miniz

Where are the spy pictures? Someone must have shot this car on the road somewhere during a test.

Gojirra99

Lexus always very secretive about their new cars ... but as soon as they arrive in California/Torrance, someone may be able to photo one ......

encore888

It's also possible that the only testing locales at this point are at Lexus development facilities (Shibetsu, etc.) that are highly restricted to photography.

miniz

A worker hasn't pulled out his cutting edge iphone 4G with built-in 12mp digital SLR camera and taken a shot for us yet?

ikey78

I found out the following information from my dealer. I have seen written documentation of all of this so I am sure all dealers have it as well.

There was no info re the design tweaks.

Production will start in September. Usually LS production starts in July and it may have been held back because of excessive 2009 inventory due to the economy. The late production date may explain the lack of photos.

Colors: Starfire Pearl, Mercury Metallic, Smoky Granite Mica, Truffle Mica and Obsidian stay. Satin Cashmere Metallic (4U7), Matador Red Mica (3R1), Peridot Mica (6V6) (Green) and Deep Sea Mica (8V3) (Blue) are new.

Interior Colors: Parchment replaces Cashmere. Alabaster, Light Grey and Black stay. No mention of wood pairings. They also have information re which interior color is available with the various exterior colors. Looks similar to previous models.

The dealers also have an ordering guide so that customers can order cars for the initial production in September. This only lists the various option packages which look similar to previous (Comfort, Comfort Plus, Nav Levinson etc.)

One package that looks new is AP Advanced Pre Crash only available on the LWB and includes driver and pedestrian monitoring as well as a light package that includes automatic high beams.

There is no mention anywhere of standard features on the various models. I did notice there is an optional windshield deicer package for the RWD SWB and LWB implying that it is standard on the AWD cars. Not sure if this is a new feature or is already available on the 2009's

Another thing I noticed is that the various audio packages mention USB so as expected that will be used to connect iPods and other devices as in the Rx.

encore888

Thx for the info, ikey78. Those details sound like meaningful low-key updates. It probably is a more evolutionary upgrade, although it's possible that new features (lane-keep assist, etc.) are being kept under wraps.