Yes, indeed, Ryan and I had the immense privilege of meeting Hirome Naruse personally back in October 2009, and I rode with him for two laps of Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Lexus LFA. I was, at first, stunned beyond words when I heard the news of his tragic demise. Soon enough, however, the words began to flow, and I wrote this article for the Kaizen Factor blog that Flipside909 and I co-edit:

Godspeed, Naruse-san, we’ll miss you. | Kaizen Factor

 

And what if the guy had a stroke or heart attack BEFORE the crash and that's what cause him to veer into oncoming traffic? Speculating makes no sense at all at this point.

 

oohpapi44

If you look at the main LFA thread you will see I was one of the first folks to speak to the point that the facts are not known.

Your own comment regarding a health issue is speculation.

What I am saying is short of finding a suicide note, no matter what comes out of the investigations (and you should expect multiple), this is going to create an image problem that will stick with at least the car and may extend to the performance division.

Watch for Lexus to make adjustments to the LFA program based on this horrible event.

 

Rest in peace, dearly beloved hero

 

I am for high speed crash tests at (160 km/h - 200 km/h - top speed) for supercar makers and also regular car manufactures.

 

Actually this is the norm for supercars and exotics. Sadly they are wrecked all the time. Many times its adds to the Legend and oddly increases Desire to own when when a famous person sadly perishes in one.

So far I have yet to read any "image" issue. Most are just sad one great man died doing what he loved best.

Driving.

 

Yes I think the 3 people that can actually afford this car will trust it.

 

Good points and one that those that sleep and love Lexus more than their first born either forget or refuse to accept. The LF-A already had an image problem out of the gate for a variety of reasons which does not need to be expanded upon here.

People can talk about the LF-A being lower and yada yada yada. Fact is the BMW driver and passenger are alive and the driver of the LF-A is not. The LF-A suffered more damage-this is clear. The LF-A did not slide under the BMW, they collided head on.

LF-A just suffered another major blow to it's image and whether someone agrees with the points or not, a simple search reviews what others are saying on the various car forums and a vast majority of it is not pretty.

 

Or the ones hell bent on crapping on the LFA whenever possible. Thanks for posting such strong anti Lexus sentiment on a Lexus forum in a LFA accident where the Chief Toyota test driver passed away. Real classy. I don't think anyone denies the LFA has image problems or an upward battle. My "image" comment is in regards to this sad accident. Those jumping to conclusions or hated the LFA anyone don't come to mind. Its way to early to say "its image is hurt" in 48 hours. If we got reports people canceled orders already then we can assume that.

No one knows what happened until the full investigation finishes and publishes their findings. Anyone jumping to conclusions should really be ashamed as a great passionate enthusiast here died.

The LFA never had a chance with many people so they are sadly loving bad news like this.

James Dean crashed his Porsche and it gained higher status with people. The GT2 "widowmaker" is another example of a desirable scary car. Hell a 458 just crashed



Accidents happen and these test drivers know there are great risks when they are driving. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED so lets wait until the investigation is done.

 

Mike, you bring up some good points, most have been hashed and rehashed before concerning Lexus and now the LF-A. Just the same as you feel for Acura, I feel the same if not more for Ford, and there are many that hate on Lexus/Toyota. But...I also know and know of a great many people that hate on all Japanese cars and are now rolling in GT-Rs. Amazing what fine engineering can do to one's opinion-one way or another.

Though many are hoping even if secretly that a heart attack or other ailment caused the death vs shoddy engineering, the results will be interesting.

Either way, a good man is lost, others are struggling for their life.

 

Speculation about safety of a pre-production prototype is senseless speculation.

Btw, the 3 series is not a smaller car.

Tragic loss of life.

 

To what end? To attempt to make passenger cars accidents at that speed survivable? If so, that is insane. Just look at the newer crash tests of subcompacts with mid-size cars and the disparity in damage between them and imagine a city car crashing into a full sized SUV. We had a crash a few years back in my area (S.F. Bay Area ) where a woman driving an F150 fell asleep at the wheel and drove over the dirt freeway median strip and killed four subcompact drivers and her dog in the open bed walked (actually ran) away.

 

I can see this happening, but I can also see the LFA enthusiasts that have shelled the better part of half a million for the car to brush this off as a tragic event and enjoy their cars

 

Take what you read on the internet with a grain of salt. Majority of what's been posted is opinion, not expert research. My field of work involves accident investigation and reconstruction as well as having first hand experience with the LFA. It's clear this accident is a tragedy. Lets focus off of internet opinions and wait for the real results of the investigation. We may well never know the real facts of this loss...but I think it's best if we leave it to the experts to make the call. Do any of the opinions posted have any real accident investigation expertise? I highly doubt it.

 

As the situation is, there are too many unknowns to even guess at. As far people who test cars or any human occupied device, the risk of death or other severe injury is present. It is tragic. At the same time, here is a man who's doing what he had the passion for. Seems suited for the Lexus motto.