All Entries Tagged With: "LEXUS"
Weighty Issue: Cars Grow Fatter. Cost More. Lexus Flagship Is Case In Point
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img via Lexus Enthusiast ::: Lexus LS Generations
CARS are getting portly. No two ways about it, over the past two decades automakers have larded our rides with taller profiles, beefier frames, and stocked them to the grilles with heavy sensors and electronica that further isolate occupants from the road and add weight to the scales.
Lexus is no exception and indeed to highlight the industry-wide trend as an example, we can see that the current, fourth generation LS flagship takes the proverbial cake. All of it.
Consider that in 1990, the first generation LS400 weighed a moderate 3,837 lbs, measured 196″ l./71.7″ w./55.1″ h., sported a 250 hp V8 that ran 0-60 in 7.9 seconds and returned an average of 17 mpg.
The cost? Fully appointed – roughly $44,700 or $74,617 in 2010-era Greenbacks according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor & Statistics’ handy dandy inflation calculator.
Now, adjust your cognitive settings to consider that the LS line has grown to include long wheelbase models, all-wheel drive variants, and for the top of the range, a hybrid battery, to say nothing of the added gravitas that the nameplate now enjoys against the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, etc.
Therefore, the 2010 LS600h L sizes up to 203.9″ l./ 73.8″ w./ 58.3″ h., is propelled by a hybrid 438 hp V8 that sprints to 60 in 5.5 seconds and returns 22 mpg. Thanks to the magic of lithium ion batteries, the top of the line LS flattens the curb at a truly Bentley-esque 5,203 pounds.
M.S.R.P.? Starts at $108,800.
With hindsight, it seems clear that physical heft isn’t the only aspect that’s been larded over the years.
Old Infiniti Q45 Ad Asked A Damn Good Question
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube ::: Infiniti Q45 Advert – Where Were The Cars We Were Promised?
AH, the Q45. The last of the luxury sedans offered by Infiniti before Nissan’s luxury nameplate went all bling and $#1t.
Pity that Infiniti never got the Q45’s formula of svelte, Japanese luxury for the American market quite right. Seems somehow odd, considering that so many agree that Infiniti design has since managed to nail the FX SUV and G coupe. The Q never did best the Lexus LS in sales, quality, or curb appeal, let alone match the cache of its Teutonic rivals.
But that didn’t stop Infiniti’s marketing team for taking a few jabs at their domestic competition at the turn of the Millenium. Where were the cars we were promised? is a straightforward US campaign and a direct shot at General Motors for all those far-flung space-age concepts that Harley Earl & Co. teased us with in the 50s and 60s that the General never delivered.
Needless to say, Infiniti marketing had a point. It’s just too bad that Infiniti Q45 wasn’t the car to deliver the way of the future.
Pursuing The Halo: 2012 Lexus LF-A
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Lexus USA ::: Lexus LF-A
WHY not? When Lexus announced its agenda to bring us its own exotic, some (yours truly included) scoffed.
Scoffed at the very notion that Lexus could construct a convincing sports car. A rival to Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche.
Others took a more charitable view: if Mercedes sells a supercar (SLS AMG) why not Lexus?
Remember the Toyota Supra? The genes seem present in this design.
The MK IV Supra (1993-2002) was a rounded blade that carved Toyota’s inroads into racing and sports car lore. Lexus, unlike Acura and the NSX, never featured its own performance front runner. Toyota’s luxury division’s relentless pursuit of perfection focused on removing the driver from the experience of…well…driving.
That is, apparently, until now.
The figures are exotic: ten cylinders in v-formation making 412 hp with 480 torques @ a lofty 6800 rpm. Howling, too: the LF-A’s V10 hits the wall at 9000 rpm.Weight is relatively checked by contemporary standards – 3,400 lbs.
Nought to 60: 3.4 seconds. Five hundred units will be produced each served to the customer for approx. $375,000. These characteristics make a super car, no question.
But the question remains: should this be Lexus’ “halo”? Shouldn’t a limo – Maybach-like – that’s higher in status and stuffed with more kit than the LS600hL be Lexus’ shining star? Much like the randomly conceived VW Phaeton?
Whatever the case, the LF-A is here. And why not?
Achtung! BMW et al.: The Road Ahead To The Perfect Car Is Riddled With Undesired Compromise
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img BMW
THE world is full of compromise – even for those who claim to be uncompromising.
In this market where every consumer wants his cake and the capacity to – yes – eat it, too, car makers are feeling compelled to produce more models that claim to be all things to all people.
Inevitably, if the world’s great marques were ever to actually fulfill this goal they’d only succeed in ensuring that their cars would be all things no one in particular.
Sensibly, what car makers seek outside their marketed maxims is a balance that encapsulates their “brand”. At the lofty end of the car market, that typically means finding a happy ratio between sport and luxury – though – “green” factors such as gas mileage and alternative fuel technology are playing an ever increasing role.
We’ll leave the latter aside for this discussion.
The trend over two decades seems anything but balanced as the scales have tilted towards luxury. And not luxury in a classic sense, but technological advancements that further separate the driver from the road and micromanage our experience behind the wheel and in the passenger seat.
Consider the BMW 7-Series.
The E32 7er (1988-1994) was a sublime executive performance sedan. Those large sharks were still fairly lean, athletic, nimble machines with cockpits that lavished attention on the driver and cradled their passengers, locking them in for what was sure to be a thrilling ride.
The old 7 was a driver’s car first. Sublime luxury car second.
The E65 7er (2002-2009) pulled the equivalent of an e-brake turn into the opposite lane of comfy cruisin’.
BMW had decided that since their flagship was competing against the Lexus LS and Mercedes S-Class, their best needed to be larger, cushier, and purpose built for comfortable highway travel while being just taut enough to handle the occasional switchback.
The ratio in the span of less than ten model years went from 60/40 – sport/luxury to 40/60. In the new F01 7er, that balance tipped only slightly back towards sport in a ratio somewhere near 42/58 thanks to enough outcry from traditionalists.
For a car company that markets itself as the “Ultimate Driving Machine” this softening along with headlong advances into the crossover segment is discouraging.
Jaguar, Lexus, and Mercedes have tried executing the opposite maneuver; marketing themselves as performance oriented, athletic answers to the mundane commuter car. They’ve only succeeded in making the same quasi-bland car for each segment that’s distinguishable only by degree.
Here’s the nugget: the only road to maintaining brand identity and a loyal customer base is by being true to the original premise. In Lexus’ case, the perfect luxury people carrier. In Jag’s case – space, grace, and pace.
For BMW, that means living up to the ultimate driving machine maxim by ensuring every car that they build transmits, not insulates, the thrill of the drive.
Audi versus… A4 Advert Showcases Rivals
By Gunnar Heinrich :: YouTube
GOT to hand it to ‘em, Audi has some cheek.
Aside from Hyundai and GM which only use vague verbal or written references to their competition, Audi actually let us a visualize its marketplace rivals by showcasing their models stacked against the other guys.
In this particular advert, the Audi A4 squares off against the Lexus IS, Mercedes C-Class, and BMW 3-Series. Apparently, the A4 claims to be bigger and more fuel efficient than any of its contemporaries.
It doesn’t hurt that we can differentiate the two by noticing the Audi in diamond black and the rest trimmed in a grey-ish beige.
This spot reminds us of another rivalry that was recently exploited for one side’s publicity efforts…
Lexus SC430: Elegant Design Defended
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Lexus USA
NEVER having so much as ridden in, let alone driven, the Lexus SC convertible, you may (if you’re foolhardy) discount this article from the writer’s lack of direct experience with this specific Lexus model.
Return, if you must, to your dry search. Edmunds should have those stats you’re looking for.
How, after all, could I reasonably defend what other writers have experienced and subsequently waxed on with coverage varying from mild disdain to faint praise?
For all the SC’s technical competencies – one of the first (contemporary) power hardtop convertibles, no cowl shudder, vital V8 power, magic carpet ride, and smooth autobox – more (disdainful) words were directed to how ambivalent Japan’s consummate boulevardier appeared.
That’s where I come in.
Debuting in 2002, Lexus’ US sales material for the SC430 set the tone. In the first page, we’re introduced to not so much a car but a concept:
“A life lived like a work of art. In which beauty and pleasure assume the importance of food and shelter. To do what you want. Where you want. When you want. Lived as if every moment is fleeting, and irreplacable. And meant, above all, to be enjoyed. Can you imagine a vita that has too much dolce?”
Boilerplate luxury car brochure prose, certainly.
But in 2002, Lexus drivers weren’t so involved with their cars. A Lexus was a comfortable, practical, dependable environ in which to commute to and from a US or Canadian metropolitan district. You leased a Lexus. It was a smart, above-the-cut appliance . Nothing more. And like all smart appliances, was easy to replace.
The SC aimed to change that for Lexus. True to all things sensual, the car’s modus operandi and aesthetic both offered excitement sans aggression.
Said Motor Trend in 2003: “We’re less enamored with the SC’s exterior, one of those nontoxic, “organic” shapes that looks neither unattractive nor memorable.”
True, time seems to have forgotten the SC and its curves. It’s been eight years since the hardtop/droptop’s launch and they are a rare sighting indeed in most of the Eastern states. Having said that, I’m sure I’ll happen upon three at the local Starbucks tomorrow.
But back to the point of order.
Those organic lines have aged rather nicely.
Like a wine that critics wrote off as “bland” in its younger years and then with time matured into a mellow smoothness, the SC represents a velvet touch.
There’s good reason the ‘02 brochure featured picks of the SC set on the Amalfi Coast. This convertible was Lexus’ first foray into the world of topless touring – and Europe’s Mediterranean coastline, it was said, was the design team’s muse.
There’s such a clean beauty to the SC. That simple grille with uncluttered lower air dam. Those sleek headlamps. That high, soft shoulder with small, beautifully arced roof.
Yes, it’s clearly techy-Japanese. And yes, the boot appears both too high and too stretched and in spite of these proportions is lacking in cargo capacity.
But the SC’s speaks to Nippon’s best virtues: civility and technological luxury that’s delicately and thoughtfully packaged. No Mercedes SL has ever treated its occupants with as much respect – buttery soft hides set against optional bird’s eye trim, with electronics that hideaway beneath glossy wood veneers?
It’s not so much luxurious as it is creamy to the point of being edible!
To wit: Lexus set the standard for quality in the 00’s with the SC.
The convertible stood as welcome contrast to the rest of the automotive world in a decade frought with the violent clash of flame surfacing, incongruent lines, and jagged edges. While automotive terror reigned, the SC’s soft appetures represented a fluid calm; a conservative alternative course setting that saw a timeless horizon.
Indeed, now that we’ve entered the SC’s eighth production year, and the decidedly cheaper and Nike’d IS droptop has displaced our attentions, it’s right that the SC should quietly shoulder on in the background. The car is as soft to the eye as when new.
Few convertibles from the last decade have carried their design asperations forward as elegantly.
What Makes a Jaguar, “A Jag-u-ar”?
- The essential elements of Jaguar design
- Ian Callum’s team should avoid Germanification
- Keep the sex please, Jaguar’s British
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Jaguar Cars
NO, seriously.
What makes a Jaguar a “Jag-wharr” “Jag-u-ar” or a “Shagwharr, baby, yeah!” ?
Coming down from the summer’s high of witnessing the troubled Brit car maker launch something – anything – that could be considered exciting, fresh, and new, yours is compelled to pick up a fresh blogger’s grenade, pull the pin and…
Can’t throw it. Won’t.
The world needs Jaguar now more than ever. We need a car company that promises to deliver what we’ll call the “everyday exotic”.
“Everyday” meaning a car that’s produced in some volume with a wide range of engine and trim options that inevitably includes a low-spec variant that has a euro-zone friendly diesel engine and an interior trimmed in velour.
By “exotic”, I refer to an automobile that makes your hand stand on end or at least prompts a second, lasting glance.
Neither BMW, Mercedes, or Lexus are in the business of building everday head-turners.
The latest generation 5er, E-Class, and GS and their higher and lower stablemates are quite doomed to automotive anonymity thanks in large part to their ubiquity and that they share the same design elements from like-minded studios.
Jaguar’s team, led by the talented Ian Callum, is badly tempted to follow this terribly efficient Teutonic trend. They’re prepared to sacrifice the marque’s quintessentially British heritage by playing ze Germans’ game; borrowing heavily from Audi’s middle-of-the-road German aesthetic while pitching an emphasis on technology.
Technology isn’t sexy. Sleek, lean, power and grace is. Which brings us nicely back to our nugget: what makes a Jaguar, a Jaguar?
It’s sex appeal, ladies and gentlemen.
Time’s up. Throw the grenade!
Lexus HS250h: What Price Green Luxury?
Awfully similar to the cheaper Prius.
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Lexus USA
SHOE horned between the IS and the ES, two very different near-luxury models that Lexus leases and sells to customers who value their cars as much as, say, they do their toaster or freezer (not quite fair for the IS, but still) fits the new HS.
The HS 250h is meant to cater to those moneyed but Green minded, “fair trade” types who were having to rough it all these years in their second generation Priuses for the sake of Mother Nature and, well, their politically correct images. So anticipated was this new model, Lexus received 1,500 pre-orders in Japan alone.
Despite our better instincts, Lexus says that the HS is distinct from the Prius. The suspension and engine are Lexus’ own 187 hp VVTi four banger, not the small, 98 hp unit that powers the Toyota eco hatch.
And yet, with a no-options price of $34K, Lexus demands a $12K premium over the $22K Prius. Where’s the added value?
Judging from the HS’ similar architecture (HS has a trunk), the base rate materials used (plastic wood’s cut-rate), shared Prius gear, a higher cd – 0.27 v. 0.25 (more windnoise), combined fuel economy that averages 35 mpg against the Prius’ 50 mpg, you might think that if there’s a premium to be paid, the benefits of shelling out more for the Lexus are well hidden.
Pitch Perfect: Lexus Passionate Pursuit Commercial
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Passionate Pursuit by Lexus
MARK JOGGERST is a musician, a composer, an artist.
His music tends to be tranquil, pensive, deeply reflective and good for those moments when you’re feeling especially spiritual. In short, he provides the perfect material for a pithy commercial.
Perhaps it was only happenstance that Lexus’ people should choose a German national - Herr Joggerst was born in Germany though he did earn his musical stripes at Berklee – to compose the gentle piano piece that times out perfectly with the commercial spot that introduced the LS460 to American TV audiences.
If you were to think of what the first purpose of a Lexus should be, it narrows to providing the most serene environment possible in which a driver and passengers can transport themselves from A to B.
What you see in the following video is an advert that with Herr Joggerst’s music and imagery manages to capture the character of the product -perfectly.
GM Has Gotta Keep ‘em Separated
That 70’s sign must go…
By Gunnar Heinrich
YOU have to wonder how many potential customers have gone to their local Pontiac dealer with the aim of taking home a G8 only to drive on by once they saw that 70s sign which invariably read “Buick, Pontiac, GMC.”
The only product placement that’d kill the urge faster would be finding Trojans stocked on the same shelf with Huggies. Selling a Pontiac G8 GT next to a GMC Acadia – or worse – a Pontiac Torrent, just kills the Vibe (no puns).
