Lexus IS500 coming? New F Sport performance model teased

Lexus has revealed a sneak peek at what’s believed to be a new performance car under its F Sport banner.

The Japanese luxury car manufacturer isn’t giving away much of anything, with a simple snapshot of an engine cover with the ‘F Sport’ logo emblazoned on it. The attached caption reads “new era of F Sport performance vehicles is coming”.

Clicking through to Lexus's teaser site provides even more mysterious wording; "Discover an F SPORT like never before."

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This engine cover looks similar to the one found under the bonnet of Lexus’s F models that use the 2UR-GSE V8 engine, such as the RC F and older GS F, though some subtle differences (this one reads ‘F Sport’ rather than simply ‘F’) keep us guessing.

This could indicate that it may not be a full-bore F model like the cars listed above, but perhaps a beefed-up F Sport model featuring more power than standard, perhaps with hybrid technology.

Traditionally, Lexus’s F Sport packs feature design, equipment and some suspension upgrades but don’t squeeze extra performance out of their donor engines.

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It would make sense that this teased model goes above and beyond the F Sport norm by stocking extra performance, considering there are already F Sport packs available to the IS, RC, RX, UX, NX, ES and LS. We don't imagine the market is screaming for an LX F Sport off-road luxury SUV.

An upgrade in that department would be welcome, then.

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It could be a number of things. Rumours have circled for years hinting at the arrival of a V8-powered Lexus ‘IS500’, or the drawn-out development of an LC F model with a twin-turbocharged V8 engine.

Lexus hasn’t revealed a new F model in a few years, so a new performance car from the Japanese luxury carmaker is well overdue.

In any case, fingers crossed Lexus has something exciting in store and doesn’t take too long to reveal more details.