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The Lexus Sriracha IS is the hottest Lexus ever

For this year's Los Angeles auto show, Lexus created its hottest IS ever: the Sriracha IS. And the company did so by putting Sriracha sauce in everything! It's in the paint, the steering wheel, and even in the trunk! Check out the video if you don't believe us. Ok, so Lexus didn't really put Sriracha in everything. In reality, the company partnered with Huy Fong Foods to produce this one-off car, and turned to West Coast Customs to execute it. It features a custom paint job designed to emulate the look of Sriracha sauce, and green accents on the grille, mirrors, brake calipers, and exhaust tips are a call back to the food company's sauce bottles. View 13 Photos Inside, West Coast Customs created some clever and surprisingly subtle changes. The climate controls only show increasing heat levels, and the seat heater buttons are bright red with little flames above the seat icons. The drive selector trades sport mode for "Sriracha" mode. The seats get red and green inserts along with logos stitched into the seat backs. Other parts of the interior have green contrast stitching, too. The steering wheel is a particularly unique piece. West Coast Customs found a liquid that looks similar to sriracha, put it a resin container and shaped it to fit the steering wheel, so now it looks like there's sriracha in the steering wheel. It also has a warning sticker for "hot handling." And lest you think there isn't any real Sriracha anywhere in the car, you'll find 43 bottles of the stuff in the trunk, and the key fob dispenses some as well. As for how Lexus tops this, perhaps they could make a habanero or ghost pepper car. Or maybe they could show us a real IS F successor. We think another V8 Lexus would come across as pretty hot. Related Video:

Lexus LX J201 concept is part SUV, part 550-horsepower rally car

Lexus transformed the LX, its biggest SUV, into a supercharged off-roader that sends chills down the Ford F-150 Raptor's spine. Although it's only a concept, it will attempt to tame the desert during the 2020 Rebelle Rally. Based on the venerable Toyota Land Cruiser, the LX is a formidable off-roader even without any modifications. Many examples nonetheless end up decked out with aftermarket parts, and it's these go-anywhere rigs that inspired Lexus to create the J201. Its name comes from URJ201, which is the current LX's internal designation. Stylists started by chipping several slats off the SUV's sizeable spindle-shaped grille to accommodate a winch and a light bar that's safely tucked behind a protective cover. Other aftermarket parts installed on the J201 include a snorkel, a roof rack, running boards, and a metal rear bumper with a pair of swing-out racks that carry extra fuel and a spare tire. Users can access cargo stored on the roof via a ladder installed out back. When the going gets tough, off-roaders can count on skid plates, a lifted suspension, 17-inch wheels, and 33-inch General Grabber X3 tires to help them soldier on. There's also an onboard air compressor, which lets drivers fill up the tires (after crossing sand dunes, for example) even if they're nowhere near a power outlet.  Lexus pegs the J201's output at 550 horsepower and 550 pound-feet of torque thanks in part to a Magnusson supercharger, but it stopped short of revealing technical specifications. It might have added forced induction to the stock LX 570's 5.7-liter V8, which effortlessly delivers 383 horsepower and 403 pound-feet of torque in its standard configuration, or it might have replaced the eight-cylinder with another engine from its arsenal. Regardless, an automatic transmission channels the cavalry to the four wheels via upgraded differentials. It doesn't sound like the J201 will ever see the light that awaits at the end of a production line. It's based on a model that sells in extremely limited numbers (4,718 units found a home in 2019), and that's nearing the end of its lifecycle. This concept is not destined to spend the next few decades in a warehouse, however. Rachelle Croft and Taylor Pawley will enter the J201 in the 2020 edition of the Rebelle Rally, which starts this Thursday, October 8. Open exclusively to women, the event will take competitors through 2,000 miles of grueling terrain in California and Nevada. Related Video:

2018 Lexus GX 460 Drivers' Notes Review | When dinosaurs roamed the earth

The 2018 Lexus GX 460 has been on sale since late 2009. There have been a few minor updates, but a 2018 model is essentially the same as one from 2010. It's based on the global Toyota Land Cruiser Prado and shares more than a little with the Toyota 4Runner. It slots between the Lexus RX and the big daddy Lexus LX. Despite its age, it's still a seller. Sales were up in 2017. In fact, the GX had its best year in the U.S. since 2005. Blame cheap gas all you want. Really, people just want SUVs. We have a base-spec model. The only option is navigation. There's no heated seats or upgraded audio or safety features like blind-spot monitoring or active cruise control. It's basic and honest, but it also highlights just how out of date the GX really is. Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore: The GX 460 is a body-on-frame, V8-powered, three-row grunt. It's comfortable and functional, but in a segment with more than a few options, this one struggles to stand out. The styling is polarizing yet somehow also vanilla. The spindle grille looks awkward and out of place — a dissonant interpretation of Lexus' latest design language — while the lightly flared fenders say almost nothing. The 4.6-liter V8 only puts out 301 horsepower but still slurps gas to the tune of 15 miles per gallon in the city and 18 mpg on the highway. Power delivery is fine via the six-speed automatic transmission, but the GX 460 feels sluggish from launches. The interior is nice enough with pleasing materials and an intuitive layout. Visibility is solid, you're certainly high enough up, so the command driving position is confidence-inducing. Not a fan of the eight-inch multimedia screen, which feels small and isn't the most informative system I've ever used. Overall, I'd give the GX 460 a C+ compared to other vehicles in this segment. Decent, but dated and lacking some compelling elements. That being said, if you're a Lexus loyalist and want a beastly three-row SUV, you will like this one. If you're more brand agnostic, there are better options out there. Associate Editor Reese Counts: Let's get one thing out of the way — the Lexus GX is old. Yes, it's been on sale essentially unchanged since late 2009, but that's not all there is to it. This is a traditional, body-on-frame SUV with a torquey V8 and a real four-wheel drive system. It's one of the last of its breed. Customers have shifted away from these behemoths, settling on more comfortable and more efficient car-based crossovers.