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Lexus RC F GT500 is the Super GT car Daft Punk fans will appreciate [w/video]

Lexus Racing's booth designers at the Tokyo Auto Salon clearly loved a certain French electronic music duo when they decided to promote the new Lexus RC F racecar from the Super GT series. The Daft Punk-inpsired race team appeared ready for a pit stop in this promo photo, wearing custom double-breasted suits made from race gear as well as top hats, headphones and reflective sunglasses.
Lexus Racing showed the car in the summer when it was known as the LF-CC, but the Tokyo Auto Salon gave the public the first chance to see the renamed RC F in full race trim. It replaces the aging Lexus SC 430 GT500 car with a sharper, more aggressive racing weapon making 500 horsepower from a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine.
The RC F, Nissan GT-R and Honda NSX form a trio of new models in the top-spec GT500 arm of Super GT, as the class goes through one of its biggest changes in its history. The GT500 class and DTM in Germany are unifying their rules for the new season. The cars have the same limits on exterior dimensions and weight. The only major difference between them is that the GT500 cars are using 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engines, and the DTM is using naturally aspirated 4.0-liter V8s in its cars.

Gazoo heads to the N"urburgring with Lexus LFA Code X

You'd be forgiven for thinking just because the Lexus LFA has ended its production run (it's been over a year now) that Toyota would have ceased its development. You'd be forgiven, but Gazoo Racing is here to tell you you'd still be wrong.
One of Toyota's many works racing teams, Gazoo is returning to the 24-hour endurance race at the Nürburgring this year with a trio of entries. One is based on the Toyota GT86 (which we know as the Scion FR-S), and one is essentially the same LFA that it's entered in years past. But the third vehicle is dubbed Code X.
It's also based on the LFA, but its 4.8-liter V10 engine has been bored out to 5.3 liters, raising its output to untold levels. It's got a full carbon-fiber chassis and a range of other enhancements that Gazoo isn't telling us about just yet, but they should turn the LFA Code X from a road-going supercar beyond a racecar and into a rolling research lab. Considering that Gazoo has been racing at the 'Ring since 2007 and fielding versions of the LFA there since 2008, it'll be interesting to see how the Code X version fares.

Lexus IS F Sport Blackline Edition embraces the darkness

Darkness continues to descend on all corners of the automobile market, and that includes Lexus, where the 2020 IS F Sport goes dark with the Blackline Edition. In contrast to last year's IS 300 F Sport Black Line Edition, the 2020 Blackline Edition (now one word) can be had as either an IS 300 or an IS 350. Once again, the package contains dark-finish split-spoke 18-inch wheels, a similar dark-chrome grille surround, and black mirror caps. This year's color choices are Obsidian (black), Ultra White, or Ultrasonic Blue Mica 2.0 — the latter replacing last year's silver. The interior features black and gray Nuluxe (synthetic leather), this time with Indigo Blue accents rather than red. Lexus also tosses in triple-beam LED headlights, navigation, blind-spot monitoring, a heated wood-rimmed steering wheel, and a SmartAccess card key. Powertrains are the same as in the standard IS F Sports. The IS 300 with rear-wheel drive uses a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four making 241 horsepower, while the all-wheel-drive IS 300 gets a 260-hp 3.5-liter V6. The IS 350 models, both FWD and AWD, have a more potent, 311-hp version of the naturally aspirated 3.5-liter six. Prices range from $46,225 to $52,010 (with destination fee). The 2020 IS F Sport Blackline Edition joins the recently announced NX 300 Black Line Edition in a darkened corner of the showroom, where the two models can argue about the spelling of their name.