Ring Time smashed by....

[TheIntrepid]

A Lexus?

The king is dead, long live the king! Lexus? long-awaited LF-A has unofficially smashed the lap record at Germany?s N?rburgring, with a time of seven minutes, 24 seconds. That beats Porsche?s new GT2 by a second and makes the Lexus the King of the ?Ring. Company insiders have revealed that a 4.8-litre V10 ? co-developed with Yamaha ? powered the record-breaking test mule. It revs to 9,000rpm and pumps out 552bhp. Combined with a highly aerodynamic body, it should enable the LF-A to hit 210mph.


http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/214086/lexus_lfa.html

[SVT_Power]

revs to 9k? holy shmokes

[Raghavan]

9k RPM???? Holy crap!!

[TheIntrepid]

This POS Toyota may be fast but it has no heritage!

F*CKERS think their car is fast


This is a real car guys!!! It's so perfect!

[SVT_Power]

I think that got joke got old a while ago when wimmer overdid it...

[Lazerous]

A Lexus?

... a 4.8-litre V10 ? co-developed with Yamaha ...

Well, we all know who did most of the work on the engine and suspension.

[Tave]

test mule

So, this isn't a production model?

So this "record" is sort of worthless?

[the Teuton]

You know, there were test mules of the Ford GT that had coilover racing suspensions.  They were pre-production, too, and I'm sure they could lap the Ring pretty quickly, too.

[omicron]

test mule

So, this isn't a production model?

So this "record" is sort of worthless?

Never let truth stand in the way of a good story.

[Catman]

test mule

So, this isn't a production model?

So this "record" is sort of worthless?

That's what I was thinking.  I'll be more impressed when they do it in the production car.

[S204STi]

Great Googley Moogley.

[JYODER240]

If I'm lucky our store will get one and I'll get to drive it. I'm not getting my hopes up though.

[the Teuton]

If I'm lucky our store will get one and I'll get to drive it. I'm not getting my hopes up though.

Sweet jebus, that would be cool.  Yes, it would still be cool to drive that Lexus.

[Submariner]

2 seconds faster than a Zonda F clubsport?  I'm somewhat doubtfull, but will wait until it's production ready to praise/criticise it.

[Submariner]

You know, there were test mules of the Ford GT that had coilover racing suspensions.  They were pre-production, too, and I'm sure they could lap the Ring pretty quickly, too.

Does anyone know if this was a stock suspension/tires or if it was more racy fare?

[the Teuton]

How are all of these "underpowered" cars beating Zondas and Koenigsegsegsegseggggggss around the Ring.  You have a GT-R that weighs as much as a minivan able to outscoot a Z06 around the track with similar power, even though the Corvette is 700 lbs. less.  I wonder how such plebian numbers in comparison to a mid-engine Zonda could hang so well with it.

[Submariner]

How are all of these "underpowered" cars beating Zondas and Koenigsegsegsegseggggggss around the Ring.  You have a GT-R that weighs as much as a minivan able to outscoot a Z06 around the track with similar power, even though the Corvette is 700 lbs. less.  I wonder how such plebian numbers in comparison to a mid-engine Zonda could hang so well with it.

Perhaps the lexus is running such incredible numbers a la that race prepped BMW M3.  Yes, it was shockingly quick, but it was also running on race slicks...

[Fire It Up]

How are all of these "underpowered" cars beating Zondas and Koenigsegsegsegseggggggss around the Ring.  You have a GT-R that weighs as much as a minivan able to outscoot a Z06 around the track with similar power, even though the Corvette is 700 lbs. less.  I wonder how such plebian numbers in comparison to a mid-engine Zonda could hang so well with it.

Fantastic suspension? The Nurburgring is a pretty bumpy place.

[Colonel Cadillac]

A Lexus?

The king is dead, long live the king! Lexus? long-awaited LF-A has unofficially smashed the lap record at Germany?s N?rburgring, with a time of seven minutes, 24 seconds. That beats Porsche?s new GT2 by a second and makes the Lexus the King of the ?Ring. Company insiders have revealed that a 4.8-litre V10 ? co-developed with Yamaha ? powered the record-breaking test mule. It revs to 9,000rpm and pumps out 552bhp. Combined with a highly aerodynamic body, it should enable the LF-A to hit 210mph.


http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/214086/lexus_lfa.html

[mojammer]

For this lexus to be so quick I'm going to predict it weighs under 3000lbs (and is track prepped), and possible even less, like 2500lbs.  The Zonda F supposedly weighs 2700lbs. 

I wonder how the GT2 can be so much quicker than the Carrera GT when it weighs  more, has less power, and is only a couple of years later in development?  In a decade sure, i'd expect that kind of power/weight deficit to be as quick or quicker, but not now.

[JYODER240]

Sweet jebus, that would be cool.  Yes, it would still be cool to drive that Lexus.

There's not much of a market around here for a car like that, even then I might have a hard time getting to drive it since someone would have probably already paid for it.

[the Teuton]

There's not much of a market around here for a car like that, even then I might have a hard time getting to drive it since someone would have probably already paid for it.

Uh, remember LeBron's supposed-to-be Carrera GT a few years ago?  If that could find its way to the Akron/Canton area, I'm sure a $150k Lexus could.  Heck, the local BMW dealer had a Z8 Alpina a few years ago when the came out.

[TheIntrepid]

How are all of these "underpowered" cars beating Zondas and Koenigsegsegsegseggggggss around the Ring.  You have a GT-R that weighs as much as a minivan able to outscoot a Z06 around the track with similar power, even though the Corvette is 700 lbs. less.  I wonder how such plebian numbers in comparison to a mid-engine Zonda could hang so well with it.

Yes but the Z06 is a loldomestic and can't handle, remember?

[Soup DeVille]

How are all of these "underpowered" cars beating Zondas and Koenigsegsegsegseggggggss around the Ring.  You have a GT-R that weighs as much as a minivan able to outscoot a Z06 around the track with similar power, even though the Corvette is 700 lbs. less.  I wonder how such plebian numbers in comparison to a mid-engine Zonda could hang so well with it.

The burgeoning consensus is that for some reason, the GTR is vastly under-rated from the factory in the horsepower department.

No, that doesn't answer all of your question, but it may be a big factor.

[LonghornTX]

The burgeoning consensus is that for some reason, the GTR is vastly under-rated from the factory in the horsepower department.

No, that doesn't answer all of your question, but it may be a big factor.

I agree.  There are parts of the ring' where a lot of HP and good aerodynamics can pay dividends.