Wednesday 21st September 2011

LF-A Roadster Canned, New Supra On The Way?

Boos and cheers for Toyota's sporty car plans

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Soft-top LF-A's out...

Gloomy economic forecasts are generally not good news for high performance cars-in-embryo, and the current wobbly financial climate means that the planned soft-top Lexus LF-A supercar is unlikely to see the light of day.

But what's bad news for the plutocrats, footballers and multi-millionaires of this world (for the LF-A roadster would hardly have been a cheap car) could be good news for the less ridiculously wealthy among us.

That's because (at least according to CAR magazine) ToMoCo is sticking by its promise to continue shifting its focus onto more sporty cars, and word is that this means more than just the FT86 (when it eventually arrives).

....but a successor to this could be in

So what is Toyota working on? Well, a go-faster version of the Lexus CT200h is one option (which sounds distinctly 'meh' to us), while a re-born Supra may also be on the cards as soon as 2014. We know which of those two options gets our vote...

[Bigchiefmuffin]

I wonder how many LF-A's they actually sold ? No matter how you look at it, it still seems about £150K to expensive.
Suspect they canned the convertible because they knew that no one would ever buy one.

[thewheelman]

"So what is Toyota working on? Well, a go-faster version of the Lexus CT200h is one option (which sounds distinctly 'meh' to us)"

What's wrong with a performance model of the CT200h? My mother has a CT200h & it's a damn good car.

[peterattheboro]

Bigchiefmuffin said:

I wonder how many LF-A's they actually sold ? No matter how you look at it, it still seems about £150K to expensive.
Suspect they canned the convertible because they knew that no one would ever buy one.

Whilst the LFA is an astonishing car I have to agree. At over £300,000 it's far far far too expensive when you can have an arguably better Nissan GTR Spec V for £100k

[RED_P47]

Think some one pi##ed off Mr Toyoda, it looks as if Toyota is very serious about re entering the performance sphere.
check out this monster; there's a pic of the spec sheet (the reg number is registered to Toyota Motorsport in Cologne, Germany) these pics were removed from most websites at the request of ToMoCo over a month ago.

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2011/09/lexus-l...

and also here, these pics are widely available as the car was spotted less than a week ago.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/138655/lexus-ls-track-...

[RED_P47]

who knows maybe the LS is testing running gear/engine for an up coming rear drive (think supra) car??

[BoRED S2upid]

I was only reading in Evo last night how the LFA soft top is to be launched in 2012 how quickly things change in the motoring world.

[kambites]

peterattheboro said:

Bigchiefmuffin said:

I wonder how many LF-A's they actually sold ? No matter how you look at it, it still seems about £150K to expensive.
Suspect they canned the convertible because they knew that no one would ever buy one.

Whilst the LFA is an astonishing car I have to agree. At over £300,000 it's far far far too expensive when you can have an arguably better Nissan GTR Spec V for £100k

But no car in this kind of price bracket can objectively justify it. What makes the Zonda worth so much? Or the Koenigsegg? Or any other "hypercar"?

I'd argue that none of them are worth their price, but I'm still glad that they were made and that someone did buy them.

[anonymous-user]

kambites said:

peterattheboro said:

Bigchiefmuffin said:

I wonder how many LF-A's they actually sold ? No matter how you look at it, it still seems about £150K to expensive.
Suspect they canned the convertible because they knew that no one would ever buy one.

Whilst the LFA is an astonishing car I have to agree. At over £300,000 it's far far far too expensive when you can have an arguably better Nissan GTR Spec V for £100k

But no car in this kind of price bracket can objectively justify it. What makes the Zonda worth so much? Or the Koenigsegg? Or any other "hypercar"?

I'd argue that none of them are worth their price, but I'm still glad that they were made and that someone did buy them.

Here we go again!

[DanDC5]

I'm looking forward to the FT-86 production version to be honest. If it's priced correctly they'll have a hugely popular car, and if it looks even similar to the concept it'll look fantastic as well.

[Riggers]

RED_P47 said:

who knows maybe the LS is testing running gear/engine for an up coming rear drive (think supra) car??

Gut instinct tells me the ruing shots are of a fast GS test mule with LS bodywork.

Then again my gut, though large, is often wrong...

[Riggers]

thewheelman said:

"So what is Toyota working on? Well, a go-faster version of the Lexus CT200h is one option (which sounds distinctly 'meh' to us)"

What's wrong with a performance model of the CT200h? My mother has a CT200h & it's a damn good car.

And I'm sure it is (though it doesn't float my boat). But what would you rather see the R&D money spent on - a fast-ish hybrid hot hatch from Lexus or a re-born Supra?

[Denorth]

Riggers said:

RED_P47 said:

who knows maybe the LS is testing running gear/engine for an up coming rear drive (think supra) car??

Gut instinct tells me the ruing shots are of a fast GS test mule with LS bodywork.

Then again my gut, though large, is often wrong...

and truth can be somewhere in the middle - last Supra was sharing a thing or two with Lexus SC, right? A new one might share a thing or two with fast GS...

Edit: SC, not ES

Edited by Denorth on Wednesday 21st September 13:14

[Hellbound]

Riggers said:

And I'm sure it is (though it doesn't float my boat). But what would you rather see the R&D money spent on - a fast-ish hybrid hot hatch from Lexus or a re-born Supra?

I would like a reborn Supra. And I'd like the ad to feature Kylie Minogue, shrieking in terror as she's flung about the cabin of the new Car while driven by a Japanese version of the Stig; Stig-san.

Ooo I wonder if there'll be an Aero-top.

Actually no. I'm going to stop right now. This will end up being canned when we're well into the second recession. We'll get a leccy Supra hatchback CR-Z type thing.

[Frimley111R]

DanDC5 said:

I'm looking forward to the FT-86 production version to be honest. If it's priced correctly they'll have a hugely popular car, and if it looks even similar to the concept it'll look fantastic as well.

You think? I doubt it if only because Toyota has the most yawn inducing range and brand out there. It'll start them back on hte right track but it can't turn around Toyota's sports car fortunes just like that. How many 370Zs do you see on the roads for example? A few but only a few.

Despite my slight pessimism I am glad to see them sorting their oh-so-dull-a-dishwater range and brand out.

[alexpa]

ToMoCo give up something along the lines of tommy kaira, please!

P.S
Sort out your engine oil consumption

[DanDC5]

Frimley111R said:

You think? I doubt it if only because Toyota has the most yawn inducing range and brand out there. It'll start them back on hte right track but it can't turn around Toyota's sports car fortunes just like that. How many 370Zs do you see on the roads for example? A few but only a few.

Despite my slight pessimism I am glad to see them sorting their oh-so-dull-a-dishwater range and brand out.

370's not that many, see quite a few 350's though. Actually come to think of it, I think I've seen more GTR's than 370o's....

[EDLT]

Bigchiefmuffin said:

I wonder how many LF-A's they actually sold ? No matter how you look at it, it still seems about £150K to expensive.
Suspect they canned the convertible because they knew that no one would ever buy one.

They sold all of them, iirc.


Wasn't the Supra in the same price range as a Porsche when it was new?

[thewheelman]

Riggers said:

thewheelman said:

"So what is Toyota working on? Well, a go-faster version of the Lexus CT200h is one option (which sounds distinctly 'meh' to us)"

What's wrong with a performance model of the CT200h? My mother has a CT200h & it's a damn good car.

And I'm sure it is (though it doesn't float my boat). But what would you rather see the R&D money spent on - a fast-ish hybrid hot hatch from Lexus or a re-born Supra?

Obviously a Supra, if another Supra is to happen, as it's Toyota i would bet that it'll be a hybrid & in the £80k area. So out of reach for most people anyway. Also the Supra was never a big seller, hence it ceased production. How many of these people excited by a new Supra will turn in to actual buyers? Very few i would guess, where as a hot CT200h would sell in bigger numbers & mean larger profits for Toyota.

Edited by thewheelman on Wednesday 21st September 12:59

[thewheelman]

Why do people complain about the price of the LF-A? From what i remember they were all sold at a loss even with the huge price tag. It was more of a "look at what we can do" exercise in the way the Veyron was.

[JohnoVR6]

Frimley111R said:

You think? I doubt it if only because Toyota has the most yawn inducing range and brand out there. It'll start them back on hte right track but it can't turn around Toyota's sports car fortunes just like that. How many 370Zs do you see on the roads for example? A few but only a few.

Despite my slight pessimism I am glad to see them sorting their oh-so-dull-a-dishwater range and brand out.

They are distinctly white goods aren’t they? I can’t help but worry for the FT-86 though, how many motorshow cycles has it been through now? And its gotten lardier and more ridiculous each time (in my opinion).

Just look at the Subaru ‘Boxer architecture’ debacle as well, some Perspex effort rolled out at Geneva and Frankfurt, does make you wonder whether they are actually that bothered in building it at all…