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New Information on the Twin-Turbo Lexus LS TS 650


CAR Magazine has a small feature on the Lexus LS-based, twin-turbo TS 650 from Toyota Motorsports in Germany, and it includes some new information on the history of the super sedan:

It was back in 2010 that Toyota’s chairman, Akio Toyoda, felt the itch to build his own special LS luxury saloon. Allegedly inspired by BMW’s tentative M7 super saloon, Toyoda-san asked his R&D team to conceive a car that was good enough to meet it head-on — spacious and comfortable, yet equipped with an astounding chassis, bat-out-of-hell engine, telepathic steering and brakes that would stop a charging rhino.

Apparently, Toyoda-san was so pleased with the initial results he dispatched a container with Kirin beer and Junmai-shu sake to Cologne.

The original plan was to build a small batch of ten units for Mr Toyoda and his nine best friends. But since the lifecycle of the full-size LS is coming to an end, the project will now likely be transferred to the new model out in 2015.

This puts the TS 650 into a much more understandable context, as it goes from being a mysterious project initiated at random to something part of the bigger picture. It also reinforces just what Akio Toyoda is bringing to the Lexus brand.

(Also, next-generation LS in 2015? Sounds good to me.)

[Source: Car Magazine via German Car Forums] (Thanks Jimbo!)

EuropeLexus LS: Fourth GenerationRacing
Comments
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    Yong Thian Ding
  • October 28, 2013
Cool to know properly next-generation Lexus LS will be available or unveiled in 2015 ! Toyoda-san is cool guy ! Built 10 unit , himself 1 & his 9 friends get 1 unit each ? Awesome !
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      Carmaker1
    • October 29, 2013
    I hope for a 2014 reveal and an early 2015 launch to keep inline with the 25th anniversary of its September 1989-June 1990(Europe) launch.
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    Jerry
  • October 28, 2013
Wait, so does this mean the plan is still to build only 10? I understand waiting until the next generation but why such a small batch? I was hoping this would evolve into an LS F. Take the performance upgrades and drop them into a new LS and you've got an S65, S8, and XJR competitor. By the way, is BMW ever going to make an M7? Not a huge beamer fan but it would make sense for them to do it.
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      Boris Pierre-Paul
    • October 28, 2013
    I mean they got the 760 and the Alpina B7 that pushes similar horses to those cars
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      Yong Thian Ding
    • October 29, 2013
    Maybe Toyoda-san will change his mind when new Lexus LS appear . Just one thing , my words to Lexus ... can you guys ask TMG for a help , and make a detuned version of TS-650 engine for GS-F ?
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      Boris Pierre-Paul
    • October 29, 2013
    or maybe leave it as is.. for a .. lets say, GS-Fs :D
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      Carmaker1
    • October 29, 2013
    That was the case when he presented this plan 3 years ago. It will likely become a series production vehicle in 2016, if green-lighted already. Hopefully F model sales go well, as one would hope they do and wouldn't hinder this.
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    Boris Pierre-Paul
  • October 28, 2013
I want to be in his clique!
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    BOSS
  • October 28, 2013
Can't wait for the all new LS, it's about time!!
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    MikeVossen
  • October 28, 2013
It makes sense! Such great news.
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    Sounds like Toyoda-san will be hearing from the Vossen folks. (=
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    Travis
  • October 28, 2013
The All New LS is gonna be BADASS inside and out. Could be a game changer if Lexus play their cards right
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    BlackDynamiteOnline
  • October 29, 2013
Dovetails nicely with what I've been saying all along. The current LS facelift is just a mid-gen refresh, not a long-term model change. It was an extensive facelift to buy time until the new model could be built, after it was delayed by the Sendai Tsunami in 2011 Expect the all-new LS for the Detroit auto show in January 2015. And a LS650 for a 2016 release.... BD
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      Carmaker1
    • October 29, 2013
    I wish they finished it earlier, as that's why I came to Lexus Enthusiast. The LS defines Lexus and one hates waiting to be dazzled by what could be, the redefinition of Japanese luxury to ultra-luxury. Also, the delays are not strictly related to the tsunami. Lexus may have had the facelift in the cards since 2010, as it even reached the Japanese motoring press by the spring of 2011. No one knew why lazy renders of a spindle grille a 2009-11 LS (XF40) were made in 2011, but it fit the 18-month design lead time for mid-cycle changes to global flagship Toyota products (LS, LC/LX). Obviously someone knew of what was the 2013 LS, therefore the tsunami may be unrelated to this. The next LS (XF50) I figure now would've been designed this year or by late 2012, which then requires another 2 to 2 1/2 years of full development. Possibly even earlier, if a Toyota rarity of "3 years lead time to series production" was needed, depending on how intense the XF50 project is. They've been on this already since 2008, so that's 7 years of development.
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    Ayo DocMkize
  • October 29, 2013
An LS F sound good to me as 2016 model, Lexus should make it a limited production of only 4000 units globally
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    Сафиуллина-Мохамед Ибрагимов
  • October 29, 2013
Aha So The next generation LS will be appeared in 2015, So I think 2015 is a milestone in Lexus history The GS facelift aka 3 years facelife, 3 years new generation with 6 years total cycle plan The SC third generation will appear The LS The RC-F start production The GX will be deleted The TX may show itself to the public The CT will show it's second generation on the next half of it The RX will appear ----WoW What a glory 2015
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    F1orce
  • October 29, 2013
Nice to see Lexus getting back to the horsepower race!
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    Carmaker1
  • October 29, 2013
I knew that was a mere smokescreen, as I knew Toyoda's fingerprints were all over this, the instant I saw the mules 2 years ago.

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