kickin8

iTrader: (1)

civic + prius not = IS !

flipside909

Here's a teaser for now. More to come.

encore888

Real-time stocks? Oh wow...when I looked at the Hybrid info display on the RXh, the bar graph made me think of CNBC a bit...and now it comes true!

And dinner with the Chief Engineer???! Wow, what did you eat?

I'd love to know how the design process for this unique vehicle went about...

FKL

At least they are organized to look stylish, this thing looks like a big mess. In fact, the entire car looks like a big mess. Personally it almost dillutes the Lexus brand - even Acura hasn't stooped this...ugly. It's evocative of everything that's wrong with the lines that have been blurred between Toyota and Lexus products.

BigVIPness

Wow, lexus made a sedan that is extremely bland, sedate, and out of style before its on the lot. I can't say i'm surprised. Clear taillights? Very disappointing.

Johnny

After ten pics, I had enough... Looks like a car I might borrow for a drive to the Vomitorium.

What were they thinking?

Shades of the Nissan/Infiniti School of Design...

ndk83

looks very toyota-ish, they could have done a much better job, i was expecting more from them

tqlla3k

iTrader: (1)

Hahahaha... sad for us.

That car looks like a Corolla with an an aftermarket "Lexus" body kit.

ndk83

Id much rather drive the prius, its unpretentious and looks better IMO

flipside909

Yes all part of Lexus Enform package.

Yes, dinner with the chief engineer, his wife, the Lexus US execs and a few others from Japan. We ate food.

Mr Bond

To me its not looking that bad at all. I would never chose a Prius over this one ! OK, I expected the interior to be a little bit more "luxury" than this, but its not that bad.

JessePS

as much as i dislike the exterior, guess it will take time for me to warm up to it. i would still drive it. Only thing I don't understand if its getting 35-40 MPG, why is the Prius getting around 50 MPG?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i'm still gonna defend this car... i don't know what all the critics were expecting.

this fits in with lexus design themes. as for the lack of wood and 'richness' inside, remember this?


hardly luxurious. even the newer IS isn't really very luxurious inside, it's pretty plain. NEAT and tidy I will say - I actually like the new IS interior quite a lot. but upscale? no.

it's all about cost, folks. and the hybrid drive train cannot be cheap to make. so you either get that, or fancy interior, you can't have both.

ok, it's not ALL about cost, it's also about efficiency for a model like this, because this car would be a joke if it didn't have good efficiency, and efficiency is really all about POWER to WEIGHT ratio and drivetrain efficiency, and lexus wasn't about to spend billions for a drivetrain on just this model and is already in the end stretch of the new prius roll out. i think they should have waited and put the new prius drivetrain in this one.

and while some design parts are just foul, like the tacked on bits front and rear, the rest is basically a squashed LS460 if you compare the two.

Gojirra99

Actually, if I were in the market for a dedicated hybrid, I would definitely pay the $$premium for the HS250h over the Prius just NOT to get the body style of the Prius, as much as I have expressed before that this thing does not look elegant enough to be a Lexus, I would still prefer to be inside this car than the Prius.

Plus I think that if they put a "regular" Lexus grille on this thing, unlike the Lexus Concept car like one shown in the pics, it will look better.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i bet it's due to WEIGHT. prius probably has much lighter seats, certainly doesn't have loads of speakers, has less sound insulation, thinner glass, smaller tires/wheels, it all adds up.