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Lexus is considering a production version of its Sport Concept, which wears sleek styling that hints at electric power – but instead uses a twin-turbo petrol V8.
A successor to the Lexus LFA – as a flagship supercar for the Japanese prestige brand – remains high on the wish list of the company's global boss.
And it could use twin-turbo hybrid V8 power set to be shared with the new Toyota GR GT – a sports car long mooted to wear a Lexus badge – rather than battery-electric propulsion.
Lexus used this year's Tokyo motor show to present an updated iteration of the Sport Concept, a sleek two-door supercar concept that hints at a new performance model to crown its range.
"One of our core important values that we wanna show is sports driving and performance," Lexus International president Takashi Watanabe told Australian media, through an interpreter, when asked if the Sport Concept will make production.
"And he [Watanabe-san] is committed as a brand to continue that, so he's personally working on vehicles such as that, and he wants to see a day where we can really bring it out to the public."
Toyota powertrains president Takashi Uehara told Australian media the V8 is "widely speaking" related to the car giant's upcoming 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder, destined for future compact performance cars.
"You can expect... [did] you see the Lexus new sports car?," Uehara-san said, referring to the Lexus Sport Concept (pictured) exhibited at the Tokyo motor show, "that is that [V8]."
The 4.0-litre confirmed for the GR GT is Toyota's first all-new V8 in two decades, and is believed to be its first turbocharged petrol eight-cylinder engine for road use.
"Yeah, because we love [V8s] also," Uehara-san said, when asked by reporters why a V8 has been chosen.
"The best point of the performance and also, we have to care about the design of the combustion chamber.
"If we first set the maximum power required; second, to think of the maximum power, we have to design the maximum RPM, and also we have to care about the design of the combustion chamber. Then we select V8."
Reports out of Japan have suggested the V8 powertrain, expected to place an electric motor between the engine and transmission, could produce as much as 900 horsepower (662kW), without a plug-in element.
"Without plug-in hybrid, just with the traditional hybrid system, we think we have [enough to] pass the ... Euro 7 [emissions rules in Europe]," said Uehara-san.
Watanabe-san showed interest in battery-electric (BEV) power as an option for a production Lexus supercar, in place of petrol.
"There are certain things that you can create with a sports car that BEV can only achieve, certain experiences and potentials," the Lexus executive said through an interpreter.
"There are certain irreplaceable experiences that an internal combustion engine can provide. What kind of customers are we gonna target? Which [one are they] going to choose? To who are we gonna try to put the product out?
"We are at a point right now where the corporate, we need to evaluate which direction we're going to go – we're in that process in preparation."
It was long believed a follow-up to the Lexus LFA would come in the form of a sports car the Toyota group is developing for GT3 racing, with a road-legal version to accompany it.
The car was previewed by the Toyota GR GT3 concept in 2022, and teased as the Toyota GT Concept earlier this year, but it was believed it would come to showrooms as the Lexus LFR.
However, Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda all but confirmed in a presentation last month that it will instead wear the Toyota GR GT badge, with a reveal scheduled for December 5, 2025.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
