2013 Lexus Rx Base Awd 4dr Suv on 2040-cars

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2014 Lexus IS350 F-Sport

Is A New Kind Of Lexus Hiding Under That Radical Skin?
When the now-outgoing Lexus IS generation was launched back in 2006, the company would not have been wise to bring the compact luxury sedan to be driven by journalists to a track like Driveway Austin Motorsports. Taking along a BMW 335i for comparison loops would have proved an ill choice as well.
Our own Jonathon Ramsey found the current-generation Lexus IS250 to be fairly nimble over a tightly wound autocross course, when he drove it back-to-back with the prototype version of this 2014 IS a few months ago. Our track for testing the fully realized version of the IS350 F-Sport meanwhile - again with the 2013 version along for competitive driving - was on a circuit designed to string together recreations of some of the best tracks in the world. Laguna Seca, bits of the Nürburgring and sections inspired by Imola and Ferrari's Fiorano test track all make for a far more enticing road course than you'd expect to find plunked down in a nondescript area a few miles east of downtown Austin. Critically, this environment highlighted what strides Lexus has made in the sport sedan race with its new IS.

Autoblog Podcast #398

Episode #398 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Brandon Turkus, and Michael Harley talk about the 2015 Ford Mustang, the 2015 Toyota Camry, and the Congressional grilling NHTSA received last week. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #398: Topics: 2015 Ford Mustang 2015 Toyota Camry NHTSA under Congressional fire In The Autoblog Garage: 2014 Lexus ES 300h 2014 Lexus GS 350 F-Sport 2015 Kia K900 Hosts: Dan Roth, Michael Harley, Brandon Turkus Runtime: 01:36:56 Rundown: Intro and Garage - 00:00 2015 Ford Mustang - 28:58 2015 Toyota Camry - 42:41 NHTSA - 57:55 Q&A - 01:17:15 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes [RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Feedback: Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Government/Legal Podcasts Ford Kia Lexus Toyota

Lexus Teammate advanced driver assist tech headed to 2022 LS 500h in the U.S.

Toyota showed off a new advanced driver assist system for the Mirai and Lexus LS in Japan on Thursday this week. At that time, there were details, but no indication of whether the system would make it to U.S.-bound Toyota and Lexus products. We have answers today. This Level 2 driver assistance system will be deployed in the U.S. in the 2022 Lexus LS 500h when it launches later this year. Lexus is naming it “Lexus Teammate,” making it obvious from the start that this is no fully autonomous vehicle. The system is your teammate; itÂ’s not taking over, and instead the two of you work together. With Teammate activated, the vehicle can accelerate, brake and steer to maintain the lane and follow/keep pace with other vehicles. ItÂ’s able to change lanes on its own to go around slower vehicles and can also navigate interchanges. Lexus says itÂ’s usable on “limited access highways,” and notes that itÂ’s only “partial hands-free” in operation. The company also notes you must keep your eyes on the road for it to work — thereÂ’s a camera that monitors the driver and makes sure of this. “We are very proud of Lexus Teammate, which is the culmination of five years of close collaboration between our technical centers in Japan and the U.S.,” says Derek Caveney, executive engineer at ToyotaÂ’s Integrated Vehicle Systems team. “We conducted simultaneous development and rigorous testing in both markets with the goal of achieving industry-leading advanced driver assistance functionality.” Lexus isnÂ’t saying what other vehicles we should expect this system to be in next, but both the LS 500h and LS 500 (sometime shortly after the hybrid) will have it this fall. In addition to the highway assist, Lexus announced a parking assistant. Named Advanced Park, itÂ’s able to assist in hands-free parking for parallel parking or backing into a space. ItÂ’ll control steering, acceleration and gear changes when parking itself, and youÂ’ll be able to watch how itÂ’s doing using the 360-degree camera tech. Just press a button, and your Lexus should park itself. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.