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Lexus previews its next design language with an electric concept

Identifying a new or a late-model Lexus is child's play: Look for the giant spindle-shaped grille. It's a styling cue that defines all of its recent models, and designing an electric car is evidently not an excuse to get rid of it. Lexus published a dark teaser image that previews an electric concept that will usher in its next design language. Like parent company Toyota, Lexus has long resisted the shift towards electric cars by fervently arguing hybrids make more sense. But, as even its home country mulls a blanket ban on internal combustion technology, it's left with no choice but to go electric. It already sells a battery-powered variant of the UX in Europe, but the concept it previewed on its social channels was designed as an electric car from the get-go. It's still shrouded in secrecy, we don't even know its name yet, but we can already tell the spindle stays. Its outline clearly appears between the sharp LED headlights, though it almost looks full. And, like seemingly every concept car released in the past three or four years, the newest member of the Lexus portfolio wears a backlit emblem. Lexus electric prototype View 4 Photos Interestingly, Lexus also quietly published a separate video highlighting the electric and hybrid technologies it's developing for the 2020s, and the footage reveals a heavily-camouflaged crossover lapping a test track in Japan. Shown in the gallery above, it's fully electric, and it might be at least related to the upcoming concept. Direct4 technology will power the car. Short for Direct 4-Wheel Drive Force Control, it's a system that automatically adjusts the torque sent to each wheel based on the road and driving conditions. In this application, it consists of two electric motors (one per axle), and its total output checks in at 402 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque. Lexus noted it can be used for gasoline-electric plug-in hybrid systems, too. We'll need to be patient to find out more about the concept. For example, we don't know if it's related to the electric car that Toyota will release in Europe in 2021, or if it's something else entirely. If the concept and the prototype shown testing in Japan are indeed the same car, it looks like its launch is right around the corner. Related video:

Are Toyota and Lexus planning to use Mazda's straight-six and new platform?

Japan's Best Car magazine has what appears to be a whopper of a rumor. The mag said it scooped Mazda's development of a straight-six engine that Mazda only revealed in March, the carmaker having buried the information in a financial statement. By way of Lexus Enthusiast and according to Google translate, Best Car writes that as it was speaking to a Toyota source on an unrelated matter, the magazine found out that Mazda's work on the straight-six was predicated on the engine's use in Toyota Group vehicles, which includes Lexus. Here's the account of how the engine and Mazda's coming front-engined rear-drive platform, dubbed "Large Architecture," will make their way to Toyota City: The first appearance for the straight-six, predicted to come in at a hair under 3.0 liters, is the Mazda Atenza/Mazda6 successor coming around 2022. The powertrain will get a 48-volt hybrid system for increased fuel economy, and the automaker's said to be considering a plug-in hybrid version. Toyota's first shot at the platform and the straight-six will be whatever fills the slot of the Japanese-market Mark-X sedan. We once had a version of the Mark-X in the U.S. as the Toyota Cressida. In Japan, it's sold as a rear- and all-wheel drive option to the Camry. The Mark-X is slated to end production in December this year — a "sporty four-door coupe" on Mazda's platform and with Mazda's engine eventually taking its place. Lexus has a number of plans for the components from Hiroshima. The next Lexus IS is said to evolve from the current sedan, using a Lexus V6 but migrating to Toyota's TNGA platform. Best Car says the IS after that, perhaps sometime around 2026, will hop onto Mazda's new platform and use the inline-six engine. Before that, the replacement for the Lexus RC in 2022 will sit on the Mazda platform and get that inline-six. What's more, Lexus will introduce a new model to slot between the $64,750 RC and the $92,950 LC employing Mazda's architecture and engine. Best Car says the model will act as a "next car" for RC owners, but we can't tell if the magazine means a two-door or a four-door coupe; the article also says the Lexus model will compete with the Audi A7. Toyota and Mazda partnered up in 2016 on technology sharing. Best Car's take is that, as was done on the Supra, Toyota is picking up all the tech it can from suitable sources so that it can continue to sell models that don't make sense to develop alone.

2022 Lexus IS 350 F Sport Road Test | A trip through mid-Ohio, from Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, Ohio — That feeling of driving inspiration I tend to get after a long day of watching racing hits me hard. Hours of observing others — professional racers — tear it up on track always leaves me with a desire to do the same, which in reality, is a dangerous feeling to have. Outside those racetrack grounds are public roads with speed limits, other motorists and a million other factors. Nevertheless, IÂ’m feeling rather giddy in the 2022 Lexus IS 350 F Sport after leaving the Lexus Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Lexus invited me down to watch the race where a pair of Lexus RC Fs run by Vasser Sullivan Racing were competing. I rode along for a hot lap in a modified IS 500 F Sport Performance with one of the teamÂ’s pro drivers between races, and while that carÂ’s V8 is rather intoxicating, I still find myself really digging the 3.5-liter V6 in the humble IS 350 F Sport on OhioÂ’s winding back roads. Before leaving the track, I check the box on Google Maps to “avoid highways,” and point the IS down any road vaguely heading in the right direction that looked curvy in search of somewhere to enjoy LexusÂ’ recently-updated sport sedan. Being the F Sport model, there is some hope for fun. All IS 350 F Sports get a unique (and louder) exhaust, 19-inch wheels, larger 265-section-width rear tires, a cold air intake and an interior “sound generator” that pumps some extra noise into the cabin. What this car doesnÂ’t have, is the Dynamic Handling Package available on IS F Sport models. This adds an adaptive suspension and lighter BBS forged wheels. Additionally, this IS is the all-wheel-drive version, so it doesnÂ’t have the Torsen limited-slip rear differential or the extra-sporty “Sport S+” drive mode available on the rear-wheel-drive version. Despite this IS 350 F Sport being in mildly sporty dress, the trip starts out on a promising note. Much of the happiness derived from driving this sedan comes courtesy of its naturally aspirated V6 engine. It puts out a healthy 311 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, good enough for a 0-60-mph sprint of 5.7 seconds. Peak power is made at 6,600 rpm, which means you need to keep the pedal buried and work for the acceleration.  Others in this sport sedan class have long since made boosted four-cylinders the go-to powertrain, making this naturally aspirated engine a breath of fresh air.