Japanese luxury brand Lexus might bring back the V8 engine in LS model

The LS is a fantastic full size flagship luxury sedan offered by Lexus, and it manages to turn a lot of heads when it is on the road.

However, the only bit of the car which is an instant turn-off is the V6 engine, which replaced the fabulous V8. This downgrade garnered a lot of complaints and it seems that Lexus has heard our pleas.

The last update the LS received was in 2018, during which Lexus released the 5th gen LS. It has been 2 years and it is time for the LS to receive a facelift, and from the different claims running around the internet, it seems like Lexus is going to bring back the V8 and this might just change the fate of the model.

Funnily, before 2018, every LS model had sported a V8, but for some reason Lexus felt the need of taking the V8 out of the 5th generation update.

Currently the LS is powered by a 3.5 litre twin turbo V6 which make 415 ps and the LS500h is brought to life with a 3.5 litre V6 which is coupled with a hybrid engine.

Now these engines are sufficient, but at a price point of over $80,000, you expect better. Plus, all of the competitors in its range have a V8, and Lexus still felt the need to remove the V8, what made them do this is still beyond me.

With the mid-cycle update, Lexus intends on re-introducing the V8 variant, but with a twist, the twist being, the V8 being offered will be a hybrid.

These are the kind of twists we need at the current point of time, where the situation becomes even better than what one expected it to be. This suggests that Lexus will be resurrecting the LS600h moniker, which was first used in 2007.

These recent developments are quite exciting, but this also raises the question, whether the LS will be receiving a new hybrid V8 motor, or will it updating the 5.0 litre which was used on the LS600h. It is unlikely that Lexus will be building the a new V8 motor because there will be some heavy costs associated with manufacturing a new engine from scratch.

The older 5.0 litre engine on the other hand was capable of churning out 439 ps, and this in spite of being an older engine is more powerful than the current 3.5 litre V6 present on the LS.

It is more likely that Lexus will incorporate an updated version of the 5.0 litre engine into the updated V8 spec LS. By updating the engine, you could expect the 5.0 litre engine to lose the nickel metal hydride battery packs, and be replaced by the environmental friendly lithium ion batteries.

Interestingly, it is being said that the LS could offer a new variant, which would run a 4 cylinder engine, and this is pleasantly surprising.

Normally, cars of this size and segment do not sport relatively basic engines likes these, but it seems that Lexus wants to target a different segment by positioning the 4 cylinder spec engine at a lower price than its other variants. On release, expect the V8 to priced more than $90,000, and this puts it up against the Mercedes S Class, BMW 7 Series, Jaguar XJL and the Audi A8.