Okay, we’re going to need your help with this one. Toyota’s luxury division shared with Lexus Enthusiast a mysterious teaser image of a new performance car, but without providing any details about its identity. All we have is this one image representing what looks like a carbon fiber engine cover with the F Sport emblem, so what could it be?
How Lexus Enthusiast highlights, the engine cover is apparently the same used by the RC F and the deceased GS F with its naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 engines. This does not necessarily mean that the real engine hidden underneath also has eight cylinders, especially since we are dealing with an F Sport model instead of a full F.
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Yes, there is a somewhat wild rumor indicating that Lexus is planning to introduce no less than three F models later this year with V8s, but this is not one of them. Our money is in an IS500, as the company applied for this brand on June 25, 2020 in the United States. We have already checked the website of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), where “IS500” appears with a publication date of November 10, 2020.
While Best Car Web’s report states that the full-fledged IS F will use the familiar 2UR-GSE 5.0L V8, logic tells us that an IS500 F Sport would have six-cylinder power. It could be a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 with a significant increase in production over the 311 hp and 280 lb-ft (380 Nm) of torque available in the current naturally aspirated IS 350.
The hotter variant with forced induction would allow Lexus to rival BMW M340i, Audi S4 and Mercedes-AMG C43. The six-cylinder has 416 hp and 442 lb-ft (600 Nm) in the flagship of the LS500 sedan, but it remains to be seen whether the smaller IS will have access to its full strength.
We may not have to wait much longer to find out what it is Lexus Enthusiast says additional details will be released in the coming days. The big question is – V6 or V8? What if this is not an IS after all? Exciting times ahead …