2014 Lexus IS 350 F Sport: Up Close

The Lexus IS' dominant design theme is its oversized spindle grille, which looks great in the F Sport trim on display at the 2013 North American International Auto Show. LED daggers below the headlights complement the pinched upper area of the grille, and the dagger theme is mimicked in the taillights.

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The interior sees even bigger changes than the outside, with an all-new dashboard design that adopts the slightly industrial, stacked design of other recently redesigned Lexus models. The F Sport's black-and-red interior looks great, too.

2014 Lexus IS at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show

• Competes with: BMW 3 Series, Audi A4, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Infiniti Q50
• Looks like: The IS aims to intimidate you with its spindle grille
• Drivetrain: 2.5-liter V-6 or 3.5-liter V-6 engine with six- or eight-speed automatic transmission; rear- or all-wheel drive
• Hits dealerships: Summer 2013

After revealing exterior and interior photos of its 2014 IS last week, Lexus provided more details on the sport sedan as part of the car's debut today at the 2013 Detroit auto show.

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The 2014 IS will again be offered in IS 250 and IS 350 versions, powered by a 2.5-liter V-6 and a 3.5-liter V-6, respectively. Horsepower and torque figures for the engines weren't released, but the powerplants carry over from the 2013 IS, so expect similar output. (The 2013 IS 250 made 204 horsepower and 185 pounds-feet of torque while the IS 350 produced 306 hp and 277 pounds-feet of torque.) The rear-wheel-drive IS 350 now gets the eight-speed automatic transmission from the IS F high-performance model but the rest of the lineup features a six-speed automatic.

Lexus Moves to Free Traffic, Weather Updates

The weather and traffic updates that are delivered to cars are two of the most useful features for commuters. But nearly all versions of the technology offered in cars today require a subscription of some kind with an additional monthly fee. Lexus will start to make these features free.

The automaker announced that it will become the first in the industry to provide subscription-free, real-time traffic and weather information on its integrated audio systems. It will debut in the redesigned Lexus IS sport sedan that will appear on Tuesday at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

For vehicles equipped with navigation, a new piece of technology will allow digital traffic and weather information to be received from both HD radio stations and cellphone networks using the driver's smartphone that’s connected to the Lexus Enform system. For vehicles without navigation, the automaker will offer a standard display audio system providing the free information via HD radio stations nationwide.

The new Lexus IS equipped with the free updates arrives at dealerships this summer.

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2013 Detroit Auto Show: What To Expect

As what is widely regarded as the most important U.S. auto show of the year opens next week in Detroit, an automotive icon returns to the claim the spotlight.

The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette is poised to be the star among the more than 50 production and concept vehicles slated to debut at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The show runs Jan. 19-27 — with press, industry and charity preview events on Monday-Jan. 18 — at downtown Detroit's Cobo Center. Last year's NAIAS attracted nearly 771,000 people, according to organizers.

Sunday night's press debut of the seventh-generation Corvette is hotly anticipated, and for nearly the past three months Chevy has done much to fan the flames, teasing us with tidbits of information and blink-and-you-missed-it video images. The automaker has disclosed that the new 'Vette will have a new 6.2-liter V-8 engine that's good for 450 horsepower and a zero-to-60-mph time of less than four seconds — all while improving on its 2013 predecessor's 26 mpg; Chevy also has said the 2014 model's aerodynamics were designed with Corvette's years of racing in the American Le Mans Series in mind.

Check back for full coverage of the 2013 Detroit auto show. Until then, here are the vehicles we know about now:

2014 Lexus IS: First Look

• Competes with: BMW 3 Series, Infiniti G, Cadillac ATS
• Looks like: A scaled-down Lexus GS
• Drivetrain: Specifications are TBA, though the IS 250 and IS 350 trims return
• Hits dealerships: Second quarter 2013

There's no more waiting to see what the 2014 Lexus IS will look like. Lexus gives us a look at both the interior and exterior of its fully redesigned compact sports sedan ahead of the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Lexus clearly took inspiration from the attractive LF-CC concept coupe shown at previous auto shows, though as of now, a coupe body style isn’t shown in the photos or mentioned in the initial announcement.

Regardless, this is an all-new IS sedan with fresh exterior and interior. Lexus says the new IS is wider and sits on a longer wheelbase for additional backseat comfort, plus the front seat is thinner for best-in-class knee room. The previous generation’s backseat was so small it made our Car Backseats to Avoid list.

2013 Honda Accord Sedan Joins NHTSA's Five-Star Club

The redesigned 2013 Honda Accord sedan is the latest vehicle to be awarded the top rating of five stars overall from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The ninth generation of the popular family sedan earned top scores in three of four NHTSA crash tests, for an overall five-star rating. The Accord coupe has not yet been tested.

Test categories include: overall vehicle safety, frontal crashes, side crashes and rollover tests. The Accord earned a four in frontal-crash testing.

Three new or redesigned-for-2013 vehicles that didn’t make the cut include the Infiniti JX SUV, Nissan Pathfinder SUV, and the Lexus IS 250 and IS 350 sport sedans. They earned an overall rating of four stars.

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Lexus to Replace Inside-Trunk Releases on Three Models

Following a report in October by Consumer Reports that emergency release levers inside the trunk of two Lexus models could snap off, Toyota will replace the levers on the 2007-13 Lexus ES, 2006-12 IS and 2013 GS cars. The magazine found the levers in its 2013 ES and GS could snap off rather than release the trunk if you tugged them to one side, prompting Lexus parent Toyota to investigate. The automaker noted the IS has the same trunk-release design, and said it will announce a customer service campaign to retrofit all three cars with stronger levers starting next month, the Detroit News reports.
 
The campaign will affect some 700,000 cars, but it's unclear if that's globally or just in the U.S. Toyota spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
 
During the summer of 1998, 11 children died from trunk entrapment; release levers have been required in the U.S. since the 2002 model year. No children have died in a car with the releases since then.

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New Lexus IS to Debut at 2013 Detroit Auto Show

Taking inspiration from the sleek, attractive Lexus LF-CC concept coupe (photo above), an all-new Lexus IS will debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Jan. 15, 2013. This marks the first redesign of the IS since the 2006 model year, and it's a much needed one at that. Lexus says the IS has been completely redesigned, inside and out; it also borrows design cues from the LFA supercar.

Although there's no official word on a coupe version like the LF-CC concept, the current IS comes in sedan and convertible versions. In fact, the few details released by Lexus fail to mention body style all together. After seeing the LF-CC up close at the L.A. Auto Show last week, an IS coupe inspired by that concept wouldn't be a bad thing at all.

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Car Backseats to Avoid

Car shoppers without families often overlook the backseat. It can go empty weeks at a time, until friends jump in for that trip across town and find out Johnny's shiny new ride has a backseat best suited for groceries, overcoats and Hobbits. No one expects a two-door hatchback or sports car to offer much room in back, so we've picked cars that look like they should have decent room … but don't. If Johnny pulls up in one of these, call dibs for the front seat right away. You'll thank us later.

Mercedes, Lexus and Audi Fail Latest IIHS Crash Tests

The 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A4 and two Lexus sedans — the IS 250/350 and the outgoing ES 350 — failed the latest round of IIHS frontal tests.

As we reported Monday, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s new offset frontal-barrier test simulates a 40-mph collision with a rigid barrier that overlaps just 25% of the car. The test simulates a front-corner collision with a tree, a pole or another vehicle, a scenario that is responsible for almost 25% of front crashes that seriously injure or kill someone in front, IIHS says. The new test will augment the agency's existing frontal test, which crashes a car at 40 mph against a deformable barrier that overlaps 40% of the front.

"Outside of some automakers’ proving grounds, such a test isn’t currently conducted anywhere else in the United States or Europe," IIHS said in a statement, noting that despite an increasing number of cars that score well in frontal crash tests, some 10,000 highway deaths still come from frontal collisions each year.