Auto news on Youtube Aug 30 2017

We're in Milan. We just landed on the airport. Lexuses are waiting for us.

Lexi. What's the plural of Lexus? Does the PR manager know?

Lexuses? Lexi? - We're saying Lexus models.

There are multiple Lexus cars... models.

In all the pretty colors, but we're starting with gray.

I'll be switching cars a few times, so I'll probably drive an exciting color.

This is the new LC 500. We're getting to know it in the next two days.

We'll be doing that with a road trip from Milan to Munich through the Alps.

Now we're driving fast, let me tell you about this car, especially its performance.

This car's engine is the same V8 we know from the RC F.

It has the same 470 hp, but it's tuned differently. It does 700 rpm extra before peak power.

520 Nm (384 lb ft) torque.

You'd think it's very fast, but it isn't.

0-100 kph (62 mph) takes 4.7 seconds and the top speed is 270 kph (168 mph).

We're driving the LC 500. We'll discuss the hybrid later, but the LC 500 has no hybrid technology.

The V8 has an automatic transmission with... We should count them, but we're on the highway.

It has 10 gears. The different drive modes can be selected using this funny button.

It reminds me of the old Citroën DS. I'm wearing sunglasses. I'm in Italy.

You're allowed to here, inside and outside.

There we go, from 1 to 10.

Following a Maserati.

How fun, a tunnel.

We're in Switzerland now.

Fortunately we don't have such a striking color.

Gray is boring. Yellow looks good on it.

I think the only problem with the design are the taillights.

I'm not a fan of the drooping at the sides.

We're in Switzerland for a while now and we've only seen highway.

Lexus gave us a road map. It's in the trunk.

Let's get it to see if there are any nice roads here. I want to show you something cool now.

You open the trunk with a tiny button.

I think that's fun. Let's see if on route to the hotel... We're going to a hotel and continue tomorrow.

The hotel is in Switzerland. I'd like to find some cool mountain passes before we arrive there.

I looked and nothing fun was planned on the road to the hotel, but we're doing it differently.

We're nearing the San Bernardino Pass. I've never been there. It's been on my wishlist for a long time.

We're going to take it now. I think the car should feel right at home.

Follow this road for 12 km (7 miles). - I don't know if I'll do that, ma'am.

Let's see if I can go to the San Bernardino Pass. Back on the highway. Joy.

Bikers. They're always driving on fun roads, so we're headed the right way.

Is this better than the highway? - This is more fun, Martijn. Thanks for your help.

But can the Lexus LC 500 handle it?

Yes. It's better than I thought, because it's a big and heavy car.

There are less trees here. I think we're climbing really high.

Slowly we're nearing the highest point of the San Bernardino Pass.

We're now driving a car with Luxury specs.

This means we have no limited-slip differential, smoking our inner rear tire.

It's easy to drift, though.

I don't know what you're taking pictures of, but the car is over there.

I admit, this is a good spot for taking pictures.

It is. You have to admire the scenery sometimes. We have the car all afternoon and tomorrow.

We'll take pictures of it later.

We're here; the highest point. 2,066 m or 6,778 ft A.C.S.

No idea what that means, but we're on top of San Bernardino. I can take it off my list.

We can continue now, because the roads are amazing. I won't talk to you for long.

Look around. Pretty nature. - Look, a lake and parked cars. Very pretty.

Great. Let's continue.

I'm trying to film the cows. - And?

I discovered a very nice option on the LC 500.

There's a button on the side. When you push it, the glass thing next to you goes down.

You'll hear the V8 even better.

Super. I like it.

Casper, did road tripping make you hungry too? - Yes.

Are you taking pictures of it? - Of course.

You have to eat it. It helps with the hunger. - OK, I will.

We ate a bite. You have to do that sometimes or it's unhealthy.

We didn't want a gray one for the pictures, because it's a boring color.

I felt 30 years too young for the Sport package, so we got a hybrid car.

The LC 500h. This'll be the most affordable version in the Netherlands, starting at 117,000 euros.

The LC 500 with the nice V8 we drove this morning starts at 166,000 euros.

That's a huge gap.

This one isn't as fast, but let's see how much fun it is. Red is always good for the pictures.

This one is nice and quiet. - This one is nice and quiet.

It's a hybrid. Are you talking now? Is that the idea?

We're driving the hybrid, but I haven't done anything silly yet. Let's do that.

Of course it's less awesome than the V8, but it doesn't feel slow.

Especially the pick-up. It's in manual now, hang on.

The pick-up... The throttle response is better than with the V8.

That's because this one has electric power for support.

It can supply electric power instantly and the engine joins in.

What do you think now you've used your camera? - I think it's a pretty car.

I already thought it's nice after seeing the press photos.

I'm a fan of Lexus's designs. In general, not all the time.

I think it's cool in general, but I think it's great they tried to make this car look different.

There's one.

Look, it's a bit boring like that.

It does have charisma. - In red.

Red is much cooler, but its presence is very special.

You can spend a lot of money on a Porsche 911 or Mercedes AMG GT,

but I think this looks more special.

The front is aggressive with the recognizable spindle grille.

Cool too. I'm a fan. I know a lot of people won't agree, but Martijn and I think it's very cool.

I think it's cool. - I saw how you looked at the car.

Not just me. Many people looked at it. - Everyone looks and points at it.

It's something very special.

I think that's cool.

A hybrid costs about as much as a base model 911.

What color would you like your 911 to be?

That's a trick question I won't answer.

Good morning mister Heij. - Good morning.

Right, we're shooting this way. It's a road trip video.

Good morning. We just had breakfast and we're back in the V8 Luxury model.

The journey continues to Munich. We're in Flims, Switzerland.

We're going to see pretty passes, more than yesterday.

There was a detour yesterday because of an avalanche.

It shortened the route. The San Bernardino Pass went well, but there wasn't much else.

We'll get to see cooler things today.

I'm happy with this car. Not just for the sound, but the interior as well.

I think this color interior is so much cooler than the black we had in the hybrid yesterday.

I don't get why Lexus still sells the black, because you have to check this box.

Guys, how much Alps do you want it to get? We're in friggin' Heidi village.

It's great this exists.

The car is wide.

We deviated from the route, but we could visit another country.

Welcome in Liechtenstein.

Another point off the list, Martijn. I've never been here. Have you?

No. I collect them all. - We're entering the lovely village of Balzers.

This is country number 4.

Germany.

Choose a color. We have the gray one now. It can be white or brown.

Red is a good color. Yellow is a good color too.

We're going to eat something. We're in Füssen.

You can see there's a pretty lake. We're having a lunch break here.

We'll continue to Munich and see a lot of Autobahn. Hopefully we'll get to do top speed.

An Autobahn, how fun.

We had to put in some effort, but after driving through the mountains we found the Autobahn.

Let's see if we can do the top speed of 270 kph (168 mph).

Rev limiter. Pay attention, Casper.

The handling of the Lexus LC is more GT-like than it's a driver's car.

You can hoon it on mountain roads, but it's a bigger and heavier car.

You notice the weight in corners and such.

The LC will have 2 versions. You can choose the Luxury, like the car we're driving now,

and you can choose the Touring Pack.

This gives you rear-axle steering, a differential lock, and a more sporty handling car.

The LC 500h we shortly drove yesterday had this and you feel the difference.

The car is feistier in the corners and feels smaller and lighter than the Luxury.

This isn't an unwieldy car, but there's a clear difference.

Lexus engineered this car very well.

I think it's cool Lexus doesn't appoint committees to discuss the design.

They design a cool car with a couple of people and build something they want to build.

They're selling it with a V8 breathing CO2 because they think it's cool.

Lexus has the image of building reliable cars, but they were always a bit boring.

A car like the LC we're driving now adds a little sexy.

A little? Maybe a big dose of porn, as Wouter would say.

I think this is a very cool move.

We won't see it often, but that's not a bad thing. It'll stay special that way.

I want to finish with exhaust sound, because the V8... Let's enjoy it.

Subtitles - Maru's Text Support

For more infomation >> Lexus LC 500 Roadtrip - Duration: 16:47.

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Lexus LC 500 hybrid technical walk around | motoring.com.au - Duration: 3:17.

If you strip the Lexus LC500 of its beautiful body you'll see there's a lot going on underneath.

James, it's fair to say that the V8 may be the hero but the LC also has a sophisticated

hybrid engine.

It does indeed Nadine, so Lexus is very much at the forefront of, like, hybrid technology,

and this new Multi-Stage System takes the level of hybrid technology in our cars to

the next level.

So it starts with the 3.5 litre V6, which you can see here, featuring the Atkinson cycle,

it's very powerful but very, very efficient.

Up to here it is a conventional hybrid power train, but what we've done to try and assist

with the level of engagement, the level of refinement, that real emotion with the driver,

is put in place a 4-speed automatic transmission.

So what we see is that the conventional CVT gearbox that provides three speeds, the 4

speed automatic gearbox provides three and an overdrive.

So if you multiply it with three, by three, you have nine, and your overdrive creates

ten.

Controlling all this is a very big brain which is the power control unit, and that's able

to ensure that this unit itself switch within under 100 milliseconds.

We've moved towards the lithium batteries which is the latest technology battery, and

it provides a number of advances in terms of the technology we were using previously.

To give you an idea, versus the current LS, it's 20% smaller and 20% lighter, so allow

you to fit in the chassis of the LC a lot better than the previous level of technology.

Basically, with the LC we realised for this car to be as best as it can with the performance

and luxury credentials that it needed, we had to come up with an entirely new platform

and that's exactly what we've done.

So you can see that when the engine is located, you can see that's very low in the chassis,

to aid in terms of the centre of gravity, to provide just the right amount of feel for

the driver.

You can see it's also been moved back as well too, so it now sits behind the front axle

line which is really important from a weight distribution point of view.

One of the engineering features that we're really proud of is in the front suspension

tower here, so it's what's called a double-jointed system where we've got a double-jointed connection

at the top and the bottom, and what it allows is, for the wheel itself to have maximum contact

regardless of the amount of lock that's on the steering at any point in time.

So aiding with the level of grip that the car has on the road, which is really important.

This particular example has the carbon fibre roof; the other upgrade that's available in

the LC has the glass roof which is quite spectacular too.

Moving towards the rear of the car you're able to see the back section which uses quite

a bit of high-tensile steel there as well to keep the body rigid and safe.

One of the little facts that's really important with the LC chassis is, it features 73 square

meters of body adhesive, that's usually about three times more than what some of our models

have, so it is very much the latest iteration of putting a car together, so to speak.

James, this surely means some pretty exciting times ahead for Lexus in new models?

Absolutely Nadine, so as I said earlier, this really cements Lexus' position at the forefront

of hybrid technology, and this being the latest system we're really looking forward to this,

engaging with drivers and buyers are down the track and some of our future models too,

positioning hybrid as the ultimate performance option.