Toyota is known for many things, but soul-stirring Ferrari-like supercars with V10 power aren't on the list. The folks who brought you the Camry, however, think they can do that trick, too.
After nine years in development, they're finally ready to show us their attempt. Autoblog reports, "It seems like the Lexus LFA has been around forever. In reality, the first concept version was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in 2005, but that's a long time in the automotive world." Four years later, "the production version of the LFA is finally here at the Tokyo Motor Show, and it is glorious."
Numbers tell just part of the story. It sports, according to Autoblog, "a 4.8-liter V10 with 560 horsepower, 354 lb-ft torque, a zingy 9,000 rpm redline, a six-speed sequential gearbox, 0-62 mph in 3.7 seconds, and a top speed of 202 mph. It looks amazing too, both in pictures and in person."
Inside, Car & Driver reports, "The interior is restrained but tasteful... a mixture of supple leather, carbon fiber, Alcantara, and ‘satin metal' adorning the cockpit." Buyers will have a lot of choices to make. "Lexus will offer seat coverings in 12 shades of leather or 10 alternate hues of Alcantara, with three color choices for the Alcantara headliner. 'Roomy' describes the cabin, although luggage space is minimal." The cabin electronics should be familiar to Lexus fans. "The minor controls are as easy to find and use as in a standard Lexus sedan, and the LFA even has the same mouse-style operation for its multifunction center-console screen as in an RX350 sport-ute."
Toyota even built in a new safety feature, C&D notes: "Seatbelt airbags -- which inflate in a crash to spread the impact's forces over a broader section of the body than a traditional belt."
But a car like this doesn't earn its reputation on the show stand.
Motor Trend drove it. They report, "The V10 is scintillating: it pulls hard, flaunts seemingly hidden torque...and propels the car ferociously." It doesn't even need all of its power to do that. "At 6,000 rpm it's just screaming away," MT writes, "with 3,000 rpm left!" While a powerful track car, it's no daily driver. "The LFA rides hard. Really hard...On smoother stretches of the Autobahn, that stiffness is largely irrelevant, but it's not hard to imagine the LFA growing tiresome during extended drives on brittle roads."
Lexus will build just 500 LFA coupes worldwide. Jalopnik reports, "At $400,000 the limited run supercar will be Toyota's most extreme offering ever."
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