Originally Posted by flipside909

There are 14 LFA prototypes in existence that we're aware of here on CL. Not sure if thats counting the LFA test mules and race cars.

Originally Posted by TF109B

It's an expression, not literally to be taken as a foolish move not to race. You've never heard of it before? They already raced it 3 times at the Ring 24, and a couple VLN races, the thing is, I'd like to see it in SuperGT or FIA GT or a LeMans series. It is possible to race it in GTE(GT2) class, the 458 is there, so why not an LFA? SuperGT rules have it so the LFA engine wouldn't be used, but the car could still be used after they stop using the SC430 (which is 2012).

Originally Posted by MR_F1

Yes, I've gathered that. Therefore?

Originally Posted by Joe Z

LFA #001

Originally Posted by TRDFantasy

This is getting reposted all over the place .

Originally Posted by Joe Z

LoL - yeah I realized afterwards...

It`s straight off the Lexus LFA website anyways

Joe Z

Originally Posted by TF109B

Uhm, I said it's not to be taken seriously. I used the phrase because I think it'd be foolish not to race it. I said it's not to be taken seriously because it's my opinion.

Anyway, like I said, the LFA could be used in SuperGT in 2012, because this year is pretty much the last year the SC430 can be used in the series as it's rules state, 4 years for a car. The Sc430 was raced in 2008 so 2011 is it's last year. What will they use next? Honda has an HSV racing that's not even in production. People watch SuperGT to see the fastest GT racing there is. Relevance to the road cars are far and away, just look at the 2400lb. RWD GTR racing in the series! But what I'm getting at is it'd be a good decision for Lexus/Toyota to have it in major racing series, not just in Japan. You think Audi sells LeMans prototypes? No, but it's a boost for their image, and their diesel tech. Lexus could use the same thing, and with the IS-F to be raced in a touring car series in Italy I think, it'd be good to have their name out there. On top of it all SuperGT and DTM are talking of a link in 2012 or 2013 with races in the U.S.

Originally Posted by flipside909

Any one of them can get crushed like any other prototype.

Originally Posted by TF109B

You're entitled to your own opinion, I'd like to see the LFA race. How much popularity do you think SuperGT is supposed to have when it's a local series? It's still the most popular in Japan. I guess by your thoughts, racing an LFA would be pointless because it's at the 'end' of it's production. So what? Maserati is being raced and it's ended production, the same with the SC430. You try to make it seem like you know it all, like car/chassis. So what. It's what I meant. Regardless of what cars that Lexus will have, there's more than one series of racing that the LFA could participate in. Look at the Panoz Abruzzi. There's no point in trying to argue, I want to see Lexus take it racing. If you don't that's great.

Originally Posted by Lexus Magazine

Editor’s note: It’s time for another “Takumi File”—our periodic look at one of Lexus’ elite team of master craftsmen, each responsible for a different area of Lexus vehicle quality. Last time, we met Kimihiro Sakakibara, the Takumi of exterior paint; this time around, we meet Shigeru Yamanaka, the Takumi in charge of the LFA’s secretive production facility—aka the “LFA Works”—who gave us the first insights into the supercar’s unique assembly process.

You’d expect the floors and walls to be spotless at the LFA Works, the unique, closed-off facility at Lexus’ Motomachi Plant in Japan that’s building 500 of the supercars. And they are. You might even have imagined the roof to be as high as it is, bestowing an almost cathedral-like feeling on this most exclusive of Lexus assembly areas.

But what takes you by surprise is the sheer breadth of expertise of the people here. Shigeru Yamanaka, manufacturing manager at the LFA Works, sums it up with characteristic precision: “We are actually a Takumi team.”

Within Lexus, a Takumi—literally, “artisan”—is one of the 10 to 12 top guns of manufacturing. To be a Lexus Takumi, you must reach a virtuoso standard of craftsmanship—the automotive equivalent of a 10th Dan black belt.

Yamanaka, who handpicked the best of the best around Lexus to assemble the LFA, is therefore in charge of the most highly trained manufacturing team anywhere, a sort of special forces of vehicle production.

Yet it’s a role he’s clearly very comfortable with: the 47-year-old is no stranger to turning talented all-stars into a well-drilled team. In addition to his current role as a manufacturing guru, the Osaka-born Yamanaka has been head coach of the Toyota baseball club. Well known in Japan, the club has been a springboard for several successful professional baseball players and is indicative of Yamanaka’s belief in the importance of human talent.

“I put together the Takumi team at the LFA Works with people who were recommended by various manufacturing departments in the company because of their expertise,” he says. “They’ve been handpicked to manufacture 500 examples of the LFA to the highest standards. At a conventional assembly facility, one worker would be assigned typically four or five tasks. At the LFA Works, one person will handle 150 tasks or more.”



That’s because creating a car as complex as the LFA requires advanced technical ability. For starters, an LFA is approximately 45 times more labor-intensive than a conventional car, which is why the order of assembly, allocation of workspaces, and recruitment of staff are the fruition of two years’ meticulous planning on Yamanaka’s and Lexus’ part.

Not only that, the LFA is such a technically complex car that its assembly relies on a deftly combined mix of advanced technology and handcraftsmanship. Each V10 engine, for instance, is assembled by a single engineer, whose signature it bears.

Plus, Yamanaka and his team are responsible for producing one LFA per day—such is the pace of assembly at LFA Works. But it isn’t really about the pace: it’s about achieving standards unprecedented even in Lexus manufacturing history.

This much can be seen in the manufacturing of the CFRP (carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics) for the cabin structure, which is carefully built up in layers. It’s a technically advanced material to work with, but it also demands keen eyesight and good manual dexterity in the weaving process.

It is the first time we have manufactured a CFRP body. So our staff has worked hard to master the know-how from the aircraft industry,” says Yamanaka, who has been with the company since 1986. “These are different from the skills of the traditional workplace. Ultimately, we all have one ambition: to create cars that make our customers happy and satisfied.”

And personally? “As manufacturing manager of the LFA, I know my responsibility. So I work diligently every day, visualizing the happy smiles of customers. I’m acutely aware of the strong passion of those involved in the LFA, including president Akio Toyoda and LFA chief engineer Haruhiko Tanahashi. I will continue to work hard and be full of passion.”

It’s a passion that will be felt by anyone fortunate enough to drive an LFA.

Originally Posted by gengar

Good to see Shigeru Yamanaka in the spotlight. As I mentioned in my factory tour report thread, he was my tour guide.

However, I will note that the production floor in the pictures of Lexus Magazine has absolutely no resemblance to the actual production floor layout that I saw on my tour. I think they rearranged the layout specifically for the pictures. It is also apparent that they constructed lots of tarp awnings/overhangs or covered up a lot of the assembly areas with plastic covers. They're very secretive about those things, as evidenced by Toyota's general policy of no photos anywhere on the plant facility.