LFA Preps For SEMA.......

09/28/2010—This weekend, a repainted Lexus LFA made its debut in Glendale, California.

Here’s the back story: With the SEMA aftermarket auto show coming up in November, the time had come to give the North American LFA prototype a new look, inside and out, for the 100,000 expected SEMA attendees. (You’ve probably seen this LFA already: it’s the exact same car that shattered a wine glass in the now-famous TV commercial earlier this year.)

The work itself was carried out by B.A.D. Company (aka the Big American Dream Company) this September. B.A.D. Company is a Los Angeles-based shop that specializes in custom work for Hollywood, and these are the guys who build some of the crazy custom vehicles you see at car shows, as well as prep Lexus vehicles for TV shows like Entourage and The Apprentice.


Lexus basically gave B.A.D. Company 10 days to transform the LFA’s exterior from white (actually Starfire Pearl) to a darker color, and while they were at it, recover the seats in fresh, semi-aniline leather. This may not seem like a lot of work, but when you’re talking about a high-tech supercar, removing the seats for upholstery work and repainting carbon fiber surfaces are a big deal.

Nevertheless, these guys got the job done. As our photographer notes: “When I got here the first day at 7 a.m., this was a white car. By 8:30 a.m., it was stripped down, masked off, and they were prepping for paint. If I’d been late, I’d have missed it.”


Fortunately, he didn’t miss it, and neither will you, even if you don’t get to SEMA. In a few weeks, we’ll show how B.A.D. Company transformed the LFA—trust us, it’s a good story.

https://secure.drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/magazine/content.do#:/pub-share/magazine/html/Lexus-News/news_2010_09_27.html

Lexus to Power the Next Lotus

Edmunds’ Inside Line is reporting that the next generation Lotus Esprit may be powered by the same V10 engine used in the Lexus LFA:

The next-generation Lotus Esprit supercar, details of which will be announced at the2010 Paris Auto Show next month, could be powered by the 552-horsepower Lexus LFA V10, says a source close to the company.

That would be for the Esprit in its ultimate form — the more mainstream version would be offered with a V8, also likely to be sourced from Lexus. That engine will probably be a version of the 416-hp 5.0-liter engine fitted to the Lexus IS F sedan. When asked to confirm this possibility, a Lotus spokesman said that he “couldn’t comment.”

This isn’t the first time this rumor has been reported, and given that Toyota has been supplying Lotus with engines for over 25 years, this has a very good chance of being true. Should that be the case, it’s good for everyone involved. Lotus gets a supercar powerplant that can compete with the best in the game, and Toyota gets to recoup some of the development cost of limited-edition, high-cost LFA.

Seems like a win all round to me.

http://www.insideline.com/lotus/lotus-esprit-may-use-lexus-lfa-v10-power.html

NY TIMES: LFA BEST OF THE SUPER CARS

Lawrence Ulrich of the New York Times travelled down to Millville, NJ to take the Lexus LFA around the track, and he brought some very choice quotes back with him, including this info on LFA buyers:

So far American buyers are exclusively men, and on average are in their mid-50s. Many have owned a Lexus, and they tend to be entrepreneurial types, along with one sports star whose name Lexus would not divulge.

Nor would Lexus connect me to the Midwest man who, Lexus swears, is leaning toward an LFA painted Passionate Pink, one of 30 available colors. (Mr. Mary Kay, perhaps?)

Mr. Rohovsky did allow that one “fresh green” LFA — a petri-dish shade wild enough for any Lamborghini fan — is headed to — where else? — Miami.
“He told me, ‘I want people to see me coming and going,’” Mr. Rohovsky said.

The whole article’s great — and when it comes to what Mr. Ulrich thought of the LFA?
Judged purely as an adrenaline-inducing performance tool, the Lexus tops a number of supercars I’ve driven — not just the similiarly priced Lamborghini Murciélago, but also the $1.3 million Bugatti Veyron.

That’s some heavy praise, to be sure.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/automobiles/autoreviews/22LEXUS.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1

LFA Gets Its First Speeding Ticket

Claus Ettensberger, owner of CEC Wheels and past Bullrun winner, has the “honor” of being the first person to get a speeding ticket in the Lexus LFA, or at least the first person to do so and post about it on Youtube.

For the record, Mr. Ettensberger was going 91mph in a 35mph zone — absolutely ludicrous in my opinion — and yet still managed to get his picture with the officer that pulled him over

A Daily Driver Lexus ISF Kicks............

Around Everyone at the NASA Event

Billy Hsu, this needs to be you!!!!!

This weekend, Dave Schotz raced his daily driver Lexus IS F in National Auto Sport Association (NASA) Time Trials at the Auto Club Speedway in California and proceed to dominate against dedicated racecars — Jalopnik has the full story:

NASA Time Trials allow for almost any car to compete for the fastest lap time on a legitimate race course. One guy rolled up in his daily driver Lexus and crushed everyone.

He ran the car bone stock (other than a set of Hoosier Tires andCarbotech brake pads for track duty) and hit 150 miles per hour on the banking.Regardless of the number of doors the car has, obviously the Lexus is not shy of performance. The car won the TTB class against dedicated trailered racecars with full rollcages, no interiors and heavily modified suspensions.

As a three time SCCA solo national champion and two time NASA road racing national champion, Schotz is a proven racer, but no matter — cleaning up on the track with a daily driver (even an IS F) is still a story to tell.

(There’s also a thread over at Club Lexus where driver Dave shares some details about the IS F and this weekend’s race, including some minor controversy.)

http://jalopnik.com/5606943/street-legal-lexus-is+f-owns-dedicated-racecars-in-time-trials

Hey, Now You Can Buy Your LFA---Forget That Lease

Lexus USA Revises LFA Purchase Options

Lexus USA has revised their LFA purchasing options, and will now offer outright purchase of the $375,000 supercar rather than the mandatory two-year lease that was initially required.

This new purchase option does come with one condition, however — the Lexus dealership where the LFA was purchased will retain the first right of refusal to buy back the supercar if the owner wants to sell it within the first two years, and the price will be set at either fair market value or the original price, whichever is lower.

The reasoning behind this restriction is simple: prevent speculators from purchasing the LFA only to turn around and sell it for a profit — a common occurrence when it comes to exotic supercars.

http://lexusenthusiast.com/2010/08/05/lexus-usa-revises-lfa-purchase-options/

Could This Be The All Electric Lexus Super Car?

Lexus Electric Supercar?

According to Motor Trend, Toyota President Akio Toyoda has signed off on the development of a Lexus electric supercar:

The car is expected to produce more than 500 horsepower and would sprint from 0 to 60 mph in around 4 seconds.

The car is expected to produce more than 500 horsepower and would sprint from 0 to 60 mph in around 4 seconds. Like the E-Cell, the Toyota is expected to route power through four electric motors, one at each wheel. It will also incorporate a switch that allows drivers to select between driving programs such as comfort, sport and super sport, thus permitting drivers to regulate battery use.

It’s expected to debut around 2015, and we are first to reveal how one artist in Japan sees the as-yet-unnamed vehicle as it might look attacking the Nurburgring in Germany. The large grille and air intakes beside the headlights are viewed as critical to provide sufficient cooling for the electric motors. The vehicle would reportedly borrow undisclosed know-how from Tesla and utilize aerodynamic expertise gained from the Lexus LFA project.

With the Tesla partnership already moving ahead full steam, this rumor wouldn’t be a total surprise — except for the fact that it suggests this will be a new vehicle instead of an electric version of the LFA. Considering that both Merecedes & Audi have shown electric concepts of their supercars, it suggests Lexus will be trying a different direction.

Now, tt’s always my tendency to look in the SC’s direction any time a new sportscar is mentioned, and it would fit with my belief that the new partnership with Telsa will produce the Sport Coupe’s third generation, but it’s doubtful the SC would be positioned against the Mercedes SLS E-Cell & Audi R8 e-Tron — however, it would be suitable competition to the rumored Audi R4 e-Tron, not to mention the Tesla Roadster.

http://www.motortrend.com/future/future_vehicles/1007_toyota_mulling_all_electric_supercar/index.html

Picture of the Crash involving Hiromu Naruse

Check here for a video that I cannot up load showing the damages

http://lexusenthusiast.com/2010/06/23/lexus-lfa-crash-in-germany/

A Sad Day for Toyot/Lexus High Performance

Toyota's Chief Test Driver Dies in Highway Crash

Hiromu Naruse, Toyota’s chief test driver, died Wednesday in a head-on collision on a two-lane highway in Germany. He was driving the Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition near its namesake, the famous Nurburgring, an undulating racetrack that automakers use to test their vehicles.

Naruse, 67, was killed in the accident with a BMW (also driven by a test
driver) close to Toyota’s workshop near the circuit. The driver and passenger in the BMW were seriously injured. A Toyota spokesperson in Japan said the company is still trying to confirm details of the accident.

"We are shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Hiromu Naruse," the spokesperson said. "Our deepest condolences go out to Mr. Naruse’s family, and we wish to express our sincere sympathy to the other people involved in the accident."

Naruse joined Toyota in 1963 in the Vehicle Evaluation and Engineering Division. He had been involved with Toyota Motorsports since 1970 and was an important figure in the development of Toyota sports cars, from the 2000GT to the Lexus LFA, the new supercar with a retail price of $350,000 scheduled to go into production late this year. He was also the personal driving mentor of Toyota’s global president, Akio Toyoda.

When more news is available we will post it up

MotorTrend hits over 200MPH on Road Test with LFA

MotorTrend.com 200 MPH in a Lexus LFA

Besides that did I say drag racing a GT-R




Following the popularity of the Lexus LFA vs. Nissan GT-R story and video, MotorTrend.com posted the video footage of the Lexus LFA on the dyno.

Quotes from the story:

Two Mondays ago we dropped our Lexus LFA vs Nissan GT-R story and video, the first Lexus LFA comparison of any kind in the world, and you guys apparently loved it. Your furious clicking, hot-linking, tweeting, Facebooking and YouTubing made the write up one of the most popular stories at motortrend.com this month, while the drag race video is the fastest accelerator in Motor Trend's YouTube channel history -- pun intended.

What else do we think? Well, here are some of my notes from the passenger seat (the ones that I could read), just after that 200-mph pull:

o ... 207mph on the dash right as Dave lifted, but the Superflow backed that down to 200.3. Impressive.
o Interesting too that the Lexus speedo is so accurate -- like a German car, but sounds Italian, only smoother. So smooth near the finish.

o Felt like it could have kept pulling. Shockingly impressive engine.

o Engine note just before Dave lifted was beyond sportbike (V-10 Hayabusa?). People are going to crap when they hear this. Can't put my finger what it sounds like over 200 mph. Oh wait -- Lexus LFA."




http://www.motortrend.com/features/performance/1005_200_mph_in_a_lexus_lfa/index.html

Road and Track LFA Road Test....

Lexus is also using the LFA as a safety excercise in that it is the worlds first applications of seat belt mounted air bags(?)....What will Lexus think of next?

Check it out, very cool

Take a Hot Lap in the LFA

This is a video that the Lexus Enthusiast shot two weeks ago at New Jersey Motorsports Park's Lightning track when he was allowed to actually drive and LFA. The passanger was none other that Scott Pruett, the professional race car driver that Lexus has involved in this project. Talk about hitting the lottery. For 375 large this kinda fun can be yours!!!!

LEXUS WINS!!!!!

Lexus LFA Wins SP8 Class in Nürburgring 24h Race

After a grueling and exhaustive 24 hours, the #50 Lexus LFA finished 18th overall and placed 1st in its SP8 (near production) class in the Nürburgring 24h race.

The other LFA in the race, #51, didn’t do so well after an extended pitstop that lasted over 11 hours, but did manage to make it back out onto the track to finish 160th. No word yet on what issue forced the #51 to be sidelined.

The last Lexus team, an IS-F driven by Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi, Auto Express’ Owen Mildenhall and ex-Indy 500 star Hideshi Matsuda, had a faulty fuel pump keep them out of qualifying, but managed to climb from their early setback to finish 60th.

Lexus Europe published a mountain of photos

Lexus Goes Racing.....Despite the Volcano

As a final test leading up to the Nürburgring 24h race, Lexus participated in this weekend’s Nürburgring 52. ADAC ACAS H&R-Cup race.

Only one LFA participated in the race, as Iceland’s volcanic ash prevented support personnel from getting to the track in time to run the second LFA—the IS F team also participated.

In a tragic turn, the race was ended immediately following a fatal accident involving Aston Martin driver Leo Löwenstein. Our condolences to Löwenstein’s family and the entire Aston Martin team.

http://lexusenthusiast.com/2010/04/26/lexus-lfa-participates-in-nurburgring-52nd-adac-acas-race/

Lexus L-FA See's RED!!!!

Here is an article from Carview in Japan. It is all in Japanese and you pc probably won't even print out most of the characters but these are some never before seen pictures of the LFA, including those under the skin. So you think Lexus is feeling so strong in the LFA that they dressed it in Ferrari red?

I like, I like alot!! Check it out

http://www.carview.co.jp/road_impression/article/lexus_lfa/575/photo/1/

LF-A---RACE CLASS WINNER

Two Lexus LFAs and an IS F competed in this weekend’s 35th DMV 4 hours race at Nürburgring

They entered 2 LF-A's and and IS-F. The number 128 LF-A finished first in class(SP8), the other was 5th. The IS-F picked up a #5 spot.

http://lexusenthusiast.com/2010/04/11/lexus-lfa-wins-sp8-class-in-35th-dmv-nrburgring-race/

Lexus to Hold F-Sport Driving Event Apr 29th

I saw this in a couple of places yesterday, this is a free event that you must sign up for to get in. Use this link to sign up. Sounds wicked!

http://lexusf-event.com/

Lexus F-Sport event taking place April 29th at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ and provides hot laps in the Lexus LFA(if you one of the lucky chosen ones)

Do you have some interest in beating on someone else's high-performance car? Then you could sign up for Lexus' F-Sport event taking place on April 29th at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville NJ.

Anyone who is 18 or older with a valid driver's license is welcome to register for the one-day event, but spots for the roughly 10 half-hour sessions are on a first-come, first-served basis. Lexus promises that they'll have the IS F sedan and well as the F-Sport versions of the IS and GS models available for autocross driving.

You cannot drive the LFA. However, the company will have an LFA on hand, along with pro driver Scott Pruett to give one attendee per session a hot lap in the supercar. If you want some idea of what that will look and sound like, make the jump for our own hot lap with Pruett at Homestead.

http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2010/04/lexus-to-hold-f-sport-event-youre-invited.html

The LFA Nurburgring Shames Every Other Car in Existence

Extremely Rare Supercars

The Lexus LFA Nurburgring Shames Every Other Car in Existence

TrendHunter.com proclaims that they LFA Nurburgring special edition shames every other car in existence.

Quotes from the story:

I am sorry Audi R8, but my new favorite supercar is the Lexus LFA Nrburgring. The LFA is a limited edition run itself with only 500 being made, but there will be only 50 of the Nrburgring edition made. Rarity is sexy.

The Lexus LFA Nrburgring boasts a V10 4.8L engine that produces 562 hp. Everything on the Nrburgring edition has been fine-tuned, from the shift time to the 0-62 mph acceleration. If you want to get technical, check out this articles source links. If you want to drool, check out the gallery. Either way, youre a winner.

The announcement was made to highlight LFAs entry in the Nrburgring 24 Hours race in May.

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/lexus-lfa-nuerburgring

Even the Key is Carbon Fiber

CarAndDriver.com
2012 Lexus LFA Tested Short Take Road Test: Ferrari-like Lexus hits 60 in 3.7 seconds. In other words, the LFA is PDQ

Aaron Robinson of Car and Driver magazine is the first in the world to test the 2012 Lexus LFA he takes it to the track and shares his experience.

Quotes from the story:

The LFA has a seductive shapewide, low, wind-swept, and perforated with important-looking vents and ducts. Flush panels hidden in the duct cutouts that form the top of the doors grant access to the cabin. The cockpit swallows you up like a hot dog in a leather and carbon-fiber bun.

The 553-hp, 4.8-liter V-10 lights with a burst of authority, a throat-clearing mini-explosion up to 2000 or so rpm the LFA has a deeper, huskier, coarser voice than a Ferrari.

Any car that runs to 60 in the three-second range is pretty thrilling.

Some magazines have already criticized the LFA for having artificial-feeling controls, but the example delivered to us showed the chassis sophistication of the European masters.

Even given its long gestation, the LFA does not drive like a car from a company new to the genre and eager to impress. It drives like a car from a company that has done this type of car many times and isnt worried that customers wont be pleased. If Toyota can do this on its first go with the LFA, just think what it could do to the Corolla or Camry if the urge ever strikes.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/10q1/world_exclusive!_2012_lexus_lfa_tested-short_take_road_test

Order Yours Now, You Only Have Until The End of June

You can have one if you can pass the credit selection process and can drop $297,562.56. for the 24 month lease. Then you get to keep it for an additional $93,750 . Only deep pockets may apply.

Complete Financing Details of the 2011 Lexus LFA Unveiled

Nitrobahn.com provides the details regarding the lease option for the limited edition 2011 Lexus LFA. Quotes from the story:

The Lexus LFA is scheduled to go into production in December this year.
Notifications for ordering the car shall start now and continue till the end of June.

Toyota is producing only 500 cars for the global market, among which 150 are reserved for U.S. customers, all of which will have many customization options at the time of placing the order for the supercar.

http://www.nitrobahn.com/news/complete-financing-details-2011-lexus-lfa/