As Lexus launches its new LF-A at the Tokyo Motor Show today, full details for the stunning 200mph supercar have been revealed.
PH's Chris-R drove the racing version of the LF-A back in July, and the specs suggest that the road variant is not massively changed. It is powered by the same 4.8-litre V10 developed jointly with Yamaha, and in road trim pushes out 552bhp along with 354 lb ft of torque. Even in more relaxed road form it should be a screamer, with the red line at 9000rpm, and 90 per cent of peak torque available from 3,700rpm. According to Lexus, the V10 is also as small as an average V8, and as light as a V6.
The Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) body helps keep overall kerb weight down to a pretty lean 1480kg - almost exactly the same as the racing version - and equates to a power-to-weight ratio of 373bhp per tonne. The LFA will apparently hit 62mph in 3.7 seconds, on its way to a 202mph top speed.
As with the 'Ring racer, the road-going LF-A's engine is mounted as far back in the front as Lexus's engineers could get it, and the six-speed automated sequential gearbox is mounted at the rear in a transaxle, and the front-to-rear balance ratio of 48:52 is retained.
This should help the road car's handling,
which was honed at the Nürburgring
and also benefits from the same aluminium monotube dampers used on the racing car.
As you'd expect with a modern supercar, carbon ceramic brakes are standard, along with giant asymmetric tyres and slippery aerodynamics tuned for downforce. The interior is finished with splashings of aluminium, carbon fibre and alcantara in the expected places, and there's a snazzy active LCD display that changes colour when it wants you to change gear.
Just 500 LFAs will be hand-built at Toyota's Motomachi plant, and we don't yet know how many of those will be shipped to the UK. For those that do make it here, Lexus will ask customers for a rather ambitious £336,000. Generously, Lexus says it can remove standard equipment at the customers' request - in the interests of weight saving, of course...
As well as the lovely pictures below, check out this latest video of the LFA strutting its stuff: