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Lexus RZ Sport Concept headlines Tokyo Auto Show concept quintet

Lexus heads to this weekend's 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon and Tokyo Outdoor Show with concepts aiming to show the brand balancing sporty, rough-and-tumble, and eco-conscious with trademark luxury. The keynote speaker is the RZ Sport Concept, Lexus' new battery-electric crossover getting a heavy tune from racing driver and Lexus development engineer Masahiro Sasaki. That racing connection adds some context for the looks and an output nearly 100 horsepower greater than the RZ this is based on. The production RZ produces 308 horsepower from two motors powering the Direct4 all-wheel-drive system. The RZ Sport Concept gets 402 horses from its two motors. Custom aero parts from front to back make the RZ's intentions clear. There's a custom front fascia with exposed carbon fiber surrounds for the intakes, plus a black hood showing two giant ducts. Wheel arch extensions and new rocker panels add 3.5 inches to the width, the body lowered 1.4 inches on a custom suspension over 21-inch Volk Racing wheels wrapped in 295/35 tires. And check out the WRC-worthy double-up carbon fiber rear wings hovering above the rear glass, helping add three inches of overall length compared to the production RZ.  The Hakugin exterior is based on a white hue "that produces a delicate shining texture when illuminated." The only detail we're given about the interior is that there are four bucket seats. That seems bittersweet for occupants, traveling in such comfort over such a short distance. Lexus didn't provide a range figure, but the mods and a quartet of tires wider than the 235/35 Michelins on the 395-hp Lexus RC F will cleave the production RZ's 225-mile estimated range. Besides, anything this angry cannot help but burn through its candle quickly.   The second highlight for the Auto Salon is the Lexus LX 600 Offroad Team JAOS 2022 that ran last year's Baja 1000. The SUV has been part of a three-year competition project in unmodified stock classes, its continuing development primarily focused on safety technologies. At the Tokyo Outdoor Show, Lexus is showing a trio of vehicles under the "Overtrail" banner, a mix of overland and trail. The ROV Concept 2 looks like the ROV Concept side-by-side Lexus showed in 2021, the only differences being a new paint job in a color called Regolith and a new set of wheels.

2013 Lexus GS450h [w/video]

An Unlikely Star in the Lexus Stable
Think about Lexus for a second. Odds are your gray matter is busy regurgitating images of the company's middle-aged RX crossover or possibly the midsize ES sedan. As the volume movers for Toyota's luxury fleet, the two are the default ambassadors for everything with an italicized L pinned to the grille, and that's a damned shame. As the 2013 GS450h is so willing to point out, Lexus engineers are busily crafting models that offer drivers more than a safe luxury choice.
As the master of fuel-sipping battery propulsion, Lexus has brought the impressive width of Toyota hybrid engineering to bear on the GS450h. The result is a vehicle that manages to sneak its hybridness by you with buttery acceleration, stone quiet operation and brakes that don't feel like you're trying walk around the house in Velcro socks. The drivetrain doesn't feel the need to beat you over the head with its battery pack or announce to the neighborhood that you're saving the world one whispery mile at a time. Both driver and passengers get to enjoy a luxury car that just so happens to be a hybrid instead of the other way around.

Toyota and Lexus show off advanced safety research vehicle [w/video]

While Google and Audi explore the possibilities of autonomous vehicles, Toyota and its Lexus division are studying the intermediate step of vehicles equipped with a deep suite of technology that help drivers make the best decisions. Introduced at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the Lexus advanced safety research vehicle is an LS sedan fitted with three high-def color cameras to detect objects up to almost 500 feet away, 360-degree Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) lasers that can detect objects up to 220 feet away, three radar units to keep track of other vehicles at intersections, a precision odometer on the rear wheel, GPS that estimates orientation and an accelerometer.
Currently testing at a purpose-built 8.6 acre urban testing ground at the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Susono, Japan the Toyota research vehicle is being used to study how to make better drivers, as well as figuring out how to reduce crashes as the industry's journey through passive and active safety systems progresses. In the event of a crash, new rescue systems are also being tested.
Further investment is being put into the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) that would use shortwave signals to harness information from the car and from other vehicles on the road, as well as roadside infrastructure and even pedestrians. Toyota reasons it could then build a picture of interactions and, for instance, alert the driver to a potential collision at a blind intersection.