LFA Appreciation | Page 13 | FerrariChat

LFA Appreciation

Discussion in 'General Automotive Discussion' started by Sterling Sackey, Jan 23, 2018.

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  1. Sterling Sackey

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    Some great noises in this video!

    Lexus' current flagship against the proper supercar LFA:

     
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  2. energy88

    energy88 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    ^^^ Nothing like a good old fashion drag race! Good illustration of physics at work.
     
  3. energy88

    energy88 Two Time F1 World Champ
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  4. Sterling Sackey

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    Yes that is Pasin Lathouras' car in the UK, registration "V10 NBR," a white Nurburgring now wrapped in dark metallic green. That example must be one of the most heavily driven, "used & abused" Nurburgring LFAs or otherwise in the world!
     
  5. Eric R

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    Love this thread! Back in May 2012 I was a member of the Exotics of RTC gang when the factory sent a yellow LFA with Toyota driver Paul (sorry can't remember last name) who drove for them in the Baja races. We took the car out to the Salish lodge afterwards and he took me for a 5mi wild ride on the mountain roads. Then he pulled over and let me take it back. I got to push it as hard as I wished. While I did not get airborne like he did, I was very impressed. So much so that I still consider it the BEST car I have ever driven. While my ZR1 would beat it, the LFA was so easy to push and inspired a lot of confidence if you have track experience. With the ZR1 you have to work your way up to its performance and get use to the feel of it. But still you have that feeling that its going to let loose and spin on you. The LFA was just a natural. I was honored to get to drive it.
     
  6. Sterling Sackey

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    Thank you, great to hear such positive experiences from those who have driven the car.
     
  7. energy88

    energy88 Two Time F1 World Champ
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  8. Sterling Sackey

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  9. Sterling Sackey

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  10. Sterling Sackey

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  11. energy88

    energy88 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Don't know if this has been posted before here- ran across it by accident tonite. National Geographic 45 minute video on the LFA factory. Many interesting points covered. Enjoy!

     
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  12. Sterling Sackey

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    Just back from Monterey Car Week, where I managed to spot two different LFAs. The first car is #144, which was on display at The Quail at the Lexus stand, and the second is #499, the final non-Nürburgring LFA and the final USA car, which I spotted parked in Carmel-by-the-Sea. There was also a Metallic Silver car around that I didn't get to see, and I believe the Slate Blue car may have been in town as well.

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  13. NürScud

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    When i was first saw this commercial i was really impressed!

    I really loved it!

     
  14. Sterling Sackey

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    A classic commercial and also totally real. They amplified the exhaust sound going to the glass via the microphone setup you see in the commercial, but they did actually get the glass to break without any trickery.

    It's also a great play on the other most-famous Lexus commercial:

     
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  15. Sterling Sackey

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    A nice owner review posted the other day on the ClubLexus forum:

    The downside is that the LFA spoils me for any other car. I had originally planned to collect various exotics, each a little different in character, to drive in different moods. The problem is that anything I test drive, now, seems like such a step down from the LFA that it simply isn't worth buying. I have kept my Testarossa, because it is an old-school driving experience and starting to become a classic. But, as for modern cars, there is literally nothing that is more exciting than the LFA. And I fear it is only getting worse with everything being small displacement turbo and/or electric motors. I suppose the Aston Valkyrie with 11,000 RPM may surpass the LFA for thrills, but as far as everyday supercars go, I can't see anything on the horizon. The only car that is truly on my wish list is the one-off LFA Sypder. But seeing as how my name isn't Jay Leno, I doubt I will ever get anywhere near it!
     
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  16. Sterling Sackey

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    Clarkson confirms the LFA is still the best car he's ever driven, almost a decade since its debut (skip to @ 2:08):

     
  17. Sterling Sackey

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  18. Sterling Sackey

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    A great owner-written piece on the LFA, I've copied it below for your reading enjoyment!

    http://autostradamagazine.com/editorials/the-lexus-lfa


    The Lexus LFA.

    The anti-Tesla. That’s one way to describe my Lexus LFA, if only by contrast. While I respect the electric cars as a mode of transport, I imagine their design brief was something like ‘brisk but silent acceleration for four passengers and a dog’. The LFA clearly received a different memo. There is room for a single, well-hydrated passenger who will appreciate the absence of cup-holders or a place to put, well, anything. And quiet performance is an oxymoron in this car's world. Such is the aural drama of the LFA, that the throttle pedal feels more like a detonator switch.

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    I’ve had a profound interest in sports cars since my early teenage years, when flamboyant exotics like the Ferrari Testarossa and Lamborghini Countach captured my imagination and also, admittedly, part of my heart. Indeed, my collection includes a Testarossa, which never fails to remind me of the power of nostalgia every time I take it for a drive. Over the years, the automotive infatuation has only grown, confusing family members and other non-aficionados along the way. I don't consider myself an adrenaline-junkie or a thrill-seeker. Rather, I'm more deeply concerned with the construction of a fast car, its design, and how it fulfills its mission of high performance. For me, the driving is simply the culmination of that analysis, albeit an activity that I thoroughly enjoy.

    Now entering middle age, I have owned or test driven samples of nearly every brand from Corvette to McLaren, a journey that had no reason to ever make a stop at Lexus. I confess that the LFA barely hit my radar when the car launched around the turn of the decade. Like many, I assigned no credibility to the manufacturer of quiet, plush and soft-riding sedans; in what world could they build a Ferrari-rivaling supercar on their first attempt? Certainly not mine. When Jeremy Clarkson opined that it was the best car he'd ever driven, I wrote it off as mere showmanship. When The Stig agreed, I began to take notice.

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    Inevitably, my curiosity led to consuming a series of documentaries and articles that illustrated the sheer fastidiousness that went into creating the LFA. I learned of the 'Takumi', master artisans that were culled from the entire Toyota employee population to be responsible for the LFA's production. I was astounded that Lexus brought carbon fiber design and manufacturing in-house and made nearly the entire car out of the material. Perhaps most intriguing was the idea that Lexus did all of this for a single run of 500 cars and then essentially dismantled the entire LFA Works operation. The project was a no-expense-spared exercise to prove that Lexus could create a supercar at the highest level. I began to think that a car built to this standard just might deserve some of the lofty praise it was receiving. By this time, online video reviews were cropping up and when I heard the sound of the Formula One-inspired V10 engine revving past 9,000 RPM, I was sold.

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    Only ten LFAs were allotted to Canada, so it took me about a year to locate and procure an example. Having the car shipped from the West coast gave me plenty of time to wonder whether I had made a mistake. After all, I'd never even sat in an LFA, much less test driven one.

    Three years later, I can confirm that any such fears were entirely unwarranted. On every level, the car has exceeded my high expectations. I am completely smitten. Foremost, it drives brilliantly, with a suspension that strikes a perfect balance between body control and ride suppleness. So often, this nuanced trait eludes a supercar.

    As good as the LFA's chassis is, however, the powertrain is the highlight and, arguably, the defining feature of the car. I have long since run out of superlatives to describe the engine, as there are no words that convey the throttle response, urgency and sound of the 4.8-liter V10. If you have experienced, or can imagine, the way that a powerful sport bike responds to a flick of the wrist, you are on the right track. Revs climb so quickly, and with such intensity, that you are guaranteed to run into the 9,500-RPM limiter the first few times you attempt full-throttle acceleration. When you combine this highly provocative nature with the LFA's intake and exhaust sounds, you'd be forgiven if you find the experience frenetic and perhaps even overwhelming.

    Indeed, a plethora of articles and videos now exist that document the extraordinary sound that Lexus and Yamaha were able to impart to the LFA. Somehow, they managed to capture the essence and timbre of a V10-era Formula One racecar, even in intensity, though thankfully not quite in loudness. It was a remarkable feat, considering the lengths to which car companies go in order to make their cars sound impressive. When you stab the throttle, the LFA instantly barks and eagerly awaits your next move. If you stay in it, a primal wail builds in pitch and ferocity with every increment of the tachometer, snapping all of your senses to attention. As the needle charges past 9,000 RPM, the LFA reaches a crescendo that challenges you to time the upshift perfectly, so that you might extract every last decibel. It’s invigorating and makes every drive in the LFA an exciting and memorable event.

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    Of course, a racetrack is required to exploit the LFA's full performance, and I have indulged. Over last 15 years, I have gradually transitioned to driving racecars, almost exclusively, on the track, but I still enjoy a few laps in a road car to see what it can do. Compared to most road cars, I find the LFA to have a very strong front end, which is to say it does not under-steer. Rather, it turns in sharply and, if anything, you'll need to manage grip and traction at the rear tires. It's an aggressive setup that’s likely optimal in skilled hands and slightly more knife-edged than you might expect in a street machine. The carbon brakes are immensely capable and mine have never faded during a track session. Perhaps best of all, the LFA is seemingly infallible, even under these extreme conditions. The tires settle predictably into their hot pressures and there isn't a coolant or oil temp warning in sight. I have dubbed my car The Terminator.

    This reliability is no doubt the result of the LFA's meticulous design and production. Still, it’s remarkable that, other than the industry-wide Takata airbag replacement, the LFA has not been subject to a single recall. My McLaren had so many in the first 24 months that I lost count. I find the LFA to be built to an uncanny level of precision, having never leaked so much as a single drop of fluid onto my garage floor. Every Spring, it comes off the trickle charger and fires up readily, as if it had been driven earlier that day. Furthermore, the service costs are a fraction of a typical supercar, which has been a welcome surprise.

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    Would I change anything about my LFA? Only one thing, but probably not what you would expect: I feel that supercars today are too powerful for their intended use as road cars, the LFA included. I would gladly trade some horsepower for even higher RPM. Any 600-plus-horsepower supercar can hit 200 MPH. But, how many can make you feel like Michael Schumacher winding a screaming racecar above 10,000 RPM? In our rapidly evolving electric car future, this seems like a foregone impossibility. But, fortunately, the LFA comes tantalizingly close.
     
  19. Sterling Sackey

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    I'm not sure if I've posted this video before, awesome short-form interviews with the team behind the car:

     
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  20. Ak Jim

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  21. sunline

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    Great video. I had not seen that one before. Thanks for posting
     
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  22. Sterling Sackey

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    #322 Sterling Sackey, Oct 18, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2019
    LFAs owned by Craig Zinn, dealer operator with various stores in Florida including Lexus of Pembroke Pines & Lexus of North Miami. Picture taken around 1 year ago.

    Standard car at left, two Nurburgring cars at right. All in Whitest White. The central Nurburgring car has a small Japanese flag emblem on either side (near the "F" logo) which was reportedly specially ordered and supplied from the factory.

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  23. Sterling Sackey

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  24. Sterling Sackey

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    LFA exiting the pit lane at Infineon Raceway (now Sonoma Raceway) at an early press event. This was the same Lexus-owned press car which was used in various capacities, including being famously shown to Paris Hilton prior the delivery of her white production car (#108).

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  25. Sterling Sackey

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    Images from the October 2018 LFA owner's meet in Toyota City, Japan.

    LFA chief engineer Tanahashi Haruhiko, assistant chief engineer Chiharu Tamura, and several other staff engineers were in attendance, and available to sign cars and discuss the development with owners.

    Over 200 LFA were delivered to Japan, making it the car's best market. This is very unique - usually Japan is a fairly small market for most sports cars, even those that originate there (NSX, Nissan GT-R, etc.).

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