2011 Lexus LFA First Drive and Video

Third gear and the throttle pedal is nailed to the 2011 Lexus LFA's carbon-fiber bulkhead. The 4.8-liter V10 is rotating 8,000 times per minute and still you don't have to change gear as the 552 horses from Japan are pulling in unison. Now 9,000 rpm and the pistons are traveling at 82 feet per second, so flick the right-side shift paddle and feel the jolt as the automated manual transmission's solitary clutch completes the gearchange.

We're traveling at just over 100 mph and the Lexus is only starting to find its voice. There is another 103 mph to go.

This is the sports car we thought we'd never see. Launched in 2005 with some fanfare, LFA prototypes were soon seen lapping the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany. We bore witness in 2006 as a seemingly production-ready LFA drove the Fuji International Speedway in Japan. It looked as if the launch was imminent, but it wasn't.

Back the Lexus LFA went to the workshops as the chassis changed from aluminum to carbon-fiber in search of lightness and strength. More showcars appeared and billions of yen were spent to make the car faster and more powerful, and then the economic crisis hit. It looked like the Lexus LFA would die, but the personal will of Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota's founder and the company's new CEO (and a man who has reportedly raced at the Nürburgring 24 under an assumed name), ensured the car's survival.

And now we've driven the 2011 Lexus LFA on the Nürburgring as well as on the nearby roads through the Eifel Mountains. Just 500 examples of the LFA will be built, and deliveries begin in January 2011. In Europe, each car will cost a cool $534,000, some $100,000 more than an Aston Martin DBS.

A Shape From Japan
For a car that is yet to be launched, the 2011 Lexus LFA has had an extraordinary number of face-lifts (in fact, it has even changed its designation, from "LF-A"' to "LFA"). First it was a front-engine coupe and then it became a convertible. First it was built in aluminum, then later in carbon-fiber. The engine was to be a V10 derived from Toyota's Formula 1 engine, but then the F1 rules changed to specify V8s and we wondered if the LFA's engine would change, too.

The final solution is a front-engine coupe built around a carbon-fiber monocoque and dressed with carbon-fiber body panels. This latest styling iteration has moved on significantly from the last showcar, and it's meant to be far more dramatic. "We wanted the front half to have a face and to have a distinctive character," says LFA Chief Engineer Haruhiko Tanahashi. "It needed to make a very strong statement and be recognizable as an LFA even from 100 meters away."

Couple this power with 3,263 pounds and you get a better power-to-weight ratio than a Ferrari 599.

The result is a very aggressive visage. There's no denying that it looks very Japanese, although to our eyes it's more Nissan than Lexus. The simple elegance of Lexus' brand identity has been put aside in a search for identity, and some of the detailing — particularly around the headlights — looks pretty overheated.

The flanks and rear are much more effective. The triplet of exhausts mounted in a triangle is a neat touch and helps to highlight the carbon-fiber aero diffuser. The rear wing is integrated into the structure and deploys above 50 mph. The overall effect is undeniably dramatic, although whether it announces a $534,000 sports car is open to debate. Rivals like the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren have much more visual theatre, while luxury GTs like the Aston Martin One-77 have more elegance.

Behind the Windshield
The cabin of the 2011 Lexus LFA is crafted with the finest materials, as if each car has been built by hand in the tradition of a fine coachbuilder. The interior is a lavish ensemble of leather, artificial suede, aluminum and carbon-fiber, and only the multimedia system is obviously sourced from the Lexus parts bin.

Some of the detailing here is a treat. For example, the steering wheel is fashioned from carbon fiber but wrapped in leather at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions to deliver a more reassuring grip for your hands. The instrument readouts are displayed on an electronic thin-film transfer (TFT) screen like that featured by the Jaguar XF, while a metal ring forms the tachometer dial.

And though we're tall, we found the LFA to be exceptionally comfortable with no shortage of legroom, while the visibility from within the tightly formed greenhouse is decent.

Horses From Japan
The 2011 Lexus LFA's 4,805cc V10 engine has been developed by Yamaha, Toyota's longtime partner in high performance (first with the 1967 Toyota 2000GT and then later with DOHC cylinder head technology). The 72-degree V10 has a dry-sump oiling system and variable valve timing, but the headline-grabbing stat is the 9,000-rpm redline, an outrageous figure for such a large-displacement engine.

Peak output of 552 horsepower is available at 8,700 rpm and there are 354 pound-feet of torque onboard at 6,800 rpm. When you couple this power output with a curb weight of just 3,263 pounds, you arrive at a better power-to-weight ratio than a Ferrari 599 GTB.

This is a staggering engine. It likes to be revved hard, but with 90 percent of the torque output available from 3,700 rpm there's none of the low-rpm languor that blights other high-revving motors. Lexus claims the LFA with its six-speed, single-clutch automated manual transmission gets to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and will reach a top speed of 202 mph. Third gear runs to 104 mph and is a fabulous weapon for road use.

Many manufacturers, Ferrari included, have claimed to have tuned their engines to mimic the howl of an F1 motor. Lexus makes a similar claim here, but for once the result sounds justified. With an ever-urgent howl, it succeeds in sounding at once both aggressive and cultured.

Tanahashi admits that his engineering team flirted with a dual-clutch automated manual transmission and even tested VW's Borg-Warner-built DSG early in the development process. "We considered it," he says, "but I don't like the mechanism because you can't feel the gearchange. A dual-clutch feels too much like a torque converter automatic." His solution was to build a dedicated single-clutch system that swaps cogs in 200 milliseconds. That's not all that quick by contemporary standards — the Ferrari 458 promises to shift in 60 milliseconds — but neither can you call it languid.

The gearbox feels well suited to the engine's character, and downshifts are a sonic delight. It's also interesting to note that the force required to achieve a downshift with the shift paddle is marginally more than that required to upshift — a haptic detail insisted upon by Tanahashi-san. In common with all single-clutch systems, the fully automatic mode feels less than seamless, however.

Driving Tool
The LFA's chassis has been primarily developed at the Nürburgring, where prototype LFAs competed in the 2008 and 2009 Nurburgring 24 Hours. Lexus even claims that the monotube dampers are identical to those fitted to the LFA racer.

It all begins with a rigid structure that places the engine behind the front axle line for nearly equal weight distribution, then adds a double-wishbone front suspension and a multilink rear. Carbon-ceramic brake rotors are gripped by six-piston calipers at the front and four-piston items at the rear. The 20-inch forged-aluminum BBS wheels carry 265/35R20 front and 305/30R20 rear Bridgestone asymmetric tires.

The first surprise is how well this car rides. At low speed, the bump absorption and overall comfort could be compared with a sporting sedan. Push harder, though, and you start to appreciate the benefits of all that 'Ring time. The weight distribution is 48 percent front/52 percent rear, and this helps the car change direction with impressive rapidity. The 2011 Lexus LFA is sharp, agile and feels much smaller on the road than, say, the Ferrari 599 GTB. The brakes are also hugely effective, even if they do squeal a little.

This is a car that wants to engage and inspire and to work with the driver. Our only important criticism is of the electrically assisted steering, which is pleasingly linear and sensibly direct, but could use a more communicative feel.

As part of our time with the car, we were taken for a lap of the Nordschleife with the LFA's chief test-driver, drift champion and Japanese GT racer Akira Lida. For what it's worth, Akira claims a best lap of 7:30, but reckons the LFA is capable of 7:23 given a clear track. Naturally enough, this would make it a few seconds quicker than a Nissan GT-R.

The LFA Future
Chief Engineer Tanahashi admits to being disappointed that only 500 people will get to sample his baby. That so few LFAs will now be built at such a breathtaking price underscores the difficulty of producing such cars in the present economic climate, where each car must pay for itself without any subsidies from the rest of the product lineup.

We should not doubt the engineering integrity within this car, as it is a true supercar. Of course, the 2011 Lexus LFA will not have the same impact for Toyota as the 1990 Acura NSX did for Honda, but then again, the LFA got built, while the new-generation NSX was unplugged this past year. Even so, the breathtaking price tag ($535,000 Europe and an estimated $400,000 in the U.S.) challenges your perception of the value built into a Japanese car. A car that costs so much should feel otherworldly, and the LFA might be so good that it doesn't challenge your driving skills enough.

We'll know more when we have one in our hands for a serious drive.

Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.