Motor Trend: LFA vs GTR

[SVT_Power]

Really. The Corvette ZR1, Viper, Porsche 911 Turbo, Nissan GT-R all cost far less and are faster 0-60. It costs more than a Gallardo and a Ferrari Italia, but outperforms neither. If Toyota built this car at the $100,000 price point, then yes I'd be impressed.

If you were in the market for such a car, do you think you'd buy something because "it's faster and cheaper"?

[Rich]

If you were in the market for such a car, do you think you'd buy something because "it's faster and cheaper"?

If I were in the market for a $400,000 car, I certainly wouldn't be knocking at Lexus' door.  Why would I want to buy the car that does nothing better than other premium $300,000 cars?  If the Ferrari cost more, I'd still buy the Ferrari, because it does things better

[Rich]

The only reason to buy the LF-A is to get exclusivity over the other supercars, as it does nothing more than sell in limited quantities.  That exclusivity reason is equivalent to the "history and heritage" argument wimmer makes that holds no water with me.  If I put my money down on something I better get something tangible in the product itself for the cost.

[SVT_Power]

The only reason to buy the LF-A is to get exclusivity over the other supercars, as it does nothing more than sell in limited quantities.  That exclusivity reason is equivalent to the "history and heritage" argument wimmer makes that holds no water with me.  If I put my money down on something I better get something tangible in the product itself for the cost.

See this is what I'm talking about. It's guys like us who are enthusiasts who would care. But reality is, most people who can afford to buy such cars and do buy such cars, simply don't care.

[SVT_Power]

If I were in the market for a $400,000 car, I certainly wouldn't be knocking at Lexus' door.  Why would I want to buy the car that does nothing better than other premium $300,000 cars?  If the Ferrari cost more, I'd still buy the Ferrari, because it does things better

If I were in the market, I'd probably pick up a Murcielago. Is it the fastest? No. Is it the best handling? No. Is it a Ferrari? No. But it is cool as hell, is a Lamborghini, and really how do you say no to something that looks like that.

See where I'm going with this?

[hotrodalex]

The performance doesn't have anything to do with the price.  It's the exclusivity that you pay for with a car like this.  You think anyone cares that a Corvette can perform on the same levels as a Ferrari for much less?  Slap a prancing horse on the Lexus and no one would care what it costs. 

Think anyone cares about a Lexus? That argument holds no water. We're not talking about a Ferrari. It's a Lexus. Not exactly a brand known for supercars. Any car can be exclusive, the only thing that goes into that is how many are built. Building only 500 models doesn't make it a good car. It may be "special" in the fact that not that many people have one, but I don't give a damn about who has one. I buy a car for me and me only. If the car isn't special in any other way than being rare, I don't want it.

[2o6]

I'll bet that the LF-A is incredibly easy to drive at the limit. I would take an LF-A over a ZR-1.

[the Teuton]

I'll bet that the LF-A is incredibly easy to drive at the limit. I would take an LF-A over a ZR-1.

If I had $400k, so would I. But I'd take a Ferrari over either of them.

[2o6]

If I had $400k, so would I. But I'd take a Ferrari over either of them.

The 458 looks odd, the California is flat out ugly.

[the Teuton]

The 458 looks odd, the California is flat out ugly.

Come on, the 599 can still be had for under $400k.

[2o6]

I hate the way the 599 looks.

[the Teuton]

I hate the way the 599 looks.

I'm not a fan, but a Ferrari is a Ferrari.

Who am I kidding that I would ever spend that kind of money on a depreciating asset?

[Payman]

I'll bet that the LF-A is incredibly easy to drive at the limit. I would take an LF-A over a ZR-1.

When would you ever drive the LFA at its limit? If I could ever drive a car at its limit, I don't want "easy". I want "thrilling".

[2o6]

When would you ever drive the LFA at its limit? If I could ever drive a car at its limit, I don't want "easy". I want "thrilling".

You have to be very trained to use the ZR-1 well.

[hotrodalex]

Which makes it fun. Getting everything given to you on a silver platter provides no satisfaction.

[SVT_Power]

All this talk about driving at the limit, but honestly how many of us will actually develop enough driving skill to fully take advantage of the cars? Now don't get me wrong, I know driving at the limit and driving the car as fast as it will go are two different things, but either way really I don't think any of us are gonna be that good.

[the Teuton]

All this talk about driving at the limit, but honestly how many of us will actually develop enough driving skill to fully take advantage of the cars? Now don't get me wrong, I know driving at the limit and driving the car as fast as it will go are two different things, but either way really I don't think any of us are gonna be that good.

This is why we all need to STFU and get Morgan Aero 8s and Ariel Atoms.

[SVT666]

All this talk about driving at the limit, but honestly how many of us will actually develop enough driving skill to fully take advantage of the cars? Now don't get me wrong, I know driving at the limit and driving the car as fast as it will go are two different things, but either way really I don't think any of us are gonna be that good.

I've driven my car at the limit once...and only once...and I guaranty that a driver with skillz would have been able to go even faster then I was going.  The limits of the SVT Focus are way higher then I ever expected and way higher then any jurisdiction in the civilized world will allow.  That's why supercars just aren't doing it for me as much as they used to.

[r0tor]

Really. The Corvette ZR1, Viper, Porsche 911 Turbo, Nissan GT-R all cost far less and are faster 0-60. It costs more than a Gallardo and a Ferrari Italia, but outperforms neither. If Toyota built this car at the $100,000 price point, then yes I'd be impressed.

OK, which one of those has a screaming V10, has a carbon fiber chassis, and has a actual quality interior?

[hotrodalex]

All this talk about driving at the limit, but honestly how many of us will actually develop enough driving skill to fully take advantage of the cars? Now don't get me wrong, I know driving at the limit and driving the car as fast as it will go are two different things, but either way really I don't think any of us are gonna be that good.

A truly good car is fun at any speed.

[S204STi]

When it comes right down to it, even if cost were no option I'd still go with the GT-R.  Better transmission, still stonkingly fast in pretty much every situation, and it's pretty badass looking IMO.  The LFA just looks like another Toyota styling abortion, isn't that much quicker really, at least not enough to justify the cost, and I wouldn't feel right driving it on a regular basis given the cost and rarity.  Oh, and it'll accelerate out of control and kill you.(   sorry, but that's just not old yet).  The GT-R on the other hand could easily pass as an all-season daily driver with appropriate rubber in the winter.

[the Teuton]

The wheels on the GT-R are knurled so the tires don't slip off at high speeds (assuming you can get to Gs where that kind of thing would be possible). I wonder if you can get snow tires for it. That would be frickin awesome.

The best winter beater I've ever seen is a V10 Audi S8 that an NSX/R8 V10 owner uses. Not only is it practical and all-weather beastly with Blizzaks, but it's also aluminum, so it won't rust!

[S204STi]

Oh, well I guess you'll have to have some aftermarket wheels/tires setup to swap on and off seasonally then.

Well, I guess if we're talking about great all-season rockets we sort of end up talking about the EVO and STD, which on real world roads offer pretty blistering performance as well. 

[2o6]

Yeah, the GTR seems to be a strong alternative to a Vette, or even a MB CL or 6-series.

[S204STi]

Well here's the thing... it's a strong alternative to pretty much every car on the planet.  That's what's so great about it.

[the Teuton]

Nissan did a hell of a job on it. It's just a shame that it costs as much as a greatly inflated Motorex R34 GT-R did back in the day.

[565]

The wheels on the GT-R are knurled so the tires don't slip off at high speeds (assuming you can get to Gs where that kind of thing would be possible). I wonder if you can get snow tires for it. That would be frickin awesome.

There actually is an O.E. snow tire for the GT-R

Actually the GT-R has 4 original equipment tires designed for the car.

Bridgestone Potenza RE070R RFT (premium models)

Dunlop SP Sport 600 DSST CTT (base models, even stickier but less practical)

Dunlop SP Sport 7010 A/S DSST (All-Seasons, comes with the cold weather package)

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 RFT (Dedicated snow tires)


Basically Nissan really set out to design a high performance car for any purpose, and has a variety of tires dedicated to that goal.

[GoCougs]

The one unique aspect I like about the GT-R is that it is relatively anonymous - LFA, F458, R8, etc., sound like great fantasies but in the real world they'd be real PITAs - from parking lot looky-loos to ricers looking for a showdown to LE looking to make an example. The vast majority of the uninitiated would give cars far less capable and far less costly - from the 370Z to the Camaro to the WRX - a lot more attention.

[Raza]

I'm not a fan, but a Ferrari is a Ferrari.

[SVT666]

That's the "History and Prestige" coming into play.