Why Don't They Make A V12 Ls?

[dfkd]

I would love for them to produce a V12 LS but why dont they do it? Toyota does produce a V12 (1GZ-FE) but they have reserved it for their Toyota Century Sedan. I've never seen it in any other car.

It is a 5.0 with all the electronic bells and whistles (drive by wire and what not).

These are the only images i could find of the engine:

As usual, the quoted Japanese numbers on the engine are wrong (to curb taxation) :chairshot: . Over 278hp they get charged more tax so they always quote 276hp.

The torque however is quoted at just around 400lb/ft.

It is quoted at around 17 mpg.

It's a pity they dont make an LS version with this engine in it. I'd LOVE to see what it would put out if it was "re-tuned" by some crazy North American. They really should step up into that super-high performance luxury segment.

The car they use it in is a beast on the outside but a limo inside. Strange looking really. However it is designed to be a lightly armoured car so...

It would be around $200,000 if they brought it our way. And the inside pics will show that it is definitely above the class of the LS. More around the Maybach or the S600.

Toyota Century

This is in the back seat

[flanker271]

I'm still intrigued on why didn't Toyota Crown make it to the US market. They are big, roomy, powerful V6 sedans that seems to be better than the Camry. They are only exported to Europe but not North America.

[dfkd]

Actually, I owned a Crown when i lived in Trinidad. It was the G version with the Lexus v8, air suspension, TV with nav in the dash and all the other goodies.

We had a problem with the air sus (this was about 10 years ago) so we called Toyota Japan and what they said was simply that this version of the car was never supposed to leave Japan so they couldnt help us at all.

We figured out the problem but it shows how well they take care of themselves. They keep their best for themselves and i can't blame them. They are way ahead of the rest. That car I had was a 1989 model!!

[nc211]

All those options....and no sunroof? That thing must be a diplomatic bomb proof cruiser or somthing. I mean it looks like it's the "Q'" James Bond series of options in it.

[dfkd]

All those options....and no sunroof? That thing must be a diplomatic bomb proof cruiser or somthing. I mean it looks like it's the "Q'" James Bond series of options in it.

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Yup, the only options are rear and rear door curtains and stuff like foot rests and better floor mats.

Real diplomat cruiser.

[SKperformance]

It is actually made just for that reason .

For heads of states ,diplomats and out of country excursions.

basically it is the car of the excess wealthy in the Eastern asia world.

[RFeldes]

Looks like a "Kremlin Kruiser", rather Dated.

[highlander]

it looks like a caddy.. jaja.. nice thing with the leg seating for the rear passanger.

[dcfish]

it looks like a caddy.. jaja.. nice thing with the leg seating for the rear passanger.

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Sure it is plain jane, But I kind of like it, Would be a nice cruiser and excellent on long trips, Can you imagine the exterior with the VIP look, Body kit, wheels, lowered etc...Somebody here should do a photoshop just for fun.

[1990LS400]

RFeldes said it best. The Century looks incredibly like the Soviet era Volga Gaz-14 cars that were used by diplomats.

Weren't Crown sedans and wagons sold in the U.S. through the 1980's - along side the Camry diesel sedans?

There was a lot of hype in the mid-90's that Lexus was going to sell a long wheelbase V12 LS - I think was to have been called the LS500. Why was it cancelled? Some said that there was concern that owners of V8 LS cars would be put off by the availability of much more expensive V12's.

It's not just Toyota that doesn't sell its most well equiped cars in the U.S. A common reasoning for these cars not being sold here is that U.S. customers expect a higher level of reliability that the more highly optioned cars could not deliver.

[dfkd]

It's not just Toyota that doesn't sell its most well equiped cars in the U.S.  A common reasoning for these cars not being sold here is that U.S. customers expect a higher level of reliability that the more highly optioned cars could not deliver.

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US customers expect reliability you say? Did i read that right? That's the one thing that US cars dont do so well with and people contunue to buy them in north america (though they are losing steam real fast now. Seen the latest car company sales graphs?).

Could you expand on that cause I dont get that...

Even with all their options, the Japanese cars are more reliable compared to the flat model american cars...

[1990LS400]

dkfd,

What I meant is that Toyota (Lexus), for example, thought that the reliability of their highly optioned cars could not match the reliability of their more complex variations of the same models. An example is the air suspension option offered early on mainly on the early US 90's LS but more rarely on the later US LS400. Air suspension, however, was quite common in Japan.

Manufactures simply did not want their most expensive variations to be more unreliable than there more basic versions of the same model.

Toyota, for example, kept their very highly optioned models in their home market where their more complex systems could be better serviced. Also, because of some odd regulations, cars in Japan were not expected to be kept in service as long as in the U.S.

Toyota has been carefully building an image with the Lexus brand and they have been very careful in introducing additional complex systems into their cars.

FYI, Toyota "stock" (symbol "TM") closed on Wednesday above $100. Yeehaw!

[1990LS400]

I'm still not getting this right. I meant "that the more complex models could not match the reliability of their more simple variations"

[EastWind]

Because V12 doesn't really give any advantage over V8.

Look at BMW and Jaguar. The V12 BMW is not that faster than the v8 BMW and same for Jaguar. Sure, it is a little more smoother, but gas mileage is worst. It just sounds/seems cool, that's all.

[CELICA XX]

Those pictures were awesome...

[SW03ES]

A lot of it also has to do with the fact that the Toyota V12 is very old, and not nearly as efficient as the V8 and it doesn't put out any more power.

And like Jim said, they've been very careful to not introduce anything that was going to have any kind of reliability problems while they built the image they wanted for Lexus. Just now they're starting to take a few more chances.