Lexus LF-A
Big news in the auto industry from the “Land of the Rising Sun.” Toyota has unveiled the production version of their long awaited supercar from their Lexus brand called the LF-A. The LF-A is powered by a high-revving 4.8-litre V-10 that cranks around 552bhp at 8700rpm and 354 lb-ft at 6800rpm. It takes 3.7 seconds to reach the 62mph mark – 0.2 more than the famed Nissan GT-R. Did I mention high revving? It’s capable of up to 9000rpm, and according to Chris Chilton of CAR Magazine the “noise” is incredible.
Disappointments? There are some big disappointments. First off, Toyota opted not to go with a dual-clutch system that is popular in many of today’s high-end performance cars (VW has them in some mass consumer cars even!). It’s been several years since dual-clutch systems have been around and there is no argument that the benefits outweigh the negatives. Another disappointment is that for all the aluminum and carbon fibre that was used in the car it is still porkier than one would expect weighing in at 1480kg. My personal disappointment of the LF-A is the interior trim of the car. Yes it looks definitely like the high materials that Lexus uses in their cars, but that’s about it. Don’t get me wrong Lexus is high quality, but for a supercar I’m expecting something different – something exotic. The biggest disappointment? The cost. So I personally was never a prospective buyer from a financial standpoint, but at £325,000 the price scares even the rich. Even Toyota acknowledged they would be losing money on everyone sold…
And that’s the problem, Toyota has touted the LF-A to compete against Ferrari and Lamborghini but it only competes with them in price. Ferrari’s new 458 and McLaren’s MP4-12C are nearly half the price of the LF-A. In fact it doesn’t even seem to compete against Porsche or even Nissan’s spectacular GT-R. If I had the money, LF-A would be on the short list.
Not convinced? CAR Magazine agree with me. Car & Drive disagree with me. You decide.
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