Reporting live from the Tokyo Motor Show, we bring you the latest to be launched in Japan. We were flown in by the Toyota Motor Company to attend this exclusive bi-annual event. Just moments ago, we witnessed the launch of the highly anticipated Lexus LF-A supercar, the Lexus LF-Ch as well as the FT-86 Concept car.
After years of development, months of teasing and a run in the Nurburgring 24-hour endurance race, the Lexus LF-A finally goes on sale for USD 375,000 and only 500 of these uber exotics will ever be sold. The Lexus LF-A has also officially dethroned the Nissan GT-R as the finest to come out of Japan. Sporting a 560hp, 4.8-liter V10 powerplant (coded 1LR-GUE), the 1,480kg LF-A demolishes the 0-100km/h sprint in a mere 3.7-seconds and goes on to a top speed of 325km/h. The driver shifts through the gears via a six-speed ASG (Automated Sequential Gearbox).
Going in to the details of the powerplant, the use of titanium valves, ultra-light weight rocker arms with a diamond-like coating and a fully integrated lower crankcase that reduces pumping losses at high RPM’s combine to provide the driver with overwhelming acceleration right up to the 9,000rpm (max torque is achieved at 6,800rpm and max horsepower is achieved at 8,700rpm).
The engine boasts space age technology with build materials including the lightweight aluminium alloy, magnesium alloy and titanium alloy. The V10 engine is also one of the smallest in the world (it’s smaller than a V8) and this allows for optimal weight distribution and an exceptional power-to-weight ratio.
The cabin is made out of carbon fiber reinforced plastic which makes it 100kg lighter than a comparable aluminium cabin. Completely developed by Lexus, the lightweight material and precise matching allows for high rigidity and contributes to the low weight of the car.
The Lexus LF-A boasts an impressive weight distribution of 48:52 (front:rear). This was achieved by a number of ingenious methods including the placement of heavier components such as the engine and transmission within the wheelbase. A low center of gravity was achieved by the use of dry sump lubrication, along with placing peripheral components (oil pump, water pump) behind the engine. Also contributing to the impressive weight distribution is the placement of transmission and the fuel tank in front of the rear axle. This effectively minimizes weight shift during cornering and enhances driveability and performance.
The impressive technology and engineering also stretches into the driver’s seating position. The driver is effectively positioned near the LF-A’s center of gravity with the seat placed between the front and rear axle and closer to the left-right center. This was achieved by using a rear transaxle and a vertically stacked torque tube and exhaust pipes reducing the weight of the center tunnel. The placement of the driver in such a position was done not only to achieve excellent weight distribution but also to provide maximum car-to-driver feedback, especially under sport or high G-force driving conditions.
The LF-A is not all about big power and a big engine, it also promises precise responsiveness – something that is naturally expected out of a supercar. To do this, the LF-A uses independent, electronically controlled throttle bodies that ensure precise air-feed to each of the 10-cylinders. This effectively makes the response time to approximately half the normal response time of a single-throttle valve.
The six-speed ASG transmission is also another technological marvel by itself. It features four selectable driving modes and a seven-stage shift-speed selector that results in upshift speeds as quick 0.2 seconds. And to ensure everything is manageable, speed retardation comes in the form of track-sized high-performance Carbon Ceramic CCM brake discs all managed by a Electronically Controlled Braking system.
And to top things off, the Lexus LF-A sounds like nothing that ever came out of the land of the rising sun, bar the Formula cars. It’s equal length exhaust manifolds combined with an equal-length dual exhaust system routed through a multistage titanium muffler helps to fine tune the exhaust note. Also helping to ensure the LF-A screams louder than a porn star is an acoustically tuned surge tank linked to 10 throttle bodies and the intake and exhaust sounds are coordinated to overlap at various RPMs.
The pre-sales for the Lexus LF-A starts today with customer selection to start in the spring of 2010. The Lexus LF-A is also set to spawn to more additional models with one to feature special colour selection and another one to be a more hardcore, track-focused model. Both additional models will begin production in 2012.
I got to run to bring you more pictures and information but meanwhile click on the thumbnails below to see all the images from this morning. Cheers.
