Official Canadian debut of Lexus LFA
03-03-11, 08:28 AM
#16
Lexus Test Driver
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Is the total still 10 for Canada?? Or they increased the Canadian allocations by taking some from US.
03-03-11, 09:11 AM
#17
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We never saw a launch. I wasn't checking my speed but I'm sure we were well over 100 on the straights, but I drove Infineon with my SV this past summer and we were not as fast, but still respectable. We were plenty fast in the corners. I didn't feel the same sense of downforce I do in the SV at very high speed, but that isn't to say the LFA wasn't holding the road either.
The SV gives you very little warning when all hell is about to break loose. It's why so many exotics wreck in the hands of new owners and borrowed cars. They always come out (if they lived) wondering what the hell just happened. In the case of the LFA, it's a very difficult car to upset and I tried shifting in some less aggressive turns and the car still behaved just fine. I got a little slide out of it in corners but it was always flat, always smooth, and effortless to recover. Acceleration is nowhere near as sudden as the SV, however the LFA has a very even power band up the RPM so you find yourself shifting less frequently than the SV and this is where it makes up for some of that difference. You can back off and reapply power and not feel like you have to downshift to recover. Brake forces are a little harder than the SV, but it comes down very smoothly. This car was due for some new pads as you could hear the squeaks at low speeds.
Road feel was just enough, but not fatiguing either so I think the car will work well on very long runs. If this car was in a pack of LP640s, it wouldn't be the fastest off the line but it would definitely catch up (and probably pass) in the curves. It would take a skilled driver to already know the limits of the LP640 where the LFA tends to give you all the warning you need for most drivers.
I was trying to think of the closest comparison in other cars I've driven. The problem is that the LFA does isolate you from some sense of how fast you're going and what's actually happening. Again, there is a tradeoff, comfort over feedback. I'd say that the closest feel would be like a baby brother to a Veyron which has slightly less feedback until you're driving wicked fast. It does have the smoothness of something like a F430, but again, the F430 is a different ride, a lot more track, and less street.
Speaking of which, I didn't get to drive the LFA on the street so I have no idea what it's like in real world conditions- conditions that drivers will see 98% of the time. On the track it's a safe, competent performer.
Hope that helps.
The SV gives you very little warning when all hell is about to break loose. It's why so many exotics wreck in the hands of new owners and borrowed cars. They always come out (if they lived) wondering what the hell just happened. In the case of the LFA, it's a very difficult car to upset and I tried shifting in some less aggressive turns and the car still behaved just fine. I got a little slide out of it in corners but it was always flat, always smooth, and effortless to recover. Acceleration is nowhere near as sudden as the SV, however the LFA has a very even power band up the RPM so you find yourself shifting less frequently than the SV and this is where it makes up for some of that difference. You can back off and reapply power and not feel like you have to downshift to recover. Brake forces are a little harder than the SV, but it comes down very smoothly. This car was due for some new pads as you could hear the squeaks at low speeds.
Road feel was just enough, but not fatiguing either so I think the car will work well on very long runs. If this car was in a pack of LP640s, it wouldn't be the fastest off the line but it would definitely catch up (and probably pass) in the curves. It would take a skilled driver to already know the limits of the LP640 where the LFA tends to give you all the warning you need for most drivers.
I was trying to think of the closest comparison in other cars I've driven. The problem is that the LFA does isolate you from some sense of how fast you're going and what's actually happening. Again, there is a tradeoff, comfort over feedback. I'd say that the closest feel would be like a baby brother to a Veyron which has slightly less feedback until you're driving wicked fast. It does have the smoothness of something like a F430, but again, the F430 is a different ride, a lot more track, and less street.
Speaking of which, I didn't get to drive the LFA on the street so I have no idea what it's like in real world conditions- conditions that drivers will see 98% of the time. On the track it's a safe, competent performer.
Hope that helps.
03-03-11, 10:18 AM
#18
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We never saw a launch. I wasn't checking my speed but I'm sure we were well over 100 on the straights, but I drove Infineon with my SV this past summer and we were not as fast, but still respectable. We were plenty fast in the corners. I didn't feel the same sense of downforce I do in the SV at very high speed, but that isn't to say the LFA wasn't holding the road either.
The SV gives you very little warning when all hell is about to break loose. It's why so many exotics wreck in the hands of new owners and borrowed cars. They always come out (if they lived) wondering what the hell just happened. In the case of the LFA, it's a very difficult car to upset and I tried shifting in some less aggressive turns and the car still behaved just fine. I got a little slide out of it in corners but it was always flat, always smooth, and effortless to recover. Acceleration is nowhere near as sudden as the SV, however the LFA has a very even power band up the RPM so you find yourself shifting less frequently than the SV and this is where it makes up for some of that difference. You can back off and reapply power and not feel like you have to downshift to recover. Brake forces are a little harder than the SV, but it comes down very smoothly. This car was due for some new pads as you could hear the squeaks at low speeds.
Road feel was just enough, but not fatiguing either so I think the car will work well on very long runs. If this car was in a pack of LP640s, it wouldn't be the fastest off the line but it would definitely catch up (and probably pass) in the curves. It would take a skilled driver to already know the limits of the LP640 where the LFA tends to give you all the warning you need for most drivers.
I was trying to think of the closest comparison in other cars I've driven. The problem is that the LFA does isolate you from some sense of how fast you're going and what's actually happening. Again, there is a tradeoff, comfort over feedback. I'd say that the closest feel would be like a baby brother to a Veyron which has slightly less feedback until you're driving wicked fast. It does have the smoothness of something like a F430, but again, the F430 is a different ride, a lot more track, and less street.
Speaking of which, I didn't get to drive the LFA on the street so I have no idea what it's like in real world conditions- conditions that drivers will see 98% of the time. On the track it's a safe, competent performer.
Hope that helps.
The SV gives you very little warning when all hell is about to break loose. It's why so many exotics wreck in the hands of new owners and borrowed cars. They always come out (if they lived) wondering what the hell just happened. In the case of the LFA, it's a very difficult car to upset and I tried shifting in some less aggressive turns and the car still behaved just fine. I got a little slide out of it in corners but it was always flat, always smooth, and effortless to recover. Acceleration is nowhere near as sudden as the SV, however the LFA has a very even power band up the RPM so you find yourself shifting less frequently than the SV and this is where it makes up for some of that difference. You can back off and reapply power and not feel like you have to downshift to recover. Brake forces are a little harder than the SV, but it comes down very smoothly. This car was due for some new pads as you could hear the squeaks at low speeds.
Road feel was just enough, but not fatiguing either so I think the car will work well on very long runs. If this car was in a pack of LP640s, it wouldn't be the fastest off the line but it would definitely catch up (and probably pass) in the curves. It would take a skilled driver to already know the limits of the LP640 where the LFA tends to give you all the warning you need for most drivers.
I was trying to think of the closest comparison in other cars I've driven. The problem is that the LFA does isolate you from some sense of how fast you're going and what's actually happening. Again, there is a tradeoff, comfort over feedback. I'd say that the closest feel would be like a baby brother to a Veyron which has slightly less feedback until you're driving wicked fast. It does have the smoothness of something like a F430, but again, the F430 is a different ride, a lot more track, and less street.
Speaking of which, I didn't get to drive the LFA on the street so I have no idea what it's like in real world conditions- conditions that drivers will see 98% of the time. On the track it's a safe, competent performer.
Hope that helps.
03-03-11, 10:32 AM
#19
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
If you get to lap with someone like Justin Bell, you will be hitting nearly 130 mph on the straights.
Last edited by 05RollaXRS; 03-03-11 at 10:52 AM.
03-03-11, 11:31 AM
#20
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I will post any information/data that I can get my hands on.
03-03-11, 11:51 AM
#21
trust me, the balance of this car makes it super super easy to drive, it's very natural. i think that's what lexus has hit. and yes, i love the drive train, you just don't know you are going that fast because everything is so linear so you keep on climbing on speed without knowing.
03-03-11, 12:11 PM
#22
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
Yes. Over 95% of the peak torque is available from 3000 rpm to 9500 rpm. That is practically astonishing. The only time you would sense speed in a power curve like that is during the shifts.
If you look at the straight line acceleration numbers, LFA is in the same ballpark as LP640, 599 GTB HGTE etc. and the weight (or the lack thereof) makes up for the less peak power.
If you look at the straight line acceleration numbers, LFA is in the same ballpark as LP640, 599 GTB HGTE etc. and the weight (or the lack thereof) makes up for the less peak power.
trust me, the balance of this car makes it super super easy to drive, it's very natural. i think that's what lexus has hit. and yes, i love the drive train, you just don't know you are going that fast because everything is so linear so you keep on climbing on speed without knowing.
03-03-11, 12:37 PM
#23
Super Moderator
Well , I won 't put too much faith on what SA says , according to one Lexus SA I talked to like three years ago, the LFA should have been available for purchase for 2+ Years already
03-03-11, 01:42 PM
#25
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Don't think so. I was at Jim Pattison Lexus the other day and had a chat with a sales man there. He said Jim Pattison wanted to get one, but Lexus turned him down because they want people who actually drives that car instead of putting it in the garage forever.
03-03-11, 02:55 PM
#26
Yes. Over 95% of the peak torque is available from 3000 rpm to 9500 rpm. That is practically astonishing. The only time you would sense speed in a power curve like that is during the shifts.
If you look at the straight line acceleration numbers, LFA is in the same ballpark as LP640, 599 GTB HGTE etc. and the weight (or the lack thereof) makes up for the less peak power.
If you look at the straight line acceleration numbers, LFA is in the same ballpark as LP640, 599 GTB HGTE etc. and the weight (or the lack thereof) makes up for the less peak power.
03-03-11, 03:08 PM
#27
Lexus Champion
Thing I remembered hearing was that thanks to the lower torque and the high RPM nature of the car, it's easy to get out of turns because you don't have to worry so much about the 'power' taking over and sliding you out. Sure it'll step out, but it's controllable. It's not like a Viper or Vette with all this torque on tap making it hard to get traction when you need it. AutoZeitung's test of the LFA vs. the SLS was a good show of what the LFA is about compared to more 'brutish' engined cars.
03-03-11, 03:15 PM
#28
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I don't know how to quantify that word exactly. Was it better than I was expecting? Yes it was. Did it do everything I want in a car? No, not really, but what it does do well it does extremely well. It's taken me a lot of miles to learn how do drive my SV well and know the subtleties that allow me to push it so it's hard to quantify exactly. Everything else feels a bit tame. I like a car that scares me a little I guess. I'd buy a UA, but that scares me a lot! You should hear that thing!
I prefer a car that glues me to the seat and I'm already in the 0-60 2.8 range and the LFA is somewhere over 3.2 and I could feel that difference. That would bug me a bit on the freeway onramps. I was very impressed by how the can managed to remain stable at all times. The LFA would be my weapon of choice if I was heading up the curvy mountains to my favorite lodge. That was the single biggest plus. I also liked the interior, especially some of the details inside the cabin. That too was very nice. The car has grown a lot on me over time. No car can be 100% of everything so you sort of have to give a lot of thought about what matters to you most. I think with experience one starts to want a little more on the ragged edge.
I prefer a car that glues me to the seat and I'm already in the 0-60 2.8 range and the LFA is somewhere over 3.2 and I could feel that difference. That would bug me a bit on the freeway onramps. I was very impressed by how the can managed to remain stable at all times. The LFA would be my weapon of choice if I was heading up the curvy mountains to my favorite lodge. That was the single biggest plus. I also liked the interior, especially some of the details inside the cabin. That too was very nice. The car has grown a lot on me over time. No car can be 100% of everything so you sort of have to give a lot of thought about what matters to you most. I think with experience one starts to want a little more on the ragged edge.
03-03-11, 03:27 PM
#29
I don't know how to quantify that word exactly. Was it better than I was expecting? Yes it was. Did it do everything I want in a car? No, not really, but what it does do well it does extremely well. It's taken me a lot of miles to learn how do drive my SV well and know the subtleties that allow me to push it so it's hard to quantify exactly. Everything else feels a bit tame. I like a car that scares me a little I guess. I'd buy a UA, but that scares me a lot! You should hear that thing!
I prefer a car that glues me to the seat and I'm already in the 0-60 2.8 range and the LFA is somewhere over 3.2 and I could feel that difference. That would bug me a bit on the freeway onramps. I was very impressed by how the can managed to remain stable at all times. The LFA would be my weapon of choice if I was heading up the curvy mountains to my favorite lodge. That was the single biggest plus. I also liked the interior, especially some of the details inside the cabin. That too was very nice. The car has grown a lot on me over time. No car can be 100% of everything so you sort of have to give a lot of thought about what matters to you most. I think with experience one starts to want a little more on the ragged edge.
I prefer a car that glues me to the seat and I'm already in the 0-60 2.8 range and the LFA is somewhere over 3.2 and I could feel that difference. That would bug me a bit on the freeway onramps. I was very impressed by how the can managed to remain stable at all times. The LFA would be my weapon of choice if I was heading up the curvy mountains to my favorite lodge. That was the single biggest plus. I also liked the interior, especially some of the details inside the cabin. That too was very nice. The car has grown a lot on me over time. No car can be 100% of everything so you sort of have to give a lot of thought about what matters to you most. I think with experience one starts to want a little more on the ragged edge.
03-03-11, 03:28 PM
#30
Thing I remembered hearing was that thanks to the lower torque and the high RPM nature of the car, it's easy to get out of turns because you don't have to worry so much about the 'power' taking over and sliding you out. Sure it'll step out, but it's controllable. It's not like a Viper or Vette with all this torque on tap making it hard to get traction when you need it. AutoZeitung's test of the LFA vs. the SLS was a good show of what the LFA is about compared to more 'brutish' engined cars.