Lexus LFA- Discussion, Pictures & News (new colors gloss black, blue, yellow)
05-11-10, 02:49 PM
#1547
Lexus Champion
What confused me AGAIN, was the fact that Lexus claims the LFA weighs 3260lbs.? But Motortrend gets the car and it weighs 3562 pounds? Where did this weight come from? Car and driver came to almost the same weight- 3580 pounds. Fuel? Fluids? Someone fill me in.
05-11-10, 03:32 PM
#1548
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3263-348x lbs to be precise.
05-11-10, 04:12 PM
#1550
Lexus Champion
So how did their weight (motortrend) come to equal almost 3600lbs? Are we to believe that Lexus is doing DRY weights of their cars? I doubt that. So I'm assuming that with all the extras and maxed out with every option, it'll still only weight 3480 lbs.? That's 100 pounds less than what Car and Driver got. and 3263 is 300 lbs. less. Maybe these aren't cars that have the carbon fiber tub chassis? Maybe they are Aluminum chassis cars with the production body. I think it's logical!
05-12-10, 09:33 AM
#1554
Lexus Champion
Besides all that, the race LFA is awesome with that new livery.
05-13-10, 04:12 PM
#1555
Lexus Chases Ferrari With 552-Horsepower Supercar for $375,000 (Bloomberg.com article
Lexus Chases Ferrari With 552-Horsepower Supercar for $375,000
Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print | A A A Review by Jason H. Harper
May 13 (Bloomberg) -- The latest Lexus model starts at $375,000.
Toyota Motor Corp., the same parent company that brings you the 51-mile-per-gallon Prius and $13,000 Yaris, will also be producing the LFA, a 202-miles-per-hour, gasoline-evaporating supercar that competes with the $320,000 Ferrari 599 GTB. Talk about a broad family tree.
I consider this as I walk around one of three drivable LFA prototypes in the world, currently sitting on a racetrack in southern New Jersey. The other two are in Japan and Europe.
Inside, it has leather and Alcantara, automatic seats and navigation like you’ll find on the LS 600h L executive sedan. Until now that $109,000 hybrid was the most expensive Lexus model.
The LFA is no hybrid. It has beefy carbon-ceramic brakes, swollen performance tires and a 552-horsepower V-10 engine that will propel it to 60 mph in less than four seconds. Basically it’s a tarted-up racecar, and it fits into the Lexus lineup about as comfortably as a WWF wrestler at the ballet.
So-called halo cars typically showcase a company’s hottest designs and highest performance standards. The idea is that the excitement will brighten a brand’s lesser vehicles. If Dodge could make the Viper, Chrysler’s Neon was sure to rock, too, right?
Other notables in this class include the Acura NSX, Nissan GT-R and Audi R8.
Arguably, Lexus has never before had -- or really needed -- a halo.
Broad Brand
“Brand cohesion doesn’t really exist at Lexus,” says Eddie Alterman, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver magazine. “The models are all over the place and don’t really have a unifying theme. It’s especially hard to draw a direct line from best-selling RX crossover to the LFA. You have to ask: What’s the trickle-down effect?”
Yet Alterman says that modern luxury brands must have a vehicle to showcase performance, as Mercedes-Benz’s AMG and BMW’s M divisions do. “You have to prove there’s substance behind all the wood, chrome and leather.” As for the LFA: “It’s astoundingly good, even at the price,” he says.
The LFA has been in development for 10 years, beginning with a “Skunk Works” team who began on their own without an explicit directive. Yet the timing of its release is hardly ideal. Lexus products are often labeled as boring, so it’s ironic that the LFA arrives amid recalls of the GX 460 SUV and HS 250h for safety issues. Consumers are hardly looking for more surprises.
Carbon-Fiber Build
The LFA is a traditional front-engine, rear-wheel-drive coupe with basic proportions similar to a Chevy Corvette. The price tag is a result of supercar-worthy construction like a carbon-fiber tub, aerodynamic underbelly and racing suspension.
Only 500 will be built over a two-year run, with production starting in December. About 175 will come to the U.S., with choices of custom interior and exterior colors. With numbers so low, you’re as likely to spot a LFA on the street as you are to see Big Foot at Starbucks.
At the racetrack, the Lexus folks seem a bit nervous.
Somebody has fired up the LFA and the engine is crackling. I’m among a small group of car journalists at New Jersey Motorsports Park, and we’ve been promised three laps each.
“Remember, there’s only one,” a representative mumbles -- break it or wreck it, and the game’s over for everybody. Giving journalists a rare prototype is like lending a set of original, still-in-the-box G.I. Joe toys to a 4-year-old.
I waste no time, strapping on my helmet and getting inside. I feel like the hand in the proverbial glove: The seat is comfortable, but room is scant. Some controls are under the wheel and out of sight. You find them by feel.
Three Laps
How do you evaluate any car in three laps? And there’s no chance of testing it on real streets. Apparently Lexus feels it is safer on the track where there’s no chance of being rear- ended by a texting teen.
I follow Scott Pruett, a professional driver who’s piloting a $59,000 Lexus IS F sports car, onto the track and as the engine revs build, the V-10 breaks into an F1-esque whine.
Steering is precise if a bit light -- a fact I discover when, on my first lap, I swing out too wide and rumble onto the extreme edge of a curb (oops). Nor does it offer the constant torque and cerebellum-scrambling speed of the new Ferrari 458.
Yet it isn’t scary like certain halo cars -- the Porsche Carrera GT leaps to mind. And compared to the all-wheel-drive Nissan GT-R, the LFA is a driver’s car. Though it has electronic stability and traction controls, they are only background players.
The LFA is beautifully weighted, a dancer on the ***** of its feet, swiveling easily into tight corners. By the eighth lap (okay, so I snuck a few extra ones in), I feel comfortable and fast.
It took them a long time, but Lexus brings excitement -- if only to a very few customers.
So, Prius and Yaris, meet your new brother. Family dinners are going to be a lot more interesting.
The Lexus LFA at a Glance
Engine: 4.8-liter V-10 engine with 552 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque.
Transmission: Automated single-clutch with paddles.
Speed: 0 to 60 mph in about 3.6 seconds.
Gas mileage per gallon: 13 city; 19 highway (estimated).
Price as tested: $375,000.
Best features: Neutral handling and the satisfying sound of the V-10.
Worst feature: Rather inelegant exterior styling, especially for a Lexus.
Target buyer: The supercar collector who’s bored with his other toys.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=ahcxRv.tYuDM
Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print | A A A Review by Jason H. Harper
May 13 (Bloomberg) -- The latest Lexus model starts at $375,000.
Toyota Motor Corp., the same parent company that brings you the 51-mile-per-gallon Prius and $13,000 Yaris, will also be producing the LFA, a 202-miles-per-hour, gasoline-evaporating supercar that competes with the $320,000 Ferrari 599 GTB. Talk about a broad family tree.
I consider this as I walk around one of three drivable LFA prototypes in the world, currently sitting on a racetrack in southern New Jersey. The other two are in Japan and Europe.
Inside, it has leather and Alcantara, automatic seats and navigation like you’ll find on the LS 600h L executive sedan. Until now that $109,000 hybrid was the most expensive Lexus model.
The LFA is no hybrid. It has beefy carbon-ceramic brakes, swollen performance tires and a 552-horsepower V-10 engine that will propel it to 60 mph in less than four seconds. Basically it’s a tarted-up racecar, and it fits into the Lexus lineup about as comfortably as a WWF wrestler at the ballet.
So-called halo cars typically showcase a company’s hottest designs and highest performance standards. The idea is that the excitement will brighten a brand’s lesser vehicles. If Dodge could make the Viper, Chrysler’s Neon was sure to rock, too, right?
Other notables in this class include the Acura NSX, Nissan GT-R and Audi R8.
Arguably, Lexus has never before had -- or really needed -- a halo.
Broad Brand
“Brand cohesion doesn’t really exist at Lexus,” says Eddie Alterman, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver magazine. “The models are all over the place and don’t really have a unifying theme. It’s especially hard to draw a direct line from best-selling RX crossover to the LFA. You have to ask: What’s the trickle-down effect?”
Yet Alterman says that modern luxury brands must have a vehicle to showcase performance, as Mercedes-Benz’s AMG and BMW’s M divisions do. “You have to prove there’s substance behind all the wood, chrome and leather.” As for the LFA: “It’s astoundingly good, even at the price,” he says.
The LFA has been in development for 10 years, beginning with a “Skunk Works” team who began on their own without an explicit directive. Yet the timing of its release is hardly ideal. Lexus products are often labeled as boring, so it’s ironic that the LFA arrives amid recalls of the GX 460 SUV and HS 250h for safety issues. Consumers are hardly looking for more surprises.
Carbon-Fiber Build
The LFA is a traditional front-engine, rear-wheel-drive coupe with basic proportions similar to a Chevy Corvette. The price tag is a result of supercar-worthy construction like a carbon-fiber tub, aerodynamic underbelly and racing suspension.
Only 500 will be built over a two-year run, with production starting in December. About 175 will come to the U.S., with choices of custom interior and exterior colors. With numbers so low, you’re as likely to spot a LFA on the street as you are to see Big Foot at Starbucks.
At the racetrack, the Lexus folks seem a bit nervous.
Somebody has fired up the LFA and the engine is crackling. I’m among a small group of car journalists at New Jersey Motorsports Park, and we’ve been promised three laps each.
“Remember, there’s only one,” a representative mumbles -- break it or wreck it, and the game’s over for everybody. Giving journalists a rare prototype is like lending a set of original, still-in-the-box G.I. Joe toys to a 4-year-old.
I waste no time, strapping on my helmet and getting inside. I feel like the hand in the proverbial glove: The seat is comfortable, but room is scant. Some controls are under the wheel and out of sight. You find them by feel.
Three Laps
How do you evaluate any car in three laps? And there’s no chance of testing it on real streets. Apparently Lexus feels it is safer on the track where there’s no chance of being rear- ended by a texting teen.
I follow Scott Pruett, a professional driver who’s piloting a $59,000 Lexus IS F sports car, onto the track and as the engine revs build, the V-10 breaks into an F1-esque whine.
Steering is precise if a bit light -- a fact I discover when, on my first lap, I swing out too wide and rumble onto the extreme edge of a curb (oops). Nor does it offer the constant torque and cerebellum-scrambling speed of the new Ferrari 458.
Yet it isn’t scary like certain halo cars -- the Porsche Carrera GT leaps to mind. And compared to the all-wheel-drive Nissan GT-R, the LFA is a driver’s car. Though it has electronic stability and traction controls, they are only background players.
The LFA is beautifully weighted, a dancer on the ***** of its feet, swiveling easily into tight corners. By the eighth lap (okay, so I snuck a few extra ones in), I feel comfortable and fast.
It took them a long time, but Lexus brings excitement -- if only to a very few customers.
So, Prius and Yaris, meet your new brother. Family dinners are going to be a lot more interesting.
The Lexus LFA at a Glance
Engine: 4.8-liter V-10 engine with 552 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque.
Transmission: Automated single-clutch with paddles.
Speed: 0 to 60 mph in about 3.6 seconds.
Gas mileage per gallon: 13 city; 19 highway (estimated).
Price as tested: $375,000.
Best features: Neutral handling and the satisfying sound of the V-10.
Worst feature: Rather inelegant exterior styling, especially for a Lexus.
Target buyer: The supercar collector who’s bored with his other toys.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=ahcxRv.tYuDM
05-13-10, 10:55 PM
#1556
Lexus Champion
Surprised no one is talking about the LFA at the nurburgring. In practice it was 3rd fastest overall. In qualifying it was 8th and 17th overall with the session being red flagged. I think there is another qualifying session for tomorrow, or later on today actually in germany. I'll try to keep up and post more information.
05-14-10, 03:19 AM
#1558
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
^^^
Thanks for the pics!!! Ah back in the days when Lexus sponsored the Hollywood Bowl, imagine if that had that stand there...
Thanks for the early session/qualifying updates! I am looking forward to following the actual race results. The new paint scheme on those LFA racers are quite nice too.
Thanks for the pics!!! Ah back in the days when Lexus sponsored the Hollywood Bowl, imagine if that had that stand there...
Surprised no one is talking about the LFA at the nurburgring. In practice it was 3rd fastest overall. In qualifying it was 8th and 17th overall with the session being red flagged. I think there is another qualifying session for tomorrow, or later on today actually in germany. I'll try to keep up and post more information.
05-14-10, 06:55 AM
#1560
Lexus Champion
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Surprised no one is talking about the LFA at the nurburgring. In practice it was 3rd fastest overall. In qualifying it was 8th and 17th overall with the session being red flagged. I think there is another qualifying session for tomorrow, or later on today actually in germany. I'll try to keep up and post more information.
