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By EWAN
KENNEDY
4 January 2010
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.
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.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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