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Lexus LF-C2 Concept teased ahead of LA Auto Show debut

Lexus is bringing an appropriate concept to the 2014 LA Auto Show in the form of the topless LF-C2 Concept you see teased above (click on the image to enlarge). We really don't have a lot information on this one as of yet, although we only have just over a week to wait.
We can, however, speculate. Does the LF-C2 preview a convertible LF-LC? Maybe. Could this show off a replacement for the IS Convertible, maybe modeled on a RC coupe with a folding-metal roof? That's also a pretty fair possibility.
Proving that social media reveals have well and truly jumped the shark, Lexus will release further teasers of the LF-C2 during a three-day social media campaign. That'll culminate with its LA Auto Show debut on November 19.

BMW tops Consumer Reports 2023 Brand Report Card

Feels like we wrote about Consumer Reports' 2022 Brand Report Car and 10 Top Picks a few weeks ago, but it was last April. So the mag is back with a ranked roster of 32 brands and 10 vehicles in four categories for your debating pleasure. Starting with the brands, last year's top three were Subaru, Mazda and BMW. This year, the Munich crew climbed two spots to win the prize thanks to "Superb road test scores and solid results in CR’s reliability and owner satisfaction surveys." Subaru narrowly fell to second, maintaining its four-year run in the top three. Mini, eighth last year, jumped five spots to get the last step on the podium. The rest of the top 10 were Lexus (up one spot from last year), Honda (down one spot from last year), Toyota (up three), Genesis (up 12), Mazda (down six), Audi (down three) and Kia (up eight). The magazine and testing outfit says its Brand Report Card "[reveals] which automakers are producing the most well-performing, safe, and reliable vehicles based on CRÂ’s independent testing and member surveys," and that "Brands that rise to the top tend to have the most consistent performance across their model lineups." Last year's top 10 had six automakers from Japan, three from Germany (giving Mini credit for England), none from the U.S. or South Korea, and five luxury brands. This year's list counts five makes from Japan, two from Germany because Porsche fell out of the top ten, two from South Korea, still none from the U.S., and four luxury brands. Buick again ranked as the best domestic, dropping to 12th after being 11th last year. The big mover was Lincoln, its 10-place jump up to 16th attributed to better reliability from the Corsair and Nautilus. Tesla's improved overall reliability saw it climb six spots to 17th. Dodge climbed one spot to 15th. Jeep got out of the penalty box in last to come second-to-last. Land Rover fell three places into the penalty spot.  CR's top 10 vehicle models The 10 Top Picks list is practically a new list. Only two holdovers made it to 2023, those being the Subaru Forester and Kia Telluride.

Lexus LFA II could get TTV8 from LC500 endurance racer

We are thought to be three years away from the successor of the Lexus LFA arriving in showrooms. We are thought to be less than a month from the debut of a pre-production version of Lexus' coming supercar, which could take place at next month's Monterey Car Week. Persistent reports say Lexus is preparing two versions, one with a hybridized twin-turbo V8, one with a battery-electric powertrain; the former is thought to be the one on show in California in August, the latter not ready for primetime until around 2030. One of the many questions has been, "Where is that V8 coming from?" CarBuzz had its feelers out in Japan, picking up a report from Japan's Mag-X (translated) that Lexus will use the 5.0-liter TTV8 in the LC500 endurance racer for the super coupe being referred to as LFA II. This particular engine has been a specter, rumored for ages to make production but never seen. Way back in 2014, rumors that were already a year old posited a trio of engine options for the coupe still known as the LF-LC concept. Paramount among the powerplants was a twin-turbo 5.0-liter V8 with around 600 horsepower. The scuttlebutt continued even after the LC launched in 2016, we saw no truth of it on the street. Even when Lexus launched an endurance racing program with the LC500 in 2018, no one knew what was under the hood. It wasn't until a year later that the brand officially announced the TTV8 engine with a release that included one aim being "to complete the [Nurburgring 24-hour] race without any trouble by adopting a variety of new technologies, including a newly-developed V8 twin-turbo engine destined for use on future road cars such as sports cars." At the time, almost everyone expected the "sports cars" reference to indicate the coming of an LC F.  That could still be the case. But Mag-X says the racing engine will be used in the LFA II.