Lexus GS 2015 News

Luxury for Lexus starts at $40,000. That's the Japanese brand's global view and one endorsed by its Australian chief executive Sean Hanley.

Lexus Australia is on the verge of deciding whether to plunge headfirst into motorsport or to withdraw from racing entirely.

While mainstream brands Ford and Honda wowed the crowds with fire-breathing supercars, the top end of town was more about whetting appetites of buyers in the huge and lucrative US market with production-ready models.The Alfa Romeo 4C is already a sellout in Australia, with 180 hands up for just 120 coupes.Now the demand is certain to jump even higher with the unveiling of a 4C Spider.The open-air 4C is more of a targa car than a full-on convertible, because the mid-engined layout puts the powerplant where the roof would normally fold away.The 4C is already the most charismatic car of the current Alfa generation, with a carbon-fibre chassis, gorgeous shrink-wrapped body, and turbocharged 1.8-litre petrol engine that makes 177kW and 350Nm of torque.The Spider keeps with the lightweight promise of the coupe, weighing in at less than 900 kilograms.The car is expected to arrive in Australia in the first quarter of next year.The new Q7 was the focus of the Audi stand and it was a technological tour-de-force.The show car had a new 10-inch computer tablet that can be used by back-seat passengers to control the radio and to watch their trip progress on the navigation system, much like a passenger jet.There's also an advanced radar and camera system that enables the Audi Q7 to accelerate, brake and steer itself automatically in stop-start traffic up to 60km/h.And the technical wizardry doesn't end there. The new Q7 can reverse a trailer into position using cameras and radar via a touch pad in the centre console.The new Audi Q7 is due in Australian showrooms later this year priced at about $100,000.There are no details on the engine and no concrete plans for production, but the Buick Avenir — French for "the future" —turned heads both in Detroit and Melbourne.A joint effort between Holden's styling studios in Port Melbourne and General Motors' design centres in Detroit, the car was built here and shipped to the US just before Christmas.It was unveiled by former Holden boss, and the current president of GM North America, Mark Reuss.For now, the Buick Avenir is just motor show tease, but Holden insiders say the striking limousine will likely be made in China and sold globally.It may also come to Australia as the eventual replacement for the Holden Caprice.The German sports car maker unveiled new versions of the 911 Targa and Cayenne SUV.To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Targa (half coupe, half convertible) model, Porsche has launched an all-wheel drive GTS version. Power is boosted by 22kW over the Targa 4S to 316kW, enabling a 0-100km/h sprint of 4.3 seconds.The Cayenne Turbo S betters that time by 0.2 of a second.Both models will go on sale in Australia in the second quarter of this year. The 911 Targa GTS will start at $305,300 and the Cayenne Turbo S will sell from $284,700.Toyota's luxury brand Lexus whipped the covers off the long awaited high-performance version of its mid-size limousine, the GS. Called the GS F it is powered by a high-revving 5.0-litre V8.The only problem is, while the peak power of 348kW is reasonably impressive, that only kicks in at close to 7300rpm and torque — the grunt that gets you moving — is a more modest 527Nm. A $45,000 Holden Commodore SS has more (530Nm). Expect it in Australian showrooms late in 2015 or early 2016 priced beyond your pay grade.A concept with more curves and contours than Kim Kardashian previews Infiniti's take on a 2+2 sports coupe.The Q60 concept will morph into the production car by 2016, powered by a twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 engine.The steer-by wire system already seen on the Q50 is also used here, along with Infiniti's Intuition system, which can store details on audio, airconditioning and seat position preferences for up to four drivers.When it finally arrives in Australia the road-going car will be expected to compete with Audi's swoopy A5 and the BMW 4 Series.There's no news on prices but the current Q60 starts at $63,990.A new heavyweight contender has joined the ranks of crossover coupes.The GLE Coupe is a curvy high-riding four-door SUV that will compete with BMW's X6.Two versions were at the Detroit show this week, the full-on 63 AMG and the (slightly) less aggressive GLE 450 Sport, with a diesel-powered 350d and GLE 400 to follow.The X6 was originally the answer to a question that no-one had asked, but has become a big global sales success.The newcomers are part of a wholesale overhaul of Mercedes-Benz's wagon range in 2015 that includes the replacement for the mid-sized GLK SUV and the new GLA Shooting Brake.There is no talk yet of prices, but the GLE Coupe is certain to have a starting price beyond $100,000 when it arrives here in the third quarter of this year.A new group of 6 Series "halo" cars took the spotlight for BMW in Detroit as the German company celebrated its fourth straight year of sales growth with more than two million deliveries in 2014.There are only minor changes to the M6, 650i coupe and Gran Coupe but global marketing boss Ian Roberston says the trio will be part of a global focus on growth."These are clearly the sportiest and most luxurious 6-Series vehicle we have ever built. We are launching a lot of new products again," he says.

Everyone has heard the story about the tourist whose motorhome crashed after he set the cruise control and then strolled into the back to make a cuppa. It may be an urban myth, but technology marches on and you get the feeling the driverless car may be just around the corner, or certainly a lot closer than anyone thinks.This week Lexus demonstrated a further development of the active cruise control system fitted to its cars that steers and brakes the car without any need for intervention from the driver. It is still under development but Lexus hopes to bring the system to market within two years.THE SYSTEMDescribed as the next-generation advanced driving support system, Automated Highway Driving Assist (AHDA) links two automated driving technologies. At this stage its use is confined purely to the open road because city streets present too many variables such as pedestrians, motorcycles and in some cases an absence of line markings.DOES IT WORK?We received a first-hand demonstration of the system in Tokyo. Although we were not permitted to actually drive the Lexus GS fitted with the technology, neither in effect was the driver whose hands remained off the steering wheel, although they hovered close by.It works, and Lexus has data to show it does a better job of keeping the car on a straight course than your average driver. Spin-off effects include a reduction in traffic congestion as well as lower fuel bills.Curiously, the further back you are in a line of cars using the system, the greater the reduction in fuel consumption because of the 'drafting' effect (the reason cyclists ride in a peloton).In a column of four vehicles, consumption was down 5.3 per cent in the first vehicle, 17.7 per cent in the second and 26.8 per cent in the third - with an overall reduction of 11.1 per cent.Mind you the figures were derived over a period of four minutes and a distance of just a couple of kilometres.HOW IT WORKSThe system brings together Cooperative-adaptive Cruise Control, which wirelessly communicates with the vehicles in front to maintain a safe distance plus Lane Trace Control, which aids steering to keep the vehicle on course within the lane.Key to its success are a camera which monitors lane markings, together with GPS mapping of the route ahead and sensors in participating cars that enable them to talk to each other.In contrast to standard radar, Cooperative-adaptive Cruise Control uses 700-MHz band vehicle-to-vehicle ITS communications to transmit acceleration and deceleration data which allows vehicles following behind to adjust their speeds accordingly to better maintain their distance. Lane Trace Control draws on high-performance cameras, millimetre-wave radar and control software to enable an optimal and smooth driving line at all speeds. The system adjusts the vehicle’s steering angle, driving torque and braking force where necessary to maintain the optimal line within the lane. By reducing unnecessary acceleration and deceleration, the advanced driving system improves fuel efficiency and helps reduce traffic congestion.It's only a hop, skip and a jump from here to driverless cars, but the engineer who demonstrated the system to us said Lexus has no plans to introduce full automation.

Perhaps even with supercharging, as the Japanese brand's European engineers turn up the wick on serious performance model.Lexus is already committed to an IS F coupe that will rival the new BMW Z4, but the GS project is about major bragging rights in a class where 700 Newton-metres of torque is the price of admission.

...even hot-lapping the mid-sized luxury contender at the Nurburgring.Carsguide knows the Lexus GS is a lot sharper after a drive in the US and is waiting for the disguise to be stripped away so we can see how close the car is to the Lexus LF-Gh.

Picture this. You're driving along the motorway. The Lexus you are travelling in purrs, whisper quiet. It looks good, too, good enough to draw admiring glances. Up ahead the storm clouds gather and it is not long before the first drops of rain spot the windscreen. The wipers come on automatically. The kilometres rush by and as darkness begins to fall, the car's xenon lights flick on automatically, dipping briefly before coming to rest. There's still a long way to go, but not wanting to get a speeding ticket, you wisely decide to engage cruise control. A digital readout tells you the car's speed is locked to 110km/h and that's where it will stay, unless you are forced to brake for a slow moving vehicle. You have programmed your destination into the car's on-board satellite navigation system, so there's no need to worry about when to turn off or, for that matter, finding the street the 'satnav' will tell you. Ahead a car decides it has had enough of life in the slow lane and suddenly moves out into the lane ahead. Before you have time to react the car does it for you, slowing to match the speed of the vehicle ahead. A couple of minutes later the vehicle returns to the left hand lane and your car's speed climbs automatically back to 110km/h. It's called active cruise control and it is made possible by the in-built radar that scans the road ahead and reacts if any objects move into its path. To while away the hours you turn on the 5.1 Mark Levinson sound system. It's got 14" speakers and sounds better than the hi-fi set up in the lounge room at home. Although the “rels” live almost 800km away, you will probably make it on one tank of fuel. That's because this car is an energy-efficient hybrid and runs on a combination of petrol and electricity, storing the energy normally lost during braking. But it's not like any hybrid that you have driven before, because this car really gets up and goes, with a combined output of 254kW. The drive train consists of a 3.5-litre V6 and a 650-volt electric motor. The latter produces 147kW alone. Power is delivered to the rear wheels through a state-of-the-art continuously variable automatic transmission that doubles as a six-speed manual. The dash from 0-100km/h takes 5.9 seconds and it uses just 7.9 litres/100km. If your route takes you over dirt roads, you can switch from sport to comfort setting using the electronically modulated suspension system. In the unlikely event of an accident, the car is fitted with pre-collision lock down system along with 10 airbags. Parking is a snack too, with front and rear distance sensors and a rear view camera. It doesn't get much better than the Lexus GS450h. It's a wonder the car isn't able to park itself. But then Lexus's flagship LS 600hL can lay claim to that feat. The GS450h is priced from $124,900 and Lexus has just released an updated model.