Toyota Powertrain President Confirms V8 Power for Next-Gen Lexus and Toyota Supercars

The Lexus Sport Concept and Toyota GR GT will likely get high-revving 4.0L twin-turbo V8 hybrid engines.

The V8 is dead, long live the V8! It should come as no surprise that the V8 is an endangered species. Lexus has slowly been killing off their V8 models over the past year or so. And with the way the world was heading, it seemed like the Lexus Sport Concept, the spiritual successor to the beloved LFA could be an EV. But at Goodwood this year we heard the Toyota GR GT concept charge up the hill with the sound and fury of a twin-turbo V8. Cool. If that car would be getting a V8, surely the Lexus would as well. Now, we have got a report from Car Expert, that sheds more light on what will power these future supercars. And it seems like combustion engine fans are going to be very happy.

Takashi Uehara is the powertrain president at Toyota. And he spoke to the Australian media this week at the Japan Mobility Show. And he let on that not only will the Toyota GR GT get a twin-turbo V8 hybrid, but the Lexus Sport Concept will also get one, and it will be different than the Toyota unit. So, the current V8s may be dying but it seems like a new batch are being born to replace them.

V8 Lexus Power Confirmed

Uehara was asked if Lexus fans could expect V8 engines in future models. “You can expect – you see the Lexus new sports car? That is that…,” answered Uehara. He explained that the new V8 engine is related to the 2.0L turbo-four in the Yaris GR Concept. The new V8 will feature two turbos and will likely have double the displacement of the engine in the Yaris GR Concept. A 4.0L twin-turbo hybrid powering the new Lexus supercar? We can live with that.

More V8 Options

“We have several partitions with the engines. For example, I don’t say for the 1.5-litre we have only a sporty one… so for both sizes of engines, we have several partitions if necessary. So maybe we could have a V8 with a more gentle [character] or we could have a more muscular, heavy-duty version,” said Uehara. That makes it seem like there may be one V8 version for the Toyota and another for the Lexus. And these engines will likely be high rpm screamers. “To think of the maximum power, we have to design the maximum rpm, and we have to care about the design of the combustion chamber – then we select V8,” Uehara explained. The new Lamborghini Temerario uses a twin-turbo 4.0L V8 hybrid setup and that motor redlines at 10,000 rpm. We would love to see something like that in the Lexus and Toyota cars.

More Information Soon

This Lexus is shaping up to be a thrilling supercar. We should learn more about it after the Toyota GR GT Concept is officially revealed on December 5. (Although we don’t know exactly when Lexus will host a reveal for their variant.) When the LFA was first released, the world didn’t really know what to think of it. Now we know what Lexus is capable of, and the new car just might be even more thrilling than the old one. We weren’t sure that would ever be possible.

Images: Lexus

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Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the ‘70s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it's driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.