Lexus - Transportation !

FTLComm - Regina - Thursday, april 4, 2002

As we were about to depart Regina Tuesday night a car like this one, a Lexus LS430 pulled up to the pumps and the driver and passenger went to work on the touch screen mounted in the centre of the dash. As the owner paid for his gas I asked him about the system and he said

that it was a marvel able to take him right to an address and doing so with a pleasant voice the told him where to turn and if he missed the turn how to get back to his destination. He said that it only worked in United States as the information for Canada was lacking but the software would be updated once a year.

This luxury car is made by Toyota and the navigation computer is actually General Motor's goStar system. The system along with the other accessories like heated leather seats is a tidy $10,000 Canadian touch to the already pricey $86,400 car. With side air bags and a 390 horse power 4.3 litre engine that can achieve 100 Kph in 6.5 seconds. This model is about the same size as our Ford Taurus but weighs forty-five pounds less than two ton. One wonders what is the point in such extreme expense for a vehicle but if you are thinking of driving one of these dressed up like this one bluring away into the night you will need to spend or borrow $98,504.34 before taxes. The interior, side view pictures and the QuickTime VR of the inside were borrowed from the Lexus web site.