Other Japanese SupercarsToyota Supra, Honda NSX, Maxda RX-7, Lexus IS-F/LF-A etc.
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I liked it until I saw the price, 375k for that? Lexus go kick rocks
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Reason the price is so high is due to R&D. Everything is made by toyota without outsourcing any parts. Just check out how they make the A-Pillar, only 2 machines exists in the world and Toyota has one.
Cool video. Combined with the extremely limited production, the price isn't outrageous. One of the commentors to the video said: "Toyota's purpose for the LF-A shifted from aiming at exotics manufacturers to being a proof of concept for an entirely new manufacturing process. If Toyota had stuck with the previous aluminum frame plan, the LF-A might've easily been half the price, if not less. The entire purpose for the LF-A now is to serve as a research product to recoup costs. The LF-A is to Toyota as the Roadster is to Tesla; both of them served as proof-of-concepts designed for the sake of drumming up hype and testing feasibility."
Will be interesting to see if this leads to more use of CF in more mainstream Toyota products.
Forget about comparisons to GT-R or ZR1, this is a totally different kind of car. Far more bespoke, and more meticulously built. Easy to say "build 10x's as many," but I doubt Toyota has the production capacity for this kind of car. People seriously considering this car won't be deciding between this or the Nissan/Chevrolet, but will likely be adding to a collection that already includes these cars and/or European exotics. For these people, the exclusivity is a definite advantage. Probably more relevant that bang-for-buck considerations.
And the McLaren can cost much less because they are planning 1000+ units per year.
Cool video. Combined with the extremely limited production, the price isn't outrageous. One of the commentors to the video said: "Toyota's purpose for the LF-A shifted from aiming at exotics manufacturers to being a proof of concept for an entirely new manufacturing process. If Toyota had stuck with the previous aluminum frame plan, the LF-A might've easily been half the price, if not less. The entire purpose for the LF-A now is to serve as a research product to recoup costs. The LF-A is to Toyota as the Roadster is to Tesla; both of them served as proof-of-concepts designed for the sake of drumming up hype and testing feasibility."
Will be interesting to see if this leads to more use of CF in more mainstream Toyota products.
Forget about comparisons to GT-R or ZR1, this is a totally different kind of car. Far more bespoke, and more meticulously built. Easy to say "build 10x's as many," but I doubt Toyota has the production capacity for this kind of car. People seriously considering this car won't be deciding between this or the Nissan/Chevrolet, but will likely be adding to a collection that already includes these cars and/or European exotics. For these people, the exclusivity is a definite advantage. Probably more relevant that bang-for-buck considerations.
And the McLaren can cost much less because they are planning 1000+ units per year.
Quite a shame not many people get this concept. All they see is a 300K+ Japanese car and all the fanboyism starts flying.
This car is closer to a "production concept car" than anything else.
How so? Formula one inspired engine, CFRP chassis and body, a full interior w/premium sound system and navi, Lexus durability, quality, safety, warranty, and service. With only a run of 500 units, the price is right.
How so? Formula one inspired engine, CFRP chassis and body, a full interior w/premium sound system and navi, Lexus durability, quality, safety, warranty, and service. With only a run of 500 units, the price is right.
Formula 1 inspired engine = Just some marketing buzz
CFRP chassis and body = Anything else at this price would be ridicilous
A full interior w/premium sound system and navi = Anything else at this price would be ridicilous
Lexus durability, quality, safety, warranty, and service. = Don't know about durability yet. The Nissan baby supercar was supposed to be bulletproof too. Quality is probably epic but that you can get with a 60.000 $ Lexus too. Safety is probably as good as it gets but they can't add 10.000 $ or more on a price based on just that, it is expected from brand new cars!
Warranty and service = Probably very good.
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R.I.P. Ferrari manual shifting gearbox.
How so? Formula one inspired engine, CFRP chassis and body, a full interior w/premium sound system and navi, Lexus durability, quality, safety, warranty, and service. With only a run of 500 units, the price is right.
Everything's relative. Next to an F458 or McLaren MP4-12C at just over $200k, this car offers nothing more. They'll sell because they're a limited run but if you extended the run to 20,000 the bare bones of the car without the rarity is not worth $400k.
Let's look at technology.
Weight
F458 - marginally lighter than LFA
McLaren MP4-12C - much lighter than LFA
Engine
F458 - Smaller NA engine, same rev-limit, more power and torque. Better spread of torque, wider powerband. Diamond finished valve tappets as per LFA. Graphal coated piston skirts.
McLaren MP4-12C - ditto the above, except it's turbocharged + best hp/CO2 rating.
Gearbox
F458 - Dual clutch with changes <20ms vs 200ms for LFA automated manual.
F458 - Pre-cog dual clutch with changes <20ms vs 200ms for LFA automated manual.
Aerodynamics
F458 - 800lbs of downforce at max. speed.
This is before I point out the respective badges.
As you can see all the LFA's 'revolutionary' tech. is beaten in terms of actual metrics by the competition. All it can hope for is some ridiculously fast lap times to convince people otherwise.
They'll sell because they're a limited run but if you extended the run to 20,000 the bare bones of the car without the rarity is not worth $400k.
The way this car is built, it'd be tough to get 20,000 units.
The bare bones of the car, plus the development period of nearly a decade during which they switched from aluminum to CF, is a huge reason why this car costs this much. Both the Ferrari and McLaren will sell far more units; they also have some existing expertise and methods for building such cars. The Ferrari is aluminum, not CF. McLaren also lacks carbon brakes, which the LFA has. And if the Autoblog comments are to be believed, McLaren don't weave their own CF, but buy it in pre-made sheets.
Re: badge
10 years ago, if anyone told me people would buy a $150K Ford, I'd probably laugh. But the Ford GT showed that people can look beyond the badge; and Ford doesn't quite have the cachet that Lexus has. And they managed to sell over 4000 of them...
Re: bulletproof GT-R
I'm guessing this is a more durable track car out of the 'box than the GT-R. Lexus has run this in, what, 3 Nurburgring 24 Hour events already? With lighter weight, carbon brakes, and a more conventional gearbox, this should withstand heavy lapping better.
LF-A is mirror image of ZR-1, something Toyota should be very proud to accomplish considering the stunning performance of the ZR1. I wold pay $10 to $20K extra for the nicer engine sound and better interior. Price for this car should be $100-$125K, the CF stuff is a complete waste of money obviously it will not go faster than the ZR1.
Looks like a Scion had sex w/ a GTR and that baby when and had babies w/ an R8. Now that Scion, GTR, R8 baby finds an LP560 and has a baby w/ that. Do you know what they named their child? The Lexus LFA. I do not think Lexus could have taken more ideas from any of their targeted competitors.
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Current
- 2009 Phantom Black S5, Red Interior, CF Inlays, Stasis Rear Sway, GMG Exhaust
Prior
-2006 Crystal Grey Metallic STi, ECUteck Tuning, Perrin Downpipe, Perrin Short Ram, Greddy SP2 Exhaust.
-2006 Aspen White STi, Stock, Gold Wheels.
Apart from having wheels, doors, windows and a long hood, those two really don't look much alike at all. The LFA concept has been around for years, too.
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