that most don't need nor even use. So in their minds it does matter.
I
Ignorance is bliss. :)

Just be open-minded and realize people outside your circles can possibly know what features are really worth paying for. It's not like torque vectoring only happens above 60 km/h LOL.

Even our fellow member with the RCF knows how much better his car drives with torque vectoring.


I'm just sharing some reasons why I cannot go with any Lexus BEVs with Li-ion battery and no torque vectoring -- it's not that much of a step up from a decent handling ICEV if we take out instant torque and sheer acceleration numbers.
CRSKTN
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Rydo
Will1991 said
AWD BEV Confirmed by Lexus Europe:

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I see that stupid Knight Rider steering wheel and instantly turn off. Looks like this will be another pointless LF-30 concept, nothing more than some motorshow glitz.
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internalaudit said
Ignorance is bliss. :)

Just be open-minded and realize people outside your circles can possibly know what features are really worth paying for. It's not like torque vectoring only happens above 60 km/h LOL.

Even our fellow member with the RCF knows how much better his car drives with torque vectoring.


I'm just sharing some reasons why I cannot go with any Lexus BEVs with Li-ion battery and no torque vectoring -- it's not that much of a step up from a decent handling ICEV if we take out instant torque and sheer acceleration numbers.
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Yes, apparently torque vectoring is the only reason people buy cars and we have somehow determined that Lexus BEV will not have it. We get it now.

p.s. I have sports diff in my A7, and I cant notice it really.
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spwolf said
Yes, apparently torque vectoring is the only reason people buy cars and we have somehow determined that Lexus BEV will not have it. We get it now.

p.s. I have sports diff in my A7, and I cant notice it really.
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I never said that was the only reason people buy cars and surely the Direct4 doesn't have it. It's not an inductive reasoning, it's a deductive type of reasoning, which is a lot more sound for the current discussion.

I said for $1,500-3,000 CAD, I will opt for it, especially on a BEV. Of course there will always be people who would rather opt for leather upholstery or pretend it does not improve handling. We choose how we spend our hard-earned money and respect people's preferences.

www.pistonheads.com

Electric torque vectoring a reason to be cheerful

Concerned about the tidal wave of electric performance cars? Well, it's definitely not all bad news...
www.pistonheads.com www.pistonheads.com

Just because you don't notice the difference, it doesn't mean it isn't kicking in. :) That's a very faulty reasoning unless of course your Sport Differential is broken LOL.

I'm not trying to convince people to get torque vectoring, all I'm saying is without that on a BEV, there's no point for me to adopt one. We don't have any autobahn where I live and I don't plan to track and between 0-100 acceleration and torque vectoring, I'd rather give up 1-2 seconds and get better cornering capabilities and performance/traction in winter (with winter tires of course).

I don't know what kind of brand transformation Lexus is up to but if it's sheet metal design and Direct4, I'll wait for 2.0 or 3.0 version of that. :)
mikeavelli
Rydo said
I see that stupid Knight Rider steering wheel and instantly turn off. Looks like this will be another pointless LF-30 concept, nothing more than some motorshow glitz.
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Is everything okay?
S
internalaudit said
Just because you don't notice the difference, it doesn't mean it isn't kicking in. :) That's a very faulty reasoning unless of course your Sport Differential is broken LOL.
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You obviously know a lot more about my car and Lexus BEV plans then me. What can I say.

p.s. did you ever drive Model 3P?
I
spwolf said
You obviously know a lot more about my car and Lexus BEV plans then me. What can I say.

p.s. did you ever drive Model 3P?
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It's either you don't know what TV is on your A7 or it's not working as intended or your car may be sitting in your garage for the entire year now. Doesn't your Audi have a display to show the power to the four wheels? Even Acura with SH-AWD have that and they're just premium cars with no Virtual Cockpit as nice as the ones on the Audis.

Lexus plans have been leaked or exposed. I haven't heard about one coming with electric torque vectoring or I wouldn't even wait for Lexus Transformation 2.0, 3.0 or maybe 4.0. If Lexus awes and surprises me with the transformation with a BEV with solid state battery and rear axle electric torque vectoring, I will definitely finance the second year model and will post photos here.

But I've read enough posts on Porsche discussion forums to know PTV Plus still makes a difference even on a higher-performance vehicle. As to why they would lie about the improvement is beyond me, when most of those households likely make upwards of $250k USD a year.

I don't need to drive a car to know what instant torque is. I also don't test drive a car I have no intention of buying. Have you been on those roller coaster or drop rides in your childhood? Tell me instant torque is nothing like that and prove it and I quit posting on Lexus Enthusiasts. We are humans. For decades, we have been reading pocketbooks, fiction and non-fiction and have been able to feel vicariously a lot of those texts as if we were part of the story.

I'm harnessing my human intelligence to understand useful posts from car aficionados, and those are not limited to people driving Audi A7's.

P.S.
A quick google lands me this. Unless you don't drive on roads with some bends and travel lower than 70 km/h all the time, Audi owners do know there's a difference:

Importance of Sport Diff?

I'm in the market for a 2014+ and I'm curious about how many of you feel that the sport diff is crucial to their driving experience. I'm old (44) and don't drive particularly aggressively. I'm not really interested in either track days nor auto-x. I really want something nice and...
www.audizine.com
Rydo
mikeavelli said
Is everything okay?
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Yeah thanks, just not in the mood for another disappointment from Lexus. The overall shape of the concept already doesn't really interest me - it looks like a Honda Crosstour; trying to be everything to every person rather than just picking a class. Lexus also needs a BEV now, not in a few years from showing a ridiculous concept.
M
This is not going to be an abstraction like LF-30 was, this is a straight out RZ preview. LF-30 was interesting exercise of Corolla hatchback which itself took over LF-Ch design cues. It was PR concept to make Lexus relevant in BEV race. Completely forgetable. But this upcoming thing is the real deal.
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internalaudit said
It's either you don't know what TV is on your A7 or it's not working as intended or your car may be sitting in your garage for the entire year now. Doesn't your Audi have a display to show the power to the four wheels? Even Acura with SH-AWD have that and they're just premium cars with no Virtual Cockpit as nice as the ones on the Audis.

Lexus plans have been leaked or exposed. I haven't heard about one coming with electric torque vectoring or I wouldn't even wait for Lexus Transformation 2.0, 3.0 or maybe 4.0. If Lexus awes and surprises me with the transformation with a BEV with solid state battery and rear axle electric torque vectoring, I will definitely finance the second year model and will post photos here.

But I've read enough posts on Porsche discussion forums to know PTV Plus still makes a difference even on a higher-performance vehicle. As to why they would lie about the improvement is beyond me, when most of those households likely make upwards of $250k USD a year.

I don't need to drive a car to know what instant torque is. I also don't test drive a car I have no intention of buying. Have you been on those roller coaster or drop rides in your childhood? Tell me instant torque is nothing like that and prove it and I quit posting on Lexus Enthusiasts. We are humans. For decades, we have been reading pocketbooks, fiction and non-fiction and have been able to feel vicariously a lot of those texts as if we were part of the story.

I'm harnessing my human intelligence to understand useful posts from car aficionados, and those are not limited to people driving Audi A7's.

P.S.
A quick google lands me this. Unless you don't drive on roads with some bends and travel lower than 70 km/h all the time, Audi owners do know there's a difference:

Importance of Sport Diff?

I'm in the market for a 2014+ and I'm curious about how many of you feel that the sport diff is crucial to their driving experience. I'm old (44) and don't drive particularly aggressively. I'm not really interested in either track days nor auto-x. I really want something nice and...
www.audizine.com
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I think you would do yourself a favor by testing these cars and features you are writing about so you get more accustomed and understand what they mean in practice vs reading them in forum post.

For instance, Tesla Model 3P was incredibly stable fast driving in heavy rain where my A7 would jump around in big puddles over the same road. Tesla's torque vectoring front to back + whatever they apply for esp/tc works really well in practice.
Gecko
Why is everyone so hostile lately?

Have you all been in quarantine too long?
mikeavelli
Gecko said
Why is everyone so hostile lately?

Have you all been in quarantine too long?
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Im like #freehugs ....
Sebass
Gecko said
Whether or it's actually FWD or RWD is becoming less important in the age of AWD and batteries when we are talking about the design principles of long hood and shorter overhangs... there have been many FWD cars with nice proportions and plenty of RWD ones with awful overhangs and short hoods. It is all a matter of design choice, and then also packaging, which is definitely where Acura has fallen short. Many FWD cars have been designed with "RWDish proportions" and the Audi A6 is a great example. Audi S6 and RS6 look great, and have great interior room. The new TLX has less interior room than the old one because the platform is poorly packaged.

With no GS, it seems logical that the next ES will be elevated, so while it may have a FWD-biased chassis, I am betting there will be upper level models with Direct4, potentially F Sport Performance or even F. It's all possible with batteries, especially when Lexus could do something like turbo 4 + hybrid + direct 4 for V8-like performance, and eliminate much of the front mass needed to accommodate a V8. All the sudden a performance-oriented ES with a tidy front overhang, longer hood and more swept back roofline is very possible -- and likely.
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Personally, and this is just my opinion, I would not under any circumstance want a 4 cylinder v8 equivalent. That just sounds gross... personally.
F1 Silver Arrows
Sebass said
Personally, and this is just my opinion, I would not under any circumstance want a 4 cylinder v8 equivalent. That just sounds gross... personally.
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Well, Mercedes is doing just that. 😒
Sebass
F1 Silver Arrows said
Well, Mercedes is doing just that. 😒
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Lately, Mercedes has really been doing a lot of things I dislike. I mean, I can't believe the c63 is going from a tt 4.0 v8 to a t 2.0 i4 plug in hybrid. That is just not okay. I really don't care if the next c63 is faster than the current one, it's gonna sound awful, and it's going to lack the brutality of the v8. I mean, I don't care for ev's, but if you're gonna neuter a car that aggressively, you might as well just make it fully electric and embrace it.

Or the new S-class, which in my opinion looks a lot less attractive and stately than the previous gen, especially on the outside. The screen is just to damn big, or at least the way it's implemented just looks so awkward. Like, I feel like they are using the screen as an excuse to get rid of solid, quality, well designed buttons and switches.
Basically going the Tesla approach, using the minimalist excuse to make a barren and low quality interior that doesn't have a whole lot going on.

Sorry for that rant, I just had to say it.
Ian Schmidt
Sebass said
Lately, Mercedes has really been doing a lot of things I dislike. I mean, I can't believe the c63 is going from a tt 4.0 v8 to a t 2.0 i4 plug in hybrid. That is just not okay. I really don't care if the next c63 is faster than the current one, it's gonna sound awful, and it's going to lack the brutality of the v8. I mean, I don't care for ev's, but if you're gonna neuter a car that aggressively, you might as well just make it fully electric and embrace it.
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Totally agreed. If you're downsizing the ICE that dramatically, just rip off the bandage and go BEV.
Will1991
Ian Schmidt said
Totally agreed. If you're downsizing the ICE that dramatically, just rip off the bandage and go BEV.
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Totally agree!

And in real life there’re some cases that turbocharging a smaller displacement engine gets worse fuel economy, this being one of the main reasons some automakers went to higher displacement engines with good results (Toyota and Mazda for example), and others changed directions (https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/engine-downsizing-come-end-says-volkswagen-boss).
Even electrifying doesn’t mean better fuel economy ( https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...onomy-ratings-than-330i-sedan-old-142765.html ).
I
Will1991 said
Totally agree!

And in real life there’re some cases that turbocharging a smaller displacement engine gets worse fuel economy, this being one of the main reasons some automakers went to higher displacement engines with good results (Toyota and Mazda for example), and others changed directions (https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/engine-downsizing-come-end-says-volkswagen-boss).
Even electrifying doesn’t mean better fuel economy ( https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...onomy-ratings-than-330i-sedan-old-142765.html ).

And we're a day away to see it!

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And what happens after the battery is fully depleted to the point it cannot add significant oomph to that 4 banger? :) :)
bogglo
internalaudit said
And what happens after the battery is fully depleted to the point it cannot add significant oomph to that 4 banger? :) :)
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Lol the owner swiftly changes lane and gets behind the corolla in the right lane since the Avalon TRD behind it got places to be.
S
Will1991 said
Totally agree!

And in real life there’re some cases that turbocharging a smaller displacement engine gets worse fuel economy, this being one of the main reasons some automakers went to higher displacement engines with good results (Toyota and Mazda for example), and others changed directions (https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/engine-downsizing-come-end-says-volkswagen-boss).
Even electrifying doesn’t mean better fuel economy ( https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...onomy-ratings-than-330i-sedan-old-142765.html ).

And we're a day away to see it!

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Overwork an undersized engine or underwork an oversized engine. Which would you prefer? (Hint: engines, unlike people, do not get stronger with hard exercise.)
S
internalaudit said
And what happens after the battery is fully depleted to the point it cannot add significant oomph to that 4 banger? :) :)
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That is what happens with single-motor parallel hybrids. Without the opportunity to allow the engine (with the second electric motor-generator) to recharge the battery even while the hybrid drive is providing electric boost, the battery may discharge to full depletion, at which point you are dragging along the dead weight of the traction battery.
mikeavelli
I just want to see something dope lol... in a few more hours!
T
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R
Wow that looks so good

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