Lexus LFA

Lexus LFA at a glance

The LFA was Lexus's first and so far only series-built supercar. It was meant to show what Toyota's engineers could do with materials and engines, not to make money, and the history of Lexus explains how far it sat from the brand's comfortable saloons.

From the TXS project to the Tokyo show

Work began in early 2000 under the code name TXS. The first prototype was finished in June 2003, and testing at the Nürburgring started in October 2004. Lexus showed the LF-A concept at the Detroit show in January 2005, a second, closer-to-production study in January 2007 and an open LF-AR roadster study in January 2008.

The most important change came during development. The original body structure was aluminium, but the engineers switched to carbon fibre to save weight and improve stiffness. In the finished car about 65 per cent of the structure is carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic and 35 per cent aluminium. Akio Toyoda confirmed production in August 2009, and the production LFA appeared at the Tokyo Motor Show on 21 October 2009, styled under chief designer Kengo Matsumoto.

The old 1cars article claimed the car was planned as a better-known Toyota Supra. That is not correct: the LFA was a clean-sheet Lexus project with its own V10. Toyota's six-cylinder sports coupé history is told on the Toyota Supra page.

The 1LR-GUE V10 and the ASG gearbox

The engine was co-developed with Yamaha. It is a 72-degree V10, a cylinder angle that gives even firing intervals, with 88 mm bore, 79 mm stroke and a 12.0:1 compression ratio. Titanium connecting rods, solid titanium valves and forged aluminium pistons keep the moving parts light. The engine alone weighs about 200 kg.

It produces 412 kW (560 PS, 553 hp) at 8,700 rpm and 480 Nm at 6,800 rpm. The red line is at 9,000 rpm and the fuel cut at 9,500 rpm. Lexus says the engine can go from idle to the red line in 0.6 seconds, so fast that an analogue needle could not follow it. That is why the car has a digital tachometer drawn on a TFT screen.

Power reaches the rear wheels through a six-speed automated manual gearbox from Aisin, mounted at the rear as a transaxle and connected to the engine by a carbon-fibre propeller shaft. A Torsen limited-slip differential is standard. Shift times range from about 150 to 200 milliseconds depending on the mode, and the driver can choose between Wet, Normal, Sport and Auto settings. With the engine placed behind the front axle and the radiators at the rear, Lexus quotes a weight distribution of 48:52 front to rear.

Chassis, brakes and the Nürburgring Package

The LFA uses double wishbones at the front and a multi-link layout at the rear, with height-adjustable KYB dampers. Carbon-ceramic brake discs measure 390 mm at the front and 360 mm at the rear. Twenty-inch wheels fill the wide arches, and an active rear wing rises at speed.

The Nürburgring Package was presented at the Geneva show in March 2011. It raised output to 420 kW (571 PS), cut shift times by 0.05 seconds and added aerodynamic parts for more downforce. Lexus planned 50 cars; some sources count 64 built. In September 2011 a Nürburgring Package car lapped the Nordschleife in 7 minutes 14.64 seconds, reported at the time as the fastest lap by a road-legal production car.

The car's racing record is modest but real. Development cars won the SP8 class at a VLN race in 2008, and in 2010 the number 50 LFA won its class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Akio Toyoda himself drove in the 2009 edition of the race.

Interior and equipment

The cabin is built for two and finished in leather, Alcantara, carbon fibre and metal. The old 1cars review listed the launch equipment. It included a TFT instrument display that changes its layout in Sport mode and a Remote Touch controller for the central screen. Navigation with a hard disk, dual-zone climate control and a 12-speaker Mark Levinson audio system were also standard. Twelve leather colours and ten Alcantara shades were offered.

Luggage space is minimal, and the sports seats have eight adjustment directions. The LFA was never meant as a grand tourer; it is a road car built around the driver and the engine.

Safety and testing

As a hand-built car made in only 500 copies, the LFA was never crash-tested by Euro NCAP or the IIHS. Its safety equipment includes front and side airbags, ABS, traction control and a stability system that can be relaxed in Sport mode. The carbon-fibre passenger cell and front crash structures were designed to protect the occupants in a collision.

Rivals: how the LFA compares

On paper the LFA was not the fastest car of its time, and the twin-turbo Nissan matched it on acceleration for a fraction of the price. Compared with the Gallardo, which has exactly the same 412 kW, the Lexus is front-engined and drives only the rear wheels. With 1,480–1,580 kg it carries 3.6–3.8 kg per kW. The LFA's case rests on the engine's response, its sound and the carbon-fibre structure, not on lap-time tables. Other supercars from the same period are listed in the most powerful supercars guide, and any two can be checked side by side in the comparison tool.

What came after the LFA

No direct successor followed when production ended in December 2012. Lexus has since used sports-car concepts to keep the idea alive, and according to reports in December 2025 it applied the LFA name to a battery-electric sports car concept. Whether that becomes a production car is not yet known.