Lexus Maximus

2011 Lexus LFA

Lexus, also known as the Japanese Mercedes, has been with us for over 20 years now and has given us the best of the best in Luxury and Design. They were the first to invent the automated parallel parking system that most cars have now. They were the first to invent the luxury hybrid of which became a competition for BMW. So, as you can see, they've done a lot. So, when they said, "We've built a supercar", I went "Ha!! You're joking." However, a couple days later, I found out, they weren't joking.

Japanese Supercar

This is the 2011 Lexus LFA. Now, Lexus's have many interesting features like massaging seats, hybrid engines, and so on and so forth. This car, has only half of that. There's no hybrid engine under the bonnet. The interior is luxurious, that is, if you're a racing driver. Don't expect the seats to massage you, however, you may get excited when you see the retractable rear spoiler go up after speeding at 80 MPH like this...

Rear Spoiler UP!

And as for that hybrid engine, how does a 4.8-liter V10 engine sound? Well it must be good, since the engine produces 552 horsepower, about as much as a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4. It's also as fast as a Gallardo with a 0 to 60 time of 3.6 seconds and a top speed of 202 MPH. The best part about it is that it's rear-wheel drive, so you can have some real fun with this car. 

Matte Black

What impresses me more is how this car was made. That 4.8-liter V10 packs a lot of power, but the dudes at Lexus managed to make it as big as a V8 and as light as a V6 for weight purposes. There's a lot of science and aerodynamics in this car as well. The side mirrors (as seen above) were formed that way to funnel air to the back. The vents on the side and front were made that way also to funnel air for faster speeds and better aerodynamics. That small vent in-between the hood and the Lexus mark is there not because of shoddy building. But, for more aerodynamics and air circulation. The cleverness continues inside as well. The LFA transmission is a 6-speed ASG (Automatic Sequential Gearbox), so you will get flappy paddles behind the steering wheel. But, what makes the paddles so clever is that the paddle to shift up is much lighter than the paddle to shift down, to let you know that you're going in the right direction. Also, when you turn the car on, you'll notice that the instruments are electronic and not analog. Lexus did this only because an analog instrument wouldn't keep up with how fast the car revs. That's genius!

Wet Driving

This car is amazing, an intelligent blend of science and design. They've done a good job with this car. Well, I guess so, since it took Lexus 10 years to make it. The first concept was made out of Aluminum, but it was later deemed too heavy, so it was scrapped. They began another one with Carbon Fiber. This one started working. So, they began improving on it. In the end, there were many concept models before this final model was released. In fact, one of the concept models you can drive in Need For Speed: Shift. But, anyway, this final model was made out of Carbon Fiber. The interior as well was shaped with Carbon Fiber. The steering wheel was made from Carbon Fiber. The pedals were made out of a single shred of Aluminum, but that's it. Carbon Fiber dominates this car. So, in that case, it's very light: 3263 lb. to be exact. If that's so, this car should handle pretty well.

Intelligent Creation

Now, Lexus has a strict rule on letting amateurs drive their exclusive creations, particularly this one. Fortunately, I'm no amateur. I had a go in this car and found it to be very composed. Around the corners, it feels like nothing. As for speed, oh yeah, it's fast! That unbelievable V10 engine sounds so glorious. It's like driving in heaven. After the test drive, I went home to drive it in Gran Turismo 5 and I found the car to be very precise. You can try to go drifting in it, which I did, but you need to get it just right, or else it will spit you out. For a car that took 10 years to make, it's amazing!

Aggressive Front

 This is a truly staggering car, but is it worth it? Now, comes the bad news. You can buy this car, but not for the price that you think it is. It's closest rival, the Gallardo LP560-4, costs $235,730. You would expect this Lexus to be about the same, or a little bit less. No. This car costs $370,000. That's over $130,000 more than the Gallardo, for a car that's no faster than a Gallardo. Even at that price, Lexus plans to make it exclusive. Production runs from now until 2012. Only 500 will be made, with 20 made every month. So, this car is too perfect, even for Lexus, to sell. Save up and buy one quickly, because they're going fast.