Lexus LFA Reviews

People imagine being a motoring writer involves nothing more than stepping out of one Ferrari and into another.

It was a dream come true. The opportunity to drive a supercar on one of the most famous race tracks in the world. We're talking about Fuji Speedway in Japan and of course Japan's very own supercar.

The last time I was in something worth $750,000 it had a bathroom and a pool. There are only 10 (the last being delivered in late 2012) of the 500-build-run LFA supercars hitting our shores - all are gone. Several owners (both dealers and private owners) have apparently sworn never to sell their Lexus V10 supercars. That is far from difficult to understand, even after only a handful of laps behind the wheel.Carsguide was given an all-too brief opportunity to slot in behind the blue and black leather-wrapped carbon-fibre wheel (complete with a bit of ballast in the flat bottom) of the Lexus "demonstrator" at Sandown raceway in Melbourne.Having listened to its V10 soundtrack echo across the racetrack, the anticipation was palpable - there's something about the odd-numbered Vee configuration that has a real edge to it, the BMW M5 being the other example.The aesthetics of the car - which boasts a make-up of 65 per cent carbon-fibre, 35 per cent aluminium - are a little more demure than the manic soundtrack - it's a supercar, to be sure, but devoid of the styling lunacy that marks some of its supercar brethren, in fact more than a couple of people saw hints of circa-1990 Celica.A decade in the making, Lexus are aiming for an emotional response from this car and the models to follow - instilling LFA DNA into the rest of its range.If they can get one-tenth of the drive experience into other F and F-Sport models, it will make life interesting for BMW's, Audi's RS and Mercedes-Benz AMG.Low, sleek and brooding, the LFA still has presence, more subdued than maniacal, at least until the V10 is fired up and angry.So sharp is the rev response to the right foot as it prods the floor-hinged throttle (made from a single piece of aluminium) that the LFA needed a digital tacho needle for the flick to the 9000rpm redline, so Lexus says.As the revs rise the soundtrack is straight from the F1 V10 era - who says the Toyota's squillion-dollar spend on F1 was a waste of money?It's a V10 that takes up the same space as a V8 and claims fuel economy of a V6 - the 4.8-litre V10 engine pumps out 412kW and 480Nm of torque - serious supercar numbers, no doubt - for a sprint to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds on the way to a 325km/h top speed.The two straights at Sandown were enough (even with a makeshift chicane on the back straight) to top 200km/h, even with an ISF in front to prevents acts of tomfoolery sending the 1540kg LFA (and maybe its occupants) to an early grave.Other numbers to absorb in the pits when not behind the wheel included ninety per cent of peak torque available from 3700 through to the 9000rpm red-line, a spoiler that has a mind of its own and near-perfect weight distribution.All this is sinking in as we leave the pits, flicking the right-hand paddle for upshifts and slotting back through the sequential manual gearbox with a metallic "tink" with every shift - the 0.2 sec cog-swaps are quick but can be brutal at full-throttle.The gearbox is smart enough to offer seven gear-shift speeds and four driving modes - Auto, Sport, Normal and Wet - which tailor stability control and other parts of the drivetrain to suit.I'm sitting next to a racing driver - US pedal-man Scott Pruett is telling me where to go, so to speak - and I'm under no delusions as to my chances of a full-time drive in a race team - none. Pruett later demonstrates the considerable yet un-fussed talents of this remarkable vehicle at upwards of 230km/h, but for now he's sitting somewhat(?!?) comfortably in the passenger's seat.I have enough room for a helmetted-head (something the ISF with sunroof wasn't as obliging with) and a comfortable driving position. But pinging through the corners and scorching up the straights, the LFA feels vice-less - it's well-planted, the ride isn't abysmal, the LSD-equipped rear-end feels less mischievous than the ISF sedan and yet the body sits ridiculously flat.Under brakes - enormous carbon ceramic discs with six and four-pot calipers - the LFA feels like its dragging its rump on the track, pulling up with considerable force and little diving from the snout. All that safety equipment - including the first airbag-seatbelt airbag - is a pleasantly re-assuring back-up to have when droplets are sometimes hitting the windscreen, but it feels far from required.LFA chief engineer Haruhiko Tanahashi says the development of the LFA was a challenge."The goal of obtaining an unprecedented level of sensual and emotional appeal required not only a high-revving engine, or impressive aerodynamics - it required passion. What we needed was a vehicle that moved its driver in more ways than one, a vehicle that stirred each of the senses," he says.They have succeeded - it's a pricetag beyond the ridiculous for most, but as an R&D exercise, a performance leader and a marketing halo for the Lexus brand, it is worth plenty.

There are just a handful of Lexus LFA supercars running around in Australia but already, the Japanese luxury car maker has launched a performance-enhanced model named after the legendary Nurburgring race track in Germany. It's called the LFA Nurburgring Edition and is a more track-focused version of the LFA -- if that's possible. Only 50 will be made.Where the standard LFA runs a 412kW/480Nm, 4.8-litre V10 engine, the Nurburgring model is pumped up to 420kW with the same torque output. The compact, dry sump V10, hand-built in two days at motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha by one of four engine builders, features cylinder heads by Yamaha and a block from Toyota.Yamaha has a long association with Toyota, Lexus' parent company. The LFA engine uses high quality forged pistons, valves and conrods and has direct fuel injection among a raft of high tech' features. It's fitted front/midships and is connected, transaxle style, to the rear-mounted six- speed automated manual transmission by a carbon fibre torque tube. This gives the rear drive LFA an ideal 48/52 balance front to rear. Engine redline is 9000rpm.Both the standard and Nurburgring models are capable of despatching a 0-100kmh dash in around 3.7 seconds and top out at 325kmh. This is slap bang in supercar territory and up with the latest from Ferrari and Lamborghini.The fully kitted standard model weighs in at 1580kg, the Nurburgring model is 100 kegs less. It has more down force courtesy of a large, fixed, rear carbon fibre wing, winglets on the front bumper, larger front spoiler, low 100mm ride height and carbon fibre interior trim.The double wishbone front and multi link rear suspension has been slightly retuned with stiffer responses. Lexus didn't hold back on quality components for LFA equipping it with carbon ceramic front discs of 390mm diameter with six piston calipers. The rears are slightly smaller with four pistons. Forged alloy 20-inch wheels run Bridgestone high performance rubber and the KYB dampers feature remote reservoirs for superior and consistent performance. Buyers score race tuition and a year's pass to drive the Nordscheleife (Northern Loop) of the Nurburgring.LFA is an incredible car from a technical standpoint because apart from the mind boggling engine with arguably the best exhaust note in existence, it is 65 per cent carbon fibre with the majority of the chassis and body in the stuff. The rest is aluminium. Lexus attaches the two materials to each other with aluminium brackets baked into the carbon fibre.Special carbon fibre ovens and techniques to handle it were developed during the 10 year LFA program which started in 2001. Initially, the car was to be all aluminium but this was changed in 2005 to carbon fibre. Lexus makes 20 LFAs a month with total production amounting to only 500 units. It is a loss making enterprise for Lexus which obviously places greater value on the publicity and new perceptions LFA will generate.Marking the arrival of the Nurburgring Edition was a special test week held at the Nurburgring to which we were invited and allowed five unfettered laps of the 21km Nordschleife. It was like a bucket-list tick off for anyone with benzene in their veins - a supercar drive at the world's most demanding race track with 140 plus corners and a fearsome reputation. With a degree of trepidation, we sprung out of pit lane in the orange projectile for a pilot lap behind a Nurburgring specialist leading in a Lexus ISF.This 'sighting' lap took around 9 minutes and then it was over to us. The LFA is near perfect weapon for the Nordschleife because it has almost endless power and torque, controlled and responsive dynamics and brakes that never go away. We would be ripping up to a tight turn at warp speed and simply stab the brakes, flick the wheel a touch and the LFA was around and the right foot was (re) planted to the firewall.It steers with such precision and has such prodigious grip that an accompanying Lexus ISF race car looked like a bucking dray. But that's not fair, the LFA is a tame race car built to impeccable standards while the ISF is a weighty, sports luxury sedan. It's intersting that none of the owners of the first run of LFAs has taken it on a race track. Shame, but word has it that some of the 10 Aussie LFA owners will break the cycle - here's to them.