2004 - Lexus Ls on 2040-cars

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The hoverboard of your dreams is finally here, thanks to Lexus

Finally. Finally! Anyone who grew up in the 1980s has been waiting for this moment for a long, long time. Since 1989, to be exact, which is when Back to the Future Part II hovered its way into theaters showing Marty-of-the-past riding a newfangled board-without-wheels in a fabricated future. After several teases, Lexus has finally unleashed real, actual footage of its hoverboard in action. As you'll see in the video, the learning curve is steep, even for a professional skateboarder like Ross McGouran. "I've spent 20 years skateboarding, but without friction it feels like I've had to learn a whole new skill, particularly in the stance and balance in order to ride the hoverboard. It's a whole new experience," says the hoverboard test rider. Before we all get too carried away, there are caveats to this real-world hoverboard. First, the technology doesn't work everywhere. According to Lexus, 200 meters of magnetic track was built in Dresden, Germany, and shipped to a specially built "hoverpark" in Barcelona, Spain. Unlike the fictional hoverboard from BTTF, though, Lexus' creation does indeed work on water... assuming there's a properly magnetic surface below the surface. We're sure you've got questions – cryostats, liquid hydrogen and magnets, are the likely answers – but first, you really should watch the video. Then, feel free to check out the full press release down below, but before you get too excited, know that Lexus has said it does not intend to sell a production version of its hoverboard. Related Video: Lexus Hoverboard Ride Revealed New Film for the Latest Amazing in Motion Campaign Shows Final Testing in Barcelona August 04, 2015 TOKYO, August 05, 2015 -- Following the unveiling of the Lexus Hoverboard in June, the luxury automotive company is completing a full and final reveal of the project concluding a successful testing phase which took place in Cubelles, Barcelona. Mark Templin, Executive Vice President at Lexus International said: "Embarking on this project, we set out to push the boundaries of technology, design and innovation to make the impossible possible. With this project we call 'SLIDE', we collaborated with partners who share our passion for creating enjoyment out of motion. Even through combining our technology and expertise, we discovered making a hoverboard isn't an easy process.

Toyota and Lexus will have standard automatic braking by 2017

Last week, NHTSA and IIHS announced that 20 auto manufacturers and three agencies had agreed to include automatic emergency braking (AEB) as standard equipment by 2022. Toyota was one of those 20 companies, but this week they upped the AEB ante: Nearly every Toyota and Lexus model and trim level will have standard AEB by 2017. That's next year. Many models already offer AEB as part of the Lexus Safety System+ and Toyota Safety Sense packages, but consumers have had to pay extra for these options (unless they leased a Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle; it already has AEB as standard equipment.) By the end of next year, all but the Lexus GS, Toyota 4Runner and Toyota 86 — which was developed together with Subaru — will have AEB installed at no extra cost. (Interestingly, the new Prius Prime unveiled at the New York International Auto Show has Safety Sense as an option rather than standard equipment.) The AEB function is part of Toyota's safety suites, which will be included in 25 Lexus and Toyota models. Both makes have a precollision system that detects the possibility of collision with the car ahead and engages the brakes if the driver doesn't react quickly enough, as well as lane departure alerts and automatic high beams. Toyota's move leapfrogs ahead of Honda making its Honda Sensing system, which includes AEB tech, available as a flat $1,000 option on every Civic Sedan. Related Video: This article by Kristen Hall-Geisler originally ran on TechCrunch, a leading technology media property, dedicated to obsessively profiling startups, reviewing new Internet products, and breaking tech news.

Future Classic: 1999-2005 Lexus IS 300

Japanese automakers often reserve their best stuff for the home market. The number of incredibly cool, quick and exciting cars that were never sold in the United States is enormous. Fortunately, we occasionally get a peek into that world when a special Japanese car lands on our shores. In the late 1990s, we a version of the athletic Toyota Altezza. Known as the Lexus IS 300 here, the car came to America with the legendary 2JZ-GE inline-six (the non-turbo cousin of the fourth-generation Supra engine), rear-wheel drive and an available manual transmission – the perfect formula for an enthusiastÂ’s sedan. Why is the Lexus IS a future classic? Simply put: There are no other modern Japanese sedans that offer the same formula as the early IS. The Lexus IS is still around today, but other than a brief flirtation with V8s in the mid-2000s IS F and the most recent IS 500, the carÂ’s performance potential has gone untapped. After the first two generations, the IS got clunkier and heavier and struggled to compete against the heavy artillery from Germany and elsewhere. First-generation IS models are highly desirable for this reason. The 2JZ engine is famously easy to massage into an absolute powerhouse, and the nimble rear-wheel drive setup makes the car a joy to drive. Lexus didnÂ’t start adding tech like a backup camera and Bluetooth until later in the second generation, so all first-gen cars are as simple as it comes with the IS. Interestingly, that 2JZ engine was specific to the U.S.-market IS. In Japan, the Altezza was also available with a four-cylinder. It was a version of the 3S-GE that made 207 horsepower at a seriously high 7,600 rpm, just shy of the 215 horsepower of the American-market 2JZ. For more intrepid engine swappers, this is another popular choice. Additionally, the car is clean, but muscular with its styling. It was instrumental in popularizing clear tail lights, too, which you may have heard referred to as "Altezza" lights, like its Japanese twin. The interior was particularly sporty-looking in a new-millennium way with its gauge faces styled like high-end chronograph watches and the gleaming spherical chrome shift knob. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. There are safer, quicker and certainly more advanced cars, but the tech and safety equipment can get in the way of the driver-car connection.