Lexus LF-A gets V10
OK. No more beating around the bushes. It's official. ToMoCo has confirmed those 500+ horses in the Lexus LF-A supercar will come from a V10. When the concept debuted in January's Detroit show, Lexus was very secretive about what type of engine will power the 200+ mph supercar, only going as far as saying it will be an engine "with fewer than 5.0 liters". Now, 10 months later, Lexus confirmed that the LF-A will be powered by a front-mounted V10 and will be rear-drive. It's likely Honda's announcement of its V10 powered next-gen NSX influenced Toyota's decision to green-light the V10 for the LF-A, or perhaps it was due to Nissan's 2007 GT-R plans…who cares, just let the Japanese supercar war begin.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ophrey 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Its good to see the Japanese companies coming back in the supercar market, hopefully they will be reasonably priced, although this car looks like it could cost a pretty penny. I really do miss the rivalry between the old Toyota Supra, Mazda Rx7, Acura Nsx, Nissan 300ZX, and Mitsubishi 3000GT Vr4.
All were great cars from a great era in which the imports showed everyone they could make high performance cars.
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Tom W 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
I bet that V10 sounds sweet. And I'm sure the torque will be addictive. But here in the upper midwest the GT-R's AWD is what got my attention.
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Slippery Pete 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
I'm just waiting for somebody to say it'll never be as good as a BMW 3-series.
I wonder if it will come with an iDrive?
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Joe 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
I don't think this car will be successful if it is priced like the NSX, which sold poorly. Lexus isn't perceived as a performance brand and people that buy Lexuses are more interested in luxury than performance. BMW's M division and AMG, even before Mercedes aquired them, have been cranking out performance cars for a long time and both companies have proven themselves on the racetrack. Lexus hasn't and I think the car won't do well because of their image.
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VW-Guy 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
From the side shot that is HOT!!! Very italian looking. But what in the hell did they do with the front end? Ugh.
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Paul 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Toyota with a V10.
I thought Toyota was the darling of the green crowd.
Maybe they should make a V10 hybrid.
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Richard Warren 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
The front end needs work, looks like a Saturn, from the side, great, how about the rear?
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charlie 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
I bet it does well. A surprising number of people who have the means to buy expensive cars are lexus fans. Sure, you have a lot of teenagers on the internet saying "I would rather have an M6/SL600/Ferrari something/Continental GT, but then again, they dont exactly have the means to buy any of those cars. The 55+ white collar crowd with their kids out of college and money to burn LOVES lexus because of their percieved reliability, service, conservativeness, etc. I definately see more SC430s around than SLKs, Z4s, or Boxsters. As many LS430s as S-classes.
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sr20de 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
If they can get $60k+ for the SC430 abortion on wheels, this car will sell. I agree with #1. I miss the Japanese performance cars of the 90s. Thumbs up to Lexus.
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jm 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Even though Lexus doesn't have a sports car heritage they still have an excellent reputation among the whole car community. As long as its fast, looks good, and priced reasonably I don't see why it wouldn't sell. Pedigree or not
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Lee Gibson 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Oh good...a V10. Now maybe they can fix that cross-eyed lookin' nose.
I'm not holding my breath, though...
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Al Bundy 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
looks like a stretched out Z
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Jaimie B 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Yeah, but it has the "driving experience".
LOL.
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Jesophat Hesophat 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Why hasn't anyone said that this could perhaps open the doors for the next generation Toyota Supra?
Jesophat Hesophat is signing out.
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Whydrive 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Is this car going to stall like the Prius?
I wonder if this will have the hapless steering that plagues all other Lexus.
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Sid Ghosh 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
No thanks. For that money, it's Porsche for me.
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Jeep Commander 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
This should be the replacement for the next Supra... Toyota would be dumb not to use the reputation that name carries.
With that said tho, now a days, you never know what the automakers are going to do, and it doesnt necessarily make logical sense :)
I'm looking forward to more concrete information about this car as well as the expected price. I think something in the $75k range would put it competitive with its domestic competition (Viper, Z06, etc)
Anything above that, and its not going to sell in the unit range that I think Toyota/Lexus will expect.
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Paul 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
has anyone heard from all of those phony environmentalists that made a big deal about Ford making the Excursion. But they are silent about their love child Toyota making a V-10.
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Matt B. 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Paul: The reason environmentalists - and most of the general public as well - make a big deal about the Excursion, but not Toyota's V-10, is simple. On a daily basis, how many Excursions do you see driving around? Now, how many supercars do you see driving around - including the number of LF-A's you think you'll see when it comes out?
I think you see where I'm going with this...
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Paul 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
how many excursions do you see. not many. thats why ford is dropping it from the line.
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