Life is full of hard questions, such as: Do I date 1996 Jennifer Aniston or do I buy a Lexus LF-A? Luckily I don’t have to answer that question. It’s 2009 and even if I had the money to buy a Lexus LF-A (which I never, ever, ever, ever will) my luck isn’t good enough to be one of the 500 people who gets in quick enough to grab one.
Lexus announced the car at the Tokyo Motor Show yesterday and has confirmed it is only building 500 of them worldwide. It’s expected, but not confirmed, that Australia will only get five of these. One of which will probably go Lexus or Toyota Australia as well so that would be four that MIGHT hit our shores.
That’s probably a good thing too because Australian roads don’t justify the use of a car like this. This is a car that deserves a track. No, this is a car that demands a track. Yes, it is that awesome.
A 4.8-litre V10 engine that generates 560PS horsepower powers the LF-A. It boasts 412kW/8700rpm maximum output with maximum torque of 480N-m (48.9kgf-m)/6800rpm. It has a wheelbase of 2605mm with front engine and rear-wheel drive configuration. The supercar weighs an impressively small 1480kg.
If you have the guts to use second gear you’ll be doing it on a six-speed automated sequential gearbox. Second gear might not be such a great idea for Australian roads though, with a maximum speed of 325km/h and acceleration to 100km/h in just 3.7 seconds we would suggest you get very comfortable with first gear before you try to be a hero.
The Lexus LF-A will be walking out the door with an approximate RRP of just US$375,000 (not including GST, luxury car tax etc etc) and pre-sales have already started. The sales period is expected to be between December 2010 and December 2012. Be warned, this is a strictly limited model so if you find some money behind the sofa, put a deposit down now!
Toyota also launched its first sports car since the dawn of time (almost) just before the LF-A. Check it out here.
Damian Francis is the editor-at-large for Australian T3 and contributing technology editor for GQ Australia. He is in Japan as a guest of Toyota Australia.