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Lexus has announced the availability of a pair of new special edition cars for the UK market called the IS 250 and IS 200d Advance. As is common with most special or limited edition models these days, the new IS cars are distinguished by the added -and not unique- features to the standard equipment.

Based on the regular SE specification, the new IS 250 and 200d Advance models come equipped with a hard disc drive (HDD) satellite navigation system, rear parking camera, heated electrically adjustable front seats, front and rear parking sensors, cruise control, rain-sensing windscreen wipers and an auto-dimming rear view mirror.

These extras would normally cost an arm and leg if they were to be added to the SE separately, but in this case, the new Advance IS 250 costs just an extra £340 compared its SE equivalent (£26,495 on-the-road), with the diesel-powered IS 200d coming in at an additional £130 (£24,995).

Both cars are on sale in the UK now.

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In another sign that luxury automakers in the U.S. are raising the stakes -or so to speak- with their latest commercials, following Audi's recent A8 ad, Lexus has released a new TV spot as part of an advertising campaign to demonstrate how far the company goes to achieve perfection.

This particular broadcast ad is titled “Chain” and it shows a crane slowly lifting the front end of a LS, which is attached to four more Lexus models (RX, GS, ES and IS) using nothing more than cables and stretch bars. At the end of the spot, a $375,000 LFA comes into the shot and parks directly below the chain of vehicles weighing a total 21,000 pounds.

The key point here is that the commercial is real and that no special effects were used for its creation as Lexus proves in the 'Behind the Scenes" video.

“It isn’t enough to just say that we pursue perfection, we want to demonstrate the great lengths we go to in our pursuit,” states Dave Nordstrom, vice president of marketing for Lexus.

“The new broadcast spot allows us to focus on the foundation of our vehicles, the chassis, and show its almost unbelievable strength. In fact, we feared that it would be so unbelievable, we invited a physicist and structural engineer to witness the shoot, to prove that it did, in fact, occur without the use of special effects or computer generated-imagery.”

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Toyota has announced a voluntary recall of some 740,000 vehicles in the United States to address a potential leak problem with a seal in the brake master cylinder. The models that are being recalled in the U.S. are the 2005-2006MY Toyota Avalon, 2004-2006MY Highlander (non Hybrid) and Lexus RX330, and 2006 Lexus GS300, IS250, and IS350. Another 600,898 vehicles were recalled in Japan and approximately 200,000 in China for the same issue.

According to the company, there's a possibility that a small amount of the brake fluid could slowly leak from the brake master cylinder, resulting in illumination of the brake warning lamp.

"If the brake warning lamp has illuminated and the vehicle continues to be operated without refilling the master cylinder brake fluid reservoir, the driver will begin to notice a spongy or soft brake pedal feel and braking performance may gradually decline," said the automaker.

Toyota said it will begin notifying owners of the involved vehicles through mail beginning in early November 2010. As with all recalls, Toyota and Lexus dealers will replace the brake master cylinder cup with a newly designed free of charge.

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