4.8-liter 72-degree V10 putting out 560 hp at 8,700 RPM (that's 116.5 hp/liter) and 354 lb.-ft. of torque at 6,800 RPM
Redline: 9,000 RPM
Titanium valves, connecting rods, forged aluminum pistons, dry sump lubrication and a titanium exhaust manifold
Six-speed sequential gearbox
Torsen limited slip differential
3,263 pounds with a 48/52 front-to-rear weight distribution
Power-to-weight ratio of 5.8 pounds/hp
65 percent of the body is carbon fiber
20-inch BBS wheels wrapped in 265/35 ZR20 Bridgestone tires in front and 305/30 ZR20 in the rear.
0-62 MPH (100 km/h) in 3.7 seconds
Top speed of 201.94 MPH
Production limited to 500 units
Lexus roars into supercar territory 10:42AM Monday Nov 02, 2009
By John Simister
Shut your eyes and think of a Lexus. What do you see? And what doyou hear? My guess is something smooth, glossy, trimmed in sumptuousleather and wood, making almost no noise and oozing luxury. It mighteven be a hybrid, adding a social conscience to the sybaritism.
I have just been driving a Lexus, but it is not quite the same deal. In fact it shrieks like a Formula One car.
Ifthe recently-launched Lexus IS-F stretched the brand beyond anyexpected elastic limit with its thunderous V8, nailed-to-the-road rideand competition-car detailing, then the car you see here surely snapsthe rubber band.
This car is the Lexus LFA, it costs ascarcely-believable £340,000 (NZ$780,700), and I can't imagine manybuyers of an LS600h (the current ultimate in cosseting Lexus limos)instantly craving an LFA for their garage. In fact, if they drove oneon a track I can almost guarantee a coronary after the first bend.
Whatcan Lexus be thinking of? Actually, it makes sense. Lexus thus far hasbeen an incomplete brand. Audi keeps winning Le Mans. BMW once had itsM1 supercar, raced by Formula One drivers. Mercedes-Benz has its newSLS and had the SLR McLaren, Jaguar had its XJ220. To add a bonkerssupercar to the curriculum vitae is a rite of passage.
And the Lexus LFA very possibly tops the lot. Just 500 of them willbe made, each a sculpture in lightweight carbon fibre, none of themturning a profit for the parent Toyota company despite the price.
Sowhy make it, apart from the obvious reasons of kudos and halo-effect?Because lessons learnt from the carbon fibre production process willfilter through to Toyota's family cars of the future, cars which maywell have carbon-fibre structures if they can be made cheaply enough.Carbon fibre is very light, and cars must become lighter to meet futurefuel-efficiency targets.
That's the sensible part. Now the partthat assaults the senses, beginning with the engine. Designed incollaboration with Yamaha, it's a 4.8-litre V10 set well back behindthe front wheels; it's able to produce 560bhp and it can run to9,000rpm.
All this energy is channelled through a six-speed,paddleshift-controlled, sequential gearbox. This and nearly every otherLFA component is bespoke, with just the air-conditioning unit and themouse-like sat-nav control borrowed from other Lexi.
This is acar which celebrates its unusual construction technique rather thantrying to pretend it is really formed from sheet metal. You can tell bythe way the ridges and scoops are formed, especially those next to therear side windows: metal doesn't do that. Few would call the LFAbeautiful but it does have an air of menace and some neat detailing,such as the trio of tailpipes and the latticework of air vents beneaththe slender rear lights.
Inside, the way the dashboard tucks under itself is more 1950sAmericana than post-millennial supercar, while the aluminium air vents,pedals and switchgear ooze racecar-workshop vibes. It's all beautifullywrought and there's still plenty of leather, including handgrips on thesteering wheel which make it look like handlebars.
So I'm at theNurburgring Grand Prix circuit, belted in. I press the starter buttonon the steering wheel, triggering an aural eruption from under thebonnet.
A light tap on the right-hand paddle in to first gear;the left-hand, downshift paddle's action is deliberately firmer.Trickle out of the pitlane, into second, then foot hard down. Goodgrief. The response is extraordinary. It helps that the LFA is set toSport mode, which compresses the redundant-on-track, sub-5,000rpm partof the rev-counter scale and sharpens the engine's sinews to snappingpoint, but even in this mode the gearshifts aren't violent, just veryfast.
First fast bend, and the nose darts in so sharply it feelsas if the rear tyres have lost their air. No Lexus, not even the IS-F,has behaved like this, and it's a bit of a fright. A few bends later,though, you forget that hyperactivity because once settled into a bendthe LFA is pure joy.
You can slither its tail at will, you can place it to perfection,you can throw it around and its engine screams its enjoyment at everyturn. The beast is not a beast at all; it has instead, as chiefengineer Haruhiko Tanahashi happily quotes from Tennyson, "the roar ofan angel".
On the road it is not quite so good, its gearboxclunking, and slipping its clutch too much when you're ambling,especially in auto mode. But even that criticism doesn't cool MrTanahashi's love of his creation. "If I go to heaven, it will be inthis car," he says.
- THE INDEPENDENT作者: 377 时间: 2010-1-5 23:37:24
