Less than a week ago, Toyota calls European The Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) reserved the Lexus LFR and LFR names for “Automobiles and their structural parts,” CarBuzz discovered. Starting with the usual disclaimer, we can’t know what this would apply to, nor if it would apply to anything; car manufacturers constantly reserve names that never found a way to produce cars. Now for the fun part: The short amount says this is the production version of the Lexus Electrified Sport Concept unveiled last December, the successor to the LFA. Pulling back the nomenclature, Lexus started the Lexus Future (LF) line with the LF-S sedan in 2003. The A in the LF-A concept two years later is said to stand for Apex. Our prediction is what’s to come is the Future Revolution of Lexus. After all, this is the car that will “destroy the spindle grille.”
Aside from the possibility of evolving from the concept name to the LFR, if that’s what it’s called, the car itself still seems to be changing. The Electrified Sport introduced with a solid-state battery-powered electric powertrain, targeted a range of 435 miles or more, and had a 1,000-horsepower gut that allowed a 60 mph sprint in just over two seconds. In March, reports out of Japan says a version powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 hybrid will debut first, the EV won’t arrive until the end of the decade – a timeline that makes sense considering solid-state batteries won’t be in Toyota until 2025, and only then in a hybrid. There’s no reason to believe Lexus would want to run high-tech, high-voltage, high-risk tests in its halo car.
In July, another Japanese outlet refined the ICE rumor with rumors that what was then known as the LFA II would fit 5.0 liters twin-turbo V8 from Lexus LC 500 endurance racer and produces about 700 horsepower. Supposedly, it will also become “alternative for GR010 Road Going version. “Gazoo Racing GR010 is Toyota’s product in the Hypercar category of the FIA World Endurance Championship, powered by a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6. We still don’t know how these two cars come together. can line up as the GR010 needs to be sold in at least 20 road versions within two years to meet the class rules, each of which will need to use a V6 powertrain, not a class 5 ,0 liters.
And in August, Lexus boss Koji Sato told Top gear he is playing around with a simulated manual transmission. Supposedly, the software would reduce power from the electric motor to mimic the oncoming red line that almost occurs in ICE vehicles, the driver would unlock more power by “shifting gears”, which would actually be push the fake clutch pedal and move the pretend gear lever. Toyota patented technology in February of this year, but applying it to any vehicle, including LFRs, is still conjecture. Lexus President explain to TG“We’re not just about mobility. We’re an automaker. I’m crazy about cars.”
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