2018 Lexus LS F Sport Is All Show, No Extra Go In New York

Though the Toyota group’s racing division in Germany has toyed with the idea, Lexus has never actually produced a full-on LS F. Much as Audi hasn’t done an RS8, BMW an M7, or Jaguar an XJR-S – to take on the Mercedes-AMG S63 (much less the twelve-cylinder S65).

The vehicle you see here, however, can at least look the part. Captured on the floor of the Javitz Center where the 2017 New York Auto Show is currently under way is the new Lexus LS F Sport.

Rather than a unique model, the F Sport treatment can be applied to either version of the new LS: the LS 500 or the LS 500h. Either way, though, you’re looking at a V6. And contrary to Lexus’ usual approach, the hybrid is the less powerful version, with 354 horsepower on tap to the twin-turbocharged version’s 415hp.

That may be enough to outclass most of the hybrid and six-cylinder competition in its class, but isn’t quite enough to keep pace with the V8s… let alone the V12s from Mercedes and BMW.

The F Sport does look meaner, and it promises to handle better, too. The package adds a tauter air suspension, active stabilizer, variable steering rack, four-wheel steering, and 20-inch alloys packing upgraded brakes. Those in addition to the aero upgrades and special badging that let people know that you may (or may not) be driving a big blinged-out Camry, but you mean business by it.