LFA [Official] Lexus LF-A Supercar (Production Version)
Source: Supra Forums
Impressions of a McLaren MP4-12C turned LFA owner
Impressions of a McLaren MP4-12C turned LFA owner
Hey gang- a sincere thanks for your patience. Apart from being busy with work the past couple of weeks, I wanted to get the 24 month service done on 461 before pushing the car a bit. Also, since it only had about 750km, I figured it prudent to treat the first few drives as an extension of the break in period.
That done, what can I tell you - the car is utterly phenomenal. I traded my McLaren 12C coupe against this LFA, so needless to say it has some big shoes to fill. The 12C is another supercar that is very misunderstood by the public and even many serious car enthusiasts. I absolutely adored mine. Alas, an opportunity to own a Canadian LFA is rare, indeed, so I willingly parted with the MP4.
Some other cars I have driven, but not owned, include Ferrari 458, 599 HGTE, 430 Challenge race car, various Gallardos, various 911s, various GT-Rs, Merc SLS, Audi R8s, you get the idea. Not every car available, but I love to try different cars whenever I get an opportunity, especially if it is at a racetrack. I spend a little bit of time at the track and own a Caterham SP/300.R prototype, too. I just mention these things so that you understand my frame of reference. I even once drove the Gumpert Apollo!
I can already say the LFA ranks with the very best I have personally driven. After 2 weeks, I am scratching my head trying to understand exactly how Toyota built this car. Of course, I have seen the LFA Works documentary, but for a car company to produce a supercar at this level, on their very first try, really defies belief. That goes for the driving dynamics, the build quality, the sound and response of the engine, everything really. It feels more like a car design that has been honed for decades, improved at every iteration, so that the current product is refined in every way. It's amazing.
Okay, the driving. The car is quick, quicker than I thought it would be, in fact. Definitely not the surging turbo acceleration of the 12C, but from 5000 RPM onwards, every bit as intense. One thing I learned about myself while owning the MP4 is that I really don’t need, or necessarily even want, 600+ horsepower in my road cars. These cars are just getting way too fast for the public roads and as a result, it is actually difficult to enjoy them in a safe an legal manner. You literally cannot hold the McLaren at full throttle for more than 2.5 seconds or else you are going obscenely fast. The nice thing about the LFA is that you can enjoy the performance a little more, and a little longer. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not far behind the MP4 in outright acceleration, but there are definitely more opportunities to explore the performance, which is good thing. In fact, I’d willingly trade 100 of the LFA’s hp for another 1000 RPM before redline. Not that 9500 isn’t enough!
The response of the V10 is a defining feature of the car, along with the sound of course, but more on that later. In any gear, at pretty much any RPM, even just a whiff of throttle instantly provokes the engine and sends you surging forward (or sideways!). I’ve never experienced a motor like this - it honestly revs more like the sport bikes I used to ride when I was younger. The result is you get the sensation of your right foot feeling directly connected to the rear contact patches; there is no delay in any of the parts that actually exist between those two endpoints. Truly amazing, and addictive.
The quality of the power delivery must be mentioned. It’s absolutely linear in its rate of increase and just gets more and more intense towards redline. Even if the sound wasn’t that good, the engine would still be a peach.
But, okay, the sound - really you could write a whole separate novel about how this car sounds. Obviously, I knew it would sound good as I have watched pretty much every LFA video I could find on the net in the past 12 months. But I can honestly say that not a single youtube video out there captures how amazing this car actually sounds from the driver’s seat. I almost cannot describe it in words. I know they obsessed over it and tuned the air mixing box and exhaust ad nauseum, but never would I have imagined the result could be so exceptional, so unlike any other car I’ve ever experienced, Ferraris and racecars included. I’ve tinkered with music and audio production in the past, so have spent hours myself obsessing over frequencies, mixing levels and EQ settings. All I can say is what they have done with this car, sound-wise, is pure art. Even at low RPM, there are little whoops and yelps, with growling undertones that keep reminding you of the V10’s presence and its eagerness to get on with it. Through the mid-range, it gets angry and mechanical ahead of you, while the exhaust sound rises in pitch and intensity, however still more of a light wail that is warning you that things are about to go bonkers. From 7000 RPM on, I’ll be honest, it’s really quite difficult to say exactly what is going on - there are more sounds, everything is louder and more intense, the wail has become a blood-curdling shriek. When you add in the fact that the car is now making serious forward progress and therefore you need to concentrate visually and also stay in touch with the seat of the pants feel from the chassis, you can imagine that your senses are maxed out, even over-loaded at some times. Amongst it all, you get flashes of V10-era Formula One sounds, especially if you pass through a tunnel. It really does remind you of those howling racers, even at half the RPM. I don’t know how Yamaha managed that.
The gearbox is perhaps the most enigmatic part of the car and the experience. It really is more of an automated manual, than anything resembling a DCT. In fact it feels quite a bit like the Hewland racing box in my prototype. It took me a couple of drives to feel it out and understand its nuances, much the same as you would when getting to know a 3 pedal manual transmission. That learning curve now climbed, I love it and I am glad they didn’t go with a DCT. The Graziano DCT in the McLaren, for example, is amazing; smooth, instant shifts, very little torque interruption. The 458’s Getrag box is better still, although both boxes have had their reliability issues. But, at the end of the day, they do feel like automatic transmissions and are therefore slightly less involving. My 12C was an early car and had retained the Pre-Cog function, which helped keep things interesting. And I will also admit that, using my 12C at times as a daily driver, the DCT was hugely beneficial. But the LFA’s character and intent is much more suited to the box it has. It contributes quite a bit to how racecar-like the LFA feels to drive.
With regards to handling dynamics, you’ll have to take the following with a grain of salt, as I have not yet taken the LFA to a racetrack. Generally, I don’t believe you can truly discover a car’s handling tendencies until you approach, and even exceed, the limits of grip while on a circuit. Sure, you can toy around with little moments of oversteer here and there, on public roads. But you won’t really know what you have underneath you until you enter a 4th gear corner on a racetrack too fast or outbrake yourself from 150MPH, for example. That said, the LFA feels front-end biased to me, as if set up with a touch of oversteer out of the box. Which is unlike most cars, which have some safe understeer by design. I prefer it, but you do have to stay awake, especially when the tires are cold, as the response of the V10 does not suffer an eager ankle in combination with lazy wrists. On a cold morning earlier this week, I vowed not to drive this car without having my first coffee of the day. Under, let’s say brisk, driving on the road, the car has wonderful stability and the front is very planted on turn-in. I have yet to get the fronts to scrub into even a hint of understeer; the car just wants to keep turning. Getting back to the gas, you’ll feel an immediate weight transfer to the outside rear, and if you are greedy, you’ll provoke some yaw for sure. In the faster bends, on the highway for example, the car is sublime. Maybe the downforce is just starting to come into play, but really I think it has to do with the suspension geometry and roll bar setup. It is just really stable and responds very well to feeding in more throttle, even if the road surface is bumpy.
Braking-wise, from moderate to high-ish speeds, the car feels good. A nice degree of forward pitch, the fronts load up nicely and the back end doesn’t get too light. The car tracks straight and crucially, coming off the brakes is very progressive and doesn’t adversely affect turn-in. Again, this is at road speeds, so I won’t claim to know the braking tendencies intimately.
My overall impression, so far, is that the LFA is a hugely rewarding car to drive. It feels like a real event, every time you get in and press the button to fire up the V10. This is partly because the memories of your last drive in it are still swirling around in your cranium. It is possible to relax a bit in the car, drop into 6th gear and just cover miles, but so far I haven’t done that for more than about 10 minutes!
Bucketslash11
Das Beste Enthusiast
german plates, recording equipment near the exhaust and it turns in towards the lamborghini factory
i wonder why?
i wonder why?
I don't think it is recording equipment. Looks to me like they are trying to keep the spoiler down. Probably to run some metrics on how it performs without the spoiler deployed and the downforce.
Bucketslash11
Das Beste Enthusiast
you can see a microphone close to the exhaust in the thumbnail of the video
keep in mind that the LFA isn't the car with the highest downforce in the world, so that doesn't make sense
Bucketslash11
Das Beste Enthusiast
salomondrin has had a chat with an LFA owner
JHF
Driving Dynamics Pro
Lexus LF-A Nurburgring Edition Signed by Toyota CEO Is for Sale, It's Pricy
In the market for a unique car and money is not a problem? Well, we might have something that fits the bill.
The first Lexus LF-A Nurburgring Edition is for sale, and it has barely been used. The dealer in charge of the sale says it is part of the limited series of 50 units.
This might justify a part of the price, while the set of signatures from Akio Toyoda should do the rest. In case the name does not sound familiar to you, Mr. Toyoda is the CEO of Toyota Motor Company, the corporation that developed and built the Lexus LF-A.
Here comes the painful part: the seller wants €6,430,000 (approx. $7,060,000) for this exclusive Lexus LF-A. We must note that the first and the last car of a limited edition are worth more than regular examples, but this one is neither of those.
Therefore, we cannot help but notice that the price for this model is exaggerated. After all, it is not a classic Ferrari signed by Mr. Enzo, and it was over ten times (we are generous here) cheaper when it was new.
Sure, one might argue that the vehicle has low mileage, with just 680 kilometers (422 miles) on the clock. We still consider that this does not justify its asking price. It is even cheaper to buy a new Bugatti Chiron and a Koenigsegg Regera than to acquire this Lexus LF-A Nurburgring Edition one of 50.
However, as the exotic car market has shown time and time again, customers are willing to pay exorbitant sums of money for rare vehicles. It is unclear whether each of the 50 LF-A Nurburgring Edition models has been signed by Toyota’s CEO, but even the signature of the company’s chief executive could not raise the asking price so high on this car.
On the other hand, if this vehicle were a Porsche signed by Mr. Ferdinand Porsche, things would have looked different.
We must note that the seller on Mobile did not bother to hire a photographer to take proper photos of this car. When selling such an expensive vehicle, decent pictures will surely help.
How much would you pay for a limited edition Lexus LF-A that has the signature of Toyota’s CEO?
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/l...oyota-ceo-is-for-sale-it-s-pricy-105440.html#
In the market for a unique car and money is not a problem? Well, we might have something that fits the bill.
The first Lexus LF-A Nurburgring Edition is for sale, and it has barely been used. The dealer in charge of the sale says it is part of the limited series of 50 units.
This might justify a part of the price, while the set of signatures from Akio Toyoda should do the rest. In case the name does not sound familiar to you, Mr. Toyoda is the CEO of Toyota Motor Company, the corporation that developed and built the Lexus LF-A.
Here comes the painful part: the seller wants €6,430,000 (approx. $7,060,000) for this exclusive Lexus LF-A. We must note that the first and the last car of a limited edition are worth more than regular examples, but this one is neither of those.
Therefore, we cannot help but notice that the price for this model is exaggerated. After all, it is not a classic Ferrari signed by Mr. Enzo, and it was over ten times (we are generous here) cheaper when it was new.
Sure, one might argue that the vehicle has low mileage, with just 680 kilometers (422 miles) on the clock. We still consider that this does not justify its asking price. It is even cheaper to buy a new Bugatti Chiron and a Koenigsegg Regera than to acquire this Lexus LF-A Nurburgring Edition one of 50.
However, as the exotic car market has shown time and time again, customers are willing to pay exorbitant sums of money for rare vehicles. It is unclear whether each of the 50 LF-A Nurburgring Edition models has been signed by Toyota’s CEO, but even the signature of the company’s chief executive could not raise the asking price so high on this car.
On the other hand, if this vehicle were a Porsche signed by Mr. Ferdinand Porsche, things would have looked different.
We must note that the seller on Mobile did not bother to hire a photographer to take proper photos of this car. When selling such an expensive vehicle, decent pictures will surely help.
How much would you pay for a limited edition Lexus LF-A that has the signature of Toyota’s CEO?
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/l...oyota-ceo-is-for-sale-it-s-pricy-105440.html#
hoffmeister_fan
Kraftwagen König
I love this car, but that's flipping wacky.
Telegraph UK:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/top-gear/driving-top-gears-greatest-cars-lexus-lfa/
Driving Top Gear's greatest cars: Lexus LFA
Jeremy Clarkson: 'If someone were to offer me the choice of any car that had ever been made ever, I would like a dark blue Lexus LFA'
19 APRIL 2016 • 7:30AM
In the first of a new series in which we drive some of Top Gear's most highly-rated cars, Andrew Frankel revisits the awesome Lexus LFA
“If someone were to offer me the choice of any car that had ever been made ever, I would like a dark blue Lexus LFA.”
The words belong to Jeremy Clarkson, and whether you agree with them or not, there can surely be no disputing the fact the car they describe was of the most extraordinary creations ever to take to the public road.
We’ll get to the car itself very shortly, but for now perhaps the most remarkable thing about the LFA was not what it was, but where it came from. It was a Lexus, which meant it was a Toyota, brought to you by the same people whose other work included the Corolla, Carina and Camry. True, Toyota had built a number of decent sports cars in the past, but Lexus was so middle of the road Alan Partridge drove one. A 200mph supercar? We’d not been more surprised since Julie Andrews took her clothes off in S.O.B.
In series 19 of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson raced Hammond and May to the Mexican border in a bright yellow LFA CREDIT: BBC WORLDWIDE LTD
So how good could such a car conceived in that environment really be? Better than any of us could imagine. News of its gestation did not augur well: it took nearly a decade to progress from interesting idea to production reality, and when it did appear its shape was more brutal than beautiful. Yes, it was made largely from carbon fibre and its 560bhp, 4.8-litre V10 engine sounded promising, but while waiting, the game appeared to have moved on. As an example, it came to market at the same time as the Porsche 911 GT2 RS, a car developed by Porsche’s blue blooded Motorsport department. Like the LFA, just 500 would be built, but the Porsche not only had the badge and pedigree, it was more powerful, accelerated faster and cost almost exactly half the price.
When new, the LFA cost £345,000
But if ever a car’s on paper specification served more to obscure than enlighten, it was the LFA’s. The raw numbers revealed nothing of the sense of occasion that came as you approached this exquisitely constructed, hand-built masterpiece. They offered no insight into a cabin that blended form and function so enticing and exciting you’d sit, literally quivering in anticipation of what was to come. And then there was the noise: I could spend the rest of this article failing to do justice to its hauntingly beautiful offbeat wail. But if you heard it just once, that memory would live with you forever.
The LFA featured in Top Gear helped Clarkson get to the Mexican border before his colleagues CREDIT: BBC WORLDWIDE LTD
And it was as good to drive as it sounded, perhaps even better. Indeed it was one of just a handful of cars that broke the rule that says cars designed for the road are as rubbish on the track as track cars are on the road. Laws apparently immutable to others simply did not apply to the LFA. On the road it was sufficiently quiet, comfortable and spacious to do a passable impression of a long distance tourer – yet on the track it broke the record for the fastest lap of the Nurburgring for a standard, globally homologated road car. Even now, in this era of 1,000hp hypercars and on a list that contains pure racing cars modified only enough to make them technically road legal, only seven cars have beaten its time.
The LFA's interior is beautifully built and looks superb
The LFA, then, was a freak, a car like McLaren F1 made with no apparent regard for cost, just to be the best it could be. Lexus is rumoured to have lost thousands on each so it’s no surprise no replacement was commissioned. And while that might seem sad, it means its reputation never ran the risk of being sullied by some successor built to return a profit.
In the end Clarkson called it ‘the best car I have ever driven’. For me it was always the Ferrari F40 until the LaFerrari came along, but the LFA is in that league, a car better than the sum of its incredible parts, better you sense, even than its creators intended it to be. A landmark, in other words, whose like we will not see again.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/top-gear/driving-top-gears-greatest-cars-lexus-lfa/
Driving Top Gear's greatest cars: Lexus LFA
Jeremy Clarkson: 'If someone were to offer me the choice of any car that had ever been made ever, I would like a dark blue Lexus LFA'
19 APRIL 2016 • 7:30AM
In the first of a new series in which we drive some of Top Gear's most highly-rated cars, Andrew Frankel revisits the awesome Lexus LFA
“If someone were to offer me the choice of any car that had ever been made ever, I would like a dark blue Lexus LFA.”
The words belong to Jeremy Clarkson, and whether you agree with them or not, there can surely be no disputing the fact the car they describe was of the most extraordinary creations ever to take to the public road.
We’ll get to the car itself very shortly, but for now perhaps the most remarkable thing about the LFA was not what it was, but where it came from. It was a Lexus, which meant it was a Toyota, brought to you by the same people whose other work included the Corolla, Carina and Camry. True, Toyota had built a number of decent sports cars in the past, but Lexus was so middle of the road Alan Partridge drove one. A 200mph supercar? We’d not been more surprised since Julie Andrews took her clothes off in S.O.B.
In series 19 of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson raced Hammond and May to the Mexican border in a bright yellow LFA CREDIT: BBC WORLDWIDE LTD
So how good could such a car conceived in that environment really be? Better than any of us could imagine. News of its gestation did not augur well: it took nearly a decade to progress from interesting idea to production reality, and when it did appear its shape was more brutal than beautiful. Yes, it was made largely from carbon fibre and its 560bhp, 4.8-litre V10 engine sounded promising, but while waiting, the game appeared to have moved on. As an example, it came to market at the same time as the Porsche 911 GT2 RS, a car developed by Porsche’s blue blooded Motorsport department. Like the LFA, just 500 would be built, but the Porsche not only had the badge and pedigree, it was more powerful, accelerated faster and cost almost exactly half the price.
When new, the LFA cost £345,000
But if ever a car’s on paper specification served more to obscure than enlighten, it was the LFA’s. The raw numbers revealed nothing of the sense of occasion that came as you approached this exquisitely constructed, hand-built masterpiece. They offered no insight into a cabin that blended form and function so enticing and exciting you’d sit, literally quivering in anticipation of what was to come. And then there was the noise: I could spend the rest of this article failing to do justice to its hauntingly beautiful offbeat wail. But if you heard it just once, that memory would live with you forever.
The LFA featured in Top Gear helped Clarkson get to the Mexican border before his colleagues CREDIT: BBC WORLDWIDE LTD
And it was as good to drive as it sounded, perhaps even better. Indeed it was one of just a handful of cars that broke the rule that says cars designed for the road are as rubbish on the track as track cars are on the road. Laws apparently immutable to others simply did not apply to the LFA. On the road it was sufficiently quiet, comfortable and spacious to do a passable impression of a long distance tourer – yet on the track it broke the record for the fastest lap of the Nurburgring for a standard, globally homologated road car. Even now, in this era of 1,000hp hypercars and on a list that contains pure racing cars modified only enough to make them technically road legal, only seven cars have beaten its time.
The LFA's interior is beautifully built and looks superb
The LFA, then, was a freak, a car like McLaren F1 made with no apparent regard for cost, just to be the best it could be. Lexus is rumoured to have lost thousands on each so it’s no surprise no replacement was commissioned. And while that might seem sad, it means its reputation never ran the risk of being sullied by some successor built to return a profit.
In the end Clarkson called it ‘the best car I have ever driven’. For me it was always the Ferrari F40 until the LaFerrari came along, but the LFA is in that league, a car better than the sum of its incredible parts, better you sense, even than its creators intended it to be. A landmark, in other words, whose like we will not see again.
Similar threads
Lexus
Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation.
Founded in 1989, the Lexus brand is marketed in over 90 countries and territories worldwide
and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. Lexus is headquartered in Nagoya, Japan.
Its operational centers are in Brussels, Belgium, and Plano, Texas, United States.
Official website: Lexus
Official website: Lexus
