The competition in the super luxury saloon segment is about to heat up as Lexus plans its entry into the segment with a GS powered by the LFA’s V10 engine. Lexus’ take-over of the performance wars won’t just stop there as the Japanese luxury car maker is also planning a new SC model aimed at the likes of the Mercedes SL.
The new SC could make its debut in mid-2014 but the current car will cease production this July, that leave a four-year gap between old and new model but the new SC will be made all the more tempting than the current one thanks to a hybrid system that integrates a 5-liter V8 engine with an electric motor that drives the rear wheels only.
According to our source, the ultra-high-performance GS-F saloon will make its debut somewhere in 2013 with a detuned version of the LFA’s 4.8-liter V10. Apparently Lexus engineers are working on reducing the engine’s capacity by about 200cc, this will reduce total engine capacity to 4.6-liters and with other detuning works, power is said to be around the 450hp but with BMW’s E60 M5 pumping out 500hp and 500Nm of torque out of a V10 engine, expect the Lexus’ figures to be up there as well.
The idea behind the reworking of the LFA’s engine is not to provide masses of power but to improve low-range torque, and even with the reduced power output, the GS-F will become the most powerful road-going Japanese saloon ever built.
The GS-F will also feature Toyota’s first torque vectoring differential that is very similar to the diff used on BMW’s M cars. The ‘torque split unit’ works to divide power between the rear wheels to aid handling. A similar system is also expected to be fitted to the new SC.
The LFA’s beautiful V10 engine will also be cannibalised to power other models eventually but for now, only the GS-F is set to receive the power injection. Expect more news over the next couple of months of more high-performance Lexus models. It might take longer than expected as Toyota tackles it’s “sticky accelerator” problem but once it shakes itself out of that mess, Lexus and Toyota will be back at it again.
Source: Autocar
