You know what? I'm happy Lexus abandoned the V8 in the LS. I'm glad the brand has moved away from insisting all top-end models need a V8 engine even when the competition looks to be in a different class entirely. It shows me Lexus might finally be moving forward technically, that there's more to the brand than design.
Also, dead honest -- I prefer turbos to NA engines. I love torque.
I would only support the move away from the V8
if Lexus proves with its new TT V6 that in the real world, it is superior to previous V8 engines under the Lexus brand. However that still leaves an elephant in the room. Even if Lexus proves this, and the new TT V6 turns out to be an excellent engine, that alone is not reason enough to move away from V8s. As you implied, in terms of power and torque at least, the competition is in a different class entirely. I know Lexus doesn't compete apples-to-apples with the competition, but Lexus cannot afford to be left too far behind.
So aside from the TT V6, to compete with the competition, Lexus needs something more powerful, like a TT V8. This engine is rumored to appear in future F models. However it would be somewhat disappointing if the TT V8 ends up available *only* in F models.
Luxury is all about choice, options, opulence, excess, and wants and desires. Luxury is not defined by needs or practicality. When Lexus years ago gave the official explanation of the GS losing the V8, they said not enough consumers were buying the V8 variant. That was not the full story, because for years prior Lexus was making it harder and harder to actually *buy* a V8 GS. In any case, that move, that decision was very practical. In my mind, too practical for a luxury brand. That's a move that would make more sense for a mass market brand like Toyota. The job of the Lexus brand is not high volumes or sales at all costs.
What's really disappointing is that in some select markets, you can get a supercharged LX. Also superchargers are/were available in the US and Canada for the 5.7L V8, as well as the 3.5L V6 as official factory add-ons. I heard these products have been discontinued, but I'm not 100% sure. The disappointing part is no consistency on the part of Lexus in terms of world markets. If Lexus is truly a
"world brand", then the supercharged LX should have been offered in North America and other markets as well, not just some select markets somewhere in the Middle East and Europe.
Getting back on topic, I agree partially with you. I love torque as well. However I love
on demand torque the most. That means torque with a very quick and linear throttle response and little to no lag. I've been in a variety of turbo cars over the years, new and older, and one constant that has remained a dealbreaker has always been lag. Once a turbo engine reaches full spool, then yes the torque is nice. However personally I have never gotten used to the lag during the initial time it takes to spool up. Even the most advanced modern turbo vehicles today that I have been in still have some lag. Opinions may differ. The only types of gasoline powertrains so far that offer nice torque on demand are large displacement, large cylinder engines like V8s and bigger that are done right, and large displacement supercharged engines.
Now I also really like a deep, strong engine note. Not raspy or too throaty, but a strong, natural note that's not fake. Turbo engines don't have such engine notes. I personally dislike hisses and whoosing sounds of turbo engines. I personally prefer the engine note of supercharged engines.
So the big question for the new Lexus TT V6, aside from real world performance, will be what kind of engine note does it have?
Ideally I would love to see such an offering from Lexus for their midrange and up car models and crossovers:
New V6
TT V6
New large V8
TT V8
Also for the Lexus body-on-frame SUVs:
Brand new large V8
We probably won't get that in reality, but we'll see.
