My guess is that the location of the electric motors has little to do with where the power will be put down. The gas and larger electric motor's power will probably be applied to the pavement in the same or similar manner as the current model. The smaller motors will merely add to the power of the rear wheels instead of being their sole source of power.

If the new RX does come to fruition with 400+BHP, my decision to buy the new 2005? GS might disappear real fast unless the new GS will offer the same kind of power.

 

You may not have looked at the Toyota Tokyo Show website. The diagram clearly indicates that the engine will only power the front wheels. The front wheels also get a more powerful electric motor. The rear wheels get a mere 24 hp motor.

 

Good point. What the article didn't mention is whether or not there's a center differential which would serve to apportion power to the rear in addition to the rear electrics. And that's such a small amount of power that I'd think it would be virtually useless as far as balancing the fronts. Plus that's so much power thru the fronts alone that torque steer would be difficult to deal with and the VSC's TRAC function would be activating ALL the time to keep from peeling the treads!

T/L would never produce something so ill-conceived. I conclude there's a center diff in there apportioning a more reasonable amount of power to the rears. Maybe I can talk wifey into waiting on that new RX she wants......................

 

That's exactly what I was thinking. 400+ BHP to the front wheels doesn't make sense to me. I think that there has to be a center differential that will apportion some of that power to the rear wheels.

 

There is none. I think Toyota will make the Hybrid front wheel drive most of the time, with the rear kicks in only when a slippery condition is detected. This gives better acceleration and fuel economy. I still prefer the true AWD setup, especially when I hit a patch of ice at 70 mph on the highway. A faux AWD will spin the car out of control, such as the setup on Honda Pilot / Acura MDX.

 

Even if you are right, it still doesn't makes sense to me. The additional power will be traction limited and there will be nasty torque steer with that much power to the front wheels, which is something a potential lexus owner won't want to put up with.

I think that they should have put the bigger electric motor in the rear to distribute the power and to keep the car more balanced. The addition of an electric motor under the hood can't be good for handling.

 

It doesn't make sense to me, either, but it looks like that's the direction Toyota wants to go. It may be a "packaging" issue. There's plenty of room under the hood to put in large electric motors, yet there's little available room in the back. Toyota can mount the engine higher (there's about 7" available) to accommodate the large electric motors. The rear is already occupied by the gas tank, spare tire, etc.

I think that Toyota should've "sandwiched" one electric motor between the engine and the drive shaft, like the way Honda does. The engine should still drive all 4 wheels, with the electric motor kicking in when needed. This setup costs more than Toyota's design, however.

 

all speculation

 

None of these are speculation. The information on the new hybrid SUV platform is readily available on the Toyota Tokyo Show website. It's even in English.

 

Wow this is exciting news! Have the Lexus dealers started waiting lists for this Hybrid model yet?

 

There are waiting lists.....I should know since I am number 21 on the list at my dealer!!

 

Does anyone know if the Hybrid will be shown at the upcoming International Auto Shows? There's one in San Francisco next week... Just wondering...

 

Some articles online mentioned it might be shown at the Detroit NAIAS in Jan.