To coincide with their expansion to new models, Lexus just announced that they will be offering a 20% discount on all equipment from their F-Sport accessories line, up to $2,000 ($10,000 worth of merch) for the month of July.

The F-Sport program, in case you haven’t heard of it, is designed to allow buyers of the Lexus IS (and now the IS C and GS) to add dealer-installed sport accessories to their cars. This program has been open to IS customers since early 2008, but just recently expanded into the IS C (convertible) and GS line. For the IS, the available upgrades include better brakes, clutch, engine cover, exhaust, performance air intake, quick shifter, shock set, lowering springs set, chassis brace, sway bar set, 18- and 19-inch forged wheels, floor mats and shift knob. In other words, a poor-man’s Lexus IS-F. Continue Reading…

This is a guest post by James from Car Throttle - your performance car experts!

A favorite genre of many auto fiends is the “sleeper” - a car that looks like grandma’s Mercury but goes like stink. In this day and age of flashy, showy performance - with all the standard body kits, huge spoilers and obnoxious red badging automakers seem to believe belong on performance cars, the sleeper is a dying breed. The streets used to be littered with them, too. Buick Regal T-Types with Grand National running gear and a freaking landau roof, Galant VR-4’s with turbocharged 4G63’s and 4WD stuffed into an innocuous Galant body, heck - even the Fox-body Mustang LX 5.0 was a sleeper, with the thundering fuel-injected 302ci “5.0″ (actually a 4.9L) V8 but none of the GT’s plastic trashy bodywork.

Still, for those that would rather not have any show with their go, there are still sleepers left to pick from - if you know where to look. Sometimes you have to look in the strangest of places, but you can find burly horsepower under the hood of some unassuming cars these days. Let’s take a look at the top ten.

10) Toyota Camry SE V6

“A Camry? Really?” I know, I know. The Camry is the equivalent of the Antichrist to anyone that actually likes cars. But that makes it the perfect sleeper, at least in SE V6 trim. You see, under the hood is a very modern 3.5L 24v V6, which makes a rather considerable 268 horsepower coupled with a 6-speed auto.

Without a doubt, the rest of the car is mind-numbingly boring - but if you’re after velvety-smooth horsepower and strong mid-range in an utterly unassuming wrapper, the Camry SE V6 has got you covered. Just remember to take a No-Doz on long trips… the Camry might’ve misunderstood what “sleeper” means, and when you’re not smoking tires with your torquey V6, it’s likely to put you to sleep. Fast enough to embarrass a V6 Mustang, and good enough for 10th place. Continue Reading…

Yet another rumor that I wish and hop will turn out to be true. Current scuttlebutt is that the next generation Lotus Esprit will get its power from a Lexus sourced V10. Given Lotus’ penchant for lightness, that kind of power-plant could be a serious way to motivate you down the road … wait, Lexus it going to be making a V10?

Continue Reading…

Ever since man began making cars for more than just getting from A to B, two-door coupes have been a sign of automotive enthusiasm and overall sportiness that a four-door sedan simply could not fulfill. A recent wave of sport sedans and four-door coupes have been introduced to the market, but for us sports car enthusiasts, they just aren’t good enough.

For the purposes of this article, we’re referring to a sedan as a car with four doors, and coupe as a car with two doors, even though the technical definition of the two terms are slightly different. Please see Coupe vs Sedan for more information regarding the technical differences.

So which new cars are produced as sedan-only, when they should be offered as coupes? Keep reading… Continue Reading…

Lexus debuted the convertible version of its popular IS model to some rather mixed reviews. Basically, half love it and half hate it. I suppose that I belong to the latter group, not because I hate it, but because I don’t love it. All it is is an IS (wow that was awkward to write) without the roof. In two words, so what?

But I digress, for I do realize that there are some of you who adore Lexus, and would settle for nothing less than a review that gives due credit to a new addition of the Big L’s line-up. So here we go:

Starting off with the styling (and I’m doing my best NOT to focus on that pretty girl), sports car fans might be disappointed that the 250C is softer and milder than the hardcore IS-F, but it’s understandable given its anemic 208 horsepower engine (more on that sad fact later). I’ve always thought that the cut-off look in the back is out of proportion, but it does a nice job of hiding the mechanized hard top. I wish they would do something about the “pinched squirrel look”, but I know some people who think it looks great. To each his own.

More info and pictures (courtesy of RPMGO) after the jump. Continue Reading…

Ah yes. Luxurious performance sedans. The cars for those who want power mixed with luxury, and got the dough to get it.

These include the haloed brands of BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, and soon to come…Cadillac.

The above names are almost legend among performance sedan aficionados, well, the first two are. BMWs “M” series and Merc’s AMG have been hot-blooded contestants ever since their conception. Audi has their RS 4. Lexus made their debut into this category with their “F” series, but BMW and Mercedes have pretty much got this segment bagged. Then along comes Cadillac to wreck the party.

Now, Cadillac has never done well in the performance sedan category, and the first generation CTS-V pretty much failed against the likes of BMW and Mercedes. But from what I see about the new CTS-V, I think that this time, they’re actually gonna do quite well. Not only does the CTS-V look a lot better this time around, but it also is the fastest and most powerful sedan to ever come from an American manufacturer, and check this out: it just may be the fastest sedan in history. Continue Reading…