VIDEO: Lexus LFA Is a Bit Tricky to Drive Effectively, Yet Highly Rewarding
As great as the Lexus LFA is, its aging, slow-to-engage single-clutch transmission can take a little getting used to.
Ask anyone what their favorite supercar of all-time is, and you’ll get quite a variety of responses, typically. However, one thing that most every automotive enthusiast can agree on – no matter what their brand preference may be – is that the Lexus LFA is easily one of the best supercars ever made, as well as one of the best-sounding by a long shot. However, given its rarity and skyrocketing values, most of us mere mortals will never get to drive one, and that’s what makes this recent video from DragTimes rather interesting.
The purveyor of this YouTube channel – Brooks Weisblat – recently opened an exotic car dealership with some partners, and this 2012 Lexus LFA is one of their latest acquisitions. This obviously makes for the perfect chance to take it out for a spin and discuss the amazing machine on film, but Wesblat also points out, right off the bat, that the LFA “is not that intuitive to drive,” and instead, requires a bit of finesse to extract maximum performance from.
Turns out, the six-speed single-clutch gearbox in the Lexus LFA “is a little weird,” according to Weisblat, though this doesn’t come as a huge surprise from a guy that’s used to driving modern dual-clutch units in newer supercars. For starters, however, he points out that you can’t shift from drive to reverse – or vice versa – without first going back to neutral, which takes a little getting used to, and that’s also the case with starting the car.
Once the Lexus LFA gets going, it becomes immediately clear that this is an old-fashioned gearbox given how it takes a bit of time to change gears. Weisblat notes that you don’t really feel it engage and disengage either, which isn’t ideal. Of course, the car’s 500ish horsepower doesn’t exactly feel like a lot by today’s lofty standards either, but these are essentially Weisblat’s only complaints about the mighty LFA.
Otherwise, he’s admittedly a big fan – not only of the way the car screams up to its 9,000 rpm redline – but also the fact that it’s just plain enjoyable to drive, responsive, and even quite quick, if not quick enough to hang with a lot of today’s supercars. Regardless, it’s clear that enthusiasts love the Lexus LFA in spite of these flaws, as values continue to reach new heights with each passing year.
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