Gojirra99

I like the new one better period

KevinGS

Totally.

Everything except the new 'touchscreen only' screen. And that shiny screen is going to look awful filled with finger smudges. I wish they would have also gave the option of buttons. I hope they consider it in the mid-cycle refresh.

Club Lexus Editor

Porsche is calling it the "fastest luxury sedan on earth"...
https://www.clublexus.com/articles/n...a-nurburgring/

05RollaXRS

Not really. Title is quite misleading. Horst Von Saurma ran the 7:38 in LFA after only 2 practice laps. Sport Auto test represent laps that can be done without too much practice and can be repeated by a decently skilled driver. He did 7:34 with the Nurburgring Edition with similar practice when the LFA NE was loaned only for half a day to Sport Auto.

Porsche Panamera's lap time is a factory lap time done by a factor driver who had tons of practice in the car. Much like Akira Iida's 7:14 was with the LFA Nurburgring Edition. Sport Auto probably would do a 7:49- 7:50 with the Panamera.

LFA chief engineer Tanhashi said LFA turned out to be only 7 seconds slower than the Nurburgring Edition when their own comparison testing was done. They both are 95% the same car.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

the LFA is not a 'sedan'.

SW17LS

Correct, the statement was the "fastest luxury sedan

05RollaXRS

Not sure what you mean, but the context of my post is the title 'Panamera keeps up with the LFA' on the front page, which is what is misleading. My point was, the lap times are apples to oranges. For one, there is no direct race between the two cars. Secondly, Panamera was done by a factory driver who had tons of practice (much like Akira IIda's LFA 7:14) while the other one was done by Sport Auto after merely to practice laps.

SW17LS

I'm not sure how that is misleading. "Keeps up with" is exactly what it does. Its not as fast or faster, but it keeps up...

I think you're letting your zeal for the LFA color your perception here a little.

05RollaXRS

No, I am just stating the facts. Has nothing to do with my perception of LFA. Maybe focus more on what I am saying rather than who is saying it?

SW17LS

I really don't get what you're saying is the point...I don't see how the article is misleading at all. It is the fastest luxury sedan, and it does "keep up" with the LFA...

05RollaXRS

What part of a lap time done by a "Porsche factory test driver vs someone who barely knew the limits of the car with only 2 practice laps" is confusing? The gap would be much more than "keeping up", in real terms.

When Sport Auto does lap times, the lap times are typically anywhere 10 - 15 seconds slower than their official lap times done by factory test drivers. LFA NE did a 7:14 with Akira Iida, but Horst could only get a 7:34 out of it because he only had the car for half a day to understand the car. A Porsche Carrera S 991 had an official lap time of 7:38 with Walter Rohrl while the lap time done by the German magazine was 7:45 for the 991 S. The '15 Panamera Turbo S ran a 7:53 in SA test and the new one is a mid cycle refresh with the same 542 HP. I would predict, the lap time for it would be in the 7:46 - 7:48 range with the suspension and chassis improvements once tested by SA.

Case in point, put them both on the same race track with the respective best drivers in each car (or the same driver), that is when I see it as "keeping up" if the cars are able to put similar/close laps.

SW17LS

I think you're putting a lot more thought into the mechanics of this than 99% of readers are going to. IMHO, even if the gap is 30 seconds as you're guessing, 30 seconds qualifies as "keeping up", especially when you note that the slower car is a 4 door sedan...

IMHO its pretty damn impressive that a 4 door Panamera can do a Nurburgring time within 30 seconds of a 2 seat V10 LFA.

I don't really know anything about Nurburgring lap times, or "sport auto" or whatever else you're talking about, nor do I care, the article wasn't written for people who have that depth of knowledge or interest.

Nobody is making a factual or meaningful comparison of the Panamera and the LFA here, the article is a little CL 'blurb and the LFA is only even mentioned to promote interest amongst Lexus enthusiasts since thats who the article was written for.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Guys knock off the personal commentary please

Aron9000

30 seconds is A HUGE gap in the racing world. On a shorter track you'd be multiple laps down.

SW17LS

To be fair on a shorter track the difference here between these vehicles would not be 30 seconds. It's 30 seconds on a track as long and technical as the Nurburgring, on a shorter track, straighter track, the gap would be way less.