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2018 Lexus LS 500 gets the F Sport treatment

Lexus has used this year's auto show season for a continuous rollout of its all-new flagship sedan, the 2018 LS 500. It debuted in Detroit, followed by the hybrid LS 500h in Geneva. For New York, the updated LS gets the F Sport treatment, which includes design touches, chassis tuning and added stopping power. The 2018 Lexus LS F Sport, whether in gas-only or hybrid trim, receives a set of 20-inch alloy wheels and larger, six-piston caliper front and four-piston rear brakes. Up front, the F Sport grille is refined beyond that of the standard LS, and Lexus notes that it took CAD designers five months to get the desired look, with its 7,100 individual surfaces. Other visual changes include an enlarged side grille, unique rocker panels, trunk moldings, and, of course, F Sport badging. The Ultra White exterior is exclusive to the F Sport version. Inside the car, F Sport front seats offer more support for spirited driving. The driver commands the car through an F Sport steering wheel, aluminum pedals, and a perforated shift lever. Details like the Ultrasuede in the seats and headliner and brushed aluminum trim add to the interior's sporty refinement. For a bolder look, Lexus offers the F Sport-exclusive Circuit Red interior. Just one version, though – the rear-drive, gasoline LS 500 – will offer a handling package for more prowess on curvy roads. It features Lexus Dynamic Handling, which includes variable ratio steering, and active rear steering to help guide the rear wheels around corners. The sport tuned air suspension includes the Active Stabilizer system for flatter cornering. The powertrain and its output figures remain unchanged from the standard version. The new Lexus LS is set to go on sale in early 2018. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Lexus LS 500 F Sport: New York 2017 View 15 Photos Related Gallery 2017 Lexus LS 500 F Sport View 27 Photos News Source: LexusImage Credit: Live photos copyright 2017 Drew Phillips / Autoblog.com New York Auto Show Lexus Luxury Sedan f sport

Lexus to use BMW 3.0-liter straight-six in next-gen IS sedan?

Here's a rumor so wild it needs a U.S. Fish and Wildlife permit. Japan's Best Car magazine reports that the next-generation Lexus IS will offer BMW's B58 3.0-liter inline-six as one of four powertrain options. That's the same engine found in the new Toyota Supra with 335 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque. What's more, the fourth-gen IS will resurrect the IS F model gone AWOL during the current third generation, and do it with the twin-turbo V6 from the Lexus LS 500. The current TTV6 makes the same 416 hp in the LS 500 as the 5.0-liter V8 did in the first Lexus IS F 12 years ago. According to the magazine, the other engine options would be Toyota's 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, a 2.5-liter for a hybrid model, and a 2.4-liter turbo. We don't know where that last engine fits in. BMW doesn't make a 2.4-liter, and Toyota appears to have retired all of its 2.4-liter applications. Ignoring that, the 3.0-liter straight-six looks like it would replace the current 3.5-liter V6 rated at 311 hp and 280 lb-ft. This wouldn't be the first time the Supra's engine has been ported to the IS. Lexus mavens will remember that two years after the introduction of the original IS in 1998, Lexus put the Supra's 2JZ 3.0-liter straight-six engine in the IS 300 — without the turbochargers, thank you. But Best Car's prediction would have zero relation to history. Those were both Toyota engines back in 2000, and even ignoring the power differential, the IS didn't compete with the Supra. Putting BMW's 3.0-liter in the Z4 and the Supra works because they are the same car. And again, even ignoring the power differential, the more powerful Z4 doesn't compete with the Supra. Best Car's scenario has BMW selling one of its best engines for use in a direct competitor to the 3 Series. Lexus would need to design an engine bay long enough to swallow an inline-six, not a bread-and-butter engine for the brand, yet still be sensible for three more compact powerplants. Then, assuming BMW and Toyota made the same deal as with the Z4 and Supra, the Lexus would be down by a healthy double-digit horsepower margin on its German foe. The new Supra gives up 47 hp to the roadster. Where's the upside? It's said the trim sedan will stay about the same size, on a wheelbase roughly four centimeters longer, but lose a substantial chunk of weight.

Construction of Lexus' first US assembly line underway

The ES is Lexus' top-selling sedan, but the Japanese luxury marque has never manufactured it outside of Japan. In fact, Lexus has never made any cars in the United States, one of its largest markets worldwide. But that's about to change.
Yesterday, construction began in Georgetown, Kentucky, on the first Lexus assembly line in America, the first concrete (or steel) step in a $360-million expansion of Toyota's plant in the Bluegrass state that will create 750 new jobs. The expansion was announced last April by chief executive Akio Toyoda at the New York Auto Show.
Once the new assembly line gets online in the fall of next year, Toyota plans on building some 50,000 units of the ES each year. Lexus sold a record 72,581 examples of the ES in the United States last year - 30 percent more than the previous year - so Lexus will either have to import some more from overseas or leave some buyers disappointed.