Lexus LFA

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video : http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/GeneralFuture/articleId=121313?tid=edmunds.il.home.photopanel..1

Toyota's reputation for building sensible cars for the daily commute should change drastically with the release of the 2009 Lexus LF-A. We weren't blown away by the design of the LF-A concept that appeared earlier this year, but after listening to a prototype at the Nürburgring, there's little doubt in our minds that this is a serious sports car.

While some have speculated that the switch from V10 to V8 engines in Formula 1 might have forced Toyota to rethink the LF-A's power plant, the shriek from its triple tailpipes puts that notion to rest. Compared to the muffled tone of a BMW V10, this LF-A sounds almost uncorked.

A displacement of around 5.0 liters is expected and the output should be around 500 horsepower or more. Lexus executives have suggested that a production version of the LF-A could have a top speed approaching 200 mph. Then again, they usually follow up with vague comments about whether the car will be built at all, so it's hard to know if this is a serious number.

One goal we know Lexus remains serious about is hybrid power. Although we doubt the LF-A will debut with a hybrid gas-electric drivetrain, Lexus executives have said that the LF-A "will set a fresh standard in the hybrid technology to which Lexus is totally committed." How long we'll have to wait to see is hard to tell at this point, although we might not have to wait very long, since the intake ducts integrated into the C-pillar and rocker panels of this prototype could cool a rear-mounted battery pack.

Another goal for the Lexus team is the use of an automated sequential manual gearbox — or at least that's what it sounds like this car is using. Listen closely to the prototype and you can clearly hear the thud of a clutch engaging as the test mule quickly goes through the gears. We're guessing they'll smooth this out before the LF-A goes on sale next year.

How much will all this new technology cost? Expect a price tag north of $100,000, as the LF-A is set to trump the LS 600h L as the new flagship in the Lexus lineup.

read it from : Newcelica.org
*credit to Motor

[klumpkeTT]

hahaha - the GT win looks quite retarded...

[Silver Bullet]

hahaha - the GT win looks quite retarded...

Tat 1 is call chicken wing..haha..   :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

[zuoom]

it looks like a variable wing that retracts. at low speed, it goes down.

at higher speed, the wing goes up. and changes it's angle accordingly to speed/corner.


*best example would be the lotus 49.

By Mitch Yelverton
November 18, 2006

lotus-49b.jpgColin Chapman and the Lotus team defined F1 in the 1960’s. His mid-engined Lotus 25 and 49 pioneered new ground in the F1 technical world, bringing GP car layout near to its current standard. When Chapman fitted his 49B with bodywork designed to produce aerodynamic downforce, he brought F1 its most fundamental step forward. The idea, however, was not a stroke of genius from a man who had undoubtedly experienced many such epiphanies. It was the culmination of a concept developed over 40 years or more or automotive development in general, and racing in specific.

In 1928, engineers working for Germany’s Opel brand attached inverted aerofoils to combat high-speed lift in a rocket-powered test car (one of the first examples of the breed). The idea, while “in the ether,” never coalesced in the minds of designers. Various vehicles grew and shed aerodynamic attachments, but none ever took the concept to its ultimate level. Robin Herd, chief McLaren designer, briefly tested wings on F1 cars in the early sixties, but ultimately neglected this important avenue of development.

The 1968 Lotus 49B incorporated a raised, flat tail and small front winglets. When the car was first raced at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, Graham Hill waltzed to victory from pole position. But at the next GP, at Spa-Francorchamps, Brabham and Ferrari both showed up with full-size rear wings mounted to the rear of their cars. Chris Amon took pole at Spa by nearly four seconds.

Two races later, Chapman took the concept one step further by mounting the wings directly to the wheel hubs themselves. While this greatly enhanced the efficiency of the devices, the loads they produced were beyond the carrying capacity of the day’s materials. A look at Chapman’s decision clearly illustrates the essential conflict in F1 during the period: the essential tradeoff between safety vs. performance. Chapman consciously accepted the risk this novel setup imposed on both his car and, by extension, the driver.

Chapman’s singular focus forced the hands of his fellow designers, who quickly followed suit. Matra’s system consisted of movable wings electrically actuated by the brake pedal, their angle increasing when pressure was applied. Meanwhile, to take advantage of the less turbulent air higher above the car, the Lotus’s wings grew ever taller. And the stalks to which they were attached grew ever more spindly.

This particular design philosophy came to an abrupt end after the 1969 Spanish GP. Piloting identical be-winged Lotuses, Jochen Rindt and Graham Hill had identical accidents on the Spanish circuit: wing failures while cresting the same ridge. (Both emerged without injury.) Hill crashed first. Even before he could inform his pit of the failure, Rindt followed suit. Wings were banned completely following the copycat failures. They were allowed to return, in a limited form, shortly thereafter. But the technology was drastically restricted; the tall, movable wings favored by the teams were banned outright.

To comply with the ever more restrictive regulations concerning wing height, width, location and so on, Chapman brought F1 the first modern GP car– at least in terms of concept. The Lotus 72 featured a wedge-shaped body, front wings molded into the bodywork and a modern-style rear wing (extending only between the rear wheels and of limited height and depth). The 72 incorporated some of the first F1 thinking about drag, downforce, and the relationship between the two. The 72’s concept is one nearly identical to that embraced by today’s designers.

The arrival of aerodynamic wings on the F1 circuit provided the final point of the so-called performance triangle – power, grip, and downforce. Overnight, downforce became the biggest force in F1 (so to speak) and the obsession of its engineers.

Wings have defined not only the look, but the design of every F1 car designed since the 1969 season. The performance benefits offered by aerodynamic development have easily eclipsed the gains found in any other single advance. Suspension design, powertrain, even layout and construction are all subordinate to the demands of the aerodynamicists. Current F1 teams now employ dozens of these specialists, and provide them with space age facilities in which to practice their dark arts. Simply put, for more than three decades, aerodynamic performance has been the absolute most important factor in GP car performance.

But the starting point of this period, while a glittering example of the sport in its golden age, also exposed the seldom-discussed but deadly compromise being made by F1 designers. Pushed by Colin Chapman, designers pushed their machines ever closer to the breaking point, frequently, if not commonly, overstepping the boundary. This was the fundamental tradeoff in GP car design: safe vs. fast, losing or winning. Though Jackie Stewart’s crusade would soon rid the sport of its “barbaric excesses,” the sport’s first posthumous world champion would be an exemplum for its costs.

source : http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=2667

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http://newcelica.org/forums/showthread.php?t=264757

[cepheus]

this is sweet!

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[youtube]FZLmX-FnF-4[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZLmX-FnF-4

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[tags] Lexus LF-A LFA

[Cobra]

Hopefully I'll be able to afford one by then .... 

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Despite the global financial crisis, Lexus' parent company Toyota confirms that the supercar is still slated for production.

Honda may have quit Formula One and shelved plans for their next-generation NSX supercar in the interests of cost cutting, but Toyota is having none of that.

The giant Japanese carmaker recently re-affirmed its commitment to Formula One, whilst at the same time reiterating their plans to bring the Lexus LF-A to market by 2011.

The LF-A will most likely be powered by a 480hp V8 engine. Production is said to be limited to only 500 units.




http://www.oneshift.com/news/news.php?newsid=2225

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

you sure can one lah... just sell all your cars and get this one enough liao.

[vesfreq]

  A very nice car to have. If not enough money, the ISF is a worthy consideration too. I was also thinking if got money but want 4 doors, ISF is a very interesting proposition. A lot of fast road going cars will be stunned by a high powered IS. hehehe.

[77LostBoy77]

Omg... GTR, NSX.... Now LF-A   

Anyone keen to join venture into sourcing for a $ printing machine. hehehe !  Happy NEW YEAR....

Huat Huat Huat Arzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

lostboy, no more nsx lah...   so you can be proud that it's , not


anyway, parent company, toyota, should also say something on supra and celica, afterall lf-a is still a lexus.

[Silver Bullet]

Omg... GTR, NSX.... Now LF-A   

Anyone keen to join venture into sourcing for a $ printing machine. hehehe !  Happy NEW YEAR....

Huat Huat Huat Arzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Bro, must b laser printer hor..kekeke..

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

Bro, must b laser printer hor..kekeke..

what laser printer? i only know De La Rue Currency is the one use for printing money by authority.. not forgetting you need the blueprint plates.