TF109B

Can we talk about the article? heh, yeah they have a lot of names, but Toyoda will solve it soon. F/F-Sport is Lexus. TMG is the business group in Germany for motorsports, and was formerly TTE. TRD is Toyota, in Japan as well as US, parts and racing programs (NASCAR). G-Sports=Gazoo=GRMN (which stands for Gazoo Racing Meister Nordschleiffe). These look to be separate models that are totally (Toyotally) REDONE. My guess is TRD will be G-Sports, TMG will be separate models (Lexus possible Toyota) and F/F-Sport is Lexus.

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

You summed it up perfectly

My feeling is TMG will develop the hardwares and will be sold as a G or F.

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

I found another article that talks about the same thing, but with much more details!

http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor...620-20mqk.html

The LS is powered a 485kW twin-turbo V8 petrol engine coupled to a dual-clutch transmission. It also features re-styled bodywork – including a large rear wing – and the suspension has also been overhauled.

It has already been tested at the Nurburgring in Germany and Japan; it is likely to debut at the Essen motor show in September.



Is all fake rumor though, there is no way they are putting a large rear wing on a LS, not to mention a LS must have a torque converter, not dual clutch. And debut in 3 months? Yeah right.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i love the fact that reworked so many things in the LS project, rather than just bolt on. really glad to see dct

spwolf

they will just display the car, not sell it :-).

i think most interesting part here would be this "new" 1.6l Turbo engine... new Rav4 and Corolla are coming, perfect timing :-).

And as they say in the article, they are looking to do engineering, not production. So they would do engineering for factory performance models, like LS-F.

birdmane

GMBH is a German LLC, like Bosch GmBh and Heckler and Koch GmBh, correct?

Are they german made performance parts?

ydooby

Yeah that was my feeling as well, but this article is talking about making TMG a sub-brand, which I don't think should be the case. Anyhow it's good to know something awesome from Toyota is soon coming.

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

Yes that is the confusing part, the article specifically said making TMG a sub-brand and it's product will carry the TMG badge

Toyota Motorsport GmBH (TMG) president Yoshiaki Kino****a confirmed that his company has begun work on high-performance road cars which will carry the TMG badge.

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

That make sense.

I am sorry, 1.6L 4 cyls turbo do not interest me.

Yes they won't manufacture it, but the article specifically said making TMG a sub-brand and it's product will carry the TMG badge.

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

Yes, just like an AMG, reworked everything

I don't see DCT happening in a LS though, too sporty for a LS. Look at AMG, only the SLS got a DCT. Yes M3 and M5 got DCT, but they are very sporty. I don't think they would put DCT in a M7.

Stormwind

Lol what's next? Toyota M?
Their excuse will be "but it stands for Toyota M otor sports."

blacksc400

iTrader: (4)

Do it do it do it, we need real performance high power Lexus/Toyota cars!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

amg reworks everything? i didn't know that. bmw m they change a lot of things (well at least until recently). different engine, tranny, etc... for example the m3 is 90% different from normal 3 series in terms of components

for amg, i thought they mostly just use the same parts but better quality. the 6.2L engine was actually the first engine fully developed by amg i believe. previously they snapped on superchargers, and now they re-tune the tt v8. tranny is pretty much just the same as the ones found in regular lineup iirc. even suspension, you can pretty much found them (maybe as options) on regular ones.

i am not sure what you mean dct is too sporty. if done right, dct actually shifts very smooth (and fast) so it's perfect fit (besides weight and cost). put in a single clutch and that's a different story.

and actually if you look at the new s63, they have moved to mct trannies

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

From what I can tell and I really didn't look that much into it, AMG is sportier in everyways, different engine, tranny I don't know, it looks the same on the surface, bigger diffs, bigger exhaust, sport seats, steering wheel, different body kit, bigger brakes.............etc. Is just like BMW M, is sportier everything. The TT V8 in AMG is 5.5L, in the 550 is 4.7L.........so is not just a re-tune. Suspension wise, sure ABC is optional in the 550, but is it just as firm in the 550? I don't know, never driven a 550 with ABC, I just know the airmatic in the 550 is way softer. The only recent performance model car that I found that is nothing but a bigger engine is the Hyundai Genesis 5.0L R-Spec, everything else is the same as the 4.6.

I know DCT is very smooth, but the best ones is still never as smooth as a fluid torque converter, you can always feels the clutch engaging, regardless of how smooth it is. I checked it out closely on the Panamera, the PDK suppose to be one of the best DCT, I can clearly feel the clutch slipping in. Same with the Ferrari FF that I recently drove, but then is a Ferrari, maybe is tuned to be aggressive. But is just simple logic, a clutch would never be as smooth as fluid engagement. I know for my daily sedan, torque converter is my choice. I want DCT on my weekend sports car.

That is interesting. Is just personally I don't want a clutch in my daily commuter.

natnut

I agree. Too many sports sub-brands.

Lexus/Toyota should try to unify these sub-brands under at most 3 sports labels : one for Lexus (F-Sport), one for Toyota and maybe one for Scion.