Lexus LFA- Discussion, Pictures & News (new colors gloss black, blue, yellow)
#2326
Lexus Test Driver
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It could be plausible. But, the coefficient of drag measured with the spoiler deployed is alarmingly high at 0.40 (by comparison, most fixed spoiler supercars have CD of what LFA has with the spoiler retracted). As a comparison, an X5 M SUV has a drag coefficient of 0.38. Do you see my point? It seems almost as if the spoiler begins to act like a brake at very high speeds a la Maclaren Mercedes SLR. I am 100% sure, it can very easily be fixed through altering the angle of the spoiler, which is titled too much.
However, it could be possible that the red LFA was not putting down the power that it should be.
Seeing how this 0 - 300 KM/H is spreading over the internet like wildfire and many people believing everything they read and taking a stab at the LFA without even trying to look for answers when it simply does not make sense. It is impossible for LFA to be that slow. I still believe Lexus needs to stop putting these prototypes out for comparisons/tests since I think they owe it to their customers to finish the product first and conduct all the tests with complete confidentiality.
Thanks for the update. I agree the control should definitely be available to the user with a few preset and tested options available including controlling the angle of the spoiler that gives the best combination of top end acceleration and downforce. If the user wishes to retract the spoiler, it should be available to him.
The other thing to take back to Lexus is definitely having a launch control system, which is very critical that you guys can stress to Lexus about.
I don't think so. Lexus races the LFA with stock power of 552 HP in the SP8 class so definitely Lexus builds LFA engines that put down the proper power. Most of the Lexus dynos I have seen seem to be exactly where they should be. For example, IS350 dynos around 245 - 250 wheel HP, IS250 dynos around 175 - 180 wheel HP , IS-F around 335 - 340 wheel HP etc.
Remember, it is not out of the ordinary to get lower dyno readings sometimes. I have seen some other manufacturers that out of the blue have cars that dyno lower than expected.
However, it could be possible that the red LFA was not putting down the power that it should be.
Seeing how this 0 - 300 KM/H is spreading over the internet like wildfire and many people believing everything they read and taking a stab at the LFA without even trying to look for answers when it simply does not make sense. It is impossible for LFA to be that slow. I still believe Lexus needs to stop putting these prototypes out for comparisons/tests since I think they owe it to their customers to finish the product first and conduct all the tests with complete confidentiality.
Look at the asterisk for the max speed in 6th gear, so that means Lexus knew the LFA can go faster if only the spoiler can be adjusted for less drag. Another thing, I remember that the Nur package added a huge fixed spoiler to the LFA, so does that mean it could be worst in high speed run? I think we know what the answer is given the car was developed and tuned on this very track. Therefore a logical conclusion is the red LFA in this test is missing some ponies...
Thanks for the update. I agree the control should definitely be available to the user with a few preset and tested options available including controlling the angle of the spoiler that gives the best combination of top end acceleration and downforce. If the user wishes to retract the spoiler, it should be available to him.
The other thing to take back to Lexus is definitely having a launch control system, which is very critical that you guys can stress to Lexus about.
The impression I got from discussion with Lexus reps about the spoiler (and this is several months ago so may well be out of date) is that the ability to control the deployment of the spoiler while the car is in motion is still under consideration. My understanding of their explanation is that there is an interface to deploy/retract the spoiler but it is not designed to be used while the car is in motion. I did not ask whether it is possible to use that interface to prevent the spoiler from deploying automatically at speed.
At that time, I did suggest that spoiler deployment be controllable as it is in, for example, some Porsche models, so that we could prevent the spoiler from deploying during normal (i.e., street and highway) driving conditions. I will say I don't really care about retracting the spoiler to prevent drag issues at high speed... in fact, I'd probably question the prudence of not having the spoiler deploy at high speeds.
At that time, I did suggest that spoiler deployment be controllable as it is in, for example, some Porsche models, so that we could prevent the spoiler from deploying during normal (i.e., street and highway) driving conditions. I will say I don't really care about retracting the spoiler to prevent drag issues at high speed... in fact, I'd probably question the prudence of not having the spoiler deploy at high speeds.
I don't think so. Lexus races the LFA with stock power of 552 HP in the SP8 class so definitely Lexus builds LFA engines that put down the proper power. Most of the Lexus dynos I have seen seem to be exactly where they should be. For example, IS350 dynos around 245 - 250 wheel HP, IS250 dynos around 175 - 180 wheel HP , IS-F around 335 - 340 wheel HP etc.
Remember, it is not out of the ordinary to get lower dyno readings sometimes. I have seen some other manufacturers that out of the blue have cars that dyno lower than expected.
The drag coefficient is one thing, but what about the power output? It seems odd to me now that apparently the gearing can't be blamed, the spoiler is solely responsible for the awful top acceleration. I remember when Lexus started selling the IS 220 diesel in Europe, some magazines compared it to equally powerful German competitors and found out it was very slow for 177 claimed bhp. One of those magazines (Autogids) decided to put the car on the dyno meter at Bosch and the results were only 150 bhp and 40lbs/ft less than claimed. Might this be true for the (pre production) LFA too?
Last edited by 05RollaXRS; 08-22-10 at 04:41 PM.
#2327
Lexus Champion
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Wasn't the LFA done on an AWD dyno by Motortrend and made an unimpressive 430hp? I thought it was supposed to be a 10-12% drop from crank to wheels? So this would be more than a 20% drop in power. So even if the dyno was off by a couple percentage points, the pre-production LFAs look to be down on power. If this is the case and it's done for a reason by Lexus, then the achievements done by the car so far speaks volumes.
![](https://image.motortrend.com/f/33330363+w750/2012-lexus-LFA-and-2010-nissan-GT-R-dyno-chart.jpg)
By this chart we see the GTR making 48 less HP at the wheels than the LFA. Official numbers are 480HP for the GTR and 552HP for the LFA. So what happened to the 72HP advantage of the LFA? Me thinks something is fishy and it aint the dyno- I wish Lexus would elaborate.
![](https://image.motortrend.com/f/33330363+w750/2012-lexus-LFA-and-2010-nissan-GT-R-dyno-chart.jpg)
By this chart we see the GTR making 48 less HP at the wheels than the LFA. Official numbers are 480HP for the GTR and 552HP for the LFA. So what happened to the 72HP advantage of the LFA? Me thinks something is fishy and it aint the dyno- I wish Lexus would elaborate.
Last edited by TF109B; 08-23-10 at 01:41 AM.
#2329
Lexus Test Driver
#2331
Lexus Test Driver
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Well, to be fair, LFA won the overall comparo despite the price. LFA destroyed the GTR in all handling and braking tests and also destroyed it in every 100+ mph acceleration tests. That is what truly matters.
I still think LFA's Nurburgring lap time despite being the same as the GTR (which s*cks), is quite an achievement since it goes neck and neck with Ferrari's latest and greatest offering and beats the most expensive Ferrari (599 GTB) by almost 10 seconds. There is no Lamborghini right now that was tested and was faster than the LFA. LP 560-4, LP640-4, LP670-4 all are substantially slower.
I still think LFA's Nurburgring lap time despite being the same as the GTR (which s*cks), is quite an achievement since it goes neck and neck with Ferrari's latest and greatest offering and beats the most expensive Ferrari (599 GTB) by almost 10 seconds. There is no Lamborghini right now that was tested and was faster than the LFA. LP 560-4, LP640-4, LP670-4 all are substantially slower.
Last edited by 05RollaXRS; 08-23-10 at 11:30 AM.
#2332
Lexus Champion
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They did more than just one run, they said they ran it 3 or 4 times in 5th gear to reach what they call it's HP numbers at the wheels. I don't think it's accurate, it was a rhetorical question BTW, but it's certainly not far off. What can you expect? If it was on a RWD dyno what could the difference be? Anyone know for sure? It's been said before that the GTR they think makes more HP at the crank then it's said to be making. I like the GTR, but it's no LFA. They tested the braking distance and it was 94 ft. from 60mph. That's impressive, especially being a loaded LFA without the spec tires.
#2333
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They did more than just one run, they said they ran it 3 or 4 times in 5th gear to reach what they call it's HP numbers at the wheels. I don't think it's accurate, it was a rhetorical question BTW, but it's certainly not far off. What can you expect? If it was on a RWD dyno what could the difference be? Anyone know for sure? It's been said before that the GTR they think makes more HP at the crank then it's said to be making. I like the GTR, but it's no LFA. They tested the braking distance and it was 94 ft. from 60mph. That's impressive, especially being a loaded LFA without the spec tires.
#2334
Lexus Test Driver
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Thanks. I thought it was quite obvious looking at the front rollers spinning using the torque of the rear wheel since it is simulating all four wheels collectively pushing the ground back.
Usually there is a way to switch AWD dynos to RWDs with the push of a button, but the front rollers do not spin in that case. It was quite idiotic of MotorTrend to neither mention it nor request an explanation from them as to why the front rollers are spinning on a RWD car.
For a 552 HP car, assuming a typical 15 - 18% drivetrain loss, the wheel HP should be around 480 - 495 wheel HP.
Usually there is a way to switch AWD dynos to RWDs with the push of a button, but the front rollers do not spin in that case. It was quite idiotic of MotorTrend to neither mention it nor request an explanation from them as to why the front rollers are spinning on a RWD car.
For a 552 HP car, assuming a typical 15 - 18% drivetrain loss, the wheel HP should be around 480 - 495 wheel HP.
If you watched the video, you'd see that the LFA is wasting a lot of power to unnecessarily spin its front wheels and the front rollers of the AWD dyno. The dyno result is therefore far off of course, but how far off, no one would know. Hopefully someone else gets to do a proper dyno for the LFA soon.
Last edited by 05RollaXRS; 08-23-10 at 06:07 PM.
#2335
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I bought Sport Auto magazine today that contains the LFA Supertest. Some remarkable things i noticed:
1) weight with full fuel tank: 1598 kg. The magazine really wonders how it could be this heavy when the car uses carbon fibre, an extremely light engine and titanium exhaust. They mention however the car comes fully loaded with luxuries.
2) 0-62 mph: 4.3 (!) seconds but this is achieved with Launch Control the magazine says. Explanation for the bad time is the very moderate rpm the launch control maintains and this results in a bad compromise between wheelspin and traction. So it looks like the LFA pre production cars are equipped with LC, but that it is badly calibrated.
They did another test later from 0-300 and here the LFA got 4.1 seconds from 0-62, but they didn't mention if this was achieved with or without LC. Also noticed they could only get a 0-62 time of 4.0 seconds for the Corvette ZR1...
3) While the engine still sounds great, they preferred the incredible sound of the Nürburgring racer versions. I was also a bit disappointed when i heard the 'final' sound adjustments they made to the LFA last year. Just search Youtube for the VLN and ADAC 24 h LFA entries and you will probably feel the same.
4) Comparing the LFA to his closest opponent (imo the 458 Italia) on the Nürburgring and Hockenheim tracks it becomes clear the LFA is noticeably faster in the corners, while the 458 leaves the LFA in the dust on the straights due to a considerably higher speed.
For example: on Döttinger Höhe the 458 achieves a top of 295 km/h while the LFA achieves only 275. In the Brünnchen corner the LFA achieves 1.30 G and 114 km/h while the Italia reaches 105 km/h and 1.25G. The end result is the same laptime for the Nordschleife of 7.38 min. Important is that both the LFA and 458 achieved this result without the use of semi-slick sport tyres like the Michelin Sport cup (the LFA used Bridgestone S001). The Nissan GTR (7.38) was equipped with semi-slick sport tyres.
Same story on Hockenheim: the LFA was 0.5 seconds slower than the 458, and 0.2 and 0.1 seconds slower than the GTR and R8 v10 respectively but the latter both used semi-slicks so not really a fair comparison.
5) Sport Auto sums up 3 reasons why the LFA didn't do better: bad Launch control, too high drag coefficient of 0.391 and too much weight. That Lexus is aware of this is evidenced by the lighter Nürburgring Edition, according to Sport Auto.
Conclusion of Sport Auto: if you do not look at the price this is a great car. If you do take the cost into account and the exotic materials used, the actual performance numbers are questionable. However the car has its own character and provides superb handling, feel and luxury.
1) weight with full fuel tank: 1598 kg. The magazine really wonders how it could be this heavy when the car uses carbon fibre, an extremely light engine and titanium exhaust. They mention however the car comes fully loaded with luxuries.
2) 0-62 mph: 4.3 (!) seconds but this is achieved with Launch Control the magazine says. Explanation for the bad time is the very moderate rpm the launch control maintains and this results in a bad compromise between wheelspin and traction. So it looks like the LFA pre production cars are equipped with LC, but that it is badly calibrated.
They did another test later from 0-300 and here the LFA got 4.1 seconds from 0-62, but they didn't mention if this was achieved with or without LC. Also noticed they could only get a 0-62 time of 4.0 seconds for the Corvette ZR1...
3) While the engine still sounds great, they preferred the incredible sound of the Nürburgring racer versions. I was also a bit disappointed when i heard the 'final' sound adjustments they made to the LFA last year. Just search Youtube for the VLN and ADAC 24 h LFA entries and you will probably feel the same.
4) Comparing the LFA to his closest opponent (imo the 458 Italia) on the Nürburgring and Hockenheim tracks it becomes clear the LFA is noticeably faster in the corners, while the 458 leaves the LFA in the dust on the straights due to a considerably higher speed.
For example: on Döttinger Höhe the 458 achieves a top of 295 km/h while the LFA achieves only 275. In the Brünnchen corner the LFA achieves 1.30 G and 114 km/h while the Italia reaches 105 km/h and 1.25G. The end result is the same laptime for the Nordschleife of 7.38 min. Important is that both the LFA and 458 achieved this result without the use of semi-slick sport tyres like the Michelin Sport cup (the LFA used Bridgestone S001). The Nissan GTR (7.38) was equipped with semi-slick sport tyres.
Same story on Hockenheim: the LFA was 0.5 seconds slower than the 458, and 0.2 and 0.1 seconds slower than the GTR and R8 v10 respectively but the latter both used semi-slicks so not really a fair comparison.
5) Sport Auto sums up 3 reasons why the LFA didn't do better: bad Launch control, too high drag coefficient of 0.391 and too much weight. That Lexus is aware of this is evidenced by the lighter Nürburgring Edition, according to Sport Auto.
Conclusion of Sport Auto: if you do not look at the price this is a great car. If you do take the cost into account and the exotic materials used, the actual performance numbers are questionable. However the car has its own character and provides superb handling, feel and luxury.
Last edited by DeTomaso; 08-24-10 at 07:27 AM.
#2336
Lexus Test Driver
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It could be plausible. But, the coefficient of drag measured with the spoiler deployed is alarmingly high at 0.40 (by comparison, most fixed spoiler supercars have CD of what LFA has with the spoiler retracted). As a comparison, an X5 M SUV has a drag coefficient of 0.38.
#2337
Lexus Test Driver
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Thanks for posting that. I had been really looking forward to reading the details.
- They measured the drag coefficient at 0.34 without the spoiler raised and 0.3981 with the spoiler raised up. The LFA frontal area is very small at 2.01 meter square as most supercars have a much higher frontal area.
- 3500 lbs with that much luxuries in the car (3400 lbs without gas filled) is comparable to a 599 GTB with similar luxuries at 4100 lbs. It is still not that heavy. I guess, Lexus can cut back on some luxuries to keep the weight down. There is no need for 13 speakers in a race-track oriented supercar, I think.
- Very surprised at the launch control not working adequately. I was hoping Lexus will put a good launch control that can easily trim the time down to 3.4 - 3.5 seconds. Still, the same 0 - 60 mph as the ZR-1 cannot be a bad thing.
- I had long seem the temporary bridgestone tires as a limiting factor since most supercars come with semi-slick tires (Michelin Sport Cup tires), which is putting LFA at a disadvantage. ZR-1 comes standard with these semi-slick tires. Lexus should be supplying the test cars with the most aggressive tires they could find.
- Again, I strongly believe the extremely levels of downforce at the very high speed is what costs LFA precious tenths. Maybe, Lexus needs a better compromise between downforce and high speed acceleration.
- They measured the drag coefficient at 0.34 without the spoiler raised and 0.3981 with the spoiler raised up. The LFA frontal area is very small at 2.01 meter square as most supercars have a much higher frontal area.
- 3500 lbs with that much luxuries in the car (3400 lbs without gas filled) is comparable to a 599 GTB with similar luxuries at 4100 lbs. It is still not that heavy. I guess, Lexus can cut back on some luxuries to keep the weight down. There is no need for 13 speakers in a race-track oriented supercar, I think.
- Very surprised at the launch control not working adequately. I was hoping Lexus will put a good launch control that can easily trim the time down to 3.4 - 3.5 seconds. Still, the same 0 - 60 mph as the ZR-1 cannot be a bad thing.
- I had long seem the temporary bridgestone tires as a limiting factor since most supercars come with semi-slick tires (Michelin Sport Cup tires), which is putting LFA at a disadvantage. ZR-1 comes standard with these semi-slick tires. Lexus should be supplying the test cars with the most aggressive tires they could find.
- Again, I strongly believe the extremely levels of downforce at the very high speed is what costs LFA precious tenths. Maybe, Lexus needs a better compromise between downforce and high speed acceleration.
I bought Sport Auto magazine today that contains the LFA Supertest. Some remarkable things i noticed:
1) weight with full fuel tank: 1598 kg. The magazine really wonders how it could be this heavy when the car uses carbon fibre, an extremely light engine and titanium exhaust. They mention however the car comes fully loaded with luxuries.
2) 0-62 mph: 4.3 (!) seconds but this is achieved with Launch Control the magazine says. Explanation for the bad time is the very moderate rpm the launch control maintains and this results in a bad compromise between wheelspin and traction. So it looks like the LFA pre production cars are equipped with LC, but that it is badly calibrated.
They did another test later from 0-300 and here the LFA got 4.1 seconds from 0-62, but they didn't mention if this was achieved with or without LC. Also noticed they could only get a 0-62 time of 4.0 seconds for the Corvette ZR1...
3) While the engine still sounds great, they preferred the incredible sound of the Nürburgring racer versions. I was also a bit disappointed when i heard the 'final' sound adjustments they made to the LFA last year. Just search Youtube for the VLN and ADAC 24 h LFA entries and you will probably feel the same.
4) Comparing the LFA to his closest opponent (imo the 458 Italia) on the Nürburgring and Hockenheim tracks it becomes clear the LFA is noticeably faster in the corners, while the 458 leaves the LFA in the dust on the straights due to a considerably higher speed.
For example: on Döttinger Höhe the 458 achieves a top of 295 km/h while the LFA achieves only 275. In the Brünnchen corner the LFA achieves 1.30 G and 114 km/h while the Italia reaches 105 km/h and 1.25G. The end result is the same laptime for the Nordschleife of 7.38 min. Important is that both the LFA and 458 achieved this result without the use of semi-slick sport tyres like the Michelin Sport cup (the LFA used Bridgestone S001). The Nissan GTR (7.38) was equipped with semi-slick sport tyres.
Same story on Hockenheim: the LFA was 0.5 seconds slower than the 458, and 0.2 and 0.1 seconds slower than the GTR and R8 v10 respectively but the latter both used semi-slicks so not really a fair comparison.
5) Sport Auto sums up 3 reasons why the LFA didn't do better: bad Launch control, too high drag coefficient of 0.391 and too much weight. That Lexus is aware of this is evidenced by the lighter Nürburgring Edition, according to Sport Auto.
Conclusion of Sport Auto: if you do not look at the price this is a great car. If you do take the cost into account and the exotic materials used, the actual performance numbers are questionable. However the car has its own character and provides superb handling, feel and luxury.
1) weight with full fuel tank: 1598 kg. The magazine really wonders how it could be this heavy when the car uses carbon fibre, an extremely light engine and titanium exhaust. They mention however the car comes fully loaded with luxuries.
2) 0-62 mph: 4.3 (!) seconds but this is achieved with Launch Control the magazine says. Explanation for the bad time is the very moderate rpm the launch control maintains and this results in a bad compromise between wheelspin and traction. So it looks like the LFA pre production cars are equipped with LC, but that it is badly calibrated.
They did another test later from 0-300 and here the LFA got 4.1 seconds from 0-62, but they didn't mention if this was achieved with or without LC. Also noticed they could only get a 0-62 time of 4.0 seconds for the Corvette ZR1...
3) While the engine still sounds great, they preferred the incredible sound of the Nürburgring racer versions. I was also a bit disappointed when i heard the 'final' sound adjustments they made to the LFA last year. Just search Youtube for the VLN and ADAC 24 h LFA entries and you will probably feel the same.
4) Comparing the LFA to his closest opponent (imo the 458 Italia) on the Nürburgring and Hockenheim tracks it becomes clear the LFA is noticeably faster in the corners, while the 458 leaves the LFA in the dust on the straights due to a considerably higher speed.
For example: on Döttinger Höhe the 458 achieves a top of 295 km/h while the LFA achieves only 275. In the Brünnchen corner the LFA achieves 1.30 G and 114 km/h while the Italia reaches 105 km/h and 1.25G. The end result is the same laptime for the Nordschleife of 7.38 min. Important is that both the LFA and 458 achieved this result without the use of semi-slick sport tyres like the Michelin Sport cup (the LFA used Bridgestone S001). The Nissan GTR (7.38) was equipped with semi-slick sport tyres.
Same story on Hockenheim: the LFA was 0.5 seconds slower than the 458, and 0.2 and 0.1 seconds slower than the GTR and R8 v10 respectively but the latter both used semi-slicks so not really a fair comparison.
5) Sport Auto sums up 3 reasons why the LFA didn't do better: bad Launch control, too high drag coefficient of 0.391 and too much weight. That Lexus is aware of this is evidenced by the lighter Nürburgring Edition, according to Sport Auto.
Conclusion of Sport Auto: if you do not look at the price this is a great car. If you do take the cost into account and the exotic materials used, the actual performance numbers are questionable. However the car has its own character and provides superb handling, feel and luxury.
#2338
Lexus Champion
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That's weird. It's gotta be an early version of their launch control. Their F1 cars had it and they used to make terrific starts. There's no way that the launch control will hurt the car (3.6 vs 4.2). Me thinks SportAuto might be a little biased towards european cars. Notice the Vette time. 4.0 to 62? Yeah, ok. That's absurd. The vette can hit 60 in 4 flat going up a hill. It's an easy 3.5 to 60 or 62mph. I guess they're going to say the launch control didn't work well with that car either? But it works fine with all the european cars? The Ferrari, less than 3.5; the Porsche, less than 3.5; the lambo, less than 3.5; you see the trend? I don't buy magazines just because of this. Motortrend, Car & Driver, Road & Track, they're the same way. BMW biased (see this ALL the time in C&D), Ferrari biased (Motortrend). It's hard to get the real story when you have publications already rooting for one side. How is it that Auto Zeitung could mangae 3.8 to 62mph? Didn't they not have launch control? Now all of a sudden the (presumably) same car has it and does it in 4.1 at best? It's illogical.
#2339
Lexus Test Driver
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I wonder when is BestMotoring going to do a full test and race on Tsukuba circuit for the LFA??? I would love to see Tsuchiya flog the LFA around the track.
Well, imagine what LFA would have done if Lexus had put the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup+ semi-slick tires. Corvette ZR-1, GT2, GT3 RS 997.2 and Nissan GTR were wearing these tires when SportAuto did the test. 7:28 - 7:30 would have been easily attainable for the LFA.
The Bridgestone S001 are considered high-performance tires for luxury touring cars. Not extreme performance tires. I have no clue why Lexus would put these tires on the LFA (BTW, Ferrari 458 Italia comes from factory with these tires as well).
Looks like Lexus put a conservative launch control on LFA to save the clutch from wearing out. Most likely launch control does not let the LFA drop the clutch from over 2500 - 3000 rpm.
Well, imagine what LFA would have done if Lexus had put the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup+ semi-slick tires. Corvette ZR-1, GT2, GT3 RS 997.2 and Nissan GTR were wearing these tires when SportAuto did the test. 7:28 - 7:30 would have been easily attainable for the LFA.
The Bridgestone S001 are considered high-performance tires for luxury touring cars. Not extreme performance tires. I have no clue why Lexus would put these tires on the LFA (BTW, Ferrari 458 Italia comes from factory with these tires as well).
Looks like Lexus put a conservative launch control on LFA to save the clutch from wearing out. Most likely launch control does not let the LFA drop the clutch from over 2500 - 3000 rpm.
That's weird. It's gotta be an early version of their launch control. Their F1 cars had it and they used to make terrific starts. There's no way that the launch control will hurt the car (3.6 vs 4.2). Me thinks SportAuto might be a little biased towards european cars. Notice the Vette time. 4.0 to 62? Yeah, ok. That's absurd. The vette can hit 60 in 4 flat going up a hill. It's an easy 3.5 to 60 or 62mph. I guess they're going to say the launch control didn't work well with that car either? But it works fine with all the european cars? The Ferrari, less than 3.5; the Porsche, less than 3.5; the lambo, less than 3.5; you see the trend? I don't buy magazines just because of this. Motortrend, Car & Driver, Road & Track, they're the same way. BMW biased (see this ALL the time in C&D), Ferrari biased (Motortrend). It's hard to get the real story when you have publications already rooting for one side. How is it that Auto Zeitung could mangae 3.8 to 62mph? Didn't they not have launch control? Now all of a sudden the (presumably) same car has it and does it in 4.1 at best? It's illogical.
Last edited by 05RollaXRS; 08-24-10 at 05:31 PM.
#2340
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I bought Sport Auto magazine today that contains the LFA Supertest. Some remarkable things i noticed:
1) weight with full fuel tank: 1598 kg. The magazine really wonders how it could be this heavy when the car uses carbon fibre, an extremely light engine and titanium exhaust. They mention however the car comes fully loaded with luxuries.
2) 0-62 mph: 4.3 (!) seconds but this is achieved with Launch Control the magazine says. Explanation for the bad time is the very moderate rpm the launch control maintains and this results in a bad compromise between wheelspin and traction. So it looks like the LFA pre production cars are equipped with LC, but that it is badly calibrated.
They did another test later from 0-300 and here the LFA got 4.1 seconds from 0-62, but they didn't mention if this was achieved with or without LC. Also noticed they could only get a 0-62 time of 4.0 seconds for the Corvette ZR1...
3) While the engine still sounds great, they preferred the incredible sound of the Nürburgring racer versions. I was also a bit disappointed when i heard the 'final' sound adjustments they made to the LFA last year. Just search Youtube for the VLN and ADAC 24 h LFA entries and you will probably feel the same.
4) Comparing the LFA to his closest opponent (imo the 458 Italia) on the Nürburgring and Hockenheim tracks it becomes clear the LFA is noticeably faster in the corners, while the 458 leaves the LFA in the dust on the straights due to a considerably higher speed.
For example: on Döttinger Höhe the 458 achieves a top of 295 km/h while the LFA achieves only 275. In the Brünnchen corner the LFA achieves 1.30 G and 114 km/h while the Italia reaches 105 km/h and 1.25G. The end result is the same laptime for the Nordschleife of 7.38 min. Important is that both the LFA and 458 achieved this result without the use of semi-slick sport tyres like the Michelin Sport cup (the LFA used Bridgestone S001). The Nissan GTR (7.38) was equipped with semi-slick sport tyres.
Same story on Hockenheim: the LFA was 0.5 seconds slower than the 458, and 0.2 and 0.1 seconds slower than the GTR and R8 v10 respectively but the latter both used semi-slicks so not really a fair comparison.
5) Sport Auto sums up 3 reasons why the LFA didn't do better: bad Launch control, too high drag coefficient of 0.391 and too much weight. That Lexus is aware of this is evidenced by the lighter Nürburgring Edition, according to Sport Auto.
Conclusion of Sport Auto: if you do not look at the price this is a great car. If you do take the cost into account and the exotic materials used, the actual performance numbers are questionable. However the car has its own character and provides superb handling, feel and luxury.
1) weight with full fuel tank: 1598 kg. The magazine really wonders how it could be this heavy when the car uses carbon fibre, an extremely light engine and titanium exhaust. They mention however the car comes fully loaded with luxuries.
2) 0-62 mph: 4.3 (!) seconds but this is achieved with Launch Control the magazine says. Explanation for the bad time is the very moderate rpm the launch control maintains and this results in a bad compromise between wheelspin and traction. So it looks like the LFA pre production cars are equipped with LC, but that it is badly calibrated.
They did another test later from 0-300 and here the LFA got 4.1 seconds from 0-62, but they didn't mention if this was achieved with or without LC. Also noticed they could only get a 0-62 time of 4.0 seconds for the Corvette ZR1...
3) While the engine still sounds great, they preferred the incredible sound of the Nürburgring racer versions. I was also a bit disappointed when i heard the 'final' sound adjustments they made to the LFA last year. Just search Youtube for the VLN and ADAC 24 h LFA entries and you will probably feel the same.
4) Comparing the LFA to his closest opponent (imo the 458 Italia) on the Nürburgring and Hockenheim tracks it becomes clear the LFA is noticeably faster in the corners, while the 458 leaves the LFA in the dust on the straights due to a considerably higher speed.
For example: on Döttinger Höhe the 458 achieves a top of 295 km/h while the LFA achieves only 275. In the Brünnchen corner the LFA achieves 1.30 G and 114 km/h while the Italia reaches 105 km/h and 1.25G. The end result is the same laptime for the Nordschleife of 7.38 min. Important is that both the LFA and 458 achieved this result without the use of semi-slick sport tyres like the Michelin Sport cup (the LFA used Bridgestone S001). The Nissan GTR (7.38) was equipped with semi-slick sport tyres.
Same story on Hockenheim: the LFA was 0.5 seconds slower than the 458, and 0.2 and 0.1 seconds slower than the GTR and R8 v10 respectively but the latter both used semi-slicks so not really a fair comparison.
5) Sport Auto sums up 3 reasons why the LFA didn't do better: bad Launch control, too high drag coefficient of 0.391 and too much weight. That Lexus is aware of this is evidenced by the lighter Nürburgring Edition, according to Sport Auto.
Conclusion of Sport Auto: if you do not look at the price this is a great car. If you do take the cost into account and the exotic materials used, the actual performance numbers are questionable. However the car has its own character and provides superb handling, feel and luxury.
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