Stevekil

Audi is a leader in diesel. Their V8, V10 and now recently a V12 powerplant will grace the brand.

Shouldn't Lexus answer these questions.

Diesel-hybrid versions for V8 and V12 will be great.

It will solve strict California emissions laws for diesel and help the drive in europe.

TRDFantasy

To be true competitor in Europe, Lexus will likely get V6 and V8 diesels. Toyota has never done a V12 diesel before, although they do make a V12 gasoline engine.

dfkd

Just like they dont dabble too much in 12's, toyota has stuck with 1-4 diesels.

1HD-FTE is a 6 cyl, 4 litre turbo diesel that outputs over 200hp and 314lb-ft.

I have owned a car with a toyota diesel when i lived in Trinidad (Toyota Crown with 2L-THE) and they were super quiet and smooth. Something i havent seen on any german diesel. Gas station attendants would ask repetitively, "Are you sure you need diesel?". they weren't used to hearing one so quiet.

TRDFantasy

Toyota has lots of experience making V8s, and Hino has ton of diesel experience, with both I4 and I6 diesels.

New territory for Toyota would be V8 diesel, but rumour has it new Land Cruiser will have such an option.

vraa

iTrader: (2)

Diesel's aren't luxury. Just give it a little more time.

I would love a V12 though simply for the name. Also it better make more than 500hp.

Otherwise the S600 still wins.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

having to run 3+ cats + particulate filter + hybrid engine and powertrain and still make worse emissions than a gas hybrid, no thanks

dfkd

Sorry to shoot you down on that one, but modern diesels are actually cleaner than gasoline engines on every level except for the occasional puff of black smoke or soot.

When it comes to hydrocarbons, CO2, CO and NOx, diesels actually put out LESS harmful gases than gasoline engines. Add this to the fact that they are more fuel efficient (diesel cars use about 35% less fuel by volume) and the misconception is kinda crushed.

The puffs of black smoke we see from some diesels are the only polutant that they have that gasoline doesnt. As these particles are so large (that's why we can see them), our bodies can filter most of them out just like common dust. Furthermore, they are more stable compounds so they dont affect the environment as much as the unstable gases that come out of a gasoline tailpipe.

As for all other polutants, diesel outputs less of them than gasoline does.

TRDFantasy

Not completely true ... the new diesel standards in the States basically are forcing diesel engines to be as clean as gasoline engines, in combination with low sulfur diesel. The problem is to achieve this, especially California's standards, diesels must use all kinds of expensive particulate filters, exhaust aftertreatments, and very fancy injection systems. Because of this, diesels cost more than gasoline engines.

Right now, gasoline engines are still cleaner ... we are still years away of seeing diesels being exactly on par with gasoline engines.

TRDFantasy

Also, main problem with diesel hybrids is cost. Diesel engines add about several thousand typically to the cost of a vehicle, and hybrids also similarly add several thousand dollars onto the cost of a vehicle. In fact, I recently read an interview about Toyota, and the reason Toyota is hesistant about a diesel hybrid right now on their vehicles is the prohibitive cost that consumers would pay. Compared to a conventional vehicle, a diesel hybrid of the same model would cost anywhere from 6 - 10K dollars more. Toyota does already have diesel hybrid systems in some Hino trucks, but those are commercial trucks.

encore888

For Europe, Lexus definitely needs diesels...although some have suggested that the diesel tech they're using so far is fairly average.

Stevekil

This picture shows audi V12 diesel torque. This is serious power and serious torque, the like of which has never been seen before.

Great fuel economy: 19.7 mpg combined.

vraa

iTrader: (2)

That is some monster torque, I wonder if the tranny can handle it though. The MercedesBenz gasoline V12 TT makes roughly the same amount of torque, but it's detuned because the tranny can't handle it.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Several thousand extra for a diesel over gasoline? Not sure what date supports this, in Europe there's tons of econoboxes running diesels.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

theres a reason why for 07 all VW diesels and many other diesels were discontinued while their gas counterparts still remained, because they could not pass the new diesel govt regs, sorry if diesel was truly cleaner than gas why are we still using gas since diesel gets more mileage, there are reasons why diesel doesnt catch on as good

spwolf

yep, and all are between 1.5k to 2k more expensive than petrols... which is why Europeans are now marketing diesels as performance cars... faster new yaris? diesel...