Lexus LFA (large pics)

The only way you can see why they spent so much on this car (ten years in development) is that it is the grandson of thefirm's founder that developed it. Imagine if Dino Ferrari had lived and wanted tomake a production car (the production Dino came after his death).Anyhow has anyone heard how many million was spent on developing it? I predict $100 to 150 million. The Ford GT of '05-'06 was $100 million but that was only in development for 5 years.

I agree with you there is a lot of arrogance making it higher priced than a Ferrari. After all, Ferrari went through a lot of blood sweat and tears to develop its sports cars, and a half century of tradition. Here Toyota comes up with a new sports car and ssys by its pricing it is better than a Ferrari, based on what tradition?

 

So Mercedes can charge 300K for a gussied up SL, Lambo can charge you a cool million for a Murcielago , that's been out for what, 5 or 6 years, by adding a body kit and some dorky gauges (check out the LFA gauges in comparison).... and they have full access to the company parts bin.

Meanwhile Lexus is retarded for charging 350-400K for a hand built carbon fiber/aluminum car that Toyota WEAVES the carbon fiber ITSELF EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE LFA, with an engine that's a descendant from its F1 race car and was developed, say it again, exclusively for this car, with new technology even in it's instrument display that's exclu....you get the point.

They are selling this car at A LOSS. I don't understand how people are coming to the conclusion that it's Toyotas arrogance that's letting them charge Ferrari money...wtf?

When I read that Toyota made their own carbon fiber weaving machine because they didn't want to outsource it, and also learn a thing or two, I knew this thing wasn't going to be R8 money.

Wow, never thought I'd see the day. A Ferrari forum reluctant to give props to a car because it is....too expensive for it's own good.

The poster who brought up the Koeniggsegg and the Pagani made a good point, what heritage do they have? They don't even manufacture their own engine, although I think the new CCX does now, after many years in production. I can be ****** and call them kit cars, but they are not imo. They are good. The LFA, it's good, at least that's what the people WHO DROVE IT say. Car and driver called it a bargain, if you consider that this car is made from SCRATCH, with no pre-existing models or platforms to use or further develop from. Styling, I won't touch that, it's subjective. All I have to say is.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmP42s56PKc

So you think the car is ugly...ok, I give you that...but just watch, and more importantly listen to this, it's a symphony of sound that every car guy dreams of, regardless of who made it for how much....Ferrari guys, of all people, should appreciate this....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2UHaSRGBaY&feature=related

 

If you follow the threads on here (and some other forums) you will notice the same resistance regarding the price against the SL Black Series and Reventon too.

 

At 400$$k this car is joke..esp with the ricer styling...At that price I can buy a CGT AND used 430 coupe...........

 

Nice sound, but to my ear I prefer the CGT,458, lp560 , 599 and scuderias sound....

 

Duly noted, but my point was that the pricing of the LFA, if you think logically, makes more sense than the pricing of those two. Toyota can justify charging that much because everything the LFA has is exclusive to it, for the most part. It's basically a big experiment, don't want to participate? Then don't. Don't like the car, fine. I just don't understand how people can't comprehend that and state something as baseless as Toyota being arrogant and thinking they are better than Ferrari to price the LFA as such. Huh?

 

Can't argue with that.

 

And lets not ignore the z06 and zr1 , which give the classic American muscle car sound but on steroids!!!!

 

I know ;-)

 

With the 997 Turbo doing 0-60 in 3.0 seconds, the argument for an ugly $375K Toyota just got even worse. I know it's an experiment with a lot of one-off components, but obviously it's wasted effort and money if you're just interested in going very fast.

IMHO, it is boring to look at -- reminds me of the whole generic blobby 350Z-G35-GTR-IS convertible sort of style with some weird gaps and spikey things tacked on. This is not good design.

I never thought I'd say this about a Toyota, but it just feels like bad value for the money.

 

I see your point, BUT....
0-60 isn't everything and all 911's look the "same". At least this is a head turner and different....all IMO of course.

 

I see your point about 911s, but...

1. I don't think the LFA is much of a head turner -- not in the sense of a Testarossa, Aston Martin Vantage, Gallardo, etc. Its proportions look pretty normal.

2. The 997 Turbo is a very handsome car with credentials. The LFA doesn't look great, and no one other than a hardcore enthusiast is going to know what it is. And, you can buy two 997 Turbos plus a normal 997 for your kid for the price of the LFA.

Granted I haven't seen one in the metal yet. But the photos make it look kind of generic. The Acura NSX at least looked like it was playing in the exotics' league.

Maybe it's just more Toyota conservatism. $375K should buy the best design as well as the best mechanicals/electronics, and I'm just not seeing it here. When you're talking about a Corolla or a Camry, those are built to a strict budget, and I would expect design to take a back seat to practicality and economy of production -- I accept that they're going to be dull, competent appliances. Above a certain price point, the customer is entitled to excellence on all counts. Toyota can't let go of its mindset for practicality -- not a good thing when you're playing at this market level.

 

Does anyone except a hardcore enthusiast know what a Koenigsegg CCX is? Or a Pagani Zonda? or even a Ferrari Enzo?

Ohhh...what about a Maserati MC12?

Hardcore enthusiasts who buy cars aimed at hardcore enthusiasts shouldn't care that no one knows what kind of car they're driving. They know and thats all that matters.

I know the LFA will sell well and go down in history, even if that spot in history is just a footnote of Lexus' first attempt at a supercar. The car already has some nice reviews.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytjOyB3VwIo
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/clips/lexus-lfa/1178223/

Top Gear is set to review it on January 3rd. Hopefully that'll be a nice watch. But all in all I could care less either way. Lexus doesn't pay me to care about how well their cars sell.

 

No. But, you wouldn't confuse any of those with an Infiniti G35...

 

Whats that got to do with the LFA? It doesn't look like a G35.

 

Strip off the pointy things on the flanks, remove the wing, fix the gap in the bonnet and it's basically a rehash of the of the G35 shape, and over on the Nissan side the 350Z/GTR.

Nothing wrong with it, but for $350K you should be able to find your car in the parking lot.

 

Anyone that purchases this vehicle at this price is just clueless. This is lexus first offering in this market and they are charging a mint for it. I wouldn't mind taking a look at their 2nd or 3rd generation of this market. The 375k price tag is to pay for all the manufacturing for this initial vehicle. Pay for the design etc. I would expect their next offering to be much more reasonable. Why pay for the first? Same thing happened with the prius.

 

When you take it in for the "legendary" Lexus service I wouldn't expect anything but a loaner LFA for the price too. But you know that's not what they'll give you.

 

Hopefully it doesn't have floor mats.

 

Does Mercedes give out loaner SLRs?

 

Any argument here about value is misguided. The car is a torqueless pig that is fairly exclusive and has some cool gadgets/ facts. The bottom line is that the same as the Reventons, Veyrons, etc, there are some people in this world that even $1m is a pittance. The 500 cars will sell not because they are better, faster, more exclusive, etc. They will sell b/c they have a market that will support it. A very small one but one none the less.

 

A bit tasteless but made me chuckle...

 

I agree with everything you have said, after going through this thread it was fairly obvious that alot of the comments made had racist undertones to it, I love Ferraris, Lambos etc. but also any car that pushes the boundaries of design and performance. 50 years of operations and winning races in relation to collective human history hardly constitutes a "tradition" which is way over-rated. If it performs well on real roads and brings joy to LFA owners then it is worth every penny regardless of where the car is "from".

S

 

I get your point/tongue in cheek comment...


but of course they wouldn't give you one... they would have to have 50 just for the US for loaners...

People who expect ridiculous loaner cars need to remember what they used to get for loaners say 15 years ago...

Hell, go to scottsdale ferrari and your lucky to get a damn kia...