Sleek Japanese luxury coupe to deploy 10-speed auto mated to 5.0-litre V8

With the Tokyo and LA motor shows over for another year, it’s time to focus on the big debuts slated for the first motor show of the 2016 calendar – Detroit in early January.

And one important reveal from Japan will be the Lexus LC 500.

We’ve seen concept cars come and go at past shows, like the first time the LF-LC concept luxury coupe debuted at the 2012 Detroit Motor Show. But the artist’s image you see here is very close to how the car will appear on stage according to Lexus sources.

Boasting an even bolder take on Lexus’ controversial ‘spindle grille’ front end, the upwards-slanted headlights are adorned with the characteristic Nike-like ‘swooshes’, along with angular air intakes for the front brakes and side air intakes for the rear brakes.

Penned at Toyota’s CALTY Design Research in California, the original 2012 concept car was given an immediate thumbs-up by all media and the public, a factor that helped fast track the 2+2 coupe’s journey to production reality.

The LC 500 will be offered with two powertrains – a naturally aspirated V8 and a hybrid V6.

The same 351kW/530Nm 5.0-litre V8 propelling the RC F and GS F will most likely be married to a world-first 10-speed automatic transmission supplied by Aisin, which will aid performance efficiency.

The LC 500h on the other hand, will employ an all-new 3.5-litre V6 ‘multi-hybrid’ for rear-drive models, that will also be offered on the next-generation LS.

This new multi-hybrid incorporates the same design logic and weight-saving measures as those seen on the new Prius. Using a revised version of the outgoing GS 450h’s block but completely redesigning the engine and hybrid system, heat efficiency and fuel economy will be significantly improved.

That difference is no better expressed than by comparing the two output figures. In contrast to the aging GS 450h’s 260kW, the new LC 500h’s combined power output could eclipse 350kW. A source tells us that the V6 engine will generate 230kW while the motor will produce 162kW.

In contrast to the new TNGA (Toyota new global architecture) that is set to be used on all Toyota models in future and first used on the new Prius, the all-new LS and LC models are likely to employ different underpinnings. The big Lexus cars will incorporate a rear section from the TNGA but will add an aluminium space frame setup at the front end.

There’s also talk of carbon-fibre components used in the construction as well, which should mean the new LC will save a significant amount of weight.

As the all-new LC 500 and LC 500h will debut in production form at Detroit we can look forward to a hot ‘F’ version in 2018, a coupe rumoured to be fitted with a circa-450kW 4.0-litre V8 boosted by twin electric turbochargers. Bring on 2018.