DeTomaso

www.autobild.de published a short test of the Lexus supercar with the title 'Toyota's super-Ferrari'.
Besides some really nice interior pics some minor details they mentioned might be surprising: they recorded a 0-62 run in exactly 4 seconds, but with revs limited to 8000rpm instead of the maximum 9500 (!!).
They also reported the engine would have about 550 bhp and about 550 nm torque, which would result in an excellent 114.6 Nm/litre.

The weight is, again, said to be a quite disappointing 3300 lbs and the article doesn't mention if this includes the driver or not. The perfect weight distribution gave the driver a lot of confidence and allowed him to 'become one with the machine', after just a few runs round the Goodwood track.
Top speed is 200 mph but this can be specifically true for the race version only, as it has this huge spoiler that presumably reduces top speed.

AutoBild states that the production version will cost 250000 Euro in Germany and that only 500 will be build worldwide.

encore888

Thx for the find! Here is the direct link:

http://www.autobild.de/artikel/fahrb...-a_950146.html

And Google translated:

http://translate.google.com/translat...state0=&swap=1

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Why would they limit the revs down to 8000rpm other than for reliability? I'm surprised it sustains 550hp even with the revs lowered unless the engine made no additional power after 8k?

I don't know how accurate this review is so I'll have to wait for Toyota's press release.

gengar

So press drivers don't screw up the car? I'm not surprised that there was a 8k rpm limit at Goodwood. If you notice from various videos covering press drives, it seemed like many of the drivers were short-shifting... the car certainly wasn't making the same sounds that have been captured at other events.

No review is going to be accurate... everything will be speculation until October.

TRDFantasy

I definitely would take this info with a grain of salt. Some of the specs they are reporting conflict directly with many other sources and do not make sense.

There is absolutely no reason for Lexus to detune the engine to 8000 RPM for the production car. The Nurburgring race LF-As had their engines running at 9000 RPM, and neither had any major engine reliability problems. Also all of the LF-A concepts have had their tach showing a 9K RPM redline. Reliability for this engine is rock solid and that would not be a reason to detune it.

As for the car Autobild tested, here is my theory; they tested one of the Nurburgring race LF-As. The engines on those cars had not been stripped yet after the race when journalists from places like Autobild and Autocar tried them out. Due to the engines having a lot of mileage on them from the race, Toyota may have limited them to 8000 RPM to make sure the journalists did not mess up the cars. Also it is very likely Toyota did not want to yet show off the true potential of the car, specifically what the production car might be capable of.

As for the quoted figure of 3300lbs, one UK journalist has already mentioned that number includes the driver. I say the production car's curb weight should be around 3100 lbs, if not less.

Lastly, regarding the top speed, Autobild mentioned "around 200 mph". They are just cutting and pasting old information. The latest insider info consistently states the production car will have a top speed of over 218 mph (350 kph). The production car will also hit a 0-60 time of much less than 4 seconds, which further adds evidence the LF-A they tested was detuned from stock configuration.

Anyways, we shall see soon enough what the production specs will be.

LexFather

I think what hte article is saying is Lexus limited THEM to 8k for maybe fear of them going over the 9500k or so redline. 8k still is nothing to sneeze at!

Cars are heavy, period. 3300 lbs actually sounds right to me. 3100 lbs would be great. That might be dry weight, without fluids.

MR_F1

I bet it will be lighter than the 458.

TRDFantasy

Exactly. I think it was limited to 8K for the journalists. I do not expect the production car to redline at 8K.

Given the exotic materials and construction as well as the size of the LF-A, 3300 lbs curb weight would definitely be dissapointing.

Either way, we shall see soon enough the official specs.

MR_F1

Most people seem to neglect that besides exotic materials, the LF-A is actually smaller than a 430/911 or any of those comparable cars.

TRDFantasy

Exactly. Given it's small size, and exotic materials, a 3300 lb curb weight would be ridiculous.

gengar

BTW, the paper automobile mag for Oct '09 said that the gazoo cars were limited to 8k at goodwood and 8.5k even at the the 24hr Nur, and suggests the engine redlines at 9k. It'll be interesting to see what the ceiling will be on the production version.

The article also quotes Hazumi as saying a dual clutch was not once considered for the LF-A. Considering the problems we're hearing from even the stock M3 as well as tuners of other dual clutch cars, that probably will wind up being a good thing. I'm interested to see how the California dual clutch holds up.

The article also mentions that press drivers were limited to 6 laps at Goodwood and so no one was able to come close to the potential of the car. Based on the performance, the article author estimated power around 550hp and a weight of 3000lbs. That'd be great, but then again if you'd asked GTR previewers what the specs on that car were, they would probably have overstated the power and understated the weight too.

MR_F1

It will be around 550 and will be lighter than 3000lbs.

Redline will be 9k.

TRDFantasy

Interesting info, thanks!

There are several reports that the LF-A cars were limited to 8K for the Goodwood preview drives. I have never heard before though that the Nurburgring cars were limited to 8.5K though. As far as I know, the Nurburgring race has been used to tune and develop the car, as well as to test it's reliability and durability. It doesn't make sense that the engine would be limited only to 8.5K during the 'Ring race.

Then again, some wild rumors say that the engine can rev up to 12,000 RPM. At this point, considering how secretive Toyota has been about the car, and how much misinformation has been out there about the car, I say anything is possible.

It could be that the cars even in the Nurburgring race were not running up to 100% production spec potential, as in a slightly detuned engine.

From what I've heard personally, dual clutch indeed was never considered due to these various issues, including weight, reliability, and complexity. A sequential manual was chosen due to the F1 connection of it, as well as the lightness and less complexity compared to a dual clutch unit.

Also the Goodwood preview drives being limited to only a few laps make sense as well. 550HP is supposed to be the minimum the LF-A will have power-wise. Weight-wise, curb weight should certainly be below 3300 lbs, but by how much that's not certain.

Toyota is being very coy and will definitely not show the full performance potential of the car until they decide it is time.

All signs so far point to Toyota preparing to surprise the industry like they did with the original LS .