Filed under: Motorsports, Supercars, Lexus, Toyota
VIDEO: Lexus LF-A racing at the 'Ring
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lexus LF-A racecar.
Toyota is still prepping the LF-A for its assault on the 24 Hours of Nurburgring later this month, but it managed to campaign the Lexus supercar in the ADAC Rundstrecken Trophy Endurance, held on a 15.1-mile course that combines the Nordschliefe with the adjoining grand prix circuit. The LF-A placed 77th overall after completing 23 laps during the four-hour race, with its fastest lap coming in at 9:06. Just to reiterate so there's no confusion: this isn't the same course that the GT-R and ZR1 are lapping. That course is exclusively run on the Nordschliefe, so comparing times is like comparing apples and oranges... racing with traffic. Regardless, we've posted a video after the jump that shows the LF-A racecar up close and personal, along with some text from KGP to go along with the accompanying gallery.
The race-prepared Lexus LF-A--first spotted during manufacturer testing at the 'Ring on April 17th--made its official competition debut on Saturday in the ADAC Rundstrecken Trophy Endurance series in Germany. The race was run on a combination of the Nürburgring Nordschleife, along with a sprint portion of the famous Grand Prix circuit, with each lap covering 15.18 miles (24.433 km). Saturday's race was one of seven four-hour races this year, with a six-hour race and a 24-hour race rounding out the series. In its inaugural four-hour race, the LFA covered 23 laps, grabbing 77th place and a fastest lap of 9:06. While that lap may sound slow compared to the Nissan GT-R's best 'Ring time of 7:29, one must take into account the longer laps with the addition of the Grand Prix sprint, and fighting race traffic (which consisted of several racing classes similar to an ALMS series). The LF-A drove in group SP8. The drivers that piloted the LF-A are listed as Nakaya, Akihiko, llda, Akira, Kinoshita, and Takauki. The LF-A is expected to continue competitive runs in this series, including the 24-hour race at the end of this month--as part of the LF-A's development process.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Torrent 8:04PM (5/13/2008)
....If I drew a car, it would look as inexperienced as this. This can't be even close to the final design.
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steve 8:13PM (5/13/2008)
im sure Pinafarinna is knocking on your door asking for your next great car design right?
obviously the car has too much of a dramatic look to it to be considered for production, but i think it looks great so far
2004m3driver 8:15PM (5/13/2008)
Damn you need to go and get the word out to Lexus and you could land a sweet new job.
Proud Japanese 8:23PM (5/13/2008)
I think it looks so much better than the new Ferrari GT car.
Torrent 8:28PM (5/13/2008)
I just don't see anything that will set it apart from other cars-other than the engine. I don't see any sharp lines or any design that makes it unique.
rai 8:51PM (5/13/2008)
look at your display pic then talk... the camero is basically a rehash of the old designs... unique?
Torrent 9:28PM (5/13/2008)
Rai. Duh, that's why it's still called the Camaro.
And that's that's why it's spelled with an A, not an E.
HotRodzNKustoms 8:17PM (5/13/2008)
I am getting the feeling this LF-A program is just a pet project of some higher up that will never see production.
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naggs 11:19AM (5/14/2008)
they have spent way too much money developing the thing for it to not see production now
Berto 8:28PM (5/13/2008)
For those of you who tend to just read the first sentence or so of the post, I am putting this here where you might see it to avoid any pointless arguing:
"...This isn't the same course that the GT-R and ZR1 are lapping. That course is exclusively run on the Nordschliefe, so comparing times is like comparing apples and oranges... racing with traffic."
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Franz 8:29PM (5/13/2008)
77th out of a field of how many cars?
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HotRodzNKustoms 12:30AM (5/14/2008)
76 ;)
nagmashot 2:21AM (5/14/2008)
192 starter, 189 have reached the finish
The SP8 class is the highest class with engines between 4-6.5l displacement and 1300kg minimum weight... other cars in that class.. Viper, Corvette, Aston Martin Vantage, Gallardo and Porsche Turbo (turbo engines are higher rated as the real displacement)
The Lexus LF-A perfromance was poor at best... they were 5laps behind the winning BMW Z4 Coupe
Their qualy wasn´t much better... with a SP8class car they only reached 22th starting place... and from there they lost lot of places till their 77thplace finish..
The Qualy time was 30seconds behind the pole position...
still 6 seconds behind the next slowest SP class racer..a private team raced Lamborghini Gallardo..
The Z4 Coupe reached a 8:26min for the 24.3km lap... the GT-R driven lap is only 20.6km
JGuan 8:32PM (5/13/2008)
I think what Lexus is trying to do what Honda did with the Integra Type R.
Instead of building a production car for the public and then souping that production car to race with, they are gonna do the opposite They are gonna build a supercar to race with, but in order to race in series like the GT500, there are homogulation rules to meet. Lexus will probably take their final race car product, strip out the aggressive body parts, detune the engine, put stuff like airbags and air conditioning in it and sell the damn thing for anything they can get.
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Jeff Banks 8:46PM (5/13/2008)
Really, really awesome cars are usually developed that way. Unfortunately, I see Toyota really ruining the concept by the time a road-going version is available. Sort of like what they did with their performance sedan. The Fifth Gear review didn't really inspire confidence, especially with all the annoying computer controls.
Tai 11:42PM (5/13/2008)
Using the Type R is a bad example. Honda took all the cars that were already in place and made them track worthy. The nsx, accord, civic, integra, etc. Lexus is building something new from the ground up. And since their a symbol of luxury, I doubt the final production will come without the bells and whistles that you would expect from a Lexus.
Za 12:18AM (5/14/2008)
"homologation"
porschedevotee 3:02AM (5/14/2008)
Porsche 959. It came out spectacularly :)
4agze 8:37PM (5/13/2008)
i cant wait for this car to come out, its sexy
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Dolemite 9:15PM (5/13/2008)
Do you know what else is sexy? Literacy.