Latest news with #sportsaloon
Auto Car
18-07-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Car
Lexus IS200: the driftiest car that £2000 can buy
Years back, a mate and I used to amuse ourselves watching Japanese drift videos. The sport of attacking bends at improbable oversteer angles was big stuff in Japan at the turn of the century, young guns drifting their Corolla AE86s, Skylines and Mazda RX-7s illicitly in the Hakone Hills and licitly, on specially prepared tracks. The drama of watching this was heightened – considerably – by the sight of synchronised drifting, often of impossibly large and sedate saloons, and by near-hysterical Japanese commentary. It was into this world that Lexus, until 1998 a maker of large, subtly-functioning and somewhat baroque premium saloons launched the lithe, revvy and rear-wheel drive IS200. This pleasingly compact saloon was powered by a 2.0 litre straight six, just like a BMW 3 Series, presented a noticeably short front overhang, just like a 3 Series, and like most engines with half-a-dozen in-line pistons, was strong on smooth and weak on earthmoving luggery. It needed revs to make it go hard. The need for quick-spinning crank speed was driven by a lot more than a lot more than the need to extract torque, the IS200's entire character folded around the goal of creating an entertaining sports saloon. This was radical stuff for Lexus, which had previously specialised in comfort-oriented, low effort, premium sedans slushing about at the low revs favoured by the torque converters of their automatic transmissions. The big-engined, soft-sprung GS300 and LS400 were ideal for loping along the American Interstate. The IS200, on the other hand, was created with a more invigorating approach in mind. Apart from being compact, Lexus's pert new rear-driver had been developed under the control of one Nobuaki Katayama, who led the creation of the drift-focused AE85/86 Toyota Corolla coupes before working on Toyota's Le Mans and rally campaigns. This was a man who knew what a driver's car should be, and knew how to make cars that would yes, drift. Sure enough, the IS200 had just the kind of chassis balance you'd hope for from a sporting saloon, and better still, determined revving and tight-turn attacks produced deliciously entertaining oversteer moments. Especially if your IS was fitted with an optional limited slip differential This was an entirely different kind of Lexus, a Lexus to raise your heart-rate rather than sink it, a Lexus more in the mould of a European car. That was no accident, its creation very clearly inspired by the BMW 3 Series – Lexus was happy to admit as much – a car of fast-rising popularity both on its home continent and in the US. But the IS was far from a shameless copy. It had distinguishing features of its own, in particular a pair of rear lamp-clusters that would create an entire cottage industry of copyists selling 'Lexus-style' lights. They look a little tame now, but the lamp-within-a-lamp, three-dimensional nature of these cluster sets certainly accelerated the trend towards ever-more elaborate rear lights.
Top Gear
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Here's your first look at Xpeng's shiny new, second-gen P7
First Look Fastback roofline, flashy headlights... this thing looks like it means serious business Skip 4 photos in the image carousel and continue reading Chinese carmaker Xpeng is launching the next generation of its all-electric, five-seat P7 sports saloon, and the very first images have just dropped. It's been progressively worked on over the last five years and refined through 'countless' iterations, says lead designer Rafik Ferrag. And in fairness, the Mk2 looks like a pretty bold leap forward from the car it replaces. Key traits include Polestar 3-like headlamp clusters and a thick panel gap which stretches from the aggressive nose right back to the A-pillar. Good luck cleaning autumn leaves and general detritus out of those. Advertisement - Page continues below There's a similar set of lights out back, joined by a sweeping fastback roofline and an active rear wing that extends outwards from within the tailgate. It's certainly handsome. And safe, too, because it's passed both the Chinese and European NCAP safety tests with five-star ratings, so it should be as stern as a centre-back pairing of Ryan Shawcross and Robert Huth. And according to Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng, the P7 is the company's 'answer for the AI era in form and function". Right. You might like Xpeng only brought the first-gen P7+ to Europe earlier this year, and its tech caused quite the stir. Partly thanks to its Level-Two (so semi-autonomous) driver assist, and partly because of its 'AI Hawkeye Visual Solution', which is a set of guided cameras and radars that sniff out danger. The Plus also gets 800-volt architecture and computing power from the likes of Qualcomm and Nvidia. Safe to assume this new car will also get these and more, since Xiaopeng also confirmed it'll be a 'major' technological upgrade over the previous car, and pave the way for the company's future products. Advertisement - Page continues below We're yet to receive any word on outputs, but as a yardstick, consider that the Mk1's biggest battery (86.2kWh) serves up to 358 miles of range between charges. And since Mk2 wants to be a proper sports saloon and all, one would imagine it will better the previous all-wheel-drive range-topper's 0-62mph time of 4.3s. No confirmation on when - or if - it's coming to the UK, but we're expecting it to given Xpeng's G6 SUV has just gone on sale here and will shortly be followed by the seven-seat X9. That thing even gets a karaoke machine, and we feel it's of the utmost importance that the new P7 does too. More details when we get it... Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.
