The Lexus LC500 & LC500h, Plus LC-F Talk

Currently, the 471-hp Lexus LC500 is the brand’s high-performance flagship. But we’ve learned that Lexus is planning more. Set to make its debut at the Tokyo auto show in October is an ultra-high-performance LC F that will feature a new twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 punching out a potent 600 horsepower.

According to our source at Lexus, this high-performance powerplant is in essence two 8AR-type 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engines joined together at 90 degrees. The twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 also will find its way into the GS F—making 550 horsepower—but for the LC F it will be turned up to 600 horsepower, with 470 lb-ft of torque. As with the LC500, the F will use the company’s 10-speed automatic transmission.

The LC F’s bespoke body kit will feature hood vents, air ducts for brake cooling, a fixed rear wing, and an aggressive front splitter as well as side and rear air vents. A set of 20-inch wheels wrapped in high-performance rubber will keep the LC F stuck to the road, while six-piston brake calipers will squeeze the rotors to scrub off speed. We’ll learn more about the hardware on this ultimate Lexus this fall.

While the LC500 will start at $92,995, the LC F could nearly double that figure. Sound expensive? Well, it’s a bargain next to the $350,000 Lexus asked for the LFA.

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A patent application reveals Toyota has been working with electric superchargers.

Originally filed on May 8, 2015, the patent application, which protects a special bearing design meant for an electrically-boosted supercharger, was recently published on March 22, 2017.

Toyota says in the patent application that certain bearings used on electric superchargers make assembly work difficult, and the Japanese automaker is hoping its invention simplifies things: “a preloading spring combines both a function for preventing the creeping of the outer ring and a function for preloading the outer ring, which makes assembly work difficult,” it says in the patent application. “The present invention is made in order to solve this problem and is aimed at providing an electric supercharger wherein the assemblability of a bearing holding structure is improved.”

Electric superchargers use stored energy to help get the supercharger rpm up to speed, eliminating extra strain on the engine and allowing for boost to be built quicker.

While a bearing isn’t particularly interesting, the idea that Toyota has been working with electric superchargers is. Toyota has made no official mention of an electric supercharger, so where this component could show up is unknown.

The brand’s most recent dabbling with superchargers comes with the Yaris GRMN hot hatch that uses a 1.8-liter supercharged four-cylinder engine. That same powerplant is also used in the World Rally Championship Yaris, making this a good candidate for go-fast parts.

There is also the upcoming Toyota Supra which could benefit from supercharging, along with a hot version of Lexus’ new coupe the LC, which will be known as the LC F. We’ll have to wait and watch to see where this technology ends up.

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2019 Toyota Supra: Going Electric, But Not Green

Whenever a car gets equipped with an electric motor, it immediately implies that the vehicle is made to be economical on the roads. One example is with the BMW i8, a green supercar that is both fast and friendly to the environment.

So when the next-gen Toyota Supra is linked to rely on a high-performance hybrid technology, we can’t help but to assume that the car will be both green and fast. But then again, new information surfaced today and it is suggesting that the Supra is going to be the first hybrid car that isn’t necessarily green.

An industry insider was loud in claiming that the next-gen Supra will be relying on a supercharged electric motor that will defeat the purpose of going green. While such a setup may still be free of carbon emission, the power demand and performance-focused driving range will greatly reduce the green aspects of the vehicle.

The insider backed up his claims by showing a patent from Toyota which shows the assembly of the bearing that helps the turbo spin. Toyota’s idea uses a coil spring instead of plate springs. The ultimate aim here is speed without any thoughts of going green.

But of course, we can’t have a verdict until Toyota releases the Supra on an official basis. Do you think the above would make a good outcome for the next-gen Supra?

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Toyota is working on a forced induction system that has an electric supercharger and a turbocharger.

We know Toyota has been developing electric superchargers from a previous patent application for a special bearing design, but AutoGuide.com has discovered a patent detailing a supercharging system that is applied to an internal combustion engine. The system includes a turbocharger powered by the engine’s exhaust gasses while the supercharger is powered by electricity. The goal would be a two-stage system where the electric supercharger would provide performance while the turbo spools up, helping eliminate what is called “turbo lag.”

What makes the patent particularly interesting is that Toyota details a supercharging control device “that changes over the supercharging mode between: a single-stage supercharging mode in which the internal combustion engine is only supercharged by the turbocharger, due to electrical driving of the electric supercharger being stopped with the bypass valve in the open position; and a two-stage supercharging mode in which the internal combustion engine is supercharged by both the turbocharger and the electric supercharger, due to electrical driving of the electric supercharger being performed with the bypass valve in the closed position.”

Basically, the system would have threshold values it uses to switch the bypass valve between open and closed so that the vehicle could dynamically use either both the electric supercharger and turbocharger or just the turbocharger to boost engine performance. Unfortunately, the patent doesn’t go into details about which engine the system would be used on, but if we had to guess, this could preview what the Toyota Supra’s successor will have, or it might be used in the high-performance Lexus LC F to make it more of a supercar competitor.

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