RON430

All right, yet again, I will try to bring the magazine in and put the whole article up. The next Avalon is getting close, finally going up to the current Camry underpinnings and supposedly the same room as the LS. But it will have a 3.5l V-6 with 270hp. This sounds about right to be the upcoming engine for the GS and maybe some other models. Might have a few more hp just to justify the Lexus engine cover, like 280-285, but I believe this a lot more realistic than the rumored 300hp V-6 from C&D.

If this is the 3.5l V-6 that will make it to the GS, then that would leave room for a 350hp or so V8, maybe 5.0l. Put a 150hp electric motor on the GT hybrid with the V-6 and you get total hp of around 430 which also sounds a lot more realistic than 500. Wonder how long we have to wait to get things firmed up?

LexFather

From my understanding, the Lexus IS and GS will use a new 3.0 liter V-6. They will not use any engine shared with the Camry/Avalon etc as those are for FWD cars.

We'll see. The engine is the most expensive piece of the car and I hope Lexus does not choose to share any engine in the Avalon in the GS or IS as it will cheapen the cars some to me.

RON430

I can see your comment regarding drive trains. There is also some support because I am pretty sure that the 3.3l in the ES and RX are not shared to the Toyota line (could be wrong on that) but the C&D article said that the GS will get the 3.5l making the GS350 (think the same article said the IS was going IS350). With the cost of developing and certifying engines, maybe I connected dots that shouldn't be connected. However, I can also make an argument that it doesn't make a lot of sense for Toyota to make two new 3.5l V-6s, one for Lexus and one for Toyota. Not to mention making a 270hp 3.5l V-6 for just the Avalon. So if it goes in the Camry, it could wind up in the ES and then the RX. And of course the hybrid issue makes standardization with anything with or adaptable to AWD a lot easier. Guess all we have to do is wait and see.

But you have to get the feeling that engines for both Toyota and Lexus are going to get an upgrade sometime soon.

LexFather

The 3.3 in the ES and RX are from the Camry, as these cars are Camry based. Both are FWD based cars.
From my understanding, Lexus won't use the same engine in it's RWD cars but a 3.0 liter. I can believe a 3.5 liter would be a better fit and makes more sense. But Toyota just enlarged the 3.0 V-6 to 3.3 liters this past year. So the next Avalon would be 3.5 liters already! I can buy that, as car engines are getting ridiculously large in size.
I've heard great things about the next Avalon, huge NAV screen, reclining rear seats etc.
I don't think Toyota/Lexus still has to upgrade engines. These cars are about refinement first and are the best built cars in the world. If you take Nissan for instance, they have a fabulous 3.5 engine in every car/truck they sell, have eye-catching styling and the cars are faster than the competiton but the rest of the cars are lacking.

STIG

i really hope that next IS3 will have more than 300HPS or i will cry

rominl

iTrader: (4)

sick is right, camry and ES are all sharing the same 330 engine now, they are for fwd

for the IS and GS there will be a new engine, i don't know about the size though, 300 or 330 or 350. i have a feeling it's going to be 330. maybe down the road it will become 350?

STIG

i m quite sure toyota will smart enough to drop new 3500CC in their SPROTY Lexus IS making 300+hps or they will get blown by new 3 series as this gen IS

plus the rumors is that the new 3 will be equipped with 3.0i as base and 335i said to be the top of the line. i read those in CnD or motortrend i m not sure

RON430

As long as the GS had the I6, you could definitely make the argument that they wouldn't put it in a FWD car. With the exception of the S80, I don't know of any I6's that made it to FWD. But if the new GS goes V, and the odds favor it, there really isn't a lot of reason why you couldn't put that engine in either a FWD or a RWD. Or an AWD for that matter.

I will try to turn the article up and post it later. But at least the C&D article claims that the next Lexus sixes will be 3.5 l. Whether it is all new or a bore out of the 3.3 isn't clear to me. I have to say that unless the next Avalon gains quite a bit of weight, 270hp didn't sound like a typical Toyota move for that model. Entertaining as it might be.

J.P.

I don't see them going high HP without Hybrid..... They want that car in the low 30's and with 300hp it won't be low 30's! If they DO come out with 300+ hp, they will offer 2 models.............

As far as the 3 series, it's been around a lot longer and has a following and an image, Lexus will not take this over, over night.... On a side note, comparing APPLES to APPLES, the 330, the higher end 3, has 235hp, compared to the 215hp of the 2004 IS, a 20hp is NOTHING! Also, compared to the 325i, which is priced in the IS300 range, is ONLY 184!!!

Lexus is on par with the with the IS and 3 series, as well as the old GS being up to date with the new 5 series and new E class, only a few HP separated the old GS from brand new MB and BMW models..................

STIG

i disagree sir, lexus IS is par with 3 series in terms of what area?price? may be
Lexus and TMC themselves know that they gotta try harder for the new upcoming IS.
i said that again and again, IS is such a great car and it is the only ONLY car that can be compare with 3 series. it is no secret that E46 is almost perfect car if they are as reliable as Lexus.

about hps, i know that those HPS numbers are not the only thing that makes cars faster but everyone wants those numbers to be as HUGE as possible. a 20hps is not nothing ( it's almost 10% of total power out put ) and i m sure that would explain a full second shy in 0-60 time for IS Vs 3 series.

Vladi

I think that Lexus will go for 3.5l engine only in hybrid combo. They will have 3.0 making 245hp and 4.3 making 300+hp and probably inbetween will be a 3.0l+hybrid to close the gap. I speculate around 280-290hp total

RON430

Didn't mean to rehash the already discussed publicly released information but if C&D is correct, and here is just one thread previously started on it:

GT Models

There is going to be at least one new IS without the hybrid but with a reported 300hp 3.5l six cylinder engine that is supposed to be from the new GS. So the connection I drew, maybe incorrectly, is that this new 270hp 3.5l V6 for the Avalon sounds like it is part of the develoment of this strong V6 that is going to find its way into at least the GS and IS, whether in GT form or not. Now the magazines could be full of hoowie, wouldn't be the first time, but there is just too much leaking about new powerplants. And, once again, I just don't believe the 4.3l V-8 is going to carry over, or at least not for very long. A 5.0l upgrade sounds natural, sooner rather than later. A 300hp V6 in an upcoming IS also fits with the IS430 mule that was developed.

Instead of actually looking at the possibility of putting the 4.3 in the IS, Lexus was really looking at how something the size of the IS handled 300hp. Once again, makes a lot of sense in performance development as the 4.3 was sitting there with 300hp and all Lexus had to do was throw some bucks at someone to make it fit in an IS. From what I know, the IS suspension would not be the problem and might be the best performance suspension Lexus has. A little time running around with 300hp in a current IS would be very instructive for the next IS.

Maybe this is all fiction but enough leaks are coming out to be able to start seeing where Lexus and Toyota are going with powerplants IMHO.

LexFather

I agree with you 100%. I think this makes perfect sense but from my readings, Lexus will not use the same engine and I hope not. Nissan HAD to cust costs tremendously to become profitable which is why all their vehicles use the VQ and share platforms. This is a great business move. For a luxury car though and for Lexus, I would be disapointed if a 45k GS 300 uses the same engine as a 23k Camry. There is nothing glamourous and luxurious about that at all.
The main reason the GS 400/430 was 10k more than the GS 300 was the engine and the engine technology. The engine is the heart of the car. Imagine a BMW 5 with the same engine as a Mini Cooper or their new 1?
I can understand Toyota/Lexus wants to save money and it makes good sense to use the 3.3 liter Camry in their newer offerings. I don't want to see Lexus use any more engines Toyota uses.

LexFather

I still predict the IS will use the 4.3 next go round. It's only 2 lbs more than the old 2JZ. Their new LF-C concept which hints at the future IS coupe has the 4.3 V-8 inside. Lexus has promised multiple offerings for the next IS, including engines.

THE_CEO

good then maybe some one will take the time to figure out how to twin turbo a V8...

CEO