Agree. We are indeed in the golden age. Lets enjoy it while it lasts. I think the next major redesign will bee seeking economy in addition to comfort, so enjoy the lead foot surety while we still have it. CAFE standards are coming on strong.

 

There are so many new technologies out there its hard to imagine what will be possible by 2020 or 2024. Cars are the way they are in Europe mainly because of taxes and the price of fuel, the marketplace has demanded that and so manufacturers have answered their demands. The auto market in europe has been that way for decades. Demands in the US are different, the market will find a way to provide the type of vehicle we want while fitting in to the new CAFE standards, it always has.

This is all a separate discussion and has nothing to do with the OP's question as to whether or not the LS will see a total redesign in 2015...the answer to that I still say is yes for all the reasons I've already posted. Has nothing to do with CAFE standards.

 

Exactly SW10ES, thx for getting back on topic.

 

You guys are spitting in the wind. The technical specifics and timing of any future LS redesign is almost wholly dependent on the restrictions CAFE standards impose on the American automotive market. If you know anything about automotive design, tooling, and production cycles, you know that Toyota is designing vehicles NOW to perform to standards that will be in effect a MINIMUM of 5 years in the future. Since CAFE begins to bite hard right around that timeframe, the LS platform must be designed so it can, with minimal changes, comply with the new standards on a going forward basis. No manufacturer can wait until the 2020s to begin designing cars that are in compliance with 50% higher fuel economy requirement. THAT is why the LS redesign will be radical (new platform) and substantially delayed compared to past cycles (10-12yrs). If this post is NOT on topic, please explain where it goes astray...

 

I'd guess it will have a small 4.0 liter gas V8, like the original 1989 LS400. A V6 gas-electric hybrid will be optional. The base model will weigh about 3,850 lbs, also like the original 1989 LS400, down a signficant amount from the 4,233 lbs of the base 2013 model.

 

Can you elaborate? What's wrong with the wheels and what are you replacing them with?

 

I agree with this. The few big V8 cars still being sold today are dinosaurs very near the end of the dino era.

 

Okay, so why is this an issue with Lexus and not with any of its competitors? Mercedes is about to release an all new S Class that has not shrunk...no other carmaker is delaying the development and release of new models in that class.

Why delay the LS and not the slow selling GS? The delay has to do with trying to spread out the model release schedule so all the product is not being redone at once, just as Lexus has said.

Of course we are going to see more efficient vehicles, and I would be surprised if the LS still had a standard V8 but I think it will have a V8 option. The S Class has V6s, hybrids and diesels and the like, is it decontented?

The engine is not the be-all end all of these vehicles, quite the opposite IMHO. Making the stretch that the car can't be as luxurious or have fully cooled seats because of the new CAFE standards is more than a little extreme.

Its not like the LS is going to have to get 50MPG. The regulations apply to a brand average. If anything Lexus has an advantage here because they have the entire Toyota market of down brand smaller, more economical cars to help them achieve that average. You'll see 150MPG plug in Prius hybrids (the technology is very close) with better batteries somewhere in the lineup, and it will outweigh a 30MPG LS.

The "sky is falling buy this car and keep it forever" routine is not warranted IMHO. In a couple of years one of us will be right, I've been around this brand for 15 years...I just don't see them letting the LS go for 12 years while their competitors redo their models that have already been redone once while the LS has been around.

 

Exactly - it is a brand average that will be offset by higher mileage models. MBZ is putting out twin turbo V12s and somehow it will survive US regs just as it has survived Euro regs.

 

Nope. Not as simple as the old regime. Do some homework and you'll be well-rewarded. Also, Daimler and VW group have not bought into the program. Toyota has.

 

This is really a moot point. The regs are the regs and there is no point being a Debbie Downer saying the future will suck and the golden age has passed. No one knows what the future will bring. There are so many undiscovered technologies and materials that will make cars lighter yet stronger, and more fuel efficient. The whole point of the law is the become less dependent on foreign oil and the money dump which is gas. I welcome the increased efficiency and remain optimistic the best is yet to come.

 

Nope. CAFE knows EXACTLY, PRECISELY what the future holds. In fact, CAFE decrees what the future will be. You just choose to ignore it.

Foreign oil? Oil is oil. You're being played like a drum if you think there is any difference between a barrel of oil from Venezuela, Iran, or Louisiana. Wise up.

 

I agree - looking forward to the 2015 release of the 2016 LS! It will be a real overhaul with great innovation, hopefully enough to compete with the S Class again. I'm glad I skipped the current generation facelift and price increase. Good things come to those who wait!

 

just enjoy tomorrow all dont worry about 2015

 

You must be lost...

The Debate forum and the LS forum look the same... but when you read, you will realize they are not.
Please head over there, where there are several oil, conspiracy, black helicopter, evils of the world threads for you to enjoy.

In other words... watch how you word things.