Test Drives

Just as its primary adversaries the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and (certain iterations of) the BMW 3 Series have taken a step back from the sport sedan brink, it would seem that the 2014 Lexus IS 350 F Sport has pushed forward into the breach. Long criticized as the softest entry-level luxury …

The 2014 Lexus GX 460 is the perfect illustration of the luxury brand’s ‘stand fast’ strategy for truck development. Much like the larger LX 570, and Toyota platform-mates the 4Runner and Land Cruiser, the Lexus GX 460 is somewhat of an anachronism, a full-frame SUV in a world where very …

If you ever needed proof that Lexus’ F Sport line-up was more about image than substance, look no further than the 2013 Lexus CT 200h F Sport. The audacity of sticking the F Sport label on not just a hybrid, but also the most affordable model in the luxury brand’s …

Flagship luxury sedans come in a number of different flavours, but the end outcome is almost always the same: coddling driver and passengers like they've entered a second, motorised womb composed almost entirely of sumptuous leather and polished wood. Traditionally, the market has been divided amongst those who automakers who …

The 2013 Lexus RX 450h is an interesting - if somewhat puzzling - piece of what has been an incredible success story for the Japanese luxury automaker. It's easy to understand what family shoppers see in the gas-only version of the Lexus RX, as the crossover provides ample interior space, …

A few years ago, while thoroughly engrossed in watching that arcane and ancient device known as the television, I recall a documentary that made a pretty compelling argument for love at first sight. Hinging upon the notion that our vision is the first sense with which we experience the world …

Good Lord, Canada can suck sometimes. And by sometimes, I mean right after you deplane in Toronto's -3 weather on a plane that had been bathed in Cuba's 28 degree sunshine just four short hours before. Cold, relatively desolate, and unbelievably monochromatic, it takes a while for Canada's maple-glazed flavour …

Lexus owes its renown mainly to its reliability, and despite its owner Toyota’s recent setbacks, these two Japanese companies remain more reliable than the average. And it’s precisely that reliability that gives Lexus a clear advantage over the other – mostly German – prestige brands. Indeed, German cars are not …

In life, there are all kinds of friends. True friends are those that you can wake up at three in the morning to tell them your problems without worrying that you’ll be turned away. There are good acquaintances, acquaintances, and distant acquaintances. Beyond that, nowadays there are Facebook friends, from …

Lexus is a marvel of marketing wizardry. Although having been beat to the punch by more than a few decades, the upscale Japanese brand leveraged Toyota’s reputation for safety, reliability and build quality against a uniquely luxurious design ethos that compromised nothing in its pursuit of motoring bliss. If only …