07grIS350

I've heard that Ferrari makes you buy a lesser model, before being offered their top ones. At least with Lexus, you have a shot at the LFA if you filled out an application form.

Totally agreed. F cars have been my favorite exotics, but I never thought about owning one due to scary stories about maintenance/reliability. Same goes for Lambo's. On the other hand, the LFA offers the promise of Lexus's bullet proof reliability with the performance similar to the established exotics. The biggest single reason to choose the LFA, at least for me, is the incredible amount of effort Lexus put in to build this limited production run of LFA's. It makes me feel very special knowing that Lexus builds this car to represent its best, and that profit was not its primary/direct motivation.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

kind of false actually. when the market was very very hot, meaning around 05-07, supply < demand. so dealerships played games and make newcomings get used / cheaper (less demanding) cars, and leave the higher value more limited ones to other people to "bid"

but nowadays? if you have money, you can get the 458 right the way. and if you have that much cash to show for the 599 gto, i don't think they have any problem selling to you (specially when they are trying to find buyers). i am talking about the US of course

MR_F1

No way Ferrari will sell a first timer a 599 GTO. Hell would Freeze over first. Also, if you want to buy a new Ferrari, you will pay a hefty premium the first couple of years in the model run. 458s I've seen on offer for around $355K.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i can tell you 458 prices have dropped since you last saw. that car isn't selling. you order one now and you can get one by end of the year. plus, if you go into showroom without doing your homework and bring someone that has connection, then you are asking for it anyway. it's no difference from getting a lexus. if you know people, then you can get a better price, even if you are first timer. bottom line is everything is linked to market. when market is good, everything has a premium and supplier can be "selective". when economy is not good, they are willing to deal with anyone. simple as that

07grIS350

I believe the 458 has some combustion issues, that an informed customers would not dare to touch... so unless you actually have tried to buy an 599 GTO, we can't be sure that Ferrari dealers would let you in.

MR_F1

Interesting bit of news to go with the GT1 rumors that have been floating around

Link

rominl

iTrader: (4)

458 sales have not been hot ever since the beginning, so that's even before any of those fire issue came up. it's purely due to the slow sales and the demand never lived up to ferrari's expectation.

599 gto aren't all sold at all, some of them are still left behind at dealerships (this is what ferrari means by spoken for, not to owners but allocated) and they can't seem to sell. i personally know an exotic owner with no ferrari history and he's offered a ticket to the 599 gto.

Mister Two

Sadly it seems that the LFA was again tested in the wet, only this time it was also beaten by the Porsche and Mercedes, more so by the Ferrari, according to someone who claims to have read the magazine.

http://lexusenthusiast.com/2010/08/1...rcar-showdown/1:19 sounds unreal for a wet time though. Makes me wonder if the track condition happened to be a lot better when it was Ferrari's turn to lap the Top Gear's track. It's all Top Gear's conspiracy I say!

05RollaXRS

Well TopGear selected LFA as one of the 5 greatest supercars of the year. How could it be a conspiracy?

LFA was the only car with a wet lap.

The Ferrari 1:19.1 was in the dry (which already is on the TopGear powerlaps board), the Porsche GT3 RS and SLS AMG both ran 1:21.6 in the dry.

LFA ran 1:22 in the wet.

Mister Two

Just because the LFA is listed as one of the greatest 5 it doesn't mean they are not going to secretly try to make sure that the LFA doesn't come out on top of the 5. I'm just sayin'. Ah, in other words they did not retest any of these cars for the magazine at all, but simply reused the lap times from the TV show. Very disappointing that they did not take the opportunity of getting their hands on the LFA for the second time to get a dry lap time for the LFA so that an apple-to-apple comparison can be made.

05RollaXRS

Yep, I know it is pretty lame considering they claim TheStig takes each car and flogs it around the race track when actually they recycled the old numbers of the LFA and Ferrari 458. The only cars that were actually run (in the dry) were GT3 RS and SLS AMG. Not sure about the Superleggera.

TF109B

A half second off the SLS in the wet compared to the dry. And two seconds off the 458. If Top gear's words are to be taken into consideration, 4 to 5 seconds could be found in the dry. That'd put the LFA in the 1:18's to 1:17's.

LexFather

I am certain the LFA would have ripped that track up. It isn't a brute force faster than almighty car. The grip in corners is just phenomenal. I don't think the SLS would be able to keep up in corners.

Ferrari has a fantastic trick diff that makes their cars damn near handle like AWD cars. The tech is pretty amazing.

Seriously in my laps with Pruitt I was beyond shocked at how the car handled in the dry. Grip was out of this world.

TF109B

The sport auto test showed the LFA taking some corners on the Nurburgring at 1.35G's. Pretty slick especially considering the 458 was at 1.25G's. But according to the article on the handling course it cornered the same as the 458 at 1.3G's. It just seems their numbers are inconclusive and sporadic at best. 1.35G's around the ring then 1.3G's on the other tracks? Weird.

The news about the LFA being in GT1 next year instead of the Vitaphone Maserati's sounds awesome. It'd be great to see those slick racing LFA's with the Vitaphone livery/colors.

05RollaXRS

What was the SLS AMG peak cornering g force?

SLS AMG is disadvantaged by 400 lbs extra weight as well. The test weight is usually close to 3850 - 3900 lbs compared to the LFA's 3400 - 3500 lbs test weight.

I think the best comparison was the AutoZeitung one where LFA dominated the SLS AMG in every sector of the track including the high speed straight sector where LFA first gained the lead.