雷克萨斯继续对新一代LS进行测试，最近工程团队在加州死谷对该车进行测试，以检查该车在极端环境下的表现是否能与现行版LS、宝马7系，奥迪A8L等车型竞争。雷克萨斯在去年发布的LF-FC概念车棱角分明的造型预计将在下一代LS上得到延续。不过，新车仍将采用虫眼前大灯和鳍形尾灯组。但不要指望这两种设计元素会出现在量产车上。目前还没有LS内装照片，但车厂高管表示，该车内装“充满很酷的配置”，这些配置都是此前从未应用过的。预计车厢内将提供数字仪表群和手势识别等配置和功能，另外还将提供最新驾驶员辅助系统。不过，新车动力系统并未进行全面更新。新车仍将搭载取自LC的5.0升V8自然进气引擎，功率351千瓦/471马力，扭矩540牛米。而混动版搭载一台3.5升V6引擎，综合功率264千瓦/354马力。据传在2020年东京奥运会之前还会推出氢燃料电池版本。为了吸引消费者，新一代LS将采用更具未来主义风格的外观设计和全面升级的技术。今年前八个月，LS在美国市场销量仅为3768辆，同比下降22.5%。而2015年全年，该车销量也仅为7165辆，同比下降16.3%。

 

2018 Lexus LS spied benchmarking against the competition

Lexus continues to evaluate the next-gen LS on the road, and this time it has some rivals along, too. The engineering team clearly wants to check how the brand’s new flagship sedan performs in Death Valley against competitors like the current LS, BMW 7 Series, and Audi A8L.

 

The more angular styling on last year's LF-FC is a preview of what to expect from the flagship sedan's new look, but Lexus’ engineers continue to dress the LS in bug-eyed headlights and tail fins during testing in public. Don’t expect either of these hideous styling cues to appear on the production model, though.

 

We haven’t seen photos inside of the new LS yet, but a top exec promised “cool interior stuff” that the brand had never done before. We think tech like a digital instrument cluster and gesture recognition could be possible. Customers should also expect the brand’s latest driver assistance systems.

 

Lexus won’t do anything too revolutionary with the LS’ powertrain at first. It will carry over the LC’s offerings of a naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 now with 471 horsepower (351 kilowatts) and 398 pound-feet (540 newton-meters) torque or a hybrid 3.5-liter V6 with a total system output of 354 hp (264 kW). However, there will be a hydrogen fuel cell version before the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020, according to rumors.

 

The more futuristic styling and upgraded tech is what the LS needs to get buyers’ attention again. Lexus has delivered just 3,768 of them in the United States through August, which was down 22.5 percent from the same period last year. For the entire 2015 calendar year, the brand moved 7,165 of the sedans – a 16.3-percent drop from 2014.