LC500 Chief Designer Confirms Horsepower Bump for Production Model

By Jerry Perez - August 29, 2016

We previously reported on the fact that some key members of the LC executive team were pushing hard for more powerful engines, or even an LC-based LFA successor. Now it seems like at least one of those will be coming true…

Sadly it’s not the new LFA, but at a Lexus party at the recent Pebble Beach Concours in Monterey, California, the LC500 chief designer, Koji Sato, confirmed the horsepower figure on the upcoming luxury sports car. But, it’s not much to get excited about, really…

According to Sato, the LC 500’S 5.0 liter V8 engine will produce a total of 471 horsepower, which are only four more horses than the originally announced 467. I don’t know about you, but I feel like this is barely news-worthy. Lexus has installed this engine in the RC-F and GS-F for some time now, and this was the perfect chance to overhaul it and bring it up to modern standards, if not for relevance, then to have an edge on the competition.

What will be completely new in the LC 500 and LC 500h is the real-wheel drive platform called the GA-L. The GA-L will primarily be used across various Lexus global models, but rumor is that Toyota will employ it down the road on upcoming vehicles. Mmm… what could those be?

So, how do you feel about total power output of the LC 500 V8? Do you think that given its luxury grand tourer nature it’s adequate, or do you think it should have more?