Toyota does not jump into this carmaking thing blind. Flops by Toyota / Lexus? Uhm, the Echo? Maybe. So the fact that they, Lexus specifically, keeps jumping into the sports car game should, at the very least, set our mind at east about the imminent demise of fun cars.
But what exactly do we have here? Spy photos of this highly tuned Lexus LS came out earlier in the week and just yesterday AutoGuide managed to get a photo of the impressive-enough-to-ignore-the-side-skirts spec sheet: 641 horsepower, 524 pound-feet of torque, 198 mph, 0-62 in 4.2, 4,563 pounds. Okay, that last one isn't great.
But what the hell is the TMG edition and why? We reached out to Lexus to find out.
We weren't expecting a reply with anything more than a "no comment," but our contact came back with a surprisingly clear and quick answer, "This is a project car by Lexus of Germany." They went on to say that photos and detailed specs could be available, we'll update if that comes through.
So, simply, Lexus of Germany is utilizing the skill of Toyota Motorsport GmbH (you'll remember them for doing Toyota's F1 efforts, the EV race car, those cool Celica GT-Fours for WRC and the GT-One) to create a project to draw attention to the sportiness of Lexus and the engineering skill of TMG. TMG currently pays the bills by freelancing its skills, resources (wind tunnel) and staff to various motorsports clients.
Expect this one on the show circuit floor and not the dealer floor.
(Spec chart photo from AutoGuide)
se_riously says:
09:45 AM, 09/22/11
"Lexus specifically, keeps jumping into the sports car game should, at the very least, set our mind at east about the imminent demise of fun cars."
Every time I travel east toward the sunrise, my mind is at EASE.
nmranmca_nick says:
10:48 AM, 09/22/11
Leave it to the Germans to build a better Lexus.
ed341 says:
11:28 AM, 09/22/11
So is this another use for the LFA engine, or are they really making 500(+ spares)?
Dear God, what would that crate motor cost...an ISF engine is about $25K...
spdracerut says:
04:10 PM, 09/22/11
A 5.0L making that much torque and power..... I'm guessing there's a blower on there. And 9k rpms!
hollowtek says:
07:06 PM, 09/22/11
why stop at 9k rpm? :P
brian_k says:
07:23 PM, 09/23/11
While we are picking grammatical nits, can I point out that the original post as well as a comment have sentences that start with a superfluous "So"?
fantastic says:
08:37 AM, 09/26/11
9000 rpm 650hp?...why don't they built an F?