Look what just showed up at Forged Performance.... East Coast Lexus LFA Pre Production Demonstration vehicle. Sharif was given the opportunity to give it a very extensive and thorough test drive. Here's what he had to say: Videos to come soon...
Same car. Making its rounds around the area. One of our customers ordered one and got to drive it around with the Lexus rep for a couple of hours. Had to stop by and see what we thought.
it looks like a matchbox car got the ramrod from a 370Z. I'm torn on thoughts...cost? I mean, I wish I had the money to throw around on that type of car, but I'm thinking for the flash / cost (maybe on the cost) I'd go an F430 or even 360 Modena instead Laziness kicking in here, but what are the specs?
Steering wheel looks awful, and the rest of the interior is kinda buggy to me. But all in all, the LFA offers up several compelling reasons to consider it as a garage queen if you're in that type of market. I'd imagine that it was a great opportunity to have that swing by your shop. Kudos to you guys and your apparently strong relationship to Lexus :bigthumb:
Here are some little video clips for you to check out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQCZEUxuo3k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj7LeYkaWdE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkM6LcS-jY8
@coolrex I'm sure you would, but I don't think thats the point of the thread But I don't think any of us are in the market for the LFA regardless.
That would be like saying I would take a STi with a few mods over a GT-R. At the end of the day, you are still driving a STi that is worth 1/4 of the price.
Today, we had the rare opportunity to be the first performance shop in the country to get their hands on the new Lexus LFA. One of our local clients is a huge car buff, and was the first person in the country to put a deposit down on his very own LFA. Although his custom prepared LFA won't arrive until Jan, a representative from Lexus corporate was charged with introducing a demonstration car to each buyer and allowing them to drive it for a half day. This yellow LFA is the East Coast demo car, and there is only one other in the country out on the West coast. This particular client not only has done business with us in the past, but is also a good personal friend. So when he called me at 12:30pm and said he'd be at my shop in 20 mins with the LFA I was ecstatic! When the car rolled up, it brought our shop to a complete standstill... Much like the GT-R, the LFA looks infinitely better in person. The body line is similar in many ways to the GT-R but with a more compact form factor and a tall broad shoulder line. It's physically a much smaller car. I took about 20 mins simply to take the car in and examine all of it's lines closely. This is a precision designed car with aggressive and sharp body lines along with some magnificent technology underneath the skin. From the carefully placed air inlets to the sturdy support structures for the active wing, it's all very well thought out and designed. The interior of the car is all business. Carbon fiber racing steering wheel, seats wrapped in alcantera and all gauges and controls well placed. After my viewing it was time to give the LFA a well deserved test drive. After a 2 minute orientation by the nice lady from Lexus, I grabbed the paddles and set the transmission to "SPORT" mode. After making a right turn out of the parking lot I wasted no time in doing a quick 1,2,3 to 9000rpm down Cobb Parkway buzzing past a half dozen car dealerships in the process. One word: MAGIC! The exhaust note is by far the best sounding I have ever heard. It's a sharp Formula 1 inspired note, with very little bass or drone. The gearbox shifts were very sharp in SPORT mode but had that slight delay between power application that I've experience before in the gearbox from Ferrari and Lamborghini, and Audi. It's a shame the gear changes aren't instantaneous like our GT-R's, as it would have made this amazing machine that much better. I kept heading southbound on Cobb Parkway on my way to my favorite "test track" also known as Delk Road by the Air Base. Noticing that my passenger was a little agitated with my 105mph blast down Cobb Parkway. I assured the Lexus representative that I was a licensed race car driver and I knew what I was doing. She seemed relieved and started to relax a little bit. She mentioned that nobody has taken this car above 4500rpm yet...oops...and she was really impressed with how fast the car was. Fortunately, she was unnerved and gave me full rein to drive the car as hard as I wanted to. One favorite section of my "track" is a nice right hand ramp with two sharp right hand turns inter-spaced with two short straights. I dropped the LFA down to 2nd gear and dove in. Body roll is nearly flat, and the brakes are tremendous. With my foot on the floor we rocketed out of the last right hander and enjoyed the music coming from the engine....another 2, 3, and part of 4 and we are 120mph in a heartbeat. Overall, the OEM handling of the car is the best I have ever experienced. Flat and firm suspension manners and razor sharp steering make this one really fun car to drive fast. The power delivery is extremely linear with loads of power from 2500rpm all the way to the 9000rpm shift point I chose. No turbos, no turbo lag, just loads of power everywhere. It's a very different car from the GT-R; the LFA has a more purist feel to it despite it's high end hardware and technology behind it. Once our client takes delivery of his own LFA, you better believe we'll have it on the dyno, and tested right away. Maybe even a few "track" comparo's as well....perhaps some twin turbos?! Stay tuned! Sharif
i was talking to sharif and he said when he got done it felt like he had just had sex with the hottest supermodel ever... on a side not he also said he could see it more as 100k to 150k car not the 350k price... im still jealous as hell!
Whatever dude......I'm not slipping. Have you even been paying attention to the crazyness going on over there???.....I have a newfound love and respect for the GTR's now. It was a simple opinion. Sure this is a supercar with one heck of a sexy exhaust note. But $375K (as reported on google searches) is a bit much for me to even consider even if I won the lottery.
Please I am hoping, and actually praying that one day we meet in public and you can introduce yourself to me since I have no clue who you are...and you can tell me these thoughtful words to my face.
we already have! :clap: you gonna beat me up mr big man? aw and I have no idea how you can sit there and write crap like that. seriously. "it's ok, ma'am! I'm a licensed race car driver so I can do mach 40 on public roads!" apparently an IQ test wasn't part of the exam
drive near this everyday, you surely weren't talking about the section where it's 4 lanes, and about 1ft between the oncoming traffic. i drive a little faster than average in most places, but i'm thankful for the police officers that make it a point to sit around here. one of the few sections of roads where i'm terrified of getting hit head on.
Quoted before it gets edited. As a shop owner 105mph on 'that' street much less any public street (I'm guilty of it myself but only on desolated streets) is a :hsnono:
i saw this yesterday on haynes bridge. literally my first reaction was "eww why that color". it looks worse in person. but i agree that it is a beautiful car, pure and sexy
Cool Car. Even with the haters, there are plenty of people that would give a testicle to drive that car.
I'm sure the demo was that color Yellow for a reason- to attract attention of the general public. The old adage that all publicity is good publicity seems to ring true in this case....
No, it's just a fact that people that act like the biggest tough guys on the forum, and complete docile pussy cats in public. I'd never lay a hand on on anyone. You should try a little harder to behave on the forum, as you would in person. And this is my LFA test drive story, so I can tell it how I want. :wavey:
I'll stand behind that, hahah.. "docile, and pussy cat" are not words I would use to describe nicad's character. :rofl:
Fucking beautiful that... I really hope I get to see it in person. And the price tag is 350-400 thousand, as far as I know, is simply due to the ridiculous engineering put into it. I mean, you guys know I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to the hows and whys of cars, but this is Toyota's masterpiece. Full CF body, individual throttle bodies per cylinder, limited production of 500, beautiful sound of an F1 with a powerful V10, and the actual necessity of a digital speedometer simply because an analog speedometer just won't be able to keep up with what the engine outputs in its revs and speed. Absolutely beautiful.