Lexus LFA - Where did it succeed and where did it fail?

[DiogoBrand]

I've been getting a lot of content about the Lexus LFA over the last few days, telling the story of how a few people from Toyota were able to push the idea to create this car that would push the envelope for Toyota, how it got delayed because after 5 or 6 years in development, they decided to make it from Carbon Fiber, forcing Toyota to invest in this material that they didn't use before and delaying it's launch for a few more years, and then how it was a bit outdated in some aspects when it launched because it spent so much time in development.

I mean, it's an intriguing story of how they did some things amazingly well, and others maybe terribly wrong, for example, the fact that they spent a billion dollars to produce 500 cars that were considered way overpriced, and still took a loss on each one they sold.

Taking a quick look at spec sheets, a 458 was more powerful, lighter and way cheaper, so it wouldn't make any sense to buy an LFA, but now, probably due to the fact that it was limited to 500 units, and was a the time considered a bit of a failure in some aspects, its value seems to have skyrocketed.

TL:DR: The reason I made this topic is because I wish someone could help me sum it up. What made the LFA so special for its time? Was it worth it in any way for Toyota to invest that kind of money on the project? Why was Ferrari able to make what seems like a better car for far less money, as well as Nissan releasing the GT-R, almost as good for 1/6th of the price?
Basically, what did it get right and where did it ultimately fail?

[Zynerji]

They let their F1 team build it...

[AnthonyG]

I always got the attaction of the LFA (and hoped they would have stayed underappreciated to get one).
It's not really a car that can be summed up in paper facts, Toyota prefered experience over performance, that's why it doesn't seem as fast on paper. Also, a lot of cars are strong on paper, but it's a different thing to make them do multiple fast laps.

Till the Ferrari 712 it was the only supercar of which Ben Collins (the stig) said he'd actually buy it if he had the money.

[vorticism]

Around the same time was an even greater automotive anomaly as Honda was developing their own FR supercar with a motorsport inspired V10. Theirs never went into production (in fact, I've never even seen prototype photos), however it did become a GT500 class racer in Super GT, despite never having entered production. I believe they made the case that the usury crisis of '07-'08 that tanked the global economy prevented production, and appealed to use their unfinished design as the foundation for the GT racer.

Concept:

Test mule:

GT500 racer:




Rarer still was the FR NA2 NSX test rig they made for the Super GT entrant.

[AR3-GP]

We were robbed when Honda canned their HSV production car.

[AR3-GP]

Taking a quick look at spec sheets, a 458 was more powerful, lighter and way cheaper, so it wouldn't make any sense to buy an LFA, but now, probably due to the fact that it was limited to 500 units, and was a the time considered a bit of a failure in some aspects, its value seems to have skyrocketed.

I think you're looking at it from the wrong angle. The people in this market buy the Ferrari AND the LFA, because they can. It's not an either or consideration.


As for why it's special? It's a collectors car. One of a kind so to speak. Screaming V10 engine that you can't get in a Ferrari. It's a Lexus. It's styling is far more in-tune with the JDM scene. If you want a JDM supercar and all that entails, your options were still limited to an LFA. Just like some people want to travel to Italy and Japan, others want to buy an Italian car AND a Japanese car.

[DiogoBrand]

Taking a quick look at spec sheets, a 458 was more powerful, lighter and way cheaper, so it wouldn't make any sense to buy an LFA, but now, probably due to the fact that it was limited to 500 units, and was a the time considered a bit of a failure in some aspects, its value seems to have skyrocketed.

I think you're looking at it from the wrong angle. The people in this market buy the Ferrari AND the LFA, because they can. It's not an either or consideration.


As for why it's special? It's a collectors car. One of a kind so to speak. Screaming V10 engine that you can't get in a Ferrari. It's a Lexus. It's styling is far more in-tune with the JDM scene. If you want a JDM supercar and all that entails, your options were still limited to an LFA. Just like some people want to travel to Italy and Japan, others want to buy an Italian car AND a Japanese car.

The people that buy an LFA can buy both an LFA and a 458, but back when it released, they only bought the 458 and not the LFA, I've seen talk of 3 LFAs being sold brand new in the USA as far as 2019. It was almost 10 years after release that it actually started being appreciated, and from my perspective there are two reasons for that:
1 - 10 years after a car is released, any modern car can outperform it relatively easily, so people prioritize the experience rather than raw numbers, and
2 - The fact that it wasn't a big success on release, at times makes it even more desirable later on.

The original purpose of my topic was to see if I could better understand the design of this car. For example, they say its V10 engine was as small as a V8 and as light as a V6, and also there's the fact that they spent years transitioning from aluminium to carbon fiber, even developing new weaves of CF. But still, like I said previously, the numbers don't seem as good as the competitors of its time even though the LFA was more expensive and Toyota sold them at a loss.

I'm just trying to see through the rose tinted glasses. I like the car and admire it as much as the next guy, it's just that everyone today tries to make it look like it doesn't have any flaws, and I'm interested in finding out what the flaws were, as well as all the things that made it really good.

[AR3-GP]

Taking a quick look at spec sheets, a 458 was more powerful, lighter and way cheaper, so it wouldn't make any sense to buy an LFA, but now, probably due to the fact that it was limited to 500 units, and was a the time considered a bit of a failure in some aspects, its value seems to have skyrocketed.

I think you're looking at it from the wrong angle. The people in this market buy the Ferrari AND the LFA, because they can. It's not an either or consideration.


As for why it's special? It's a collectors car. One of a kind so to speak. Screaming V10 engine that you can't get in a Ferrari. It's a Lexus. It's styling is far more in-tune with the JDM scene. If you want a JDM supercar and all that entails, your options were still limited to an LFA. Just like some people want to travel to Italy and Japan, others want to buy an Italian car AND a Japanese car.

The people that buy an LFA can buy both an LFA and a 458, but back when it released, they only bought the 458 and not the LFA, I've seen talk of 3 LFAs being sold brand new in the USA as far as 2019. It was almost 10 years after release that it actually started being appreciated, and from my perspective there are two reasons for that:
1 - 10 years after a car is released, any modern car can outperform it relatively easily, so people prioritize the experience rather than raw numbers, and
2 - The fact that it wasn't a big success on release, at times makes it even more desirable later on.

The original purpose of my topic was to see if I could better understand the design of this car. For example, they say its V10 engine was as small as a V8 and as light as a V6, and also there's the fact that they spent years transitioning from aluminium to carbon fiber, even developing new weaves of CF. But still, like I said previously, the numbers don't seem as good as the competitors of its time even though the LFA was more expensive and Toyota sold them at a loss.

I'm just trying to see through the rose tinted glasses. I like the car and admire it as much as the next guy, it's just that everyone today tries to make it look like it doesn't have any flaws, and I'm interested in finding out what the flaws were, as well as all the things that made it really good.

Lexus was not an established supercar manufacturer when the LFA was released. They had no pedigree in this arena.