1992 Lexus Sc300 Base Coupe 2-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lexus to display turbocharged LF-NX Concept at Tokyo Motor Show

Concept cars typically have a short lifespan. They debut at a major international auto show, then make the rounds of the lesser local shows, and that's pretty much it. They might be loaned out for test drives or put on display in a museum, but by and large they've had their fifteen minutes of fame by that point. That said, Japan's automakers have found a way to keep these show cars going and keep them in the news. They're modifying them and giving them a fresh lease on life.
That's what Subaru is doing with the Viziv concept for the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show, and what Lexus is doing as well with the LF-NX concept. Having already unveiled the crossover concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Lexus is fitting the LF-NX with a new 2.0-liter turbo engine. (But then, as far as we could tell, Lexus never revealed engine specs for the concept in the first place.)
To go with the turbo engine, Lexus has also fitted the concept with a new front splitter, but otherwise it's the same - and even appears to be wearing the same liquid-metal paint, unlike the LF-LC concept that got repainted from red to blue when its limelight was starting to fade.

Junkyard Gem: 2002 Lexus GS 300

Toyota finally killed off the Lexus GS last year, after nearly 20 years of earning respect but not nearly as many yen as the Toyota City overlords had hoped. American car buyers came to prefer truck-shaped machinery during the production life of the GS, and those who wanted sedans didn't see the advantages of the rear-wheel-drive GS over the similarly-sized-but-cheaper ES. From 1993 through 2005, American Lexus shoppers could buy a new GS with the magnificent 2JZ straight-six engine, which achieved international gearhead immortality thanks to a certain movie franchise, and these cars have been very difficult for me to find during my junkyard travels. Here is a rare example of the final generation of 2JZ-equipped GS 300s, found in a Northern California boneyard last summer. V8 versions of the GS (the 400 and, later, 430) could be bought here, equipped with the bulletproof-but-heavy 1UZ/3UZ V8 engine out of the LS. Those cars were quicker and faster than the GS 300 but handled in more ponderous fashion. This engine was rated at 220 horsepower, but you could get scary multiples of that amount with the addition of aftermarket boost. In Japan, this car's Aristo counterpart got 276 horses out of its turbocharged 2JZ. No manual transmission could be had in the 2002 GS (nor in the JDM Aristo and its Crown cousin), but at least the enforced automatic came with five forward speeds. This car looked and felt like a smaller LS 430 inside, but the rear-wheel-drive layout made the rear seat space smaller than that of the Camry-based ES 300. Finding the keys in a new-ish junkyard car means that it was most likely an insurance total or dealership trade-in. Maybe someone will rescue that 2JZ before The Crusher eats it. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. As always with Toyota products, the Japanese-market ads were more dramatic than those from elsewhere. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The V8-equipped GS forces the BMW 540i to drive over a cliff, Wile E. Coyote-style.

Lexus NX debuts in turbocharged and hybrid guise

Lexus showed off its polarizing new NX at the 2014 Beijing Motor Show, trotting out both the turbocharged 200t model (Lexus' first production turbo) alongside the hybrid-powered 300h.
We still don't know a great deal about the turbocharged model, aside from the fact that the engine underhood is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder, although we're hoping to get details sooner rather than later. For reference, the 2.0-liter turbo in the BMW X1 pumps out 240 horsepower while the four-pot turbo in the Mercedes-Benz GLA250 turns out 208 horsepower, which leads us to think we should expect the Lexus to fall somewhere between these two figures.
If Lexus' naming strategy in the past rings true here, though, we can confidently say the 300h will use a 2.5-liter four-cylinder Atkinson cycle engine with an electric motor and lithium-ion battery, just like the Lexus ES300h and Toyota Avalon Hybrid. That should mean around 200 system horsepower and well over 30 miles per gallon, although it's probably too early to predict economy with any degree of certainty.