Lexus LFA News

...which will be built with the track-focussed body and mechanical package caught by Carparazzi during testing at the Nurburgring. The bright new blue body is a giveaway, but there is plenty of fresh stuff - from a different exhaust to an extra air intake in the bonnet - to hint that the car will get a speed tweak before production reaches the 500-car cut-off. 

In a way it really had to be or the high fliers who buy these cars would not have given it a second glance. It had to be something very special and special it is indeed as we discovered this week behind the wheel at Victoria's Sandown race track.Sure it goes hard and stops just as quickly, with an exhilirating exhaust note that sounds like an F1 car — but there's so much more to this car. Ten years in the making, the LFA symbolises everything that Lexus says it strives to be — innovative, passionate and inspirational.TECHNOLOGYThe heart of the matter is a carbon fibre shell fitted with a light weight all-aluminium 4.8-litre V10 that pumps out 412kW of power and 480Nm of torque, combined with a sequential single clutch robotised manual transmission and oil cooler.The LFA has a top speed of 325km/h and accelerates to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds. A special Nurburgring edition boosts power to 420kW. Yamaha gave the guys some help with the engine design and as a result it revs all the way to 9000rpm.DESIGNSixty-five per cent of LFA's body structure is carbon fibre, while the remaining 35 per cent is aluminium. The original analogue dials were replaced with a digital instrumentation because the analogue tachometer couldn't keep up.The LFA is an infinitely better looking thing than Nissan's GT-R and faster around Germany's famous Nurburgring too, where it held the production car record until recently. Among others the LFA boasts the world's first seatbelt airbag to reduce chest and neck bruising.LIMITED EDITIONOnly 500 of the cars will be built, of which 170 have already found homes in the United States, another 150 have gone to Japan itself and a mere handful are headed our way — 10 to be exact (maybe a couple more if Lexus can swing it).In the States, one couple bought the car simply because it was the most expensive Lexus available and they had always owned the top model. But the buyers are not the usual suspects, revealed Lexus Australia corporate manager Peter Evans.For the most part they're successful, self-made men, 35-45 years of age whose faces you are unlikely to see in the newspapers. One owns a Bugatti Veyron and the others own or have owned other performance cars. One man is even thinking of buying a second Nurburg edition to keep and drive in the United States.As a group, Evans said they are remarkably unpretentious.Lexus took three buyers to the Nurburgring where until a few weeks ago the LFA held the lap record for a production car. What they share is an overwhelming enthusiasm for the car."They're a fascinationg group of individuals," he said.So what do you get for your $700,000 apart from the car? For one thing you get private tuition from racing driver Alan Jones who is the Lexus LFA ambassador. It doesn't get better than that.LEXUS LFAPrice: $750,000Economy: 16.7 l/100km; 387g/km CO2Safety equipment: 5 airbags, ABS, EBD, stability control.Engine: 412kW/480Nm 4.8-litre 40-valve DOHC V10Transmission: rear-mounted six-speed automated sequential gearboxBody: 2-door, 2 seatsDimensions: 4505mm (L); 1895mm (W); 1220mm (H); 2605mm (WB)Weight: 1540kgTyre size: 20in (fr 265/35, rr 305/30), no sparePerformance: 0-100 km/h 3.7 seconds, top speed 325km/h.

The McLaren MP4-12C tops the list of Dad's dream cars.

The millionaire heiress received the banana-coloured car as a 30th birthday present earlier this year from her then boyfriend Cy Waits.She has since broken up with Waits and decided she wanted a white LFA.It is not known whether the original LFA went back to the old boyfriend or was traded in for the new one.

And our preference for sporty models will see Lexus put its performance-oriented F Sport models. The F Sport vehicles represent almost half of IS350 sales and around a quarter of IS250s. “Lexus is committed to growing its performance portfolio – with two more F Sport models destined for launch next year,” chief executive Tony Cramb said. The growth in F Sport model sales is also reflected in Lexus Australia doubling its order of LFA vehicles from an initial allocation of five to 10 of the limited-build $700,000 supercars. The $700,000 LFA is made from carbon fibre and exotic alloys and is powered by a 4.8 litre V8 with 412kW and 480Nm. That power is fed through a six-speed automatic transmission and gives the lightweight car a 0-100km/h time of 3.9 seconds. “Australia is viewed as a yardstick for the rest of the world, and our increased allocation of LFAs demonstrates the strength of the brand locally and the importance we hold in the global Lexus market,” Lexus Australia chief executive Tony Cramb said.

…..they were once reserved for F1 cars, MotoGP bikes and aeroplanes.

The staggering number is a reflection of the rebounding climate in the Australian automotive industry, and the commitment that manufacturers are making to the new one-show-per-year format. “We have more new models and concepts coming than any show I can recall in recent times,” said Australian International Motor Show event director, Russ Tyrie. “A number of our exhibitors are displaying four or five new models and concepts, which is a tremendous coup for the motor show. “It promises to be an exciting event with visitors being able to see such a large number of vehicles that they have never seen before.” While concept cars will undoubtedly steal the show, there will be a number of very important new models being unveiled that are likely to get the attention of the new car buyer. At the top of the list are the upcoming supercars and high-end luxury cars, such as the outrageous V12 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, the production version of the aurally intimidating Lexus LFA, the exclusive Audi R8 GT – one of only 333 in the world, Maserati’s fastest road car – the MC Stradale and the Bentley Continental GT. In addition to the R8 GT, Audi will also present the new technologically-advanced A6 luxury sedan for the first time in Australia. Hyundai will be one of the standouts at the Melbourne event, with the new Veloster three-door sports car, the curvaceous new Elantra and the Accent small car all taking their bows. Toyota has announced that it will debut its all-new Yaris city car, while a new Hilux will also be on show at the stand of Australia’s highest-selling car company. Jaguar will present its upgraded XF sedan, while stablemate Land Rover will reveal the highly-anticipated Range Rover Evoque five-door for the first time on Australian soil. Peugeot will launch the brand new, elegantly-designed, all-diesel 508 sedan and wagon, while the company’s most popular model in this market, the 308 receives a facelift for the 2012 model year. Skoda’s presence in the Australian market is rapidly growing, and the company will double its model range in coming months with the Fabia and the Yeti crossover adding to the Octavia and Superb ranges – all of which will be on show in Melbourne. A car that has been the subject of much lobbying for an Australian launch (by the media and public alike) has been the Volkswagen Scirocco R. The German car company has now given the sleek coupe the go-ahead, and it will make its first local appearance at the motor show. Subaru’s stand will be the venue for a world premiere, with the right-hand drive version of its important new Impreza sedan making its very first appearance at the Australian International Motor Show. In addition, Holden, Kia and Mercedes-Benz have promised glimpses of at least nine future and upcoming models between them. “It all adds up to an action-packed show – and a huge amount of choice for anyone looking for a new car!” said Mr Tyrie. The Australian International Motor Show is on at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre and opens at 6pm on Friday 1 July and runs until Sunday 10 July.

The latest generation of grand prix cars are petrol-electric hybrids that also use a range of high-tech systems and technologies, right down to long-life oils, that will eventually find their way into everyday road cars.An F1 hybrid is very different from a Toyota Prius, since braking energy is stored and released for a burst of speed and not for low-speed electric driving, but the work done on high-tech batteries and computer control systems is easily transferred to production line heroes.It's typical of grand prix technology transfer, which has been a reality in racing for decades. Still, it's ironic that some of the most advanced safety features in road cars - ABS brakes and ESP stability control - are banned from Formula One and there is no way yet to adapt airbags to the violent and unpredictable crashes in grand prix races.Tracing the F1 roots of today's road cars is relatively easy, starting with engine and gearbox technology from the 1990s. Honda developed and refined the V-Tech adjustable camshaft timing that combines power and economy in racing and Ferrari led the world into the era of robotised manu-matic gearboxes."V-Tech technology came directly from Formula One. At the time it was new to the Honda V10 engine used by McLaren, but now it's on every road going Honda car, right down to our economy cars and hybrids," says Mark Higgins of Honda Australia.Current F1 cars used gearboxes which have a 'seamless shift' system that's similar to the double-clutch gearboxes fitted to growing number of cars, including the Volkswagen Golf. Aerodynamics and high-tech materials are two other important areas.Carbon fibre is starting to find its way into top-end sports cars, including the Lexus LF-A supercar, after being adapted from aerospace to racing. McLaren was the first to do the job and now the ultra- strong composite is universally used in F1 and being adapted to lightweight city cars of the future.A range of other 'on the aero' front, this year's grand prix cars have a driver-adjustable rear wing - a long way ahead of the 1950s 'air brake' used by Mercedes-Benz at Le Mans - and that technology is coming fast for road cars.Ferrari has aerofoils in the nose of its latest 458 Italia that change shape at various speeds to assist cooling and downforce. In future, 'active' aero systems will blank the front ends of road cars at speeds to cut drag and improve fuel economy - then open again for cooling when the car is stopped in traffic. This sort of work is also made easier by the complex artificial wind tunnels contained in F1 computers - the programs are called Computational Fluid Dynamics - used to test and develop new body parts.Ford recently credited CFD work on the upcoming Ranger pickup and almost every major maker uses CFD for early design and development work. Even F1 fuels and oils are used for road car work, with Shell trumpeting the V-Power development it did with Ferrari before introducing its current flagship fuel. And it has used grand prix engines for decades to test the oils which now allow road cars to run for more than 10,000 kilometres between changes.

The paparazzi may have snapped Paris Hilton with her new LFA, but they've got nothing on the latest work from Lexus.Part of their campaign “The Hard Way”, Lexus have teamed up with Sports Illustrated for a very exotic photo shoot. Set in an aeroplane hanger, champion drifter Rhys Millen smokes the wheels of the 412kW LFA as Dutch supermodel Rianne Ten Haken watches on, right in the middle of it.“It moved so quickly” said Haken, “it was just like the energy around me totally changed.”

On one side of the glittering $50 million display at the Darling Harbour exhibition centre in Sydney is the $700,000 Lexus LFA, a sellout speed machine that can top 315km/h, and across the aisle is the latest $12,490 Holden Barina Spark.It's a sign of the times that GM Holden, which stunned Australia when it revealed its Monaro concept car at Darling Harbour in 1998, has the Spark as its centrepiece for 2010. More than a decade ago the Holden stand was flooded by chequebook-waving fans who had to have a Monaro, but there is no repeat this time with the Spark.Instead, the smallest Holden is going up against an all-new $12,990 Nissan Micra unveiled at the show and a Toyota Yaris that cops a price   chop as sales chief Dave Buttner does opening-day duties for Australia's favourite brand.It takes more than four hours for each of the major makers at the show - and there are more than 35 brands in total - to make their pitch on opening morning. Each has something to say, from Audi with its baby A1 through to Volvo with the first local appearance of its new S60 sedan.But the biggest news of all is that Australia finally has a single motor show. It took a walkout by many of the major brands, and months of talks between the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce that controls Melbourne and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries for Sydney, to reach a compromise that means there is finally a true Australian International Motor Show.In 2011 it flips to Melbourne, with the date confirmed at July 1-10, and there are big plans to make an impact on the worldwide motoring calendar. The foundations are laid this year with the world debut of the T6 pickup twins, the Ford Ranger and Mazda BT-50, and Subaru also shows a Forester WRX-style concept that will be converted into a turbocharged headliner for showrooms in 2011."Today is our most significant motor show ever," says Ford Australia's president, Marin Burela, on opening day. "Australia is playing a key role in the global Ford product story.  Today's show is the springboard to the future."His verdict is backed by Doug Dickson, the Mazda chief who heads the FCAI. "This show is different. It's time for a contemporary approach," says Doug Dickson, chairman of the organising committee and the managing director of Mazda Australia. "It presents the very best the global motor industry has to offer."The show stands are packed but here are the stand-outs:Car of the Show - Toyota FT-86It's currently only a concept car, but the futuristic coupe provides the proof that Toyota is serious about putting emotion into its cars. It's feeling the squeeze from Korea and knows it needs to give people cars they want to buy, not just fridges with wheels.Baby Boomer - Nissan MicraThe result of a five-year plan to create a cost-down tiddler that works for customers and Nissan's bottom line is a good looker with impressive safety. It's as cute as the current Micra but has airbags-ABS-ESP safety and a new-age three-cylinder starter engine to edge out the Holden Spark and Suzuki Swift.Dream Machine - Lexus LFAThe one-off Mercedes SLS 'Blackbird' with flat-black paintwork makes a case, and and so does the Lamborghini Gallardo 570-4 Superleggera, but the LFA is a $700,000 sellout that will never be repeated. Every car costs Lexus money and that means the eight local owners have a future classic.Home Run - WP Series IIFord fans flock to the latest supercharged star at Ford Performance Vehicles, but the heaviest hitter is the supercharged, 460 kiloWatt-780 Newton-metre, Commodore from Walkinshaw Performance. The base price is $99,900 but four are sold almost as soon as the show opens.Future Spark - Honda CRZThere are fewer green machines in Sydney that most global shows, with electric cars struggling for traction in Australia. The CRZ is Honda's new hybrid headliner, although it will probably sell more of the family-friendly second-generation Insight.Funk Factor - Range Rover EvoqueThe first city car from the off-road pioneers is a game-changer for   the British brand. It will also be a huge hit in Toorak and Double Bay   once deliveries begin.Big Tease - Nissan PatrolNissan Australia had to buy the Patrol show car from a dealer in the Middle East because right-hand drive production does not begin for nearly a year. It looks good and promises to take the fight right up to the Toyota LandCruiser, once there is a steering wheel on the right-hand side.