05RollaXRS

Any news on when Lexus will be releasing the "Driver development program" video? They promised the owners and other people they will release the video soon??

S2000toIS350

They did not provide a target delivery date
They provided a participation plague at the end of the day
The plaque and a poster they had upon the wall at Infineon are being shipped too

G Star

iTrader: (2)

Thats a relief.

07grIS350

What's your color preferences?

gengar

Lexus is doing an invite-only LFA event for media/employees/owners/buyers/prospective buyers the day before each stop of the IS Precision Tour (this is the thing I invited myself to at Autobahn yesterday), so I'm guessing this video is from that event.

Joe Z

iTrader: (10)

This is a True Story....

Not too many stops left on the tour..

BTW - Congrats on your arrival!!!

Joe Z

TF109B

There was another video of the same event, couple of guys father/son were in the LFA, complaining about the 'hesitation' in the shifts. Of course watching them you could see the old man wasn't very intelligent to the LFA. So I'm wondering if he's a prospective buyer or what. It didn't seem like he knew much about cars of this nature, neither did his son.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

video is gone? link?

TF109B

Here ya go- couple of noobs, they don't realize you can change the shift speeds- guy even puts it in 'Auto mode'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZCOEgQAlGI

rominl

iTrader: (4)

wow umm.... i don't even know where to begin... i am just going to bite my tongue

TF109B

That's why I asked if it was a driving development program or what? A couple of unappreciative guys get to push an LFA around and he puts it in auto because the shift speeds are 'slow'. LOL that's all I can say.

gengar

The reason the shifts are sometimes so slow in the video is that, in those cases, the driver is upshifting at low rpms or during very low throttle application (including some instances where it appears there is no throttle application at all). In those situations the transmission doesn't think a fast shift is required because the driver doesn't seem to be requesting power, so it doesn't do a fast shift no matter what the shift speed setting is. I noticed this on the LFAs at Infineon when driving in the pit area, as well as on my LFA when driving at constant cruising speed on the highway even in manual mode (I noticed the shift speed because I would modulate rpms by shifting into different gears).

The driver and passenger complain about the slow shifts in those situations but don't seem to acknowledge that when the driver shifts at full throttle, the shifting is fast (e.g., at 1:35). (In his defense, the passenger does seem to acknowledge that downshifting is fast.) The LFA's lightning-fast shifts are obvious from any video of the LFA being driven at full throttle (for example, just look at my video at Infineon of Tony Brakhohiapa giving me a hot lap); it's also evident in my video of my own laps at Infineon, despite my limited competence as a driver. Even a complete newbie to high-performance driving could elicit fast shifts from the LFA. In the video in question, the driver spends significant time below 4k rpms... on a supercar that redlines at 9k. Given this, why he would expect quick performance out of it in any aspect is mindboggling.

Adding to the amusement is when the video uploader posts in the comments that he's driven "many" vehicles including the GTR and cars made by Ferrari and Lamborghini... yet he doesn't know they all use column-mounted shifters. All Ferrari vehicles that I know of with paddle shifters have column-mounted shifters, including the 458, so that should have been an easy answer to the question of "What does the 458 use?". Even the Mitsubishi EVO has column-mounted shifters. It's obvious from the video that they're just looking for things about the LFA to hate, not unlike many of the biased magazine writers we've seen.

The M3, Porsche Turbo models (the regular PDK is not a paddle shifter, although I believe all current PDK Porsches have the option of the Turbo-style wheel-mounted paddle shifters), and IS F are a couple on the short list of wheel-mounted shifters, in addition to many lower-end and faux-performance cars which feature wheel-mounted shifters.

That is not to say one type is better than the other. It's really a matter of personal preference IMO. I'd rather them be on the column on cars that will ever be driven on public roads, and car reviewers tend to prefer column-mounted shifters (I think edmunds is the only magazine or online reviewer I've consistently seen prefer wheel-mounted shifters). Race car drivers tend to go the other way but that's because many race cars have wheel-mounted shifters since they have very low steering ratio and on the track there is rarely a situation that calls for more turning than fixed hands can do. Scott Pruett for example told me he prefers wheel-mounted shifters and wishes the LFA had them (one of two criticisms I've ever heard him levy against the LFA), but he admits that's because he was raised driving racing cars with wheel-mounted shifters and so it's his personal preference.

But that's even more reason why the complaints in the video are so stupid. You don't like column-mounted shifters? Fine, you don't like it, that's your personal preference and anyone can respect that choice. But liking it or not liking it simply because the 458 or a Ferrari has it? That's just stupid.

It's often better to allow those who enjoy basking in their ignorance and incompetence to do so uninterrupted. I respect your restraint.

jpvarghese

iTrader: (1)

That video had me rolling! The old man didn't even go hard on it to experience any potential the car had in acceleration, turning, and braking. This is a LFA, not a Prius! I'm not sure how big the steering wheel or what the turning radius is, but whose shifting with the wheel turned? Those stalks look large anyways.

TripleL

Quote of the decade!

07grIS350

These people are totally uninformed as to how the LFA was built and fine tuned. Had they known that the orginal steering wheel was redesigned just to accommodate the needs of the Nurb racers/testers, they wouldn't have questioned the location of the gear shift paddles. I am pretty sure if you asked the question to the LFA engineers, you would get a perfectly logical answer.
They also seemed clueless as to what the LFA is about, instead they drove the car as if they were going to church while nit-picked on this and that.
Can someone send them a video on how the car should be enjoyed?