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First driving impressions of the Lexus LFA: What the high-tech athlete with 560 hp offers

Reinhard Schmid
First driving impressions of the Lexus LFA
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No, no one would have put their hand in the fire for him, even if the harbingers of the last two 2 4h races at the Nürburgring could definitely be interpreted as good news. Especially not after the recent realignment of the competitor Honda, which now gives the ostensibly more sensible vehicles - keyword hybrid - explicit preference over sporty appearances such as the long-awaited NSX successor. After years of development, shortly before the start of series production, it was put to an end for political and strategic reasons.

Redesign of the Supersport Coupé

Well: During a ten-year development period - that is how long the maturity phase of the Lexus LFA - a lot is happening, both in politico-social as well as technical. As a result, there was already in the first half of the LFA development phase a blatant break in the vita of the supersport coupé designed as a sporty image bearer, one that might have led to its death elsewhere. The chassis and bodywork changed from aluminum to “Carbon Fiber Reinforced Platic” (CFRP), that is to say to a Kevlar material, which almost inevitably reduced the design maturity to zero.

After all, the pretty Toyota subsidiary Lexus has remained conceptually for the decade with what was already considered a desirable model in the planning phase - a front /mid-engine sports car combined with the engine at the feet of the crew with an automated six-speed gearbox placed near the rear axle, i.e. a transaxle design. Basically a very classic variant, which both Ferrari in the California and Mercedes AMG in the new SLS are currently using.

Passenger cell made of lightweight carbon fiber material

It is not the technical layout that is special, but the way it is implemented. In contrast to the Ferrari and AMG, the passenger cell, for example, is not made of metallic materials, but of the aforementioned carbon fiber material, which makes up around 65 percent of the structure. Only the rear poker carrier and theThe front subframe, which, in addition to its primary task of providing a generously dimensioned crash structure, also supports the engine, is made of aluminum. As already mentioned, it is a 4.8 liter ten-cylinder, but one with an outstanding presence.

560 PS strong 72-degree V-engine

The speed with which this 560 PS strong 72-degree V-engine revs up and its speed Slowing down the engine speed is an act of breathtaking dynamism - comparable only to the ultra-agile revving of thoroughbred racing engines of the caliber of a Formula 1 unit. To hear it acoustically means to hear the angels sing: With a bright scream that goes deep under the skin, the V10 testifies to a joy of turning of heavenly intensity. One that nominally only comes to an end at 9,000 crankshaft revolutions, but according to the builder only begins to dry up well beyond this previously barely reached mark. His finely balanced mass balance and the incredibly sensitive response to gas commands currently identify him as the absolute ruler of his genre.

With so much fine-tuning, it is actually difficult to find any clues about the mechanical processes of the engine. This is more likely to succeed with the automated six-speed gearbox, whose gear changes in the partial load range of the engine are accompanied by an audible noise development from the hydraulically operated actuators. Acoustical trivialities of this kind are, however, regularly covered by thrusts of emotion that arise in view of the driving dynamics properties of the LFA.

Only 500 pieces for over 375,000 euros

Only a few competitors in the 500-horsepower-and-more class were able to drive the driver before the Lexus To get so much respect on the Nordschleife, which was mostly made to shine by a wet film - not for the treacherous black spots on the asphalt, but for the skilful appearance of the rear-wheel drive super sports car under suboptimal conditions. The - let's call it - correspondence between the front axle, which is characterized by exhilarating agility, and the drive axle with impeccable traction and tremendous grip, is rarely found in this harmony. As if the rear axle was positioned just a few meters behind the front axle, the Lexus LFA follows steering commands as well as if it were under power. The fact that in this case the bottom line is perhaps only the result of the sum of all optimization measures on the chassis and chassis does not have to be immediately tied to everyone in times like these. Not even that there will only be 500 of the appetizing bites and that each one will cost over 375,000 euros.

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