LFA Chief Engineer Laments Death of the V10
With all this hubub about the next-generation LFA being a hyrbid, I’m glad to know I’m not the only one mourning the death of the naturally aspirated V10. Haruhiko Tanahashi, chief engineer of the Lexus LFA program, has expressed his disappointment as well.
According to caradvice.com.au, Tanahashi had this to say about the LFA in the future. “I think going forward that it would be difficult for the supercar only using gasoline engine [and] because … I anticipated that, we purely pursued the V10 engine for the LFA because I thought this could be the last car using the engine only.”
“Personally I am sad.”
That’s not to say the Lexus is giving up on building another LFA style project, it’s just that the days of Yamaha tuned V10s are probably in the past. It’s easy to understand why when you look at the criticism around the LFA when it was released. The car was extremely expensive, but with less power than similarly priced rivals. Toyota clearly had no trouble selling them regardless. It just means they’re likely to sell even more if they add more power.
Porsche, Ferrari and McLaren are all doing the same thing with their super cars. It makes sense that Toyota will probably go the same way.
“The trend in the market is to make engines that are turbocharged, supercharged or hybrid motor, so there is a high possibility that that kind of car can be made in the future.” said Tanahashi.”Maybe under the brand of Lexus, maybe under the brand of Toyota, another sports car could be launched.
source [CarAdvice.com.au]
