Lexus LF-A to race in 24 Hours of Nürburgring, but is it still on track for production?
Well, it looks like Toyota is committed enough to the Lexus LF-A to at least race it again in this year's 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Just like last year, the rumored on-again, off-again for production luxury supercar is set to tackle the Green Hell in another 24 hour endurance run. That certainly lends some credence to rumors that the company is still considering it for production. The last we heard they were planning on showing a production version of the LF-A in Frankfurt Tokyo.
While we have grown somewhat tired of all of the speculation, the car remains formidable, at least on paper and in the flesh. Driving it will prove or disprove our feelings, but what's not to like about a sexy 600 horsepower, V-10-powered supercar that should offer some of the same driving thrills as a Ferrari Enzo for one third the price? Racing it for 48 hours at the 'Ring can only improve the durability and aid in finetuning. GAZOO Racing is prepping the car for competition this year with just a few minor tweaks to the basically stock platform.
Lexus is also using this as an opportunity to give some young employees a bit of experience developing product under pressure. That will likely help with future product development as well. Hopefully, we will see a production vehicle in October, but until then, we look forward to seeing it under the whip in May. There's a press release from Lexus after the jump.
Gallery: Lexus LF-A Concept
[Source: Lexus]
Press Release
'LF-A' Prototype to Again Enter 24-hour Nürburgring Race
Tokyo, April 21, 2009 - Lexus announces plans to again enter its "LF-A" premium two-seater sports car in the 24 Hours Nürburgring1 endurance race in Nürburg, Germany, from May 21 to 24, 2009.
Based on a prototype of the LF-A being developed with an eye toward commercial release, the race vehicle, entering the Nürburg event for the second year in a row, has been equipped with race-grade safety equipment, such as a roll cage and special fuel tank, and fitted with a spoiler and other aerodynamic features. Although engine, powertrain and frame specifications differ little from those of the base vehicle, the race vehicle has been retuned to better meet the demands of the course.
Engineers intend to use feedback from the grueling race to further enhance the LF-A's performance. Also, mainly by employing young mechanics for technical support, TMC intends to use the race as an opportunity to develop human resources.
Specifications of Lexus LF-A Competing in 24 Hours Nürburgring Race
Vehicle name Lexus LF-A (racing specs)
Entry category/class Division 2 SP8 (engine close-to-production)
Team name GAZOO Racing
Engine Type V-10
Displacement 4,805 cc
Maximum output More than 367kW (500PS)
Body Length 4,530mm
Width 1,880mm
Height 1,200mm
Wheelbase 2,605mm
Material Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP)
Vehicle layout Front-mid-engine, rear-mid-transaxle, rear radiator
Transmission Paddle-shift sequential, manual
Tires Front/rear size 305/30R20
Type Racing (Bridgestone)
Outline of 24 Hours Nürburgring Race
Name 37th 24 Hours Nürburgring1
Dates May 21-24, 2009 (main competition runs from May 23-24)
Venue Nürburgring (Nürburg, Ahrweiler, State of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany)
Reference
Plans call for live on-line coverage of the team's progress in the race at GAZOO Racing's (Japanese)
website, http://gazoo.com/racing/.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mazda FTW! 11:24AM (4/21/2009)
This has to be most complicated and confusing product development/launch in history. it officially doesn't exist but there are art museums and race cars dedicated to it. But it's not gonna be made.....
Reply
Lucas 12:05PM (4/21/2009)
Exactly.... if they are building race cars certainly the tooling is in place?
So If they can bang out cars for racing and replacement parts, how hard could it be to sell street versions? At least in markets with less stringent crash requirements... aka the Mid East.
zamafir 11:29AM (4/21/2009)
I don't care if it's on track, the bigger question is can it even complete qualifying. I'm at a loss to understand why toyota even bothers (and i own two of their products).
Reply
Affalterbach 11:32AM (4/21/2009)
@zamafir
"...I'm at a loss to understand why toyota even bothers (and i own two of their products)."
Exactly! Toyota has a nice Camry-on-stills to sell you (Venza)......or even the hardcore-for-octogenarians Corolla XRS
dwightB 11:53AM (4/21/2009)
@Affalterbach,
If you're too ignorant to know what "stilts" are as opposed to "stills," then I'm pretty sure your comment is null and void... lol
Affalterbach 12:46PM (4/21/2009)
You guys take me way too seriously...
Boss 11:39AM (4/21/2009)
MAKE IT PRODUCTION!!!!!!!!!!
Reply
Boss 11:39AM (4/21/2009)
oops* "TO"
coly 11:40AM (4/21/2009)
i seen this car last year at the 'ring both testing and in the 24hours and i must say its a nice car, it even looked quick when i was running right, toyota are well over due a good sports car.
Reply
Imag 11:58AM (4/21/2009)
This LF-A is cool and all, but it won't sell well in the US, it's not very good looking (in my opinion - I know the long nose helps aerodynamics, but it looks silly), and it likely won't outperform the ZR-1 or possibly even the GT-R (which is, I suspect, why they canned it). A sportier car would be the toyobaru coupe, coming in around 30K (and under 3K lbs with AWD, *please*). That's a car that we could actually buy and enjoy...
Of course, one more gt car in the world won't elicit any further complaints from me ;)
nagmashot 11:57AM (4/21/2009)
The comment with the Enzo Ferrari is a good laugher....
Last year the 2008 Lexus LF-A 24h northloop racer perfromed so well that they were only 40s slower (Fastest Lap) than the race winning Porsche GT3 RSR...the Porsche GT3 RSR runs one class below the 24h race LF-A!!!!!!!!!! They have to walk a very long way till they serious can think about perfroming on Ferrari Enzo level.... it is always amazing how weak all the japaneses "supercars" perfrom on the Ring outside factory test claims and best motoring Ring attacks..
Reply
Affalterbach 12:03PM (4/21/2009)
"..it is always amazing how weak all the japaneses "supercars" perfrom on the Ring outside factory test claims and best motoring Ring attacks.."
Would you say the same about the R32..R35 GT-R or the NA1/NA2 NSX? There are plenty of real-world test to prove the opposite.
zamafir 12:22PM (4/21/2009)
I think he's talking about the LF-A, which finished well behind such behemoths as the golf, and ford fiesta, in 2008. You have to walk the walk as he's said, and as i've mentioned, I don't get why toyota enjoys wasting their money so.
Affalterbach 12:46PM (4/21/2009)
@zamafir
No, hes NOT talking about the LF-A.
The LFA clearly does not account for "all the japaneses supercars" and neither has any "factory test claims". It also hasn't appeared in any "best motoring Ring attacks.."
Peter 1:28PM (4/21/2009)
@ nagmashot
Go back to sleep
FanboyOfTheTruth 10:29PM (4/21/2009)
Those GT3, Golf, Fiesta, etc. were all so heavily modified from the originals that there were almost nothing from the production car left in those cars. The LF-A race car, on the other hand, was only lightly modified from its production-ready form just to meet the race requirements. Production-ready vs. fully race-modified. Big difference there.
nagmashot 12:00AM (4/22/2009)
I talk about the perfromance the Team Falken Nissan R-33 and R34 GT-R showed in 10 years at the 24h at the Ring... powered by the Nismo 500hp JGTC engine it was not able to stay in touch with Porsche, Viper, DTM Opel and Audi...even in the wet it was not able to beat their main rivals... in 10years all they reached was 2 time 5. place several blown engines trannys and a car that nearly burned down...in the same time the Viper won 3times the 24h overall and finished 2times as second... a fact that is completely ignored by most US car nuts...
The Honda NSX-R (JGTC GT1) which raced the 24h at the Ring was finished of after 8hours on the bumpy northloop... the bumps broke the backbone of the car... the connection between engine and tranny... it lost within seconds all it´s oil ....
should I continue with their race highlichts during the 24h at the Ring??????
Freedman 10:43PM (5/24/2009)
I agree.
Toyota (Lexus) needs to be competitive with the Porsche 911 and Audi R8 first.
The LF-A did not even finish within the top 30 spots for the 2009 race which I think says something.
Audi and Porsche easily dominated the top 5 spots for the entire race.
nagmashot 4:27AM (5/25/2009)
congrats to Lexus finishing 87place with one car and finishing NOT with the other.... all FWD VW Scirocco were much faster in the 24h endurance than the LF-A ...
Now ca
nagmashot 4:45AM (5/25/2009)
congrats to Lexus finishing 87place of 112car with their best LF-A and finishing NOT with their second LF-A ....
all FWD VW Scirocco were much faster in the 24h endurance than both LF-A ...
Should I mention that the Scirocco´s only used a slightly modded production engin and completely stock DSG tranny, with three Sciroccos in the top20 + a Audi A3 racing the same SP3T class.
there is a truth outside factory Ring laptime racing.... and the 24h at the Ring are till today a extrem bitter medicin for all the "record claimers"...
2009...
Viper.... did not finish
Corvette... did not finish
Ford GT... did not finish
LF-A.... did not finish
Porsches best answer to all that commercial, "we beat Porsche on their hometrack the Ring by miles", they destroy the competition in real racing with close to production cars on the most demanding race track in the world... and they did it 4. time in a row...