What If Lexus and Mazda Teamed Up for a New Supercar?

By Christian Moe - October 2, 2015

There have been lots of rumors lately about lots of manufacturers getting in bed together to make sports cars. Toyota and BMW are supposedly working on a new Lexus, there’s the Toyobaru twins, and just last week there was talk of BMW and McLaren teaming up for a 700-horsepower monster. But none of those scenarios are as cool as what could be possible if Mazda and Lexus teamed up together.

Mazda just announced that it will be at the Tokyo Motor Show with a whole gaggle of cars, including an all-new sports car concept. Mazda released just one teaser image, which potentially looks like a true RX-7 successor, and it immediately made everyone squeal like a 12-year-old girl meeting One Direction.

Here is the problem though: the rotary engine is basically a garbage fire as far as modern engines go. The horsepower isn’t great, they make almost zero torque, the fuel economy is awful, they have emissions that make a Volkswagen TDI look like a Tesla, and they explode every time you look at them sideways. But what if Mazda could create a sports car with a modern engine that revved like a rotary, but had all the power and reliability of a traditional four-stroke?

This is where Lexus comes in. The maniacal V-10 found in the LFA revs faster than a production rotary, and has a tach limit just as high, but it produces 552 horsepower and 354 pounds of torque without any forced induction help. Can you imagine the kind of machine that would be created?! You’d get the power, noise, and raw fury from the LFA’s F1-derived motor, combined with Mazda’s legendary handling and tuning.

If you can think of a better pair of companies to combine their supercar powers, I would love to hear it. Hell, imagine what would happen if Mazda let Lexus do the interior as well. Then it will be just as refined and luxurious inside as the LFA, but with that playfulness and seductive modern styling of a Mazda.

Man, I am making myself drool just thinking about it.