The best laid plans often go astray, allowing details to leak out on the Lexus LF-A.
Automakers go to great lengths to carefully control news of new products. Take Toyota, which had planned to unveil the final, production-ready version of its LF-A supercar at the opening press day of the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.
Halfway ‘round the world, the automaker was getting ready to give rides to a select group of motoring journalists to coincide with the Tokyo preview. But happenstances happen, to put it politely. And, it turns out, there were no lifts at the Homestead racetrack, south of Miami, where Lexus mechanics could put one of the cars through its final check, so they wandered over to a nearby lube shop, only to have an observant fan start snapping shots.
Ah, well. So, while we’ll have to wait a bit to give readers the word on our first ride, we can at least offer up some insight into the 2010 Lexus LF-A, starting with the fact that only 500 copies will be produced — and each is expected to carry, according to the belated official announcement, a $375,000 price tag.
As you can see, the production supercar stays reasonably true to the various prototypes Toyota’s luxury division has shown off over the last several years. But what’s significant is that carbon fiber is used for 65% of the body.
There’s a yawning air scoop, under the front bumper, to feed the LF-A’s deep-breathing engine. Additional triangular strakes, up front, and twin side scoops help cool the supercar’s big brakes.
Power comes from a 4.8-liter V10 which redlines at a track-ready 9,000 RPMs. Peak horsepower of 560 comes on at 8,700 revs, while torque tops out at 354 pound-feet at 6,800 RPM. To handle those high revs, the engine features titanium valves and connecting rods and forged aluminum pistons.
Power is channeled through a six-speed sequential gearbox with a Torsen limited-slip differential. To connect all that power to the road, Lexus engineers opted for 20-inch Bridgestone tires mounted on BBS wheels.
The use of carbon fiber and other lightweight materials has helped hold the overall weight of the 2010 Lexus LF-A to just 3,263 pounds. Do the math and you’ll see that adds up to a blistering power-to-weight ratio of 5.8 pounds per horsepower.
Lexus, which tends to be conservative about performance numbers, is nonetheless claiming 0 to 60 times of just 3.7 seconds, with a top speed for the 2010 Lexus LF-A of 201.9 mph.
We’ll found out more in Tokyo – and at Homestead.