Lexus F*****g Awesome
Discussion
So that’s what LFA stands for
The Lexus LFA . Perhaps the most misunderstood and under appreciated supercar ever built . Personally I know the level of obsession that went into creating this car . The expense , the complete single bloody minded pursuit of perfection that went Into making this car . Some say only the mclaren f1 and the Bugatti Veyron are comparable in this respect and after years of geeking out over the LFA , reading every article and watching every video I completely agree . Just spend 45 minutes watching the "megafactories Lexus LFA" program on you tube and you will understand a little of the borderline madness that went into forging this carbon fibre Katana of a car .
"It’s just a Lexus" and "rice rocket" comments actually make me sad . Not sad for me sad for the complete lack of understanding of the so called petrol head making the comment. Its heresy , blasphemy and believe me come judgment day the furious god of fuel and internal combustion will punish the unbelievers.
When you see the LFA in photos you see A flat almost slab sided , 2 dimensional looking car . When you see it in person however , you see the creases the curves, the detail in the way it’s designed to cut through the air , the sheer brutality of some angles , the single minded pursuit of function being so much more a priority than form . You notice the air channels , the vents , inlets and outlets . As a stark contrast to the brutality of some shapes you notice and appreciate an almost delicate finesse of others , only when you take time to look at , truly look at the car do you appreciate what a great Looking car this is. I think personally it’s beautiful , in it’s own way but in a very unique and Japanese way, it certainly is not the copy of anything. I urge you leave all preconceptions at the door with this car, prepare for something really special .
The interior fit and finish is really something to behold. It has supreme build quality, the (heated)seats are very comfortable . The dash is well laid out and very Japanese the steering wheel is a masterpiece and very comfortable to hold. There is no internal storage to speak off apart from the shelf behind the driver and passengers head . No cup holder no real door pockets but a fairly adequate glove box .
This is a place of work. The paddles and indicator stalk’s are so fine. The left paddle takes more effort than the right paddle , the indicators are slim and delicate looking slivers yet feel indestructible. In fact the whole interior seems made from a single piece of metal . The slight bronze hue to the centre console , door handles , door grips etc are very nice to look at and there isn’t a rattle or squeak anywhere to be found . The leatherwork is perfect . It feels like a car that will do a million miles without an issue inside , apart for the seat bolsters . They require care getting in and out of the car or will wear really badly . The highest mileage LFA in the world (recently written off when it fell off the back of s transporter) was immaculate apart from the worn drivers side bolster . This can be avoided if you simply take care .
You go through the pilots start up procedure , key in , turned , both paddles pulled , foot on brake and then start button pressed. The engine comes into life immediately , I mean immediately like it’s electric . It’s an absolute masterpiece of an engine . Let’s not mince words here , the LFA probably has the best engine of any car I have experienced .
Let that sink in for a minute , we are talking Carrera GT and f50 et all . Never has a car engine spun up so viciously . Never ever. It picks up fine and starts going hard around 3000 and by the time it reaches 6000 ish it’s bats
t crazy but then it takes off again and is truly , completely stark raving mental . The sheer savagery as it howls and screams it’s way around to 9500 rpm has to be experienced to be appreciated . However in s strange way it seems cultured , like it’s ok to do this , the car will do this for a million miles , it’s normal . This is all accompanied by the most wonderful noises , screams , a haunting howling , a ragged wail , a roar , this engine sounds glorious . It’s similar to the Carrera GT but it seems to be in the "sounding amazing zone" for much more of the Rev range and you get to hear it so much better inside too . The noise is what initially drew me to the Car all those years ago , it’s a weapons grade engine this one . To quote someone much wiser than me "it’s Not the roar of a beast or a whisper of an angel but the roar of an angel", ‘nuff said I reckon.
The rifle crack of the gear changes seem to amplify this , revs go mad , CRACK , next gear , more revs and repeat . It’s truly addictive . In its most extreme mode in the wet an up shift will actually kick the tail out if you are going hard enough .
The gearbox is like the artificial jerk engineered into some DSG gearboxes for "emotion" , downshifts are savagely fast , upshifts a little slower (you have 7 settings) They can also be smooth as silk (if not particularly fast) if you manage the throttle pedal . This is the only way to use this gearbox , as a manual . Use it as an automatic and it’s just dreadful , believe me , it’s as bad as you can imagine a gearbox to be in automated mode . Slow , clumsy , slurring , indecisive , need I continue ? Sure even in manual it’s no dsg box for smoothness etc but it’s perfect for the role at hand in its own way , more than fast enough and adds to the drama . The harder you drive it the better it works . I love how mechanical it all feels , sitting
In and driving this car is like controlling one of those giant Japanese war robots from an Anime.
The steering is sharp but not excessively so . There is great accuracy and surprising feel for an electric rack .
The brakes are good and full of feel and easy to modulate .
The car is very well damped , great passive damping all round , only upset by the bumpiest B roads . It has double wishbones up front and a race developed multi link at rear combined with KYB height adjustable dampers with external oil reservoirs and Chuhatsu race springs .
The car seemingly rotates around where you sit , by your hip. It feels wonderful this chassis but traction is broken easily . You need to be aware , at least in the wet , the katana is razor sharp and can cut. She needs new tyres , still on the bridge stones that were not very good 10 years ago let alone now . The car slides very easily at low speeds and very controlled. However the stig remarked that high speed drifting of this car was a blood sport , a claim I can actually believe . She breaks traction around 9000 rpm in 3rd bloody gear (in the damp at least)in a straight line , it’s very exciting but a set of ps4s will take things up A level again , like the ss did for the Carrera GT . In fact many aspects of this car remind me of the Carrera GT . Imagine a Carrera GT in a saville row suit.
I understand now why Evo preferred it to the 599gto and why those that know this car and have experienced it rate it so highly and sometimes has an almost cultish following . From clarckson to Harris and Meaden etc , those that have had a chance to really drive this car can see it’s almost heavenly glory . I wanted to put a few hundred miles on the car before giving my verdict and now that I have I can say as a driving experience, as a fun , toy of a car the LFA is imperious . It’s magnificent , you can well believe the amount of money Lexus lost on each car . But the amazing thing is the sheer indestructibility of the thing , seemingly hewn from Adamantium , utterly over engineered by almost religious zeal , you could very well use this car every single day of the week, provided you leave the gearbox in manual remember .
In summary It’s the samurai , the carbon katana , we will never see its no compromise no budget limit like again , a masterpiece.
Curse me for not being braver sooner .![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/ysN4fpwz.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/tgoCbdMU" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/tgoCbdMU.jpg)
The Lexus LFA . Perhaps the most misunderstood and under appreciated supercar ever built . Personally I know the level of obsession that went into creating this car . The expense , the complete single bloody minded pursuit of perfection that went Into making this car . Some say only the mclaren f1 and the Bugatti Veyron are comparable in this respect and after years of geeking out over the LFA , reading every article and watching every video I completely agree . Just spend 45 minutes watching the "megafactories Lexus LFA" program on you tube and you will understand a little of the borderline madness that went into forging this carbon fibre Katana of a car .
"It’s just a Lexus" and "rice rocket" comments actually make me sad . Not sad for me sad for the complete lack of understanding of the so called petrol head making the comment. Its heresy , blasphemy and believe me come judgment day the furious god of fuel and internal combustion will punish the unbelievers.
When you see the LFA in photos you see A flat almost slab sided , 2 dimensional looking car . When you see it in person however , you see the creases the curves, the detail in the way it’s designed to cut through the air , the sheer brutality of some angles , the single minded pursuit of function being so much more a priority than form . You notice the air channels , the vents , inlets and outlets . As a stark contrast to the brutality of some shapes you notice and appreciate an almost delicate finesse of others , only when you take time to look at , truly look at the car do you appreciate what a great Looking car this is. I think personally it’s beautiful , in it’s own way but in a very unique and Japanese way, it certainly is not the copy of anything. I urge you leave all preconceptions at the door with this car, prepare for something really special .
The interior fit and finish is really something to behold. It has supreme build quality, the (heated)seats are very comfortable . The dash is well laid out and very Japanese the steering wheel is a masterpiece and very comfortable to hold. There is no internal storage to speak off apart from the shelf behind the driver and passengers head . No cup holder no real door pockets but a fairly adequate glove box .
This is a place of work. The paddles and indicator stalk’s are so fine. The left paddle takes more effort than the right paddle , the indicators are slim and delicate looking slivers yet feel indestructible. In fact the whole interior seems made from a single piece of metal . The slight bronze hue to the centre console , door handles , door grips etc are very nice to look at and there isn’t a rattle or squeak anywhere to be found . The leatherwork is perfect . It feels like a car that will do a million miles without an issue inside , apart for the seat bolsters . They require care getting in and out of the car or will wear really badly . The highest mileage LFA in the world (recently written off when it fell off the back of s transporter) was immaculate apart from the worn drivers side bolster . This can be avoided if you simply take care .
You go through the pilots start up procedure , key in , turned , both paddles pulled , foot on brake and then start button pressed. The engine comes into life immediately , I mean immediately like it’s electric . It’s an absolute masterpiece of an engine . Let’s not mince words here , the LFA probably has the best engine of any car I have experienced .
Let that sink in for a minute , we are talking Carrera GT and f50 et all . Never has a car engine spun up so viciously . Never ever. It picks up fine and starts going hard around 3000 and by the time it reaches 6000 ish it’s bats
t crazy but then it takes off again and is truly , completely stark raving mental . The sheer savagery as it howls and screams it’s way around to 9500 rpm has to be experienced to be appreciated . However in s strange way it seems cultured , like it’s ok to do this , the car will do this for a million miles , it’s normal . This is all accompanied by the most wonderful noises , screams , a haunting howling , a ragged wail , a roar , this engine sounds glorious . It’s similar to the Carrera GT but it seems to be in the "sounding amazing zone" for much more of the Rev range and you get to hear it so much better inside too . The noise is what initially drew me to the Car all those years ago , it’s a weapons grade engine this one . To quote someone much wiser than me "it’s Not the roar of a beast or a whisper of an angel but the roar of an angel", ‘nuff said I reckon.The rifle crack of the gear changes seem to amplify this , revs go mad , CRACK , next gear , more revs and repeat . It’s truly addictive . In its most extreme mode in the wet an up shift will actually kick the tail out if you are going hard enough .
The gearbox is like the artificial jerk engineered into some DSG gearboxes for "emotion" , downshifts are savagely fast , upshifts a little slower (you have 7 settings) They can also be smooth as silk (if not particularly fast) if you manage the throttle pedal . This is the only way to use this gearbox , as a manual . Use it as an automatic and it’s just dreadful , believe me , it’s as bad as you can imagine a gearbox to be in automated mode . Slow , clumsy , slurring , indecisive , need I continue ? Sure even in manual it’s no dsg box for smoothness etc but it’s perfect for the role at hand in its own way , more than fast enough and adds to the drama . The harder you drive it the better it works . I love how mechanical it all feels , sitting
In and driving this car is like controlling one of those giant Japanese war robots from an Anime.
The steering is sharp but not excessively so . There is great accuracy and surprising feel for an electric rack .
The brakes are good and full of feel and easy to modulate .
The car is very well damped , great passive damping all round , only upset by the bumpiest B roads . It has double wishbones up front and a race developed multi link at rear combined with KYB height adjustable dampers with external oil reservoirs and Chuhatsu race springs .
The car seemingly rotates around where you sit , by your hip. It feels wonderful this chassis but traction is broken easily . You need to be aware , at least in the wet , the katana is razor sharp and can cut. She needs new tyres , still on the bridge stones that were not very good 10 years ago let alone now . The car slides very easily at low speeds and very controlled. However the stig remarked that high speed drifting of this car was a blood sport , a claim I can actually believe . She breaks traction around 9000 rpm in 3rd bloody gear (in the damp at least)in a straight line , it’s very exciting but a set of ps4s will take things up A level again , like the ss did for the Carrera GT . In fact many aspects of this car remind me of the Carrera GT . Imagine a Carrera GT in a saville row suit.
I understand now why Evo preferred it to the 599gto and why those that know this car and have experienced it rate it so highly and sometimes has an almost cultish following . From clarckson to Harris and Meaden etc , those that have had a chance to really drive this car can see it’s almost heavenly glory . I wanted to put a few hundred miles on the car before giving my verdict and now that I have I can say as a driving experience, as a fun , toy of a car the LFA is imperious . It’s magnificent , you can well believe the amount of money Lexus lost on each car . But the amazing thing is the sheer indestructibility of the thing , seemingly hewn from Adamantium , utterly over engineered by almost religious zeal , you could very well use this car every single day of the week, provided you leave the gearbox in manual remember .
In summary It’s the samurai , the carbon katana , we will never see its no compromise no budget limit like again , a masterpiece.
Curse me for not being braver sooner .
Edited by wtdoom on Saturday 29th December 14:02
Pericoloso said:
I posted a spotted ,no pic ,in the supercar spotted thread about a week ago.
If the driver hadn't made such a show of pulling away ,I probably wouldn't have noticed a white LFA.
Understated is good for some ,although a bright orange Lamborghini is a thing of beauty too.
That was me , by Romans If the driver hadn't made such a show of pulling away ,I probably wouldn't have noticed a white LFA.
Understated is good for some ,although a bright orange Lamborghini is a thing of beauty too.
Congrats on the LFA, good to see another one in the country and one that will be used properly! I love the Japanese approach to building a supercar and the lengths Lexus went to.
Funky Squirrel said:
Just a lexus... 
shame they only made 500.
I have had a soft spot for an isf if the prices drop even lower.
I can’t see them dropping much if at all. Only 200 in the country. I’ve had 2 and enjoyed both of them. shame they only made 500.
I have had a soft spot for an isf if the prices drop even lower.
Great post and some great writing in the review. A thesaurus full of superlatives! Clearly a thing of wonder and a chip under half a million quid of you can find one.. 
(currently one for sale at Lexus Stoke)
That said, what else could you buy for half a million quid which would instill similar emotion in its owner? There are a few options out there for sure, each very subjective in their appeal. Challenge for the owners of those to come up with a more illustrative piece of writing!
Happy Days!
(currently one for sale at Lexus Stoke)That said, what else could you buy for half a million quid which would instill similar emotion in its owner? There are a few options out there for sure, each very subjective in their appeal. Challenge for the owners of those to come up with a more illustrative piece of writing!
Happy Days!
andymc said:
i think 2manycarz has one on here, posts in readers rides
I wonder how many on on ph Zarco said:
Great post 
Cheers mate Funky Squirrel said:
Just a lexus...
shame they only made 500.
I have had a soft spot for an isf if the prices drop even lower.
I think the fact there are s few of them around and the majority are in Japan and the USA makes them even more misunderstood here in uk and EU shame they only made 500.
I have had a soft spot for an isf if the prices drop even lower.
Edited by Funky Squirrel on Saturday 29th December 18:43
giblet said:
I can’t see them dropping much if at all. Only 200 in the country. I’ve had 2 and enjoyed both of them.
Never driven one harrykul said:
Congratulations OP, great write up. LFA and CGT are my two lottery win cars. Phenomenal pieces of engineering art.
Thank you .You have great taste in cars . The cgt and f50 I prise above al others , I suspect the LFA will be right up there once I get some decent time in it
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