[silver04rollas]

LFA's Nurburgring laptime is: 7:38

Hockenheim laptime: 1:11.0

Edit: Just found out from someone who has the magazine, SportAuto blamed the 150+ mph acceleration issue on the lack of a way to retract the spoiler as the downforce that the spoiler creates results in too much wind drag.

As it turns out, LFA's drag coefficient is only 0.34 when the spoiler is retracted. Once the spoiler raises automatically at 80 Km/h, it becomes a truck-like 0.40, which creates a lot of downforce.

Downforce is great for high speed stability and handling, but it results in too much wind drag over the rear wheels and makes the car too heavy resulting in acceleration loss at very high speeds.



They praised LFA's handling, balance and suspension. It had one of the fastest cornering speeds.

Putting things into context, this is how it looks like with the same driver and same track (Horst Von Saurma). There are no so-called manufacturer's claim here since it is not a comparison. All are dry laps:

Porsche Carrera GT: 7:33
Lexus LFA: 7:38
Corvette ZR-1: 7:38
Ferrari 458 Italia: 7:38
Nissan GTR: 7:38
SLS AMG: 7:40
Ferrari F430 Scuderia: 7:40
Porsche Turbo 997.2: 7:38
Porsche GT3 997.2: 7:40
Lamborghini LP670-4 Super veloce: 7:42
Corvette Z06 C6: 7:43
Maclaren Mercedes SLR: 7:42
Ferrari 599 GTB: 7:47
Ferrari F430: 7:55
Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera (530 HP track lightweiht version): 7:47

 

[Camread]

7:38? I thought its supposed to be in the low 7:20's?

 

[Vmax2007]

7:38? I thought its supposed to be in the low 7:20's?

No, you must be thinking of the ZR1.


http://jalopnik.com/397308/corvette-zr1-laps-nurburgring-in-7264

Corvette ZR1 Laps Nurburgring In 7:26.4

 

[TrailDust]

I still say the rear is butt ugly, no pun intended....

 

[silver04rollas]

7:38? I thought its supposed to be in the low 7:20's?

True, LFA chief engineer had said it is running "better than 7:20", but that is Lexus claim run with someone who drives the car continously for months after months.

Same driver, same track conditions, same track with exactly the same amount of seat time in each car. LFA should have been faster regardless considering its hefty $375,000 price tag (although. it is 10 seconds faster than the closest competitor $330,000 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano), but still it shows how other cars stack up with the same (which also happen to be their respective fastest independently conducted lap times) lap time.

It is an apples to apples comparison. That is why I put down the numbers for other cars in the same region. Many of them are claimed to have run in the 7:2X region, but they never ever have been replicated in independent real life situations. For example, GTR and ZR-1 never ever have ran quicker than 7:38 in any independent test. Key is independently conducted test, not factory drivers.

I still say the rear is butt ugly, no pun intended....

Very surprising. You seem to be in the minority since this picture is receiving lots of praises especially on the germancarforums.

 

[TrailDust]

Very surprising. You seem to be in the minority since this picture is receiving lots of praises especially on the germancarforums.

That would not be unusual....:lol: The rear is too boxy and Transformer-looking for my tastes. About as boxy as I'm willing to go is the rear end of the Ferrari Testarossa.

 

[Camread]

True, LFA chief engineer had said it is running "better than 7:20", but that is Lexus claim run with someone who drives the car continously for months after months.

Same driver, same track conditions, same track with exactly the same amount of seat time in each car. LFA should have been faster regardless considering its hefty $375,000 price tag (although. it is 10 seconds faster than the closest competitor $330,000 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano), but still it shows how other cars stack up with the same (which also happen to be their respective fastest independently conducted lap times) lap time.

It is an apples to apples comparison. That is why I put down the numbers for other cars in the same region. Many of them are claimed to have run in the 7:2X region, but they never ever have been replicated in independent real life situations. For example, GTR and ZR-1 never ever have ran quicker than 7:38 in any independent test. Key is independently conducted test, not factory drivers.

So there should be an asterisk for the SportAuto times then. But why is there such a big gap between the mfr's and their numbers, even though they're not factory drivers and the lap time should be a little slower but for some cars, its 15 sec slower - that's hard to believe! I'm suprised the Carrera GT is 5s faster than the LFA, I thought they would be dead even, even though the Porsche has a 60hp (and more torque) advantage.

Thanks for the spectacular rear shot. its my new desktop bg now

 

[rty]

I still say the rear is butt ugly, no pun intended....

The whole car looks distinctly Japanese, and I like it.

 

[silver04rollas]

No there is no asterisk required since all they do is to even out all variables and even use the same driver Horst Von Saurma to drive every single car so that they all are no level playing field. He is an actual Nurburgring 24-hours endurance race car driver so he is no stranger to the track.

The factory runs are with people who have been driving the car for many many months and are so used to it that they can get numbers that no one else can because they have far more intimate knowledge of how to extract the best out of the car. The other side explanation that people give is usually (like in GTR's case) that the prototype used for the factory claim was a "factory freak" and had mods on it.

The LFA prototype still is not running right from what it seems in SportAuto tests. LFA has extremely high cornering speeds and its braking is only better in cars that cost 3 times more. With 300 - 0 KM/H in only 7 seconds, nothing else comes cheaper or as expensive comes close.

It has issues especially in straight line top end acceleration which Lexus needs to fix. The straight line top end acceleration over 150 mph is what cost it many tenths. Either it does not add up or really Lexus has not been able to get the proper gearing in LFA yet or simply it is yet not putting down the 560 PS power that it is rated at.

So there should be an asterisk for the SportAuto times then. But why is there such a big gap between the mfr's and their numbers, even though they're not factory drivers and the lap time should be a little slower but for some cars, its 15 sec slower - that's hard to believe! I'm suprised the Carrera GT is 5s faster than the LFA, I thought they would be dead even, even though the Porsche has a 60hp (and more torque) advantage.

Thanks for the spectacular rear shot. its my new desktop bg now

 

[JustAnotherAsian]

numbers aside...

i think it looks great in red. lol.

 

[Vmax2007]

I still say the rear is butt ugly, no pun intended....

Agreed. :barf:

 

[silver04rollas]

numbers aside...

i think it looks great in red. lol.

Yeah, that is my new desktop picture at the moment. Red and yellow seem to be the best colors for it and it shows well the attention to detail in terms of fit, finish etc.

People on Germancarforums were raving about this color.

 

[xpeed]

For a $100k less, I rather sport this.

2011 Porsche GT2RS
Official Nurburgring lap time? Try 7 minutes and 18 seconds.

Still, doesn't beat the symphony behind the LFA.

 

[silver04rollas]

Nor the luxury, drivability and comfort.

It is a stripped down, more hard-edged version of the GT2. More like the Nurburgring edition of the LFA or the 599 GTO.

Still, doesn't beat the symphony behind the LFA.

 

[Camread]

just a soup'd up 911

 

[silver04rollas]

just a soup'd up 911

Just found out from someone who has the magazine, SportAuto blamed the 150+ mph acceleration issue on the downforce that the spoiler creates.

As it turns out, LFA's drag coefficient is only 0.34 when the spoiler is retracted. Once the spoiler raises automatically at 80 Km/h, it becomes a truck-like 0.40, which creates a lot of downforce.

Downforce is great for high speed stability and handling, but it results in too much wind drag over the rear wheels and makes the car too heavy resulting in acceleration loss at very high speeds.

 

[Vmax2007]

just a soup'd up 911

What's that make the LFA, a souped up Camry?


:lol:

 

[Vmax2007]

For a $100k less, I rather sport this.

2011 Porsche GT2RS
Official Nurburgring lap time? Try 7 minutes and 18 seconds.

I agree, and it looks 1000X better too. :thumbsup:

 

[silver04rollas]

What's that make the LFA, a souped up Camry?


:lol:

Geez. What he means is GT2/GT2 RS is based entirely on the 911 platform. It shares most of the stuff from the 911 chassis, suspension, interior and sheet metal. Most of the things were picked from the parts bin including the engine, which is a tweaked 911 Turbo engine.

How does LFA have anything in common with Camry? It shares nothing with any Toyota/Lexus whatsoever, let alone a Camry. Zero. Everything was purpose built for it.

 

[Vmax2007]

Geez. What he means is GT2/GT2 RS is based entirely on the 911 platform. It shares most of the stuff from the 911 chassis, suspension, interior and sheet metal. Most of the things were picked from the parts bin including the engine, which is a tweaked 911 Turbo engine.

How does LFA have anything in common with Camry? It shares nothing with any Toyota/Lexus whatsoever, let alone a Camry. Zero. Everything was purpose built for it.

Please note the ":lol:"......it was a JOKE!