CT Umbra by NonDesigns

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of attending a pre-launch event for the Lexus CT 200h, themed ‘The Darker Side of Green’. The CT 200h will be Lexus’ latest hybrid to hit the North American market, which I suppose is why they’re promoting this vehicle to the young, college educated professionals who made up the majority of party-goers. Of course, the actual car was nowhere to be seen, with the major attraction being a debate over the existence of climate change, moderated by none other than comedian Tracy Morgan. The closest thing to an actual car attendees saw was a life-sized artistic rendering called the CT Umbra. This show piece was actually a very nice touch considering how much of a joke the so-called debate was (due in part to poor audio). Eric Bates (executive editor of Rolling Stone magazine), representing climate change believers looked like he’d just gotten off the red eye or had a sedative slipped in his tequila. Meanwhile Christopher Monckton (the Third Viscount Monckton of Brenchley-whatever that means in the UK), the climate change denier, was obviously working the audience and seemed to be enjoying himself thoroughly.  It’s unlikely that either man made a lasting impression on onlookers, but it was a joke after all – like I said, the debate was moderated by Tracy Morgan.

Are we still debating the merits of climate change science even after the science and the researchers involved in the ‘climategate’ controversy were cleared of wrong-doing (to the dismay of one Wall Street Journal columnist)? And, even if climate change is not as serious as the science is saying it is, wouldn’t it be nice to live in a cleaner world with fresher air and water anyway – a world where we don’t have to pay tremendous costs for foreign fossil fuels?  The point of hybrid cars like the Lexus CT 200h is arguably to help us improve the quality of our planet and I don’t think anybody can effectively argue with that aim. The more I think about it , I wonder what was the point of this pre-launch event. Is the fact that this upcoming Lexus is a hybrid that big of a deal? There are already plenty of hybrids available and there’s no chance that this little Lex is going to steal the show that the Nissan LEAF and the Chevy Volt are currently running. It might have made made more sense to celebrate the fact that this luxury hybrid is a hatchback (5-door) – a style that other luxury brands don’t seem to believe can appeal to American car buyers. The merits of producing luxury hatchbacks for the US market might have been a more riveting debate topic and the theme for the event could have been “Baby’s Got Back”. I think all attendees could have happily toasted their complimentary Patron to that. Of Course, LexusDarkRide.com is better name for a promotional microsite than LexusGotBack.com (and a lot less misleading), so Lexus must have some idea of what they’re doing.

For a more detailed account of the climate change debate read this NY Times post:
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/a-lively-debate-on-climate-change/#more-64274

2007 Scion tC

Scions are known and designed to be affordable, sporty, compacts cars that are easily customizable and are attractive to young drivers. As a Toyota Motors brand, Scions could be expected to offer safety and reliability similar to what has been associated with Toyota and Lexus vehicles – at least until notorious 2009/2010 recalls soiled the good reputation Toyota had worked very hard to build. Performance, though, hasn’t been a word one would normally use to describe Scions. How well could any car produced by the base brand of a company that seemed to have abandoned speed with the Toyota Celica perform?

Well, Scions can and have performed with a little TLC and maybe a pinch of BST (blood, sweat, and tears). MotoIQ.com’s Project Scion tC is the perfect demonstration of Scions to take seriously.

One of two Scion tCs modified by MotoIQ, driven by 18 year old Robert Stout, finished first in the Touring Car class at the 2010 Toyota Grand Prix earlier this year, which is a major stop on the World Challenge racing series. Its sister car might have finished second had it not been for a control arm bending collision that prevented driver and DG-Spec team owner, Dan Gardner, from finishing. Gardner was very excited about young Stout’s victory and was understandably dissapointed with his own performance, saying this:

“It’s quite obviously a huge win for the team,” said Gardner.  “We just won Long Beach, and that’s a major accomplishment. My hat’s off to Robert for a good, clean drive. I’m a bit disappointed in myself. It just goes to prove what all racers know…small errors on a street course have major consequences. It’s my first DNF that’s entirely my fault. It’s hard when you know you were sailing to a 1-2 finish, but you have to get over it, move on, and go kick some butt next time.”

The Long Beach win is just one of a number of victories the DG-Spec team can be proud of. Previous accomplishments date back to 2008 and include being the first Scion team in the world to win a national road racing series championship. The following year DG-Spec raced its way to the podium in every race and earned a second championship. These and other accolades, as well as being the first person to ever field a Scion in a road race, indicate that it took Dan Gardner all of five minutes to get over his disappointing DNF.

For more on the race, the team, and the cars check out the following links:

• DG-Spec and Scion Win Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
• MotoIQ’s Project Scion tC
• The DG-Spec team – Scion Racing: Road & Time Attack

2009 Lexus RX350

Toyota’s first quarter sales have been pretty impressive, to the surprise of many who expected well-publicized and continuing recalls to to cause a lot more pain than the numbers indicate. Based on sales, Toyota Motors’ efforts to rebuild trust have gotten off to a great start. But all is definitely not well in Toyota City.
When Toyota recalls were dominating headlines earlier this year, I was surprised to find that Lexus models were largely unaffected. While Lexus’ reputation is in far better shape than the Toyota division, two Lexus models, the RX350 and the GX460, have received a fair amount of bad press recently. Check out the following article from BNET’s Auto blog for more on this story.

Toyota Acceleration Crashes Involve Cars Not Recalled.

• “Even if it isn’t as “all-new” as advertised, the tC should continue to be the car with the youngest median buyer in the entire U.S. market, given its low price of entry and nearly endless options for factory-endorsed—and warranted—customization”.

- CarandDriver.com

• “In addition to increases in power, the new engine delivers an increase in fuel economy and lower emissions. Performance is further improved (and heard) through a new intake manifold and a sport-tuned exhaust that delivers a bold and aggressive sound”.

- Road&Track.com

• “Between the lousy economy, which Scion says hit younger buyers especially hard, and a three-year dry spell for new products, sales have withered. And the division must count on the tC, which represents roughly half of all Scion sales, to lead the rebound.”

- Wheels.Blogs.NYTimes.com

• “Sportier, safer and more sophisticated”
  

-  InsideLine.com

• Scion swears the tC’s 2.5 liter engine and platform (McPherson front/Double Wishbone rear) are “all new,” but it’s not enough to make you forget that a $25k, RWD, boxer-engined “true” sports coupe is coming from Toyota in a few short years. Which is good for patient enthusiasts, but not so great for the Scion brand.

- TheTruthAboutCars.com

Bacal started the race last, but he and his Lexus 4×4 experienced no problems in catching up to and stealing the lead from 2009 class champion, Justin Matney. Bacal’s performance at the San Felipe 250 maintains his perfect record of completing SCORE off-road events. The win can be added to his victories, which includes an inspiring defeat of Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

• How to Deal with Unintended Acceleration – Car and Driver Tech Dept
• Why so little mention of Neutral in “Unintended Acceleration”? – Road & Track Tech News
• Revenge of the Nerd: Bravo Toyota – MotoIQ tech article
• Recalls and You – Everyday Driver Advice

The Car and Driver “How to Deal with Unintended Acceleration” article is part of a feature that contains quite a bit of solid coverage.

Keeping this in mind, I think it would be wise for all Toyota and Lexus owners, as well as the general driving public, to check out the lessons offered by Mike Kojima of MotoIQ based on his encounter with a sticking throttle while driving a Lexus RX-7. Kojima goes beyond offering the common (but important) advice about shifting into neutral by offering a technical analysis of the problem with the aid of descriptive illustrations.

Hats off to Mike Kojima for making an intelligent contribution to the Toyota recall dialogue. Read his article in full at MotoIQ.com.

The vehicle, officially named the CT200h, was created to be the “first and only full hybrid vehicle in the premium concept segment”, according to Lexus. It was designed with the European market in mind, and fittingly will be unveiled at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. The LF-CH Concept was seen as a potential competitor to premium compact models from Audi and BMW, though the CT200h doesn’t look like it will be able to compete on the basis of performance alone, being that the “h” in the title stands for hybrid.

The hybrid CT200h will be powered by a combination of a 1.8 liter four-cylinder engine, an electric motor, and a nickel-metal hydride battery pack. The total output is documentent at 134 hp, which is a far cry from the 187 hp achieved by the HS250h sedan and is very short of what European competitors get using conventional power plants.

These performance comparisons come in to play when considering the CT200h’s positioning in the European market. If the car is released on this side of the pond, it will be the first of its class in North America, so competition would be a future concern. Comparisons to the A3 and the 1-series will become a more pressing issue to North American consumers if and when Audi and BMW decide that there is enough demand to bring their luxury compacts to our shores. In the meantime Lexus has the opportunity to test the North American, and I’m one person who hopes that they take advantage of this.

If you happen to be taking a trip out to Geneva this weekend, don’t forget to take a good look at the Lexus LFA. With only 500 specimens being produced, the chances of you seeing one up-close again are not very high.

Prices for the 2012 Lexus LFA have been officially announced and the vast majority of car enthusiasts now officially know how far out of their price-range this coupe really is. The suggested retail price is $375,000. not including fees for delivery , processing, and handling. Before the price was made official, the auto media had already reported that this car will only be available on a lease-to-own basis. This has not changed. What’s still unclear is whether or not the Lexus supercar will be available to superrich Canadians. While the LFA is showcases on the Lexus Canada website, the price announcement was apparently not enough to warrant a Canada-specific press release. Maybe the folks at Toyota Motors, like me, assume that these wealthy canucks can either afford to pay import duties or already hold duel citizenship (no offense to my northern neighbors!). European buyers will have to travel to one London flagship dealership to pick theirs up, so it’s certainly possible that Los Angeles or another city could become home to Lexus’ North American LFA distribution center, though given the size of the country, it could be difficult for L.A. to serve the needs of the 150 LFA lessees coming from who knows what states and provinces.

If you want to know more about what a very exclusive set of motorists (probably not including you or me) will experience behind the wheel of the LFA read Road & Track’s 2011 LFA Driving Impressions.

Based on these photos, which were taken from the rear and show the car under a layer of plastic wrap, the LF-CH that will be seen on highways as early as 2012 will have a slightly more subdued look than what was unveiled at auto shows three years earlier. So now that we know more about what this vehicle might look like, some may already be salivating over this hatchback. But, a word of warning; you may not want to build up your LF-CH hopes high yet.

There are still big questions, besides what this supposed production LF-CH looks like unwrapped and from other angles. Will the hybrid power plant that accompanied the LF-CH concept to the 2009 auto shows be seen in the 2012 production model? Is this going to be a limited release, in the spirit of the upcoming LFA? And, most importantly, will this sporty hatchback be sold in North America or will Lexus tease US and Canadians by making this a Euro only model?

From what I’ve heard, there is serious doubt that the Lexus LF-CH will be seen on this side of the Pacific, though Toyota is expected to incorporate a lot of the concept’s features into models for this market. This is all speculation for now. It’s still possible that Lexus will attempt to establish itself in the luxury hatchback market that European carmakers don’t seem to believe is sizeable enough to target. So, don’t give up hope on purchasing the American designed Lexus LF-CH from American (or Canadian) dealers.

Click here for spy photos of possible production Lexus LF-CH