VMF Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 great news guys, in a year or 2 we all will witness appearance of the Lexus LS500GT hybrid car.! it will have 400 hp 5.0 V8 engine and 200 hp electric motor totaling 600 hp for the car. lexus will aim this car to the sports luxury market to compete with amg. GS 350 GT hybrid will also be available a year b4 the LS. Article HERE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1UZ-FE Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 OMFG i can't wait to drive one of those!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93LSOwner Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Oh boy, 600 ponies. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 I don't buy it. Here's why: For one thing Lexus has already announced the launch of the RX400h hybrid for 2005. Hybrid technology from Lexus is no great surprise. The article states that Lexus "unveiled the GS350 GT at Detroit" well thats not true. They unveiled the GS at Detroit, but not a hybrid version nor did they say anything about a hybrid version coming anywhere in the future. A hybrid LS500 has been rumored, but nothing definate. The "GT" moniker is not what Lexus has selected to denote its hybrid models. The RX400h has shown that the hybrid Lexus are going to be denoted by a simple "h" after the model name. "GT" isn't Lexus' style. The guy in the article states that "at first hybrid technology will be reserved for Lexus' most expensive cars" well, the RX400h already exists, dealers are taking orders. The RX is hardly Lexus' most expensive car. This automotive "journalist" must not have seen all the press photos of the RX400h that we've seen here. It was at detroit! The horsepower figures are all wrong. Hybrids work by having a SMALLER engine paired with an electric motor. A smaller engine, even a V8 isn't going to be tuned for 400 hp. Plus, the electric motor in the 400h and the Prius is rated under 100hp. The 400h comes out in 05, where is the "leap in technology"? Yes the Lexus hybrids are going to be better performing than their gas counterparts, but not by that much. 60mpg? The Prius gets 60mpg, but the RX300h does not because its a big heavy vehicle. No way a 600hp LS500 GT or whatever is gonna get 60 mpg. The engine sizes are wrong. Again, hybrids work by pairing a SMALLER engine with an electric one. The RX400h has a 2.5 liter V6. The "GS350 GT" has a "3.5" liter and the "LS500 GT" has a 5.0 liter V8 paired with an electric motor? For one this wouldn't fit in the engine bay, for two using that big an engine wouldn't help fuel economy. And again, if this were a real Lexus press release we would have heard about it from a more reputable source first. My verdict is this guys full of it big time, he has no idea what he's talking about. Aside from simply having no real knowledge of Lexus at all, he's blatantly making stuff up about auto shows, and completely doesnt understand how hybrids work. Sorry guys... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF3 Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 I have to agree with SW. It sounds a little fishy. Plus when MotorTrend wrote the article about the new GS a year ago, they didn't mention any hybrids, but a more powerful engine. I think the RX is the only Lexus Hybrid, and the others are more powerful fuel-bred cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderRiver Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 I prefer the Lexus from Minority Report anytime more than the hybrid ones haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMF Posted April 7, 2004 Author Share Posted April 7, 2004 in the LS they will put that electric motor as an addition to the v8 to make Ls compete with MB AMG models, but i have to agree it might not be true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 No doubt about it, this guy's story is total fiction. The LS500h if and when it is produced should be better performing, but what you have to realize is that they're going to have to use a much smaller V8, 3 liters or so to make it fit with the electric motor. Plus the electric motor isn't going to be kicking out 200hp. Lexus has said again and again they're not interested in competing in the HP wars, nothing has made me question that either. Lexus sales are up 20% again this year so somethings going right. A 350-375hp LS500h would be more realistic. The current LS is 290hp, the new GS3 is supposed to be in the neighborhood of 250 so the V8 will have to move up somewhat. My guess is 320 for the new GS430. So the hybrids would have an extra 50 or so HP and maybe 30mpg. Lexus goal is by 2010 to have a hybrid version of every model. And the Lexus in minority report was almost certainly not a gas engine, my guess is hydrogen fuel cell based on the way it was laid out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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