Lexus L-Tuned to be revived??
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Lexus L-Tuned to be revived??
L-tuned: Performance, Lexus style, again
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/06/l...s-style-again/
Lexus appears ready to give its L-Tuned division a new lease on life, according to the Automotive News. L-Tuned first surfaced in 2000, ostensibly to act as a Lexus-geared factory tuning arm, similar to the role TRD plays for Toyota. As things happened, L-Tuned wound up being more about cosmetics than performance. I must say, however, that the scattered L-Tuned GS sedans I've seen in the wild certainly sounded pretty mean in addition to being a bit more visually interesting than the standard cars on which they were based.
Anyway, long story short: L-Tuned fizzled out. With a raft of new, sportier, and more powerful cars in showrooms, it sounds like Lexus may be ready to revive the name and back it up with some real juice underhood (think BMW M Power, Mercedes AMG). Nothing's official, but those reading between the lines of Toyota Motor Sales COO Jim Lentz's comment at SEMA that "it's time to stretch" the Lexus brand see a revitalized L-Tuned as part of that evolution. Let's hope it's true. There's always room at the table for some more quality performance machines.
Anyway, long story short: L-Tuned fizzled out. With a raft of new, sportier, and more powerful cars in showrooms, it sounds like Lexus may be ready to revive the name and back it up with some real juice underhood (think BMW M Power, Mercedes AMG). Nothing's official, but those reading between the lines of Toyota Motor Sales COO Jim Lentz's comment at SEMA that "it's time to stretch" the Lexus brand see a revitalized L-Tuned as part of that evolution. Let's hope it's true. There's always room at the table for some more quality performance machines.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: CA
Sounds good to me...I've seen more L-Tuned IS's than GS's...
...and I wonder if there will be a different logo look other than the cursive wavy stuff, which was good but seemed more casual. Something that would stack up next to the AMG/M designations...like IS-F...
...and I wonder if there will be a different logo look other than the cursive wavy stuff, which was good but seemed more casual. Something that would stack up next to the AMG/M designations...like IS-F...
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Mar 2006
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From: IN
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Would be nice to see L-Tuned come back.
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Lexus Champion
Joined: May 2006
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From: FL
I'd want them to offer the upgrades right from the factory. It's an significant, unneeded expense having to swap out existing OEM parts for the parts you really wanted in the first place. For example, why not offer a real sport suspension or engine upgrades right from the factory?
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: The Bay Area, CA, USA
I'd want them to offer the upgrades right from the factory. It's an significant, unneeded expense having to swap out existing OEM parts for the parts you really wanted in the first place. For example, why not offer a real sport suspension or engine upgrades right from the factory?
Lexus, are you listening?
Lexus Champion
Joined: Jun 2001
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From: California
Lexus Champion
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,793
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From: Virginia
They should set it up like BMW individual sort of that way they can make perfomance pakages for the cars in the lineup as well as dealer installed parts.
Imagine an IS equivalent to the BMW 330i performance package. And then add a few l-tuned performance parts.
Imagine an IS equivalent to the BMW 330i performance package. And then add a few l-tuned performance parts.
