autoevolution
 

Toyota Kills All V8 Engine Development, Twin-Turbo Lexus LC F Is Dead

It started as a murmur from a distant land, but now our scouts are confirming the bad news: the biggest brand in Japan is killing all future development of V8 engines. We trust you Lexus/Toyota... but are you sure about this one?
Toyota Kills All V8 Engine Development, Twin-Turbo Lexus LC F Is Dead 1 photo
Photo: SB-Medien
So, rumors from three months ago said Lexus was halting the development of the LC F super GT. It sounded really strange. Why kill the car that could drag race the best BMW and AMG models?

The LC F had even been spotted testing in Europe and looked to be in an advanced state of development, with the final design looking good. The F version of the GT would have been a spiritual successor to the awesome LFA and was rumored to have a twin-turbo V8 engine with about 600 horsepower.

Now, a report from Japanese magazine Mag-X claims Toyota as a whole has canceled all development of V8 engines in favor of smaller, more efficient turbo V6s and electrified powertrains.

Now, for Lexus itself, this isn't that big of a problem. The LC, as cool as it might be, represents only a drop in the ocean of sales. None of the crossovers they sell require a big, thirsty V8; the customers simply don't want that.

But the change has a huge impact on the largest vehicles sold by Toyota in America. For example, the new Toyota Tundra is probably going to have a turbocharged and hybrid versions of 3.0 or 3.5-liter V6 engines. We did complain about the mpg numbers on the current model, so at least they are going to improve on that.

Pulling V8s could potentially change the way we see some of their largest SUVs. Things like the Lexus LX, Toyota Sequoia and Land Cruiser are all known for reliability, lasting hundreds of thousands of miles without a problem. But I guess nobody buys a 4x4 just because it works for 20 years anymore.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories