Lexus LFA (TEST) Engine: V10, 4805 ccm, 560 hp, 480 Nm Max. revs.: 9000 rpm Gearbox: 6-speed sequential, RWD Weight: 1615 kg Vmax: 325 km/h 0-100 km/h in 4,1 s 0-200 km/h in 12,1 s Quarter mile: 11,9 s (199 km/h) Flexibility (80-120 km/h): 5,6 s/7,7 s (5th/6th) 18 m slalom: 69,8 km/h 110 m evasive test: 151,7 km/h Braking (100-0 km/h): 33,7 m (warm) Basic price: €375.000,- Price as tested: €375.000,- Final rating: 4/5 stars. Verdict The car is too heavy, despite the lot of light materials it was made of. However, the handling- and braking-result are brilliant. The gearbox can't match the high-technology of the car.
LFA is almost as fast as a R8 V10. R8 0-200km/h: 12.3s LFA 0-200km/h: 12.1s R8 0-400m: 12.0s (199km/h) LFA 0-400m: 11.9s (199km/h) But the price of the LFA is twice the price of the 458 Italia !! I think no one is too fool to pay that amount of money for a Japenese supercar.
And it's 32 kgs lighter than the R8 and got 35 hp more. LFA is a "useless" car IMO. Italia = brilliant, Superleggera = epic, Turbo S = brutal. LFA? Blaah...
One of the problems with this car is that the engine and gearbox don't match. The high-revving engine which can rev up to 9000 RPM needs at least a close-ratio 7-speed box rather than a 6-speed gearbox with a very tall 3.42 final drive ratio which kills the torque at the wheels. The overall gearing of this car is too tall.
Keep in mind these are by far the slowest acceleration numbers ever recorded on the LFA. The same 2 European prototypes are beaten down continuously in tests. AutoZeitung got the best numbers of 0 - 100 KM/H (62 mph) in 3.9 seconds and 0 - 200 KM/H (125 mph) in 11.4 seconds and 400 meter (~1/4 mile) in 11.3 seconds, which was the brand new red prototype. Frustrating part is I cannot find any scans of that anywhere at all otherwise I would put the scans up. In general, I also see great variation in European tests for nearly every high powered supercar. Regarding LFA being a failure? Hmmmm....is that why it was put in TopGear's "5 greatest supercars of the year"? The car is still putting down astonishing track numbers. It is the straight line acceleration (0 - 60 mph in particular) that is these tests are not doing complete justice to and are extremely inconsistent (in part because of Lexus' fault). I still definitely believe the LFA needs shorter gearing and a 7th gear. However, you are comparing cars that have launch control system (Audi R8) with a car that is in pre-production phase and has no way of launching from high rpms (using launch control). Still, AutoZeitung (in SLS AMG comparison) got 0 - 125 mph (200 KM/H) from the LFA in 11.4 seconds. That puts LFA's 1/4 mile in 11.3 seconds since it hits the 400 meter mark at 125 - 127 mph. This test is almost a full second slower than that. Still there are no scans available for AutoZeitung yet, but LFA beat the SLS AMG in track tests and overall. Here are some reasons: The car is still pre-production prototype. The transmission is still under the works and will be until November 2010. These are also press ringers that have been beaten down in several other demos, tests and car shows. Most of them are abused to the core and same 2 - 3 cars continue to get rotated through every test. - Secondly, all of these publications are launching the LFA from idle since there is no way to launch the LFA from high rpm since the robotized clutch will stall the car out if the brake and gas pedal are held together and then dropped the clutch through release the brake. Just about any car will be slow when only gas pedal is stomped from idle rather than a high rpm clutch drop, which is absolutely critical for a high revving car.
That is exactly what i emphasized in my post above. I also believe that with shorter gearing LFA would be able to compete with LP570 and even 458.
AMS says in the article: "Despite Launch-function the enormous power burns the special-Bridgestone tyres. That's why it didn't reached factory's 3,7 second-time." That is Lexus' fault. Do not give testcar for the press until it's not 100% ready. That's it. Until then it's a FAULT. :t-cheers:
I agree Lexus is doing more damage than justice to LFA by just randomly handing over an unfinished product for full testing (especially at this price point). Did you know LFA is wearing temporary street summer tires? The Bridgestone semi slick tires built to LFA specs (will bear LFA name on the tire lettering) are not ready yet until they are finished R&D. Now the red LFA prototype might have something different since it ran extremely fast hitting the 400 meter mark in only 11.3 seconds, 100 mph in 7.5 seconds and 125 mph in 11.4 seconds. I am surprised since all other articles mention they had no launch control and neutral slamming is the closest they can do to a launch. :t-cheers: Some were "neutral slamming" it from 2000 - 2500 rpm (not too high because they don't want to destroy the tranny) and LFA with that lightweight low-mass inertia flywheel bogs like hell from low rpms.
:t-cheers: Thanks for posting. Can I ask you for a huge favor? I am really eager to read the full article. Since I cannot get it from anywhere here in Canada, but can you please scan AutoZeitung's SLS AMG vs LFA article for us? I asumme it is easy to get for you in Europe. I would really appreciate it a lot. Thanks man.
You are my only hope at this point. I am very interested in reading the full track test. I assume coming Monday? I will be sure to check on that. At any rate, thanks so much man. I really appreciate your efforts. :t-cheers:
Once you have it, please add to your original AutoZeitung LFA vs SLS thread. It is easy for me to find it.
Remember one thing, the weight calculation in this test is the Metric European DIN calculation of weight DIN weight = Car with all fluids + full tank of gas + 180 lbs passenger + a piece of standard luggage LFA's dry weight is 3250 pounds.
