Lexus LC News
#1952
There are folks who appreciate the ability to goose power using a hybrid and gaining efficiency.
I can tell you from 2.5+ years with my Q50S AWD Hybrid, the car blows most stuff off the line, gets around 28 mpg, can carry 4 adults in real comfort and is great in all kinds of weather.
I can tell you from 2.5+ years with my Q50S AWD Hybrid, the car blows most stuff off the line, gets around 28 mpg, can carry 4 adults in real comfort and is great in all kinds of weather.
When we are talking about 0-60 in 4.5s, then I think thats "good enough" for most people. Especially since in-gear acceleration is actually faster than what that 0-60 suggests. Thats really a sports car numbers there.
For us Europeans, compared to GS450h, it would allow it to get even lower CO2 rating for taxes, but most important would be that it can go electric up to 87 MPH, as well as significantly better top speed. So that 20-30% real life benefit in highway mpg, together with everything else would make this a star engine for Europe... now question is only of price.
#1953
too many abbreviations...
what is 'PSD'?
i recall HSD is hybrid synergy drive, but i don't know what that is. and why would it be expensive vs. anything else? it's just gearing, isn't it?
what is MG1!?
MG2?
what is 'PSD'?
GS450h has expensive 2 gear HSD (hence the price of vehicle).
The LC500h might be battery-limited on MG2
#1954
If I had a choice between a 4spd and 1000hp car I would pick the car.
My point is toyota is showing us this fancy new transmission (if that's whats it called), its being praised as revolutionary and I still don't know its benefit/ potential.
The same company pushes old powertrains on to new cars without hope in sight. The RX has been using the same v6 for 3 generations. The same V8 used in a IS-F which made its debut in 06 is being use in their flagship GS in 2016. In that period of time AMG was using the old 5.5 supercharged mill, its cycled through 3 engines and is now on its 4th.
So this is what I come away with:
They are investing r&d money in to niche products, that so far are purposeless. They're not giving us what we want
or
This piece of revolutionary kit isn't as revolutionary as its being markated.
My point is toyota is showing us this fancy new transmission (if that's whats it called), its being praised as revolutionary and I still don't know its benefit/ potential.
The same company pushes old powertrains on to new cars without hope in sight. The RX has been using the same v6 for 3 generations. The same V8 used in a IS-F which made its debut in 06 is being use in their flagship GS in 2016. In that period of time AMG was using the old 5.5 supercharged mill, its cycled through 3 engines and is now on its 4th.
So this is what I come away with:
They are investing r&d money in to niche products, that so far are purposeless. They're not giving us what we want
or
This piece of revolutionary kit isn't as revolutionary as its being markated.
not quite - they aren't giving you what you want or fully expect - but for the consensus of their customer base, they are. if you need to have the high HP for bragging rights, there are many other brands for you to choose from. however, Lexus is balancing the mix of luxury, drive-ability, power, and most importantly reliability - and having ample time behind all the niche F models (outside of a quick lap in the LFA), they certainly doing it right.
as for the non-change of engines since 2006, yes it's dated but Lexus isn't in the HP war that requires them to go back to the drawing board when a competitor pushes out a new model with a more powerful engine, and I find that perfectly acceptable. not to mention, the same brands continuously trying to out duel themselves with high output engines are being hit with class action suits because the engines are basically deemed garbage - 6.3amg for example.
#1955
#1956
4 gear box is acting as true reduction gearbox for PSD. So it is giving it low end, high end power that it did not have in previous configuration, plus 100 MPH efficiency due to much longer gearing (thats the 4th gear). Between those 4 gears, PSD can do infinite number of gear variations.
So the benefits are:
1. Much faster low speed performance due to first reduction gear. So you have LC500h, vehicle thats 20hp stronger than GS450h and SAME weight, going 4.5s 0-60 vs 5.6s for GS450h. Difference is huge.
2. Much better performance at higher end with top speed supposedly much better than current Lexus hybrids.
3. Overdrive gear will do wonders for highway MPG
4. Electric-only driving at 87 MPH (again much better mpg at regular highway speeds).
So it is like having your cake and eating it. Not only performance in same weight will be substantially better, it will also have better real life mpg and it will also feel better due to real shift points.
edit: only question for me is if this makes it down to GS500h (likely) and RX500h... this would transform RX Hybrid. Right now main difference between the two is that RX450h has single gear PSD while GS450h has expensive 2 gear HSD (hence the price of vehicle). They could possibly make performance version of RX with this, that goes 0-60 under 6 seconds AND gets much better mpg at highway.
So the benefits are:
1. Much faster low speed performance due to first reduction gear. So you have LC500h, vehicle thats 20hp stronger than GS450h and SAME weight, going 4.5s 0-60 vs 5.6s for GS450h. Difference is huge.
2. Much better performance at higher end with top speed supposedly much better than current Lexus hybrids.
3. Overdrive gear will do wonders for highway MPG
4. Electric-only driving at 87 MPH (again much better mpg at regular highway speeds).
So it is like having your cake and eating it. Not only performance in same weight will be substantially better, it will also have better real life mpg and it will also feel better due to real shift points.
edit: only question for me is if this makes it down to GS500h (likely) and RX500h... this would transform RX Hybrid. Right now main difference between the two is that RX450h has single gear PSD while GS450h has expensive 2 gear HSD (hence the price of vehicle). They could possibly make performance version of RX with this, that goes 0-60 under 6 seconds AND gets much better mpg at highway.
#1957
Most of that is development cost spread out to only 500 units. I'm sure if they update it, add a turbo and use it on the LC F and future LS F, it wouldnt cost nearly as much. Besides, much of that has been amortized with the LFA.
#1958
PSD: Power Split Device is the heart of the Toyota (and Ford, and GM Voltec) hybrid system transmission. It is a differential that allows power from the internal combustion engine (ICE) to be used to drive the car directly, provide additional power to assist the electric motor (MG2) that drives the car, or provide power to MG1 to charge the battery.
MG1: Motor-Generator 1 takes the place of the starter and electrical power generator in a normal, non-hybrid drivetrain. It can function as an electric motor to start the ICE, drawing electrical power from the battery. It can also function as an electrical generator, being turned by the ICE through the PSD to generate electricity to assist MG2 or charge the battery.
MG2: Motor-Generator 2 is the traction motor that drives the car by controlling the speed of the driven wheels. During coasting and regenerative braking, it also generates electricity to charge the battery.
The PSD is a planetary gearset acting as a differential, routing power from the engine for different uses. Unlike a planetary gearset acting as an automatic-shifting gearbox (transmission), it cannot offer different gear ratios; the PSD offers only 1 gear ratio. It is the ICE operating together with MG1 that gives the PSD a CVT-like (constant engine speed) function.
Toyota's FWD-based hybrid cars (Prius, Camry, ESh, etc.) have only the single planetary gearset PSD.
Further gear reduction requires an additional gearset. Lexus GSh and LSh stick an additional planetary gearset behind the PSD for gear reduction purposes. The Lexus LC will go a step beyond that, making the additional planetary gearset an automatically-shifting transmission with 4 different gear ratios (1 of which seems to be an overdrive gear).
It is this additional planetary gearset that makes the hybrid system in the GSh and LSh more expensive.
If and when Toyota can reduce the size of the combined PSD and automatically-shifting gearbox into a tight, space-saving package for transverse placement, will it be possible to use the Multi Stage Hybrid System in a FWD-based application, such as the hoped-for RXh-F.
#1959
I guess most people on this thread are hybrid drivers. Lots of acronyms being tossed around
#1961
And besides, we did have big Tesla issue thread, their powertrains are pretty failure prone so far. While "complicated" Prius ones are the opposite.
Maybe one day EV's will be the norm, but so far sales are abysmal and except for Tesla they are purely product of large government grants. Even Tesla is popular in many countries due to huge tax breaks (for instance Norway, their 2nd biggest market is reliant on tax breaks that make it cheaper than regular 5 series or A6).
There will have to be some significant development thats not known today in order to change that.
#1962
Wait, what are the two stalks that come out of the dial cluster? Looks like an LFA carryover. One looks like a traction control selector, the other one looks like a mode dial. I don't think both can be easily accessed when driving.
#1963
Building an engine itself doesn't cost much, but the key to a lower overall cost for an engine is to use it in as many cars as possible to average down the development cost. As the M5 has demonstrated, a car with a dedicated V10 engine doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive as long as the car is well-rounded and sold without any stupid restrictions on volume.
Last edited by ydooby; 03-10-16 at 10:52 PM.
#1964
I don't understand why some people find it so hard to understand the "4AT" used in the LC500h when a similar system had existed in the GS450h already for a decade. All Lexus did was to bump the "2AT" in the GS450h to "4AT" for the LC500h. It isn't that hard to understand what benefit that brings.
#1965
New York Auto Show pics
Here's some pretty pics we snapped of the LC 500h at the New York show...
https://www.clublexus.com/articles/l...an-appearance/
https://www.clublexus.com/articles/l...an-appearance/