Lexus Continues Development of LS650 TMG

While Lexus continues to push its F-Sport line of performance products and accessories a skunk works project by a team of German engineers is continuing to refine what they believe is a more fitting rival for the Ms and AMGs of the world.

First unveiled in 2012, Toyota Motorsports Germany (TMG) has just revealed an updated version of what it calls the LS650 TMG – positioning the European racing division as the in-house tuner of choice for the Lexus brand.

Powered by a twin-turbocharged version of the factory 5.0-liter V8 engine, power has been downgraded from the original, lofty number of 800 hp to a more realistic, though still AMG-rivaling 650 hp.

The car itself is a test bed to showcase the capabilities of the TMG team and the lessons learned in Formula 1 says Alastair Moffitt of Toyota Motorsport Germany, commenting on the official Lexus UK blog that, “we really wanted to create a Formula 1 car combined with a limousine.”

Moffitt admits that there are no immediate plans for the TMG car to make it to production, though this current state of tune was performed with that in mind, commenting that, his team, “had to look to road application.” In particular, he comments that this third generation of the car was designed with Euro5 emissions in mind, as well as fuel economy and practicality, “so that we can, at least in concept, design a car that can be built and built again.”

“We would like to think that some of the areas we’ve shown on this car will lead into future projects for us at TMG,” he says, commenting that the goal with this project would be to have Lexus expand it into at least a small series of production cars.

If nothing else, Moffitt hopes TMG’s efforts can lead to further development of Lexus’ performance credentials.

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