So the GF and I were over at the dealer for her 5K service, and spotted a new 450h that had just hit the lot. Smoky Granite over Gray, standard region options of course (Prem, Nav, Comfort, Park Assist). So as I look in the window I'm stunned to see the car has a true 2-tone Black and Pale Gray interior. I'm a BMW guy and I'm used to seeing this a lot in their interior palate, they commonly have a basic black, gray, and tan or taupe interior with a matching dash and carpets, but they often have other colors that have a black dash and carpets and the seats and door panels in an "accent" color. The Savannah Beige interior in my 1-series is like this. I'm a huge fan of that look since it's more visually interesting IMO, and the dark dash and carpets are much easier to care for.

For those that haven't seen it in person or in one of the pic threads from the 450 owners, the 450 Gray Interior is all black except for the seats themselves, the dash, and a swath of gray trim on the tops of the door armrests. The rest of the door panels, lower dash, carpets, and mats are black. IMO this interior is an absolute knockout and would have certainly been our choice had it been available on the 350.

I hadn't heard a bit of discussion about this difference on here (might have missed it), and I think it's a bit odd that the parchment and black interiors on the hybrid appear to be the same as the 350, and that the interior apparently isn't marketed as anything different or special. Anyone have any stories about this difference and why Lexus did it this way?

 

nobody knows, but i guess it is to differentiate the hybrid from the gas version. I think it looks good too. This was also only available on the LS600h where the two tone came with the neiman marcus edition. But lexus is really experimenting with colors for the interior, such as the blue and red interiors of the IS line

 

My dealer pointed it out to us when we were looking at the 450h and it sold us immedietly. My wife always loves unique colors (We have Opaline Pearl on the GS) so when she saw the grey (hybrid only) interior, she had to have it. Same thing with the exterior color, Auroa Pearl (hybrid only), she also had to have it, so we ordered that combo. That way she knows only a handful of other MY10 RX's could look like heres. Plus it is a level of style and class that a $50K car should have.

I have always had concerns about grey interiors, but it looks so amazing with the two-tone mix, not to mention, only the seats need to be meticuoulsy detaild and we...I mean I, can do that. I think more models should come this way.