Happy New (Model) Year | Lexus Monterey Peninsula

09/26/2014—Here on the Lexus Drivers site, much time has been spent making sure you’re well-prepped for potential test drives in the new Lexus models hitting dealerships in the coming weeks, the Lexus RC F, Lexus RC, and Lexus NX.

But, as always, all Lexus vehicles are graced with updates for the new model year; here’s what’s changing from 2014 to 2015 for other vehicles—just in case you’re picturing a new Lexus in your driveway:

2015 CT 200h UPDATES:
First up, the CT: for 2015, the vehicle gets thebrilliant new Lexus Enform Remote system*, which allows you to, among other tasks, start, locate, and lock/unlock your Lexus via smartphone. Other tech updates include a HomeLink system that’s now smaller and lighter with two-way communication and easier programming, plus Lexus Siri Eyes Free Mode* has been added with Lexus Display Audio or Navigation. The vehicle’s turn signals now adopt the 3-flash system similar to the GS and LS, and other tweaks include a redesigned Remote Touch Interface (RTI) knob for models equipped with navigation, as well as a new exterior white color-tone option.
> Full specs and features

2015 IS 350/IS 250 UPDATES:
Like the CT, the IS now comes with Lexus’ Enform remote system and Siri Eyes Free Mode (with Lexus Display Audio or Navigation), plus veteran IS owners will notice some interior changes. The model’s Light Gray interior has been replaced by a new Stratus Gray, and last year’s metallic-painted trim has been made brighter to enhance the metal-like appearance—you’ll see this with the clock, door trim, steering wheel, shift knob, and other areas. Also, last year’s Matte Black center console trim has been replaced with a new grayish metallic color, and the trim on the switch plates and above the glove box are now an Illustrious Piano Black.

Lexus also added side padding on the base model’s center console, and additional updates include an optional heated steering wheel for AWD models, dynamic gridlines on the backup monitor,* a Lane Departure Alert* added to the display screen (if model is equipped with this feature), and LED foglamps on the base model. Bonus: there’s now a Lexus IS F SPORT special edition in the new The Crafted Line by Lexus, an enhanced, limited-production line of five Lexus models.
> Full specs and features

2015 ES 350/ES 300h UPDATES:
For the 2015 ES and ES Hybrid, Lexus has added its next-generation multimedia control systems, called 13CY, to the display screen, and has made the Display Audio feature a standard feature. And like the IS and CT, both ES models now come with the Lexus Enform Remote system, plus interior changes include standard perforated NuLuxe seating material, a redesigned RTI knob with the Navigation system (a new comfortable concave surface), and a new Atomic Silver exterior color option. ES fans also have a special edition option, as the ES 350 is part of the limited-edition Crafted Line.
> Full specs and features

2015 GS 350/GS 450h UPDATES:
GS fans: when you take your dealer up on a 2015 GS or GS Hybrid test drive in the coming weeks, take a close look at the wheels—2015 models now come with 18-inch split five-spoke wheels.* The vehicles also receive the Lexus Enform Remote system, the newly sculpted RTI knob with the Navigation system, a new Atomic Silver exterior color option, and 13CY graphics on the display screen. The GS Hybrid now offers an F SPORT package, and the GS 350 F SPORT is part of the enhanced Crafted Line by Lexus special editions.
> Full specs and features

2015 LS 460/LS 460 L/LS 600h UPDATES:
First of all, if you haven’t seen the new limited-production, black-and-white LS F SPORT Crafted Line edition, check it out—it’s a good look for the flagship. For 2015, engineers also adjusted the LS 460 and 460 L coil suspension, and they adjusted the turning radius for LS 460/460 L vehicles equipped with 18-inch wheels. The LS and LS Hybrid models also sport some shared interior updates for 2015, such as LED dome-lamp bulbs, dynamic gridlines on the backup monitor, the next generation 13CY display screen graphics, and the Lexus Enform Remote system. The 2015 LS Hybrid has also been a given a little more cargo space.
> Full specs and features

2015 RX 350/RX 450h UPDATES:
Both the hybrid and conventionally powered RX models will now get LED foglamps with their optional headlamp systems (both the HID and LED headlamps with dynamic auto-leveling). The wheels on both models will now be 19-inch triple-split 5-spoke wheels* with a machined and Light Gray finish, and their turn signals adopt the three-flash system found on the ES.

Interior updates include a few design adjustments—the Lexus logo on the audio faceplate is now an elegant platinum finish, and the RTI knob (with Navigation) sports Lexus’ new concave shape, as well as standard Display Audio. Engineers also updated the front seatback design to be the same as the heated/ventilated seat.

The RX 350 also comes with a few of it own 2015 updates: the F SPORT version offers a Crafted Line special edition, and the regular RX 350 F SPORT model includes standard LED foglamps and a Cabernet leather trim.
> Full specs and features

2015 GX 460 and 2015 LX 570 UPDATES:
This year, these two award-winning Lexus SUVs get some light additions to their existing array of technological, comfort, and performance wonders. Both the 2015 GX and LX now come with Siri Eyes Free Mode (with Lexus Display Audio or Navigation), and the GX has two new colors: Silver Lining Metallic and Nebula Gray Pearl.
> GX full specs and features
> LX full specs and features

Eight ways to gauge whether you’re born to drive the Lexus RC | Lexus Monterey Peninsula

Defining a coupe these days isn’t an easy task.

Once upon a time, it meant a sleek, two-door vehicle that implied a few things about its driver, namely success, style, and—if the owner happened to be a family man—an appreciation of a second car to contrast the family sedan or wagon.

Over the years, automakers have marketed all kinds of coupe derivatives: the business coupe (two doors and two seats, made for traveling sales people), the four-door coupe (four doors but coupe proportions), and even the opera coupe, designed with a high roof to allow theater-goers to travel in style without the need to remove any hats.

Lexus has its own dramatic definition for a coupe, however, and you’re looking at it.
The new RC is a respectful nod to the “purity” of the coupe tradition—and what that tradition says about the person who gets behind the wheel.

This then begs the question: Who exactly is that driver these days? What sort of person should be looking closely at the Lexus RC, a prestige performance car that’s designed to deliver, in the words of Chief Engineer Junichi Furuyama, “an extra” driving response?

We say that driver is you—especially if you agree with any of the following:

Image matters: How you carry yourself is important, you say, which is, in many ways, what the Lexus RC is all about. Its dimensions are sleek, pure, with hints of aggression—a trait distinctly apparent in the RC’s Lexus-signature spindle grille.

So do the details: If you agree with this one, know this: Lexus engineers gave the RC genuine shimamoku wood highlights, which are the result of an intense, layered wood production technique refined by Lexus. The vehicle also sports small but significant accoutrements such as aluminum door trim and scuff plates.

Leaders don’t shy away from power: Furuyama decided to give the vehicle a 3.5-liter engine that produces a maximum 306 horsepower. His team also outfitted the coupe with an eight-speed, Sport Direct Shift transmission, which is purposefully adapted from the Lexus IS F.

Advanced tech is put on this Earth to be adopted: The Lexus RC offers a touch-sensitive Lexus Remote Touch Interface for audio and navigation systems. It’s also the first Lexus to adopt the enhanced Blind Spot Monitor system, which is designed to detect vehicles that are approaching at a higher speed and from a greater distance than the current system.

First impressions are vital: An RC coming your way shows off triangular headlamps that evoke the sporty characteristics of the LF-LC concept’s styling, while concept-vehicle inspiration is evident in the unique three-lamp LED design. At low beam, the lamps adopt an L-shaped pattern as an expression of the Lexus identity.

The act of driving should be a good time: Remember that Sport Direct Shift transmission? The RC comes with Formula One-style paddle shifters, and in manual driving mode, a torque converter lock up from second to eighth gears allows for quick down shifts.

Hospitality is a gentlemanly quality: “We developed RC to deliver extra response that exhilarates rather than overwhelms drivers, in keeping with the true spirit of Japanese hospitality, or omotenashi,” explains Furuyama, referring not just to your experience in the coupe but that of your guests and passengers.

One needs to stay in touch with their inner supercar: And finally, when you sit down for your test drive next year, take a close look at the Lexus RC’s gauges—they’re inspired by none other than those in the Lexus LFA.

Designing for Downforce | Lexus Monterey Peninsula

With an engine that delivers more than 450 horsepower,* the RC F—arriving in dealerships soon—will be the fastest Lexus outside of the LFA supercar. Several technologies will contribute to such performance, but one feature in particular benefits from more than 10 years of Lexus supercar research: the active rear spoiler.

Sometimes referred to as a “wing,” the active rear spoiler is an airfoil that pops up above 50 mph to create downforce—in other words, it helps press the vehicle toward the ground for enhanced grip and handling at higher speeds.

What makes the RC F’s active rear wing especially superb is both its elegance and its design history. It’s a direct adaptation of the LFA’s racecar-style active rear wing, which Lexus designed during endless 200-mph-plus test drives on Germany’s Nýrburgring race circuit. According to Paul Williamsen, national manager of strategic educational support for Lexus International, to fully understand the dedication Lexus puts into active rear spoiler design, and the experience it creates, one needs to understand how the systems came about.

During every heart-pounding minute spent flying around the Nürburgring, Lexus LFA test drivers helped shape the car’s final design by relying, as pro drivers do, on tactile feedback through their hands, seat and feet. In highly engineered cars like the LFA, this feedback gives professional drivers a subtle, almost sixth sense of what the vehicle is doing at any given moment, and how much further they can push it.

Working against them was aerodynamic lift, a phenomenon experienced by objects moving at high speeds over the ground. At initial test-track speeds, lift reduced the downward force on the LFA’s tires—the vehicle essentially rose, similar in principle to an airplane taking off.

“Drivers began to lose that tactile feeling of what the tires were doing on the roadway surface,” explains Williamsen. “It compromised the accuracy of the information coming to the drivers.”

As a result, the LFA track drivers and engineers developed the type of rear spoiler system found in the racing world, and designed it to provide maximum downforce—and therefore superior handling—for LFA owners. The final street-legal design is active: it stays tucked away at low speeds when lift is negligible or nonexistent (to avoid drag), and it automatically rises as the car approaches highway speeds.

Fast-forward to RC F development on the Fuji Speedway, which drew from this supercar design. Here, engineers and pro drivers took their supercar knowledge and designed a more subtle production version of the active rear spoiler. Like the LFA’s wing, the RC F’s active rear spoiler engages automatically at 50 mph and disengages at 25 mph; the lower threshold is to prevent the wing from rising and lowering repeatedly when the vehicle’s speed hovers around 50 mph.

In high-speed situations, like a track environment, RC F drivers can delay the wing’s deployment by selecting the Eco driving mode (less drag equals less fuel burned). There’s also an override that allows the driver to raise or lower the spoiler—useful, say, if there’s glare coming off the wing while cruising the highway at sunset, or when washing the car.

The RC F’s active rear spoiler comes standard, but note that there’s an enhanced version that comes with the optional RC F Performance Package, which includes an active rear spoiler that’s partially constructed from the same tough but light carbon fiber as the LFA’s wing. As with the supercar, this helps reduce overall weight for enhanced performance

Looking to the future, Williamsen expects to see the active rear spoiler appear on other Lexus performance models. “Our designers and aerodynamicists have learned a lot about the active wing working with the LFA over the past years,” he concludes. “It makes sense for the technology to trickle down like this.”

Post courtesy of Clark Heideger. 

Seen at SEMA 2014 | Lexus Monterey Peninsula

The SEMA auto show—that annual Las Vegas-based cauldron of creative vehicle enhancements—is always full of surprises. Once again, Lexus didn’t disappoint.

Take the finished Lexus InstaBuilt car, which Lexus fans helped create. Of course, we knew it would turn heads, but we didn’t know just how much that Seafoam Green exterior would pop:

 

And then, of course, there was this gentleman:

Car-tuning enthusiasts will recognize him as the colorful superstar he is: Takemi Takasago, the almost legendary Japanese tuner with a huge following—and who designs his own line of aftermarket parts with Lexus vehicles in mind. He roamed around SEMA because he’s been helping out Clark Ishihara’s team with the InstaBuilt car these past weeks. Well done, Takemi.

Another delightful surprise from the floor: That remote control mini-me version of the InstaBuilt RC F, which also sports the same (smaller) custom Vossen wheels as the real thing (the small ones are 3D-printed):

 

SEMA attendees, of course, would have been all over that little car if it were free to fire up and drive, so perhaps to prevent arguments (we’re only half kidding here), Lexus wisely kept it in a display case—but you can see it in action in this USA Today coverage.

Also on hand at the Lexus booth and around the show: the RC F GT3, more Oculus Rift RC F race-simulator action.

 

About Lexus Monterey Peninsula

We share the thrill our customers get from driving a Lexus. Whether you come in for a new or pre-owned Lexus, to service your vehicle or arrange financing, we are committed to providing a world-class Lexus experience that keeps you coming back!
Lexus Monterey Peninsula in Seaside, CA, also serving Monterey, CA and Salinas, CA is proud to be an automotive leader in our area. Since opening our doors, Lexus Monterey Peninsula has kept a firm commitment to our customers. We offer a wide selection of vehicles and hope to make the car buying process as quick and hassle free as possible.
If you would like financing options and you are in the market to purchase a new Lexus or used car or truck, we will provide assistance to help you find financing options that fit your needs! Whether you have bad credit, no credit, or are a first time car buyer, you can trust that Lexus Monterey Peninsula will get you into the car or truck you choose with professionalism and attention to your needs.

Lexus Monterey Peninsula offers a full selection of service areas including:

• New Lexus Sales
• Certified Pre-Owned Lexus Sales
• Lexus Car Loans and Financing
• Lexus Certified Service Department
• Full Selection of Lexus Parts and Accessories

Lexus Monterey Peninsula has an experienced and reliable Service and Parts departments that are open extra hours to help fit our customers' hectic schedules, and as always, Lexus Monterey Peninsula offers competitive pricing for your automotive maintenance needs. Customer satisfaction is our highest priority, and our staff is committed to achieving this goal in every aspect of our business. Please feel free to reach us at (877) 204-2818 if you have any questions or comments.