Mister Two

That pink (more magenta actually) color looks pretty sweet. I kid I kid. Thanks for the great close-up pics Joe.

Would've only been even better if they offered scaled models like they do in Japan.

TF109B

Nice comparo there. I guess they're withholding the 458 times. Still the LFA bested the SuperLeggara and that thing is faster on some occasions then the 458.

05RollaXRS

The scans will hopefully be available this week. Still, no one confirmed why the Lexus email page says 0 - 60 mph in 3.2 seconds. Is that the Lexus revised 0 - 60 mph for the production car with launch control system?? Did someone try emailing Lexus about it??

Some new videos:

Scott Pruett on Monticello track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErhBN...layer_embedded


Notice how it says 'Lexus LFA P014'. My guess is that means prototype number 14 in code words. That is what my guess is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqFnM...layer_embedded

TF109B

That second video is pretty slick. The gauges look good and I like how it keeps a red line where you last revved. I never noticed that little console on the inside roof near the rear view mirror. Little things like that I appreciate about this car. Also how the 'mouse' is covered with leather and stitching. Looks real good.

Vladi

Swatches look so beautiful and fresh in person.
LFA configurator is so off and dull. I hope they redo it because its really bad.

Best example how off configurator is Sky Blue (between magenta and lime green). On this pic it looks like bright summer sky and in configurator looks like turquoise green.

Vladi

Source where you picked this up mistyped the time. Its 48 not 38 seconds.

I could be wrong so lets just wait for scans.

gengar

Even better if those pictures were in sunlight, not indoors. The first time I got access to the color samples at Joliet, I had my product specialist bring the entire kit outside so I could look at everything in sunlight. It was pretty easy to make decisions after that.

Part of it is also the 3D nature of the samples, which is important to truly understand the color at many reflection angles.


I would never trust any online configuration for color accuracy. Even Porsche's is not quite right for most colors and not only do they have far fewer colors to offer compared to the LFA, every car they have on the configurator is actually in production (or at a minimum, nearly identical to a body in production). There are only 5 different colors that the LFA has actually been produced in. Certainly I agree the LFA configurator seems particularly bad.

Then again, no one actually buying an LFA is using the online configurator to choose, so it's a bit moot.

TRDFantasy

Exactly, the online configurator is mainly for show. No automaker out there has a completely accurate online color configurator anyways, so this is not something to worry about.

That is the reason why those color swatches are shown in person to buyers, as they are accurate and that is how buyers choose.

05RollaXRS

So far it is 38 not 48. That is what most sources are saying. I would find it extremely hard to believe that LFA is slower than GTR when it is without a shadow of a doubt, proven to be the much faster car.


p.s. I bought the TopGear magazine with the "Greatest supercar of 2010" supercomparo of 458 vs LFA vs SLS AMG vs 570-4 Superleggera vs GT3 RS.

The article is too long, I will be scanning some selected pages shortly.

TRDFantasy

I agree with RollaXRS, I highly doubt that time was 48 seconds. In every apples-to-apples track situation so far, the LFA has been faster than the GT-R.

05RollaXRS

Yes, considering my source is german car forum, I would believe many do not want LFA to do well in these tests and would pounce at the opportunity to catch a mistake that could somehow denigrate LFA.

Another thing, for example look at SportAuto supertest:

LFA: 7:38 (Bridgestone S001 street tires)
GTR: 7:38 (Dunlop super-slick tires)

Do you see something crucially different? Ofcourse, Nissan being the publicity wh*re delivered the GTR with super-slick tires to SportAuto rather then stock Michelin Pilot PS2 street tires it comes with. These super-slick tires are meant for track-only and cannot even handle even the mildest of drizzling, but still is not faster than the LFA.

Super-slick tires usually shave off 10+ seconds.

TF109B

Imagine the LFA on it's correct tires, a different spoiler angle, and it's lightest (weight) configuration. That would produce some serious lap times. Though the wing angle might just be a ploy by lexus to keep the pre-production cars from going 'too' fast. That's just my guess. So this is the 2nd publication to get the LFA in the 7:38's around the ring. Actually, if it were the other mag's (sportauto) Nurb layout, it'd be in the 7:33's, making it faster than the Carrera GT tested by the same magazine.

05RollaXRS

That is correct. AutoBild does not use the 20.6 KM northern loop (that SportAuto and manufacturers use for testing and their 'factory claims').

AutoBild tests on th entire Nurburgring race track, which is much longer than 20.6 KM. Therefore, for the northern loop usually 5 - 6 seconds are subtracted.

p.s. I am reading 'TopGear' now. Despite the luscious praises for the LFA, their explanation for not running the final LFA timed dry lap is very lame. They claim The Stig spent an hour staring at the brake calipers of the GT3 RS and then began running several practice laps in the LFA, but when the time came to run the actual lap, the noise police shut them down. Whatever that means.

I think they are trying to keep the European fans from getting pissed off for a Lexus being 'too fast' and to be so high on their powerlap board staring at them everything.

TRDFantasy

Nobody is willing to admit it, but politics are definitely involved here. The British press for the most part (and I'm also willing to bet other European press such as the Germans) are hesitant to fairly and objectively rate and compare the LFA to other supercars, because they don't want the LFA making too many supercars look bad.

Mister Two

Lexus is sandbagging the LFA on purpose? Sorry but I think you're stretching it way too far (and you know I am a big LFA supporter). It's really obvious that one of the biggest reasons the LFA corners so much better than its direct rivals but loses so much in straight line performance is because of its rear wing. Obviously if you lower the wing angle the straight line speed will improve but the cornering speed will suffer accordingly. You just can't have them both unless the car can actively adjust the wing angle according to the speed and steering angle, as the Veyron 16.4 does. The current wing angle setting of the LFA is obviously optimized for the Nurburgring already, having spent much of its tuning life there. If Lexus messes with the wing angle now, sure, it may accelerate faster, but it will most likely not turn in any faster lap times at the 'Ring since it will lose out in high-speed corners without the same level of down force.

What Lexus should do for the production car, however, is for the rear wing to be able to be disabled through a simple switch, so that the car can achieve its full potential in pure straight line acceleration and top speed tests.Horst von Saurma has already been proven to be a slow driver by Walter Röhrl's much superior performance in the Carrera GT, so subtracting the lap time done by a different driver to compare with Horst von Saurma's 7:33 lap time simply would not paint a meaningful picture.