We were present
at the unveiling of the new Lexus LFA supercar at the Tokyo Motor
Show a few months back, and were surprised by the incredible amount
of interest it created. That was on the first press day of the show
and members of the motoring media arrived up to an hour before the
event began just to grab the best viewing spots.
It wasn’t that
we hadn’t anticipated plenty of attention, it was the sheer scale
of it that took us by surprise – and left us somewhat shamefaced
about 20 rows back in the crowd trying to catch the tiniest glimpse
of the Lexus as the covers came off.
Lexus LFA may
well be a milestone in the history of the automotive scene. Cynics
rolled their eyes to the sky in 1990 when Lexus announced it was
going to produce a four-door saloon as a direct competitor to
Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the limo class, yet the big Lexus has been a
success.
Though it has to be said that it's still not regarded as
being in the same stratospheric atmosphere as the big Germans, the
Lexus LS series has survived the danger-fraught early years and is
now a major player on the world scene.
The cynics are
being a little less outspoken when talking about Lexus wanting to
challenge Ferrari, Lamborghini and similar supercar marques with its
LFA supercar. They are treating Lexus, the topline division of
Toyota, with a good deal of respect.
Lexus LFA is very
much in the supercar mould. It's big, wide and low slung, with looks
that have been created as much by engineers with wind tunnels, as by
way-out stylists. The big air scoops at the front are designed to
gulp plenty of air to feed the engine, cool its internals and keep
the brakes at the correct temperature.
The rear end is
sharply cut off to permit the air to close in as rapidly as possible
as the Lexus slices by. Visually, the back is dominated by large
taillights and a working diffuser.
Note that the
vehicle pictured here is one of the final engineering exercises as
displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show and may vary slightly in detail
before the LFA reaches production. We have also shown earlier concept cars from the 2005 and 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.
Power comes from
a mid-mounted 4.8-litre V8 engine that produces 550 horsepower (412
kW) at an impressive 8700 rpm. Torque is almost race-car like, not
reaching its peak of 480 Nm until the engine is spinning at 6800
revs.
Transmission is
by a race-spec double-clutch system (Lexus calls it's gearbox an ASG
- Automated Sequential Gearbox). The lighting fast changes offered by
this type of transmission play an important part in the acceleration
time of just 3.7 seconds for the zero to 100 km/h sprint.
The top speed of
the Lexus LFA supercar has been measured at 325 km/h on the
ultra-high-speed Nardo test circuit in Italy, and has also spent a
considerable amount of time on the torturous Nurburgring race track.
Such is the
nature of cars like this that the Lexus supercar will be virtually
hand built, with the first example coming out of the workshop late in
December 2009. Only 20 are being built each month and Lexus has just
proudly announced that it has been able to secure five for Australian
buyers relatively early in the build process. Prices and final
specifications are available to prospective buyers at their Lexus
dealership.
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