This past week I got to spend some good time with a Black/Black, Gunmetal Wheel and Red Brake LF-A. I got 1 lap on a real twisty track.
I drove the car hard and tried to pickup what it had to offer a owner.

First off I'm no little guy. The Seat was a great fit but beware the driver seatbelt is small around the waist. You can get a extender from parts.
The pass side was about a foot longer. My knees did ok but I think the steering wheel needed to be 1 inch adjustment higher. This car has
perfect quality installation and finish. Nothing was off and easy on the eyes. I could Daily Drive this car. Maybe someday... LOL!

The Steering and Suspension was more than responsive to what I wanted it to do. It never was not doing it's job. The Brakes can be easy
but after 25% they bit hard. There were 3 turns I shifted back into first and had the rear tires screaming wanting to come loose then
floored it 1st, 2nd and one time into 3rd. The sound in real life is like nothing else. Responsive throttle is a understatement. Touch the pedal
and it just wants to go. The Transmission offers you a feeling and purpose not like most high end cars. It let's you know what its doing.

Needless to say I hope to do this again sometime. I'm so thankful for this opportunity and can offer many real world facts.
Maybe my next customer will want to buy one from me. Haha!

 

amazing experience !! You one of the lucky few to ever get behind the wheel of one of these masterpieces

 

Great write-up.

 

fantastic!!!! enjoy reading it

 

 

This past Saturday morning I got to see the LF-A from another angle. I was riding to a local cars and coffee meet as passenger. Then observing every thing the car did under normal driving. We still made a little noise LOL during the 30 miles of back road's and parkway cruising.

The ride quality is much better than I expected it to be. Been in way harsher rides. Going about 50mph was smooth and felt like a C6 Vette It never let's you down when you give it direction. Best performance/Daily comfort I've been in. A front Cup kit would be a smart move to save the front bumper in urban scenarios. We didn't scrape but had to inch by inch a few times. Forget parking garages.

Engine and trans in normal mode was smooth but you do know what the car is doing all the time. It was build for feedback. The engine is so responsive that speeding is a second away. At no point was the sound level annoying. Tolerable when your cruising and will make you smile at any RPM if you want. The downshifts give you chills.

The tires will get sloppy if not warm. I would do a stickier rear tire for street driving. I have seen some service work performed. Oil changes are every 2000 miles with 80% oil replacement for $1000 and brakes can be pad slapped at least 1 time. It isn't a overcomplicated design.

It looks to be a fantastic ownership experience. Quality,reliability and performance. Most miss one of those but Lexus didn't miss a thing. Haters don't know the car and owners won't go back.

 

Great write-up

If you don't mind me asking, was it the #032 again or one of the prototypes such as, P014???

You are right on most account that LFA's lower speed traction with weak tires has been criticized a lot that the tires don't match the level of power the engine and transmission can transmit to the tires. The Potenza S001 tires are not used on any high horsepower car, but OEM on cars making in the 300 HP region such as, the BMW 1M. The Nurburgring edition does come with seriously sticky tires, though.

I am sure the behavior you observed was that the tires can very easily get overwhelmed when you suddenly stomp the throttle or in the 1st to 2nd shift in shift level 7 where the shift shock causes the tire to lose traction and cause stuttering.

Some people say Lexus put weaker tires deliberately to encourage "playful behavior" on and off the track where it gives more oversteering behavior with the back end losing traction first.

Putting Michelin Pilot Super Sport on this beast would simply wake the beast up as they will stick like velcro to the asphalt and the engine/transmission cannot overwhelm the tires easily.

 

The black car was from NE Area Office. One of my past post's will show the white one with polished wheels that I have for sale. We took it to Cars and Coffee for a couple clients to see. Another white one we sold I have been watching it's service closely and getting feedback from the owner.

If it was mine I'd burn the stock tires off ASAP and then put the Michelin's on because I feel you can't see the true performance with the stock tires. 400k car = safety and traction IMO. I have had a 650HP Supra and spinning tire is a waste. Plus taking a turn with confidence is a good feeling also. 3300LB car and 500whp needs a soft tire. You got the car so you can afford tires every 5k.

Just for the record I feel like the LFA with a better tire is perfection. I stress to many people the importance of tires every month. Just think the braking may improve also. Not that the brakes aren't A+ already. LOL! I wish the LFA VS GTR Qmile video had better tires on because it would have not just beat the GTR but smoked it. That thing just spun out the hole.

 

Great post. Agreed 100%.