Sorry, No More Lexus LF-A Left!
The Lexus LF-A is sold out. Your $375k may now resume burning a hole in your pocket, bank account, investment portfolio, Scrooge McDuck-style treasure vault. Bonus LF-A trivia point (courtesy: Automotive News [sub]): one out of every three LF-As sold in Europe went to Germany. And that’s all Toyota will say about that. Meanwhile, ToMoCo’s other, more “mission critical” sales numbers are slightly less inscrutable…
In fact, one could even go so far as to say that last month’s results are the first signs of real weakness in Toyota’s US-market performance. With the recall scandal now several news cycles removed and incentives running strong, Toyota didn’t have to be one of May’s weakest performers. And yet there it is: Camry down 6.5%, Yaris off 58.5%, Venza stuck under 5k units, Tacoma off 15%. In a market that grew 19 percent, Toyota grew only 6.7 percent. That increase came thanks to Corolla (+14.3%), Prius (14,248 units), the updated Sienna (10,666 units) and improvements over May 2009’s weak truck and SUV performance (redesigned 4Runner up 243%, FJ Cruiser up 65%, Tundra up 32%… even the recently-shamed GX460 was up over 100 percent). The only explanation: Toyota sold a lot of cars in May of 2009.
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The LF-A isn't powerful enough. It's quick on the track for having just 550hp, but in a straight line its a dog. It's slower to 60 than a GT-R, and it can just barely eek out a win over the Nissan in a quarter mile. A new 911 Turbo is faster, and a 458 Italia will smash the LF-A, both in a drag race and probably at the track as well. The LF-A is overpriced, I don't care how cool its carbon fiber is.
You are just speculating. Wait until professional drivers drive both cars before you say anything about it's performance against a 458. And a 911 Turbo is not faster than the LF-A. 0-60 maybe, for the same reason a GT-R is faster (AWD and the ability to put the power down), but don't think for a second that a car derived from F1 technology, that weighs less than it's competitors and has similar HP figures, is going to be slower on a track. Plus, between a GT-R and an LF-A? Not even a contest, LF-A all the way. I think time will tell, in the few upcoming months, just how fast the LF-A is compared to the competition.