Lexus gets pimpin' in Vegas

It’s a wonderfully incongruous sight to the see a herd of Lexi strutting their stuff down the 2010 SEMA show catwalk, shakin’ their hybrid-booties. More than any other car maker thus far, Lexus has made alternative energy ‘cool’ and what better way to demonstrate this than at the 2010 SEMA auto trade show in Las Vegas, where mainstream car makers and tuning companies showcase their most thrilling automotive creations.

The result is a jaw-dropping display of huge rims, flared wheel arches, dazzling paintwork and outrageous body kits, plus high-performance axles, suspension systems and brakes.

Perhaps the highlight of the collection is F Sport Concept version of its soon-to-be-launched full hybrid luxury hatchback, Lexus CT 200h, Fitting it out with Pirelli PZero Nero 225/40R/18 tyres wrapped around 18 x 8-inch alloys, adjustable suspension and shocks and a high-performance Big Brake Kit, with mighty 12.9 x 11-inch cross-drilled front discs. It may be a show concept, but it demonstrates just what an F Sport version of CT 200h might deliver.

0-60 Magazine has taken the GS 450h sports saloon and added a raft of performance and handling upgrades to increase the car’s fun factor on road and track. The Custom Carbon five-piece body kit includes an outrageous rear wing, while the hot hybrid also gains a GReddy performance titanium racing exhaust, racing dampers and springs from TEIN USA, Brembo Gran Turismo brakes and forged racing wheels from Rays Engineering.

Fox Marketing’s Lexus LS 600h L is SEMA’s “greenest” limousine by far, with its special Glacier Green and Satin Black paintwork. The bold colour scheme is matched by a full Artisan Spirit body kit with skirts, smoked tail-lights, twin rear wings and a front light bar. The car rides on Rotiform concave 20-inch BLQ wheels with a “candy copper” finish and it hugs the ground thanks to an adjustable ride height system. Modified Lexus/SSBC brakes are fitted – 14-inch front discs with four-piston callipers and 13.2-inch discs at the rear, and as a finishing touch, the Lexus emblems have a satin black finish.

VIP Auto Saloon’s take on the LS is lean, low and luxurious, with a customised interior (created together with Top Stitch), 21-inch WALD Mahora M11c polished machined black wheels and customised air suspension with a JoeZ Series rear axle system from Performance Tube Systems. Fifteen-inch Brembo
discs with six-piston monoblock callipers are fitted and the car is turned out in a metallic bronze PPG paint finish.

The RX 450h – Lexus’s top selling North American model – has been transformed by Paul Tolson of EST Styling with a clean and mean new look, using a Hired Gun Paint Werks wide-body conversion kit. Add Leon Hardiritt 21-inch rims – -4 offset at the front and +9 offset at the rear – and an integrated Air Runner suspension system and you have a formidable full hybrid street machine like no other.

The 2010 SEMA show is at the Las Vegas Convention Center until this Friday, 5 November.