Category: Lexus

With just 500 LFA supercars planned for worldwide distribution Lexus already has a limited edition hero model. But exclusivity has a new name, and that is the Lexus LFA Nürburgring Package. Just 50 of these, sourced from the original allocation of 500, will be made in honour of the company’s exploits at the Nürburgring 24 hour race.

In addition to the lairy orange paintwork you get an extra 10bhp for your 4.8 litre V10, up to a new maximum of 562bhp. You also get a reprogrammed six speed sequential box, now able to shift cogs in 0.15 seconds. Lexus engineers have had a fiddle with the suspension for you, as well. There’s some semi-slick rubber on those quite nice looking lightened alloys. And, last but not least, the old favourite in a splash of carbon fibre around the car’s outermost extremities. Well, actually, it’s carbon fibre reinforced plastic, but you probably keep that info from your mates at the pub.

There is, however, one very cool feature that owners can benefit from. Although it would only apply to European owners, you can get individual track tuition on the legendary Nordschleife circuit as well as receiving a one-year pass allowing virtually limitless track time during public days.

Oh, I expect there will be a nasty kick once the invoice arrives from Lexus, as well. The Achilles heel of the LFA has always been its price, and you can only expect the Nürburgring Package to cost even more.

Lexus Australia have happily announced they have secured five LFA supercars for the Australian market. With a worldwide production run limited to 500 models that’s a reasonable coup for the local market. However, European pricing has been reported at €368,000. For those playing at home that is 600,000 Aussie dollars. Sure, you can’t always do currency conversions like that to arrive at a new car price, but whatever language you speak, 600K is a lot of moolah for a fancy Toyota.

However, Lexus Chief Executive John Roca reckons he’ll have no problems moving the LFAs off the showroom floor, “The fact that Australia has been allocated any LFA vehicles is testament to the importance of the Australian arm of the global Lexus brand. Our next challenge is managing the allocation process – we are already certain that we will not have enough LFAs to fulfill demand.”

Lexus is making some noise about the sound of its $600K supercar, the LFA. You can hear audio of the 4.8 litre V10 in the YouTube clip after the jump, or you can play with the sound animation (shown above) in the gallery section of the LFA website.

The LFA’s titanium silencer has a valve to keep things quiet at low revs. Above 3000rpm the valve opens up to release the full roar of the V10. Lexus engineers fiddled about with the induction and air intake to ensure optimum sound results, too. They call these results Resonated Complex Harmony. No, that’s not a joke!

If you’ve got a spare AU$600K (€368K) you could be one of the 500 owners of the newest Japanese supercar, the Lexus LFA. That’s right, you’ll need 600 large and worldwide production is limited to just 500 examples. Wow, that’s a lot of dosh for a first supercar effort from a Toyota that’s a little bit fancy. You could almost buy a new entry level Corolla every day for a month with that money. Hmm, on second thoughts, then, the LFA seems like the value proposition.

Okay, so well over half a million bucks—what do you get for that money? Well, first of all you get a slightly edgy looking coupé. Despite likely first impressions, I reckon this is one car that will look better in the real world, rather than the virtual one you are seeing now. You also get 412kW (552bhp) and 480Nm from the 4.8 litre V10. There’s a six speed sequential box and liberal smatterings of carbon fibre, inside and out. Stopping power is provided by carbon ceramic brakes.

Oh, yeah, almost forgot, the LFA has one of the coolest animated electronic dash clusters offered for sale yet.

The LFA weighs 1480kg and the front-mid engine layout offers a weight distribution of 48:52 per cent, front-to-rear. To put some performance numbers to all those facts, the LFA can propel itself to 100km/h in a very rapid 3.7 seconds before reaching a 325km/h v-max. That is properly quick!

The lads at Autocar have been lucky enough to flog a couple of LFAs around the Nürburgring Nordschleife and on public roads, as well. They reckon the car is beautifully put together and as a driving experience it is a pretty tidy bit of kit. Only its over-assisted steering lets the car down a bit.

Along with a heap of pics (click on an image to load wallpaper friendly super images) and the official press release you can also see a couple of YouTube clips, courtesy of Autocar. When you watch those you will see that perhaps the best thing about the LFA is the beautiful, beautiful noise its ripping V10 powerplant makes. Nine thousand revs have barely sounded better!

Images and video of the Lexus LF-A coupé have been leaked hours before its official reveal at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.

Most recently seen in pre-production race trim at the Nürburgring 24 hour race earlier this year, the LF-A has finally had the angles of its nose revealed. Although, you did see a pretty good teaser of what was to come when the LF-A Roadster was in Australia for the Melbourne International Motor Show in February.

While that new nose isn’t shown all that well in the matt black finish above, you can see the car in its full glory in the video below. Some images are also available on the NATGROC forum.

The LF-A’s looks will most likely divide opinion, but there’s one thing most revheads will agree on and that is the sweet sound of the car’s 360kW V10. There’ll be official details of this car all over the net pretty soon, so in the meantime take the jump and see footage of the LF-A in action.

[via Autoblog]

Following the official, and not so official, leaks of information Lexus has finally revealed a set of images showing its LF-Ch Concept Hybrid in full. This is the car Lexus hopes will eat into the Audi A3/BMW 1 Series market.

The presser below doesn’t go into too much detail, but it does explain the LF-Ch will have a full hybrid powertrain, including the possibility to drive the car in full electric mode.

I guess we’ll have to wait a few more days before we find out just what the range of the LF-Ch is in electric mode, not to mention the actual performance specs, which Lexus claim will meet the expectations the market demands from a premium hatch.

Given Audi is said to be releasing a 250kW RS3 the performance expectations in the premium hatch segment look set to rise!

A new image has emerged showing the front of the new Lexus LF-Ch concept hybrid. This is the car Lexus hopes to eat into the premium hatch market. Think Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series.

Hmm, I know it’s hard to judge concept cars sometimes, but that face, well, it’s a bit fussy. It’s not unattractive at all and I’m sure there will be a market out there for this car. But I’m just not sure those currently attracted to the German marques will see much here to tempt them away from teutonic designs.

The sketch of the LF-Ch that Lexus released a while back (see below) is less contrived at the front, but then it does lack the finer details shown above. As for detail, as soon as Lexus gives us more on this car, you’ll be reading it here.

Lexus wants to chase the premium compact market and fight it out with Audi, BMW, Volkswagen and others. To do just that they will be launching the Lexus LF-Ch concept.

The teaser image released shows an aggressive, if fussy, rear end and it will be interesting to see how the car looks when full details and images are released next week. The car will make its public debut at Frankfurt a week later.

The Ch nomenclature indicates Compact Hybrid and it is understood the LF-Ch will be based on the Prius platform. Assuming the world’s finances don’t fall apart again, expect a production release in around two-three years from now.

In other news, the Lexus IS-F will now be available with a limited slip diff. More info on this and other Lexus news after the break.