Lexus Executive Confirms LF-A to Be A Hybrid

They're not going to sell nearly as many as they want to if they offer it as just a hybrid, I'm sorry to say...

You forget that Toyota is working on the next gen hybrid. People need to open their minds to the possibilities of what a hybrid is capable of. Who is going to buy a 100,000 sports car from Lexus when they can get a Porsche or Aston Martin? Someone looking for something different. Right or wrong, Lexus's strategy of differentiating its high end prodcuts is to offer them as a hybrid.

Will you're right, personally I think the hybrids are just incredibly overpriced for what they offer.

100000 GBP is more than a Cl63 AMG or 911 Turbo, and like 20000 more than an M6 or 911 Carrera.
Not such a great idea Lexus...

You sir, are NOT a real Lexus fan.

who cars
stick to the chrome and cushoned seats lexus
this will be a good competator to Inifinity

I think is ok to offer Hybrid for their passenger cars, but for this sports car, they should stick with the V10 only. Unless they are trying to differentiate themselves from the other sports cars they are competing against. But then the Hybrid will be heavier and heavier cars are not as nimble or don't handle as sharp as lighter cars.

LF-A will have both V10 and V8 hybrid options. Choose your pick.

I must say... This is completely retarded... However, unlike the LS or GS if they only produce a hybrid version, and it lives up to hype. People will never be able to know that they were capapble of producing a similar performance product thousands cheaper w/ out hybrid technology... And really... if you're dropping 100K who cares about gas prices... It's about the look, performance and prestige... Cars that waste gas are like men who have slept with hundreds of women. Usually not the safest, not the best quality, not a great value, but never short in demand...

Offering this as a hybrid is a great idea - if anything it'll be the first of it's kind and Lexus would be original in that regard.

So what if they sell less of this. Lexus never intended the LF-A to be a volume seller anyway - they'd won't be producing this in large quantities.

Pretty risky strategy!But, you never know!

Did you want this car with a Toyota badge or a Lexus badge? : ) whichever would make you more comfortable.

I like Audis with VW badges, do I want this one w/Toyota badge.

Please note: The Article says 100000 POUNDS! 200000 dollars!
That's a huge amount of money, we're talking Continental GT or Cl63 and 911 Turbo (in Britain). If Lexus thinks they can price this car over 15000 pounds more than an M6, and over 25000 pounds more than an R8, then don't expect it to sell.

Rupert, the LF-A will not compete with 911Turbo, but with Ferrari, Lamborghini. The 911 Turbo is not a super car.

550hp 9,000RPM 5.0L v10, F1 gear box, Carbon fiber frame with only 2600~2800lbs, all for only $175K, what a deal.

You're right, the 911 Turbo isn't a supercar- but it leaves the F430 and Gallardo in the dust. It is an amazing bargain, along the lines of the Z06- except for the fact that it's great to live with. I can't imagine what it would do to the poor LF-A.

Now, those are high aspirations. Unless Lexus undergoes some kind of performance revelation in the next few years, it will probably compete most closely with the M-B CL65 AMG.

supra:

if the 911 turbo's handling and 0-60 of 3.2 SECONDS aren't enough for supercar status....please tell me what is?

Performance alone is not enough for a super car.

No matter how great it is, nobody treats it as a super car.

Fabian, we know you like German products but a simple "I like Euro.." statement will do just fine.

good thing lexus doesn't have to worry about any of its cars being 'super cars'

i like that lexus is using the hybrid tech in alot of their cars now. but you dont put a hybrid a 500hp sports car, come on lexus.

I think their reason is to add more variety and being unique in the segment

race has nothing to do with how much someone while pay for a car. white people buy tons of hondas. and asian people buy lots of mercedes.

people of means (all races) aren't stupid. they simply won't pay top dollar for a car that doesn't look or feel special.

you really do live in some borgeois little world.

yes, mistyped.

it's only a concept.
let's see what the real thing looks like when it comes out at the end of the decade.

it's interesting looking. but certainly not beautiful like a 911, an aston or a maserati.

and too bad there's a toyota version of it.

why won't lexus stop with the rebadging and let lexus do original concepts from ground up?

I'm watching the History channel and they say the next generation tanks will be hybrids and stealth.

And what does that have to do with Lexus LS600h ?

Let me guess: LS is a Japanese army tank LOL!

a hybrid...WHY???

i thought this was going to be a performance car along the lines of an R8. guess not.

Of course not because R8 is not in the league of LF-A. It is even silly to mention them together.

Oh, now you're pissing me off! The R8 V10 will leave this car weeping in its wake! Audi knows how to do performance. They have proven that quite a few times. Most importantly, the R8 is a SUPERB sports car! Read the reviews, my friend! I repeat- unless Lexus undergoes some kind of performance revelation, this car will be an embarrassment to its supercar peers. Alright, I don't know anything about it, but NEITHER DO YOU. Don't go claiming things without a base... or it will come back to haunt you. I will laugh at you when this car comes out, and it is revealed that it has inert steering and numb dynamics.

crazy me comparing a tremendous performance car that EXISTS to a concept from lexus that won't make it to production until the 'end of the decade' according to the article.

i'm gonna go with the R8 or the 911 turbo. proven performance brands. thanks.

Hey S4, The R8 V10 is just a rebadged Gallardo, not that Godly fast.

Oh and enthusiast, this hybrid super car may sound stupid today, but by 2009 it will be the only super car to pass the emmissions test.

I would still choose the R8 because of it's racing pedigree. Has Lexus ever been known to make great handling sports cars? or 2 doors for that matter? Their current SC is complete garbage. It looks ugly and handles even worse.

Don't be fooled by all the marketing guys. In drawing the picture the concepts look great. In reality I'm sure they will be appealing but it will lack the racing pedigree as well as the soulful designs from Europe(mainly in Italy). You think the celebrities will be buying this LF-A? Heck no! It will be poshy rich spoiled kids.

Hard to digest so many pieces of Lexus good news in days. ^0^

1. 550hp from 9,000rpm 5.0L v10, super light weight, civilized version of F1 type gear box... this one is already knew.

2. More interesting is the hybrid version. By the time 2009, double powerful,half weight Li-ion battery is already in use, thus the weight of the hybrid system could be cut by half to 300~400lbs range. But battery alone is not enough for hybrid sports car, another 100lbs have to be counted for the weight of Super Capacitors with extremely fast charging and discharging capabilities for on track driving.

So super light weight+~500lbs hybrid weight = ~3,300lbs, a Lexus hybrid super car with the 5.0L v8 hybrid: 450hp/torque equivalent to 450+lb.ft. 0-60 under 4.0s. Oh, no gas guzzler tax.

Another Lexus has no competition, just like the current LS600h.

news? these cars don't exist. still waiting for one---just one--performance production car from lexus. oh...and a stick would be nice too. maybe one day....

LS600h competes with German big boys for their money, but itself has no competition. Is that hard to understand?

A hybrid super car, not even heard before, how can it have competition? ^0^

you're a sad case supra.

the 911 turbo---with world-class handling, outrageous power, 40 years of refinement and gorgeous styling isn't a super car according to you.

but the LS600--which does precisely nothing spectacularly well is a super car.

you're a schmuck.

Supra never explicitly mentioned that 911 turbo wasn't a super car.

Next time, don't be so touchy/sensitive.

enthusiast: Just calm down and grow up.

yes, he did. see above.

"No matter how great it is, nobody treats it as a super car"

Well...you're correct!

I guess Supra wasn't using his head.

009, your title is not correct. There will be a regular 550hp NA 5.0L v10 and a hybridized 5.0L v8.

Good! I was hoping that the hybrid wouldn't be the only option- V10 makes SO much more sense.

Now, is this going to be super-expensive (SLR McLaren), a bargain (R8 4.2), or somewhere in between (F430)?

blah blah blah.
just PR hype.

enthusist: Just go and learn a thing about PR hype.

Case in point M3.

actually, lexus marketing and PR is far superior to BMW and mercedes. and lexus spending 4x more on advertising than either of those brands.

the M3 'hype' as you call it is based on product, not marketing. very different approach from lexus. nobody has ever driven an IS-F so it's a totally unknown quantity. everything we know about it is pure hype.

LF-A high rev v10's amazing sounds:

http://lexus.jp/ms/contents.html

enter the site
->LF-A
->MOVIE

Well, it wouldn't have to BE a 5200lb car if there wasn't a hybrid engine in it, so there's some irony in that.

great...back to the LS600 again.
my 65 year old mom is gonna love it.
wake me up when this is over.

This is interesting, but not unexpected.

However, if Lexus really wants to make a satisfying sports car, it CANNOT be a hybrid. Hybrids are silent. Hybrids are smooth. Hybrid engines turn off at stoplights. Sports car engines are loud and beautiful; sports cars are rough and tactile, and you love hearing sports car engines when you're at a light.

I feel like Lexus is trying to be a "for-all-people" kind of brand lately. It's almost impossible to be a great luxury car maker AND a great sporty car maker; they should stick to what they do best- comfort. The fact that they're sticking another hybrid in this thing shows how scared they are to deviate from their current demographic.

Exactly, Merc knows to leave the sports cars to BMW, they know to make their cars fast and sporty looking, but to keep everything Merc-like, not rambunctious (love that word), hardcore and lairy.
An SL 65 Amg may be devastatingly fast, but it still has a folding metal roof, and seats that massage.

Fabian: Does Anyone think that you are a European teen actor?

it's just another rebadged toyota. as usual, toyota will have a version.

I'll take my GT-R and be happy. Yes it is a Nissan and that is what makes it great. It will give this Lexus a run for its money at 1/2 the price. For those that comment on how it will save gas and the environment, please reserve your comments. It will most likely get worse MPG figures (then the GTR) due to the fact that it will be a V10. It will probably have worse emissions because of the extra 4 cyls.

Off topic: I am so sick of this site being mostly about Lexus. They are great cars and Toyota has done a find job. But to make a site like this that is suppose to be brand agnostic and make it mostly about one brand has honestly reduced the amount of times I come here. I spend more time over at thecarconnection.com now.

That site (ttc.com) is rubbish.

Stay here if you want to get all the real news.

The Spies break all the good news from the automakers.

why not just get an SC...it's just as hot as that POS Carrera GT right?

Lexus ALWAYS understates their 0 - 60 times by at least .5 seconds. Here are the results of the 5 Top Luxury Cars in this test which was reported in the January Issue of Car and Driver. Please note these tests were all done on the same day at about the same time and at the same altitude. The results reflect the average of 3 runs and all cars are the 2007 vintage.

Mercedes S550 5.6, 0 - 60 quarter mile in 14.1 (Benz show 5.4 in their specs)
BMW 750iL 5.7, 0 - 60 quarter mile in 14.2
Jag XJ Super 6.0 0 - 60 quarter mile 14.5
Lexus LS460L 6.2 0 - 60 quarter mile 14.6
Audi A8 6.8 0 - 60 quarter mile 15.2

Note that Lexus, as usual, is more than the 5.4 the manufacturer CLAIMS to get by .8 seconds.

Also note the LS430 (prior model the LS460 replaced) was rated at 295 HP and was actually 278 when Lexus corrected their rating. And there were no refunds or apologies from the so-called "quality" car company. ABC - Always Be Careful what you buy from the Lexus people.....