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So Is The Lexus LF-A Any Good? Top Gear Finds Out …

Lexus has never built a supercar before, so it would almost be okay if people were to doubt the LF-A’s talents at first. Well because a car should never be judged before it’s driven, the LF-A was given the benefit of doubt, but that was before any journalist drove one. Then the testing began, one prominent journalist called it the “best car he had EVER driven”, and others were singing equally high praise. So what gives?

Well, Lexus did take nine (yes, 9) years to build it. The first body was built in aluminium but because the bosses at Lexus were not happy with it, the entire thing was scrapped and the engineers worked from scratch all over again. This time they worked with carbon fiber with as much attention to detail given to the car as a stealth bomber except this is no stealth bomber. The V10 engine at the rear is so rev-happy that Lexus had to design and build a digital rev meter just because a regular rev meter could not keep up with how fast the engine built and lost revs.

The engineers of the LF-A were so obsessed with weight saving and carbon fiber that even the steering wheel is made out of carbon fiber. So is the Lexus LF-A any more special then? Well, it’s got the Gallardo’s cylinders and the 599’s power, it’s got the speed of the Aston Martin DBS but the price of a uber exotic hypercar. So how good can a Lexus supercar be? Richard Hammond finds out in the video above and below.

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    Netz
  • Jan 5, 2010
Fastest wet lap.... not bad.....
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    KS
  • Jan 5, 2010
I must say this Lexus LF-A is so over rated. Nothing "Wow" about it. BUT Top Gear is being a bit Buyers for saying "This is a Lexus (with a sad face)".
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    netmatrix
  • Jan 5, 2010
Whats interesting is, Hammond says "Lexus won't make any money, from each one they sell." Haaaaa??? Like GTR??
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    abou saya
  • Jan 5, 2010
Lexus "LF-A" = Lets Fcuk - Amerika
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    Unmanned
  • Jan 5, 2010
that's .... WOW ! awesome and beautiful !
济南二手房网慢慢走向正规了,博主做的也不错,支持一个。
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    TopNotch
  • Jan 5, 2010
why COPIED artical?....TEST THIS CAR urself and MAKE OPINION!!!!...DUN COPIED what RIchard said?....Wheres the origin freedom of speech??..HELLO?!?!..ARE U AWAKE?!?!? DUN EAT LEFTOVER SHITE!
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    KS
  • Jan 5, 2010
TopNotch,

What's with the anger u have there? Alright, freedom of speech. So we say what we like to say about what other people said. I don't see any problem there. =) cheers
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    Roxy
  • Jan 5, 2010
I must say the car really look damn ugly .. i believe alot of people do agree with me rite ... But no doubt it is fast ... But i think Lexus Can come up with a better looking car than this ...
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    (V)oTEC
  • Jan 5, 2010
ugly cars are always fast...expensive bcoz made frm toyota F1 engine technology??btw,its a great engine when it revs high..
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    Jangboi
  • Jan 5, 2010
Funny how all Lexus sports cars look like crap. Anybody remember the SC430? Hideousness is a common denominator among them
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    vl
  • Jan 5, 2010
love it, but not the rear lamp, like audi style..
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    drMpower
  • Jan 5, 2010
i dont really see the point of an exclusive and high end car division like Lexus to design and produce a sportscar. u cant have both worlds - lambo and ferrari for example dont make 7 seater 4WD cruiser like Lexus with their harrier 450/300 line ups.

apart from audi who seem have bought everyone in the business.

one off maybe but i dont expect them to go this line of model in the future. infact, news coming thick n fast about possibility of Lexus to preown this like ala FXX. meaning buyers can buy and drive their LFAs but still Lexus will keep them. if 100% like FXX, that means owners can turn up at racing circuits, drive their LFA, then go back in a taxi.

crude?
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    jo
  • Jan 6, 2010
drMpower .. i'm pretty sure you never heard of maser quattroporte, panamera and the likes.

sounds like your knowledge about all those solely came from magazine and internet articles
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    HBS
  • Jan 6, 2010
For me the overall design is nice,the interior is top notch...better than plain looking ,same boring interior design as Ferrari did in F40 & Enzo(altough the F40 7 enzo look nice in term of overall styling)

If I got $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to spend,this would be one of my collection.....the badge things is not in my mind,I appreciate the things that counted on overall package...sure the price is way too much for performances it had,but that also explaining why good thing never come cheap.

Just look at the 80's when F40 was out....it has the performances & ol skool go fast techs that simply beaten by 959 superior tour de force but people are willing to pays as much as 600k to 1 million to have it in the name of Ferrari & convinced them to do more than planned 50 models (homoglation purpose for FIA group B racing)

& the car didnt even have anything that justify the crazy price tags...plain,uncovered nomex finish with primitive door system...but the badge itself does sell the car well...




just my opinion....I love all nice thing but not because of the badge & the myth behind it...remember the Miura?it was so good even before it had any record of victories by privateer that raced the car,the rich & wealthy seems so tempted to pay for it rather than Ferrari at that time when the car goes public...:)
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    A1Diablo
  • Jan 6, 2010
drMpower,

you're missing the obvious. Lexus is competing against premium brands Mercedes, BMW, Audi etc and all have done what Lexus is trying to do. Ferrari and Lamborghini are purely exotic sportscar brands. Lexus for Toyota is what Acura is to Honda. Upscale rebranding to compete against the premium luxury brands especially in US. And yes it was reported that for the US market the cars cannot be purchased, only leased out. Whether that's because no one would want to buy one at that price or they want to control buyer speculators that can affect brand value, I'm not sure.. The LF-A seems more like a Lexus branding exercise than a genuine exotic car.

Ironically though, it is the 'el cheapo' Toyota brand that is heavy in performance, racing with iconic sportcar models. Unfortunately I think it's too late for them to fly the LF-A under the Toyota badge. I think it won't work.

Btw Audi hasn't bought 'everyone in the business'. They only bought Lamborghini from the Malaysian-Indonesian ex owners. You are probably thinking VW, the parent to Audi.

HBS,
The F40 got away with its high pricing in the same way that the likes of McLarenF1, ENZO etc did. It boasted F1 technology. Nothing to do with suede alcantara interiors and thick leather. Buyers understood they are paying for the ultra expensive exclusive technology derived from F1 not available in other road cars.

As for the Miura, it was never built for racing and Ferruccio Lamborghini never wanted to build race cars or go racing, unlike Ferrari who were driven by racing. Lamborghini simply wanted to build better luxury gt road cars than Ferrari and they did so. Lamborghinis those days were of far better quality, technology and craftmanship than Ferrari those days.

The Miura's engine and chassis built by Lamborghini was highly advanced in the 60s. The body was styled by Bertone under the hands of Marcello Gandini in record time, just a few months. Thus the Miura body was more of a beautiful design expression rather than an engineering design, unlike the chassis underneath.
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    yams727
  • Jan 6, 2010
A1Diablo, what don't you know?

You're a prime example of knowledge is power.

Kudos to u!

As for the TG LF-A clip. The anime influence on the LF-A was off the hook. Awesome production! Long live TG.
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    A1Diablo
  • Jan 6, 2010
I'm just NUTS about Lambos. Thats all. The early Lambo GT cars from the 60s before Miura were lovely masterpieces and very well engineered too. The founder really was passionate about his cars. Their first engine was a V12 already using double over head camshafts, something even Ferrari did not offer in their roadcars at the time.

Designed by ex-Ferrari engineer Giotto Bizzarini, the 3.5L V12 grew bigger and bigger over the decades to what it is now, 6.5L V12 in the Murcielago LP670-4 SV. Essentially based on the same design architecture but reportedly will be replaced with something new in the new Lambo due to be unveiled next year
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    (\/)oTEC
  • Jan 7, 2010
Lambo's....pagani's oso learnt all design's and engineering frm lambos too,... the japanese nw are aiming for supercars..even hondas are in to it now,cant wait for the cars run together LFA,GTR,NSX/HSV,????...
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