Autoblog

LS With An Attitude: Toyota Motorsports unleashes Sports 650

John Neff — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:11:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Lexus, Misc. Auto Shows

Toyota Motorsports GmbH has finally unveiled the super sedan it has been working on, and its official name is the TMG Sports 650. Why 650? Because this Lexus LS-based road rocket generates 650 PS, or about 641 horsepower, from its twin-turbo 5.0L V8 engine that's mated to an eight-speed transmission capable of handling all that force.

We don't know much more than that, as TMG unveiled the scooped, vented and flared body of the Sports 650 on its Facebook page, and while the company provided pics aplenty, details about the car like specs, pricing and availability are still absent. The Facebook post does tell us that the Sport 650's aerodynamics were developed in TMG's wind tunnels and that significant development has been dedicated to its handling, which we already knew based on the number of times prototypes were caught testing on Germany's Nürburgring.

Last we heard, the TMG Sport 650 will be making its official in-person debut at the Essen Motor Show in December. At that time, we might see TMG take one big step closer to becoming the factory performance tuning arm of Toyota, just like AMG is to Mercedes-Benz. Lexus could do a lot worse, with TMG having been the brains and brawn behind the company's last effort in Formula One, as well as its latest push to challenge Audi in Le Mans racing with the hybrid TS303 LMP1 car.

LS With An Attitude: Toyota Motorsports unleashes Sports 650 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lexus LS 650 TMG prototype headed for Essen

Jeffrey N. Ross — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Lexus, Luxury

If the newly improved 2013 Lexus LS is aimed at taking on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, then it sounds like Lexus might have a new model in mind to take on the monstrous S65 AMG. Motor Authority has images of what it claims to be a wind tunnel prototype for a souped-up LS we first saw testing on the Nürburgring a couple years ago. We already knew this car was being developed by Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) which could become a factory tuner arm for Toyota like AMG, and the report says that the car will make its debut at the Essen Motor Show in December.

The car that will be called the TMG Lexus LS 650, but for now, it's only a "feasibility study" designed to gauge interest from customers and the media. We were already interested looking at the widebody version of the LS with massive front air intakes and hood vents, but the article in Motor Authority got our ears perked up a little more with vehicle specs that include a twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter V8 laying down more than 600 horsepower giving the big bruiser a top speed near 200 miles per hour.

Lexus LS 650 TMG prototype headed for Essen originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TMG emerging as Toyota's version of AMG?

Zach Bowman — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Sedan, Performance, Europe, Japan, Lexus, Toyota, Luxury

Toyota is getting serious about building performance versions of its current models. The manufacturer hopes to turn Toyota Motorsport GmbH, the crew behind the Toyota Le Mans effort and the automaker's now defunct Formula One team, into a factory-backed tuner. TMG currently handles almost everything motorsport related for Toyota with the exception of engine building, and the group is currently hard at work on what could develop into a World Rally Championship entry in the near future.

TMG is shooting for a WRC debut in 2014 with a turbocharged 1.6-liter Yaris, and buyers will be able to purchase an FIA version of the model for around €25,000. According to Yoshiaki Kinoshita, president of TMG, the organization will also prepare high-performance versions of Lexus vehicles. That helps explain the Lexus LS460 TMG Edition our photographers spotted at the Nürburgring last year. When asked about the LS460, Kinoshita said every part of the vehicle had been substantially reworked by his team, including the engine, suspension and bodywork. The model could be confirmed for production in as little as six to nine months.

TMG emerging as Toyota's version of AMG? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Super Lexus LS has a name (and specs): TMG Edition

Jeff Glucker — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Spy Photos, Sedan, Performance, Lexus

Lexus fans are abuzz over the sight of a potential new LS-based super sedan, and details about the mystery machine are leaking out across the intertubes. The folks at AutoGuide have somehow managed to get shots of the Nürburgring-running prototype parked in a garage along witha a conveniently displayed spec sheet which gives us a lot more information about the sporty four door shown testing on the 'Ring.

According to their information it's called the Lexus LS TMG Edition, and the TMG stands for Toyota Motorsport GmbH. That would be the European motorsports branch for the Japanese automaker, which helps to explain the Cologne plates spotted on the car. According to the spied spec sheet, the LS TMG boasts a 5.0-liter V8 engine that produces 641 horsepower and 524 pound-feet of torque. That should be enough to push the large luxo rocket from 0-62 miles per hour in 4.2 seconds and on to a top speed that's a hair under 200 miles per hour.

While we have no idea whether this is a production prototype, a one-off exercise or something else entirely, the very existence of a 641-horsepower, 200 mile-per-hour Lexus LS suggests that the crew behind the LFA are holding increasing sway over the Toyota luxury asylum. Needless to say, we're okay with that.

Super Lexus LS has a name (and specs): TMG Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota's former F1 team re-emerges as engineering consultancy

Noah Joseph — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 12:18:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Toyota

The shutdown of Toyota's Formula One program should have resulted in a mass layoff of the team's personnel, right? Well it didn't. While some may have gone their separate ways, others have been hired; and despite the essential absence of an actual F1 program, Toyota Motorsport GmbH is still alive and keeping plenty busy.

Once the dust settled at the operation's Cologne headquarters, TMG remade itself into an engineering consulting business. The outfit that benefited from years of unprecedented investment from the world's largest automaker has been undertaking a variety of other tasks for new clients (in addition to specific roles it still plays for Toyota). Preparing test cars for Pirelli's new contract to supply F1 tires has been one, but according to a report in Autosport, TMG "has proved that F1 skills and technologies could be easily transfered to non-motorsport applications" as well.

As a result, TMG is closing what its own personnel describe as a "breakthrough year" that has taken it from the brink of disaster to a profitable business in its own right. Who would have figured?

[Source: Autosport]

Toyota's former F1 team re-emerges as engineering consultancy originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 07 Nov 2010 12:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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