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Model tested: Lexus LFA
Price: £336,000
On sale date: 2011
Road tester: Shane O' Donoghue
Until the LFA, the fastest, sportiest Lexus was the IS F. However, with a £336,000 price tag, the LFA will be more than six times the price of its super-saloon sibling. Is it really that special?
When Lexus unveiled the LF-A concept in 2005, it looked stunning, but for various reasons it's taken another four years to arrive, so the shape isn't as spectacular as it once was.
In transition to reality, the concept has lost some of its design purity too, though in return the LFA boasts a pleasing 'form follows function' look.
Not that we believe a triple-exit exhaust is a functional requirement... and dramatic as the LFA's detailing is, its neat proportions are what you'll remember it for.
The LFA is relatively wide and very low, but it's not that long. While there are compromises in terms of packaging (the boot is tiny and the cabin 'snug'), the compact dimensions make for a car that feels at home on regular-sized roads.
The interior may be cosy, but it's worthy of the price tag. You sit low in sumptuously trimmed sports seats, adjusted by unique, tactile switches. Look around and you'll see bespoke switchgear everywhere.
That's if you can take your eyes off the flat-bottomed steering wheel. Its main construction is carbon fibre, but two soft leather pads are fitted where you put your hands. Behind is a set of gearchange paddles.
Special as all that is, it doesn't prepare you for the theatrical instrumentation. Starting up and shutting down, there's a choreographed sequence of lights and needles, while star of the show is a movable instrument 'ring' that contains digitally rendered gauges, along with a speed read out.
Toggle a four-way switch on the steering wheel and the whole ring moves to the side to reveal an intuitive computer menu system, where you can customise the car's settings.
There's also a rotary dial on the side of the binnacle allowing you to choose your driving mode. Sounds more like a PlayStation game than a sportscar, doesn't it?
But no computer game can make a noise like the LFA. The 4.8-litre V10 was designed specifically for this car. It produces 553bhp at a screaming 8,700rpm and the rev limiter eventually cuts in at 9,000rpm.
As you'd hope, all this wizardry is backed up by suitably supercar-like numbers. They include a top speed of just over 200mph and 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds. No doubt it'll set some lap time record at the Nurburgring too.
That's the test track Lexus spent years developing the LFA on, which indicates perhaps that this Lexus may have something other than luxury on its mind.
