Lexus launches 200mph concept
BEST CAR IN THE WORLD GETS BETTER: Lexus is signalling a serious shift from its super-luxury sedan roots with this LF-A high-performance sports car concept on show at Detroit this week.
SHORT FUSE: There's the potential for 320km/h packed under the wedge-shaped bonnet of this Lexus - more than 500hp!
Lexus set to fly with 320km/h sports concept
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January 11, 2005
Detroit, Michigan - Lexus has unveiled its 500+ horsepower, 320km/h (that's 200mph!) LF-A sports car concept at the North American International Auto Show here.
The two-seater, Lexus says, has the performance potential of a high-powered sports car along with all the luxury and refinement for which the brand is famous - blended to create a bold new direction for the Toyota subsidiary.
"The LF-A is committed to achieving superiority in speed, acceleration, agility and reliability," the upmarket automaker says.
"It has an engine capable of developing more than 500 horsepower (375kW) from a displacement of less than five litres and, with a combination of optimum gearing, weight and aerodynamics, is rated for a top speed of 320km/h."
The cabin is described as "a luxury, high-speed capsule" containing "extravagant comfort with precision operation" - about what you'd expect from a Lexus.
The shell is about 13cm shorter than a Porsche 911 Turbo but its wheelbase is 23cm longer and – at 122cm - it is nearly as low-slung as a Ferrari F430.
But then it's 1.86m wide and that, Lexus says, "splits the difference between a Mercedes SL55 and an Aston Martin DB9".
The car was not so much designed and built as a statement on how Lexus defined a superior sports car but rather to demonstrate "the emergence of a global new styling direction for Lexus".
Wahei Hirai, global head of Lexus design, explained: "A new styling philosophy we call L-Finesse has taken shape during the past two years at Lexus Design.
"What has emerged is not just a new philosophy but a new design language based on the dynamism and inherent contrast between simplicity and elegance."
The LF-A, Lexus says, represents a fundamental shift in style and design with the position and size of major components redefined and condensed and, by taking a radical approach to proportion and packaging, the "perfect" weight distribution for high-speed handling and stability was achieved.
"As a package," the company says, "the Lexus LF-A is a bold statement and a clear indication of the path that Lexus' global design will follow in the near future."
INFORMATION CENTRE: F1-style gearshift paddles, lots of remote controls on the steering wheel and a comprehensive digital instrument panel with the dial that counts - the tacho - right where it belongs.
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