2008 Lexus Is-f Blk/blk Nav Rear-cam Htd-seats Mark-levinson/6cd Xenons 19"whls on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lexus RC F police cruiser set to patrol Australia's highways

Planning a trip down to Australia? Better keep an eye on the speedometer. Because with this latest set of wheels, the local cops should have little trouble chasing you down. It's a Lexus RC F coupe that's been specially outfitted to join the police motor pool in the southern region of New South Wales. Details on how it's set up for official duty are scarce, but as you can see, it features special graphics as well as flashing lights on the dashboard and rear shelf. There's probably special communications equipment installed as well, but we doubt the Aussie bobbies will be trying to squeeze any perps into the back seat. The Japanese performance coupe is slated for use in a number of applications, one of them being to promote road safety. We're not sure how a 467-horsepower V8 luxury coupe gets that message across, exactly. But even though it's not quite as impressive as what they've added to the fleet in Dubai, the RC F ought to garner some attention at events like the Bathurst Six Hour race and the MS Sydney to the Gong bike ride where it'll be on display. And just in case it's put on highway patrol, we'd suggest locals and visitors exorcise their speed demons on the Stuart Highway up north and keep their right feet light on the streets in NSW. Related Video:

Apple uses Logitech steering wheels and pedals to control autonomous cars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple outlined a plan to train operators of self-driving cars in documents submitted to California regulators earlier this month, the latest clues to the company's autonomous vehicle technology aspirations. Apple was granted a permit to test self-driving cars on April 14 by the California Department of Motor Vehicles but the company has never said anything about its plan. The state released 41 pages of Apple application documents to Reuters that give some clues about the company's highly secret self-driving effort, which it has never openly acknowledged. The iPhone maker joins a long list of carmakers, start-ups and technology rivals, including Alphabet's Waymo, that are testing cars on state roads. Apple is looking for new hit products and autonomous car technology is expected to revolutionize the traditional auto industry. As part of the application, Apple included a 10-page training plan that appeared to be related to operators taking back manual control of the car during automated driving exercises of the system, which it calls a development platform. Business Insider reports that Apple engineers riding in the back seats have the ability to take over control of the car using off-the-shelf steering wheel and pedal video game controllers from Logitech. Apple declined comment beyond the filing. The plan includes a document called "Automated System: Development Platform Specific Training Overview" whose objective is "to train safety drivers in various automated driving conditions." "Development platform will be controlled electronically (e.g. joystick) and safety drivers must be ready to intervene and take control," the document reads. The document highlights different scenarios to be tested, from high speed driving and tight U-turns to lane changes. One letter sent from Apple to the state Department of Motor Vehicles noted that Apple's development platform "will have the ability to capture and store relevant data before a collision occurs." The document does not include detail on how Apple's self-driving platform actually works or other technical details. It also does not say what kind of sensors are found on Apple's three permitted vehicles, all 2015 Lexus model RX450h. The permit does not necessarily mean that Apple itself is building a full car. Apple could instead be designing a self-driving platform that can be integrated into other manufacturer's cars. (By Alexandria Sage.

Lexus reportedly working on two different successors to the LFA

The successor to the Lexus LFA is beginning to take shape — in unofficial rumors, at least. The firm's next supercar will reportedly make its debut in the coming years with a V8 under the hood, and it will be followed by a battery-electric model due out at the turn of the decade. Citing anonymous inside sources, Japanese magazine Best Car wrote that the long-awaited car that will take the torch from the limited-edition LFA will land in showrooms in 2025. As we've previously reported, it will be powered by a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain built around a mysterious 4.0-liter V8 engine fitted with two turbochargers. The publication adds that the coupe, whose name hasn't been confirmed, will be launched as a regular-production model and that it will be built on a version of Toyota's TNGA-L platform. This is the same architecture found under the LC and the LS, among models, and using these foundations should allow Lexus to keep the car's cost in check. Engineers could peg the hybrid system's total output at around 700 horsepower, and Best Car reports that the car's front end will borrow styling cues from the Electrified Sport concept (pictured) introduced in December 2021. If the report is accurate, sales will start in 2025. Speaking of which, the Electrified Sport will make its debut with a battery-electric powertrain in 2030 at the earliest. Its design will evolve over the next eight-plus years; it sounds like what we saw in December 2021 more accurately previewed the hybrid supercar than the electric one. It could hit 60 mph from a stop in under 2 seconds, and it could offer a maximum driving range of over 430 miles. Interestingly, the same report points out that the Electrified Sport might use solid-state batteries. That technology's not ready, but Lexus has plenty of time to fine-tune it. Toyota GR GT3 Concept View 8 Photos On the Toyota side of the family tree, the GR GT3 concept unveiled in January 2022 is allegedly on its way to production (in one form or another) as well. It will initially spawn a race car built to GT3 specifications, as its name implies, and it will benefit from the lessons that engineers learned while designing a road-going, Le Mans-inspired hypercar that Toyota consigned to the automotive attic in August 2021. Whether the GR GT3 will be related to the LFA's successor is up in the air, though it doesn't take a significant stretch of the imagination to speculate that some parts will be shared.