Report: A Lexus LFA successor with 800hp from Toyota and BMW is on the drawing board

Japan’s top brass proved Toyota Motor Corporation didn’t relegate their entire reputation to building senseless, uninteresting automobiles, resulting in them being a buy word for isolated and numbing driving experiences, thanks to the production of the LFA supercar.

Built as an icon representing the pinnacle of what ToMoCo’s upper luxury branch and engineering division were capable of, the LFA attained instant cult and legendary status. Not to mention it absolutely has one of the best engine and exhaust notes ever to grace the history of the automobile. And of all things, Jeremy Clarkson himself loved it, and he was never sold on Lexuses or Toyotas for that matter. When Clarkson likes something, you know it has to be quite good.

Either way, despite being an iconic halo car for the luxury “L” of Japan, Toyota lost money on every LFA produced and sold because it was overengineered beyond belief, a characteristic which helped shape the LFA’s legendary status. So the more pertinent question is: will there be a followup?

According to Motoring down yonder, the answer is yes. Though this time, it’ll be of the mid-engined type, with one version coming from Lexus, and one coming from BMW, similarly to how the Toyota and Subaru collaboration resulted in one from Toyota, and one from Subaru, despite being nearly identical. The Toyota version could sport an updated version of the racing-bred 3.7L V8 from the TS040 race car. Though Toyota fans would note the TS040’s hybrid system, used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is rumored be carried over with the V8 as well, while the BMW variant is to get its own plug-in powertrain, consisting of a BMW-sourced twin-turbo inline-six. The supposed output for both cars could hover around 800hp.

Sounds quite good, but we should take this rumor with a grain of salt since BMW apparently is also rumored to be teaming up with McLaren to possibly produce a spiritual successor to the McLaren F1, around the same time this project is said to be launched.

They can’t possibly work on both at the same time, could they?

– By: Chris Chin

Source: Motoring

Chris Chin

Chris Chin is the Editor-In-Chief of egmCarTech and is a regular contributor to Automobile Magazine.

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