It's the Lexus of Supercars. But at $375,000, is anyone waiting in line, asks our intrepid Road Test Editor, HOWARD WALKER?
Whisper quiet. Check. Teflon-smooth performance. Check. The ride quality of aerated marshmallows. You bet. Unparalleled reliability. Of course. But excitement and passion?
Er, we'll get back to you on that.
We're talking Lexus here. While its cars check the boxes on pretty much every must-have automotive quality - we didn't even get into hedonistic luxury - what has generally been missing in its product portfolio is Soul.
It's that frisson of excitement you get when you climb behind the wheel of a BMW. It's the Teutonic mass of a Merc. The feline purr of an XKR Jag. But with a Lexus, it's all about what - wafer-thin panel gaps?
So if you're Lexus, what are you going to do? You're going to create the Lexus of Supercars, raising a middle finger to the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini!
That's the thinking behind the remarkable new Lexus LFA. It comes with a girder-stiff carbon fiber body. It features a Formula 1-inspired V10 engine co-developed with Yamaha producing an impressive 552 bhp. Flat out, it'll hit a top speed of 202 mph. But here is the interesting part; it's going to cost a crazy-stupid $375,000. Production won't actually begin until the end of this year. Then it will take two full years to build the run of 500 cars. Even Lexus admits it'll lose a mint on every car it builds.
But this is Lexus boasting to the world it can build raw excitement. When you rev this new 4.8-liter V10 towards its soaring 9,000-rpm limit, it screams with such ferocity and urgency that every hair on the back of your neck stands to attention.
See the LFA on the street and the car oozes super-coupe sex appeal. There's nothing clichéd here; no scissor-style doors, no massive fighter-jet rear wings (it has a wing but it only appears at speeds above 50 mph). No look-at-me lime green paintwork. Here the focus is on racecar-inspired efficiency. The body is dotted with air-gulping intakes and vents to chill the snarling V10 along with its rear-mounted six-speed manual-auto transmission and massive carbon fiber stoppers.
Climb aboard and settle into the hip-clingy bucket seat and gaze at the amazing surroundings. The leather, the switchgear, the fit and finish are sensational. The pedals are simply a work of art, constructed with Formula-One-style technical perfection. Fire up, pull back on the right-side paddle shifter to select Drive and floor the throttle. Zero to 60 comes up in a mere 3.7 seconds. Yes, that's fast. But the stunning new $240-grand Ferrari 458 Italia is 0.3 seconds faster.
Even a Nissan GT-R at a fraction of the price, is quicker.
But all that racecar technology results in a car that is brilliant to drive fast. Its electric-assist steering is quite possible the best I've experienced, with its two turns lock-to-lock, perfect weighting and laser precision. And the car scythes through the curves, gripping the asphalt like Velcro on velvet and having the kind of stability at high speed that makes 150 mph feel like 50. Hit the carbon ceramic brakes hard and it's like stopping time.
This is the Lexus of Supercars. Thrilling to drive, easy to live with, incredibly well built and with a soundtrack to inspire poetry.
But, but…there is just a tinge of disappointment here. For $375-grand, it just doesn't look anywhere near exotic enough. Not like a Lamborghini. Not like a Ferrari. Not like the new gullwing Mercedes SLS. I see at it and think “Son of Supra”.
And these days there's a whole raft of supercars costing half the price of the LFA that are even quicker, even more involving, even more exhilarating to drive. But for lovers of Asian engineering perfection and won't-see-another exclusivity, this Lexus has it all. Plus its very existence means no one will ever again suggest that Lexus is lacking in Soul!
For more information about the Lexus LFA, please visit:http://www.lexus.com/LFA/