Moeferd

Can you imagine getting the power, noise, and raw fury from the Lexus LFA’s F1-derived motor, combined with Mazda’s legendary handling and tuning?

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05RollaXRS

I am not sure why Lexus would need Mazda for handling? As it is, without racing slick tires. he Lexus LFA handled better than just about any Mazda ever put into production in history.

dseag2

If they took Mazda's design language and made it "Lexus upscale" they could really have a winner, especially in a coupe.

SNiiP3R

iTrader: (3)

Lexus should team up with Bugatti instead.

chikoo

I love the idea. Best option is to have Mazda use the Toyota engines and transmissions. That would be the magic partnership.

mmarshall

Apples and oranges, as I see it. Mazda never did a U.S.-market production car in the LFA's price range. if it did, one can only speculate on how its handling would have compared to that of the LFA.

As it was, Mazda was the first Japanese automaker to win the 24-hour F1 race at Le Mans.........that alone should tell you something.

Diemellz

fixed

gengar

This makes no sense. A Mazda supercar should have a rotary engine (Furai anyone?), full stop. It's also hard to believe Lexus could gain anything from Mazda in building a supercar.

A midrange Toyota/Lexus-Mazda sports car collaboration could be interesting, though.


The 787B only won LeMans because it was more reliable than competitors - it's not a good example of or argument for Mazda leading in performance or other such qualities. Many cars even in LeMans, including the Mercedes-Benz C11, were much faster. It's also tough to make an argument about driving characteristics in racing categories like the 787B's Group C (which is today's LMP1/LMP2/SR1/WSC), where the cars are prototype race cars as opposed to production cars, and thus are fully adjustable to suit a particular driver's preferences.

Or Lexus should just buy Aston Martin.

Vladi

Race spec inspired Renesis coupled with battery power or capacitor boosting front wheels on ultra light monocoque? Hell yeah!

Oh wait where is Lexus there? Yup weaving the monocoque and rebuilding rotor engine every 20,000 miles :P

Gojirra99

I haven't been impressed with Mazda 's design language since several years ago at least ........

mmarshall

I understand your point, but an equally important point is that performance is useless if the cars aren't reliable or break down.

Sulu

No! This would result in a terribly lopsided arrangement -- a loss for Lexus but a great win for Mazda. A luxury auto brand does not make a supercar by joining forces with a barely-afloat mass-market automaker.

In this arrangement, Lexus would be providing the money and the technology, which would likely include the engine and the platform (chassis including suspension) design; Mazda MAY inject some esthetic design (Mazda would not have the funds to provide to develop even a shared supercar).

Mazda would likely be the great winner in this arrangement. The resulting car would have to be relatively inexpensive, to match price levels of other Mazda products; but that price level would be too low for a Lexus. Would people buy such a cheap "supercar" from Lexus? If it is cheap, it would not be perceived as a supercar. It may not even sell! Lexus would do just as well to sell a badge-engineered Subaru BRZ / Toyota 86 / Scion FR-S.

The better partner for Mazda is Toyota, and there is already an arrangement. Mazda gets to use Toyota's hybrid system and Toyota gets volume for its hybrid technology. Toyota shares some output from Mazda's Mexico plant and Mazda gets to use its full capacity out of that plant, gaining efficiency. Much has been said that Toyota gains access to Mazda's SkyActiv engines but I don't think Toyota is going to learn much from Mazda's technology that it does not already know.

A better partner for Lexus for a supercar would be an already existing premium sports- or grand-touring car maker, such as Aston Martin. Lexus could buy into an existing supercar platform by injecting money and modern engines. The resulting car would still be a supercar, a true supercar, at perceived supercar prices, with real supercar technology. Such a car would be a win for Lexus -- gaining a supercar to sell -- and a win for Aston Martin -- the opportunity to keep selling cars.

Whoever believes that a Lexus-Mazda supercar is a good arrangement does not understand automakers and auto branding.

dseag2

To each his own, but I think the Mazda 6 and 3 have some nice lines and if they received the Lexus treatment they could trump the competition. (Please no comments about Trump.)

Sulu

While I find the Mazda 6 and CX-5 to be handsome, I find the Maxda 3 and CX-3 to have become caricatures of the Mazda 6, with overly-emphasized elements: curves and character lines that start and end nowhere, length of the front hood, the rising beltline...

Vladi

Agree. Poor liability has lost Toyota two Le Mans races so far when they were the fastest on track.