VIDEO: Lexus LC 500 driven hard

Lexus has released a video of its LC 500 driving hard in the Spanish Sierra Nevada mountains to tease the sound of its flagship coupe's V8.

Lexus confirmed the LC 500 was headed for production in an announcement at the Detroit motor show in January, and the video provides the first opportunity to hear the coupe's 348kW/530Nm 5.0-litre V8 in action, although the engine itself is a known quantity, already powering the RC F and GS F.

In the LC 500, however, the engine is matched to the world’s first 10-speed automatic transmission, supplied by Aisin.

The new 10-speeder is not only lighter than Aisin's current eight-speed auto, but is also packaged smaller. The benefit, says the Japanese car maker, is the 10 gears can be spaced closely, meaning there’s always an optimal gear for the prevailing conditions.

Lexus has already confirmed it is aiming for a 0-100km/h sprint of just 4.5 seconds for its big coupe.

Measuring in at 4.7m long, 1.9m wide and standing 1.4m tall, the new LC 500 is based on the brand’s all-new Global Architecture for Luxury vehicles (GA-L) that, Lexus says, will be its blueprint for future front-engine, rear-wheel drive cars.

There’s no information how heavy the new coupe is, but according to Lexus the LC spreads the load over a near perfect 52:48 weight distribution front to rear, and has undergone some significant weight saving. The roof, for example, is made of carbon fibre, as are the door structures (with aluminium skins) and boot floor.

The LC 500 is also claimed to boast better structural rigidity than the old carbon-fibre-bodied LFA supercar.

Under the skin there’s multi-link rear suspension with double ball joints on upper and lower arms (for optimised suspension geometry) and control arms made of lightweight forged aluminium to reduce unsprung mass.

The Detroit show car rode on large 21-inch wheels; it's not known whether the car in the video shares the same dimension wheels or wears smaller 20-inch rims.

It's also unknown what changes have been made inside the luxurious cabin, if any, but it's likely the big Lexus coupe will come with the latest infotainment system that features updated, faster software with a new user interface.

In the future a hybrid version (thought to be badged LC 500h) is also expected to join the line-up and use an all-new 350kW 3.5-litre V6 ‘multi-hybrid’ powerplant for rear-drive models, which will also be offered on the next-generation LS.

The LC 500 will be launched globally in 2017, with a hotter F version expected in 2018.

Lexus Australia has confirmed the LC 500 will venture Down Under but has not announced whether we'll get it in 2017 or early 2018.