Lexus LFA Story: Revelations with Jason Cammisa (Hargerty)

[G30M]

[///MPhatic]

Saw this yesterday, it's fantastic, like always. Great details.

I always have one question with this car. It seems the big deal is how fast the transmission shifts. I wonder if there is a factory upgrade available since the tech has moved on. It would certainly fix the SINGLE issue the car has, and make one of the greatest cars ever produced more correct.

[David70]

Good video. Often people like to talk about how great certain old cars are and were but forget about the details about why few wanted to buy them new, this does a good job explaining the whole history. Great engine, ok single clutch transmission, too expensive and Toyota/Lexus wanted to jump directly from not at all in this car class to selling for more than the others who spent decades at this level. I don't agree that this car led to the current GR Toyota's. It was a one off that stopped production many years ago, they could have developed the current GR's with or without the LFA.

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

Saw this yesterday, it's fantastic, like always. Great details.

I always have one question with this car. It seems the big deal is how fast the transmission shifts. I wonder if there is a factory upgrade available since the tech has moved on. It would certainly fix the SINGLE issue the car has, and make one of the greatest cars ever produced more correct.

I don't think it's the speed of shifting as much as the inherent issues that come with all single clutch automatics. BMW, Lambo, Ferrari all were clunky and none of them could be solved with software changes. I don't believe anyone continues to build a single clutch automatic and all have gone to dual clutch, if they kept this type of transmission.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by David70

I don't think it's the speed of shifting as much as the inherent issues that come with all single clutch automatics. BMW, Lambo, Ferrari all were clunky and none of them could be solved with software changes. I don't believe anyone continues to build a single clutch automatic and all have gone to dual clutch, if they kept this type of transmission.

Yeah, for sure. If I had one I'd find a way to fit a newer DC gearbox to it. I think the rest of the car stands on its own for sure. I would just think, to make things easier and more "factory" that Toyota would produce a unit for it. Nissan has done similar. And in fact a lot of manufacturers have offered factory upgrades years after the fact. Even Lotus did this.

[G30M]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

Saw this yesterday, it's fantastic, like always. Great details.

I always have one question with this car. It seems the big deal is how fast the transmission shifts. I wonder if there is a factory upgrade available since the tech has moved on. It would certainly fix the SINGLE issue the car has, and make one of the greatest cars ever produced more correct.

I can fix it. Put a Porsche 7 Speed manual into it. (or some other 6 speed)

[RM7]

Originally Posted by G30M

I can fix it. Put a Porsche 7 Speed manual into it. (or some other 6 speed)

Or put an "LFA" sticker on my 1LE.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by G30M

I can fix it. Put a Porsche 7 Speed manual into it. (or some other 6 speed)

Oh god, you're one of those that would put an LS1 into an FD.

That's not fixing, that's destroying.

[Efthreeoh]

I think it didn't sell very well because (a) it's a Lexus, and (b) it doesn't look like a "supercar".

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I think it didn't sell very well because (a) it's a Lexus, and (b) it doesn't look like a "supercar".

I think it's a combo of the car coming too late to the market, being extremely expensive and living side by side vs cars like the Ferrari 458 at the time.

The LFA had a masterpiece motor tied to a really crappy gearbox... but at 375k, it lived next to other incredible cars at the time and it was a very hard sell for Lexus even to those that understood it.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I think it's a combo of the car coming too late to the market, being extremely expensive and living side by side vs cars like the Ferrari 458 at the time.

The LFA had a masterpiece motor tied to a really crappy gearbox... but at 375k, it lived next to other incredible cars at the time and it was a very hard sell for Lexus even to those that understood it.

Perfectly stated.

[jesm]

Best sounding car engine.....

[Burrcold]

I was working for Toyota/Lexus new model development at the time the LFA was developed and launched. Every single Toyota executive I talked to at the time reiterated the same thing...they didn't care if it sold well (or at all). It was a flex their (brain) muscle type project and nothing more. Job well done.