A new commercial from Lexus:

“A good reputation is difficult to attain. A reputation for unsurpassed quality and industry-leading customer service, even more so.”

Following is the official press release from Lexus:

• Only 100 Units Will Be Produced
• Features F-Sport Performance Accessories and Unique Grille
• Interior with Numbered Badging and Blue Contrast Stitching

• Newly designed 19-inch forged alloy wheels with a wheel lock set and Michelin Pilot Sport 225/35ZR19 tires in the front and 255/35ZR19 tires in the rear;
• Front and rear brake upgrade for a firmer pedal feel and enhanced fade resistance;
• New and unique F-Sport grille not previously available;
• Shock set developed in cooperation with Bilstein^®;
• Lowering springs that reduce the ride height approximately one-inch in the front and rear;
• Sway bar set that helps reduce body roll and provide flatter cornering;
• Embroidered floor mats with F-Sport logo;
• Leather-wrapped shift knob with F-Sport logo;
• And exterior badging and an individually numbered badge on the center console complete the uniqueness of this vehicle.

Year-to-date sales figures:

1. MB: 30,028
2. Lexus: 29,304
3. BMW: 28,163

Lexus is a close second despite the massive Toyota recall fiasco (By the way, you can show your support to Toyota by signing the “I Support Toyota” petition). MB had a fabulous month which enabled them to take the lead, BMW remains at 3rd but still well within the striking distance. Seems like the Toyota recall is hurting Lexus but definitely not lethal, people are still buying Lexus products for their reliability, luxury and the legendary customer service.

Few interesting facts worth to point out…

1. Another bad month for the HS, a hybrid ES looks better than ever now?

2. The 7-series really took a charge in February, maybe the LS and S-class are showing their ages?

3. The Acura TL sales remain pathetic month after month, this might be the most epic fail in Honda’s history.

4. Audi’s sales number is steady but still isn’t where they want it to be with the big boys.

Following is the complete sales number break down for all luxury brands:

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1. Lexus: 15,517
2. MB: 15,158
3. BMW: 13,163

Lexus remained strong among the luxury brands even under the massive Toyota recall that’s currently going on and MB is a very close second. As for BMW… after the “supposed-to-take-over-as-number-one” year in 2009, the question now is where is it headed with all the niche products like the X6M, X5M and the 5-series GT.

Few interesting facts worth to point out…

1. The HS sales still isn’t as well as Lexus had predicted, maybe some “spice” is missing for this car?

2. The LS sales went up compare to last year… facelift and the addition of the sports model are working?

3. BMW sold 5,418 3-series in january… this thing usually goes for 8,000 – 9,000 units per month just not that long ago. BMW losing its magic or people are getting smarter?

4. Acura sold 1,986 TLs, considering that the previous generation was challenging the 3-series for the top entry luxury sedan spot this is just plain PATHETIC. Still think the beak and ugliness isn’t hurting Acura?

Following is the complete sales number break down for all luxury brands:

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Well… we’ve seen this for the last several years already, that cars from the same manufacture have similar looking interiors. Personally I think that’s reasonable because all manufactures share parts bin among models in their lineup in order to reduce cost. However, I think recently Audi and BMW have taken this “laziness” or cost-cutting into an entire level altogether. In the following 3 pictures you can see the interiors for popular Audi models and BMW’s newest addition to their lineup, the F01 7-series and F10 5-series, as well as the current 3-series and 5-series.

From a quick glance it’s almost impossible to indentify which interior is for which model. All Audis have the up-right standup center stack that’s molded into the gauge cluster and angles toward the driver; the major controls, vents and navigation screens are all in the same region, they all have the trim pieces (whether it’s wood or metal) in front of the passenger seat on top of the glove box. Also, all Audis have similar looking gauge clusters.

If you think that’s bad then let’s take a look at BMW’s masterpiece… Can you even tell that those are two different interiors from two TOTALLY DIFFERENT cars? Just for giggles, take a look at the A/C vents for both interiors… Yup! They are the same, EXACTLY the same. As for the current 5-series and 3-series? I’ll let the picture do all the talking.

Oh, and don’t forget to compare the steering wheels too…

I mean, I am not against family resemblance here, as matter of fact I do encourage cars from the same maker bear some sort of family resemblance in them. However, that does not mean they have to make them exactly the same or 90%+ similar. Lexus is a good example for designers actually put some effort into interior design in order to make them all unique but still shares some similarities (up-right center stack, same function wheel-column stalks…). Sure someone would prefer BMW and/or Audi’s designs over Lexus but I can definitely appreciate the effort that a company put into their products.

What do you think?

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Let’s take a look at the 4 major luxury automakers’ flagship lineups:

Audi:

A8
A8L (long wheel-base)
S8 (performance)

BMW:

730d/Ld (not available in US)
740d (not available in US)
740i/Li (not available in US)
750i/Li
750i/Li xDrive (AWD)
760i/Li (V12)
ActiveHybrid7/ActiveHybrid7L (hybrid)

Lexus:

LS460/LS460L
LS460/LS460L AWD
LS460 Sport (sports tuned suspension)
LS600hL (hybrid)

Mercedes Benz:

S550
S400 Hybrid
S600 (V12)
S63/65 AMG (high performance)

From the model listing it seems like BMW and MB offer more engine choices than Lexus, however when we take a closer look we can see that Lexus offers more variety than the other two brands. The LS460 has both standard and long wheel-base, with AWD options are available for both and the sports-tuned suspension available for the standard wheel-base version. Also there is a range toping hybrid that offers V8 gas mileage and V12-like performance to compete with the other V12 flagships in the segment.

One can really make a case for either three brands of having the most complete flagship lineup in the segment (Audi is a non-factor in this discussion…) but let’s not forget that Lexus is only 20 years old so I think it’s incredible for them just to be able to be included in this discussion with the more established brands.

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1. Lexus: 187,410
2. BMW: 176,374
3. MB: 170,403

One month to go and BMW is down by more than 11,000 units… The race has turned into let’s see who is going to capture the second spot, can MB pull out a miracle and steal it away from BMW?

Few interesting facts worth to point out…

1. Looks like Lexus will have no trouble to sell 200,000 units again this year in a down market despite all the naysayers have been predicted earlier this year.

2. TL is fading fast, once sold for 7,000 units a month now can barely pass 2,000. For those of you still think that Acura doesn’t have a problem? Wake up…

3. What’s up with Infiniti? They in deeper doo-doo than Acura and if you are doing worse than Acura that means you really suck a**.

4. RX is going strong as usual and outsold the entire Infiniti and Audi brand in the month of November.

5. Audi A4’s sales are lackluster, I am sure this is not what they had in mind with the new and improved (or the lack of in terms of interior) A4. Still think Audi doesn’t have a problem with their pricing strategy here in the US? Stop drinking the kool-aids…

Following is the complete sales number break down for all luxury brands:

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Hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles will be the focus of the 2009 LA Auto Show given it is the perfect spot for these fuel sippers to shine since the environmental-conscious Hollywood is just down the road… Following is the official press release:

LOS ANGELES – November 2009 – With manufacturers paying close attention to today’s environmental and economic conditions, eco-friendly cars are attracting a lot of attention. The 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show will feature more than 50 of the newest hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles including hybrids, modern clean-diesel, electric, hydrogen fuel cell and ethanolpowered vehicles.

With new green concepts and production vehicles from at least a dozen manufacturers, consumers have a greater selection of low-emission, high-mileage vehicles to choose from than ever before. Hybrids still represent the largest volume of “green” vehicles including the popular Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and Ford Fusion hybrids. Mercedes-Benz will also debut its all-new S400 Hybrid.

Modern, clean diesel vehicles are becoming a competitive hybrid alternative. This year’s show will feature more clean diesels than ever before including some new affordable options such as the Volkswagen Golf TDI and the Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI.

Looking to the future, manufacturers are continuing to put more effort into vehicles that run primarily on electric power. The show will feature the highly anticipated plug-in Chevrolet Volt, the performance plug-in Fisker Karma, Audi’s all-electric e-Tron concept based on the R8 and BMW’s Vision EfficientDynamics Concept, which combines the performance of a BMW M model with the fuel consumption and emissions of a modern small car.

Hybrids and Alternative Fuel Vehicles on Display:

• Audi A3 TDI
• Audi Q7 TDI
• Audi e-Tron
• BMW X6 Active Hybrid
• BMW ActiveHybrid 7
• BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept
• Cadillac Escalade Platinum Hybrid
• Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid
• Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid
• Chevrolet Volt
• Fisker Karma
• Ford Expedition E85
• Ford Fusion Hybrid
• Ford Fusion SE/SEL E85
• Ford Escape Hybrid
• Ford Escape XLT/Limited E85
• GMC Sierra Hybrid
• GMC Yukon Hybrid
• Honda FCX Clarity
• Honda Insight Hybrid
• Honda Civic Hybrid Sedan
• Honda Civic GX NGV
• Lexus GS 450h
• Lexus HS 250h
• Lexus RX 450h Hybrid Concept
• Lexus LF-Ch Premium Compact Hybrid
• Lexus LS 600h L
• Lincoln Navigator E85
• Mercedes-Benz ML350 Bluetec
• Mercedes-Benz ML450 Hyrbid
• Mercedes-Benz GL350 Bluetec
• Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid
• Mercedes-Benz E350 Bluetec
• Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL
• Mercury Mariner Hybrid
• Mercury Mariner E85
• Mercury Milan Hybrid
• Mercury Milan E85
• Mitsubishi i-MiEV
• Mitsubishi PX-MiEV Concept
• Porsche Cayenne Hybrid
• Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept
• Toyota Camry Hybrid
• Toyota Highlander Hybrid
• Toyota Prius Hybrid
• Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept
• Volkswagen L1 Concept
• Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion
• Volkswagen Golf TDI
• Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI

LexusNet will cover the 2009 LA Auto Show from the showroom floor via the LexusNet Forums. We will bring all the press conferences, unveils and surprising announcements live to you in a twitter style update. Please tune in to the LexusNet Forums 2009 LA Auto Show thread during the press days (12/02 and 12/03) for the complete coverage.

Event organizers are expecting approximately 30 world debuts be unveiled at this year’s L.A. Auto Show, the current unveil list includes:

World Debuts

Cadillac (to be announced)
Dodge Viper
Honda Personal-Neo Urban Transport Concept
Porsche Boxster Spyder
Toyota Sienna
Volkswagen (to be announced)
Volkswagen (to be announced)

North American Debuts

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI
Audi e-tron Concept
BMW ActiveHybrid X6
BMW ActiveHybrid 7
BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept
Buick Regal
Chevrolet Cruze
Ford Fiesta
Hyundai (to be announced)
Hyundai Tucson
Jaguar XJ
KIA Sorento
Lexus LF-Ch Premium Compact Hybrid Concept
Lexus (to be announced)
Lexus LFA
Mazda 2
Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL
Mercedes-Benz E350 Bluetec
Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
Mini Coupe Concept
Mini Roadster Concept
Mitsubishi Outlander GT
Mitsubishi PX-MiEV Concept
Morgan Aero Supersports
Porsche 911 Turbo
Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Rolls-Royce Ghost
Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept
Subaru STI
Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept
Volkswagen L1 Concept
Volvo C30
Volvo C70

Concepts

Audi e-tron
BMW Vision EfficientDynamics
Honda Personal-Neo Urban Transport
Lexus LF-Ch Premium Compact Hybrid
Mini Coupe
Mini Roadster
Mitsubishi PX-MiEV
Subaru Hybrid Tourer
Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid
Volkswagen L1
Volkswagen (to be announced)
Volvo S60

Please check back for more info as we will update the unveil list periodically from now to the end of November.

Take a few minutes to watch the following video then you’ll realize how Lexus becomes a legit European luxury competitor in merely 20 years.

Lets repeat after me: The Passionate Pursuit of Perfection!

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Recently I ran across a post on an auto enthusiast forum about how the lacking of the fold-down rear seat in the HS250h is the deal breaker. The poster argued about how other hybrids like the Chevrolet Malibu, Honda Insight, Nissan Altima, Saturn Aura, Toyota Camry and Toyota Prius all have it so it appears Lexus is “cutting back” for not including the feature. Well, I did some “googearch” in my own spare time and found out the following…

Toyota Camry Hybrid:

In a closer look, this is the amount of access room (or the lack of…) that one gets from the fold-down seat with the batteries in the trunk:

Nissan Altima Hybrid:

According to about.com, in the Altima hybrid…

Hybrid battery eliminates a fold-down rear seat

Chevy Malibu Hybrid / Saturn Aura Hybrid:

The Malibu Hybrid is a mild hybrid, which means it’s a joke comparing to Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) system… Saturn Aura Hybrid uses the same system as the Malibu hybrid.

Sure in the picture it appears to be the Malibu hybrid has tons of access with the fold-down rear seat but the reality is that the battery pack is much smaller comparing to the Toyota/Lexus systems. The reason is due to the GM’s hybrid battery pack only powers the motor/alternator for engine assist as well as restarting the engine from AUTO STOP mode and does not independently driving the wheels like the Toyota’s HSD.

Toyota Prius:

Toyota Prius is a hatch back, which allows it to have more room in the trunk area. As you can see from the picture, in that area of interest, the cabin is also much taller comparing to the Camry hybrid.

Honda Insight:

Honda Insight almost has the identical shape as the Toyota Prius, so the reasons above can also be applied here.

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Image sources: [ About.com: Hybrid Cars and Alt Fuels ]

After living with the first ever Lexus dedicated hybrid for a week I have to say this is just not my kind of car. Sure the mileage is great for a midsize luxury sedan, sure the interior is solidly build, sure the powertrain is a magnificent piece of work but ultimately I just couldn’t see myself spending $40k on it. Like I’ve mentioned before the handling and ride just are not up to the normal Lexus standard and although beauty is in eyes of beholders I just couldn’t warm up to its styling. Even though the Lexus hybrid is really more, much more, than a glorified Prius but being as a Lexus owner I have to say that I’ve expected more from Lexus than this round of execution. In my honest opinion I truly believe that an ES hybrid with the same powertrain would be a much better car all around than the HS250h.

Enjoy the pictures below with the HS250h in Napa Valley and San Francisco:

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1. Lexus: 168,910
2. BMW: 160,666
3. MB: 153,606

BMW is fading fast, by leading over 8,000 units with two more months go Lexus appears to have the 2009 luxury crown in the bag… MB had a solid month but is probably a little too late to challenge BMW for the number two spot.

Few interesting facts worth to point out…

1. Lexus again sold more than 8,000 RX (8,316 to be exact), which makes it best selling luxury vehicle second month in a roll. The RX also single handily outsold the entire Audi, Infiniti line and the BMW 3-series.

2. Acura only send 2,512 TLs out the lots in the month of October, which is over 40% drop from last year… Still thinking the new TL isn’t a flop? Think again…

Following is the complete sales number break down for all luxury brands:

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The powertrain, in my opinion, is one of the few bright spots about the HS, the 2.4-liter Atkinson-cycle powerplant delivers healthy 187 combined HP through the smooth CVT transmission. Although the hand-off between the gasoline engine and electric motor is noticeable but it is probably the best in the hybrid world up to date. Lexus claim 0 to 60 in 8.7 seconds and according to my butt-lerometer is about just right, which is not bad at all for a hybrid that returns 35 MPG combined.

During the week that I had the HS250h I have put over 1,400 miles on the car, the distribution is about 2/3 highway and 1/3 city. According to the trip computer I have achieved over 34 MPG (34.3 to be exact) over the entire week, almost identical to the EPA numbers:

Overall the HS is very impressive in the powertrain department, it is just a better suspension tuning away from being another Lexus masterpiece.

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During my 3-day, 1000-mile trip up north to San Francisco and Napa Valley, I’ve learned a lot about the HS’ ride and handling characteristics in both high speed and city crawling conditions. Following I’ll try to break down the pros and cons of the dynamics side of Lexus’ first ever dedicated hybrid.

Handling: During low speed one could easily mistaken the HS for one of the FWD sports sedans since the steering wheel has a nice weight to it, although the steering isn’t insanely sharp like the BMW and Porsche but it is precise nevertheless. The car felt confident on long and wide curvy roads as long as one doesn’t push it to the limit; once push it, heavy understeer will occur to remind you that this is not your typical sports sedan. Like I have mentioned before, the heavy weighed steering wheel will make you think this car has a whole different characteristic than the lighter and softer ES, and if you do think like that then you have been greatly mistaken. The low speed steering feel is what Lexus want you to think about the HS but high speed handling is what’s real about this car, the car felt floated and steering felt vague at high speed cruise just like its big brother ES. As matter of fact, due to the HS being higher, those characteristics sometimes felt even stronger on the Lexus hybrid.

Ride: At first impression the suspension on the HS felt much firmer than the ES, in some degrees it almost felt like the GS on smooth pavements. However, on uneven pavements the HS bounces just as much as the ES but due to the firmer suspension, it felt kind of weird. It is kind of hard to explain that through words because normally it’s easy to understand how a soft suspension to bounce up and down all over the place but for a firmer ride like the HS, one would expect a more stable ride. HS seems to be able to defy all that logic and deliver a firm and yet bouncing ride… Let me just put it this way, this is definitely not the best setup I’ve experienced in my driving life.

To sum it up, the HS is not one of the best Lexus executions in terms of ride and handling, to be a bit extreme, I have to say that it could be one of the worst from Toyota’s luxury division. It is not a bad luxury daily driver that delivers decent fuel economy; however, I’ll pick my IS350 or even the softer ES350 over the HS for long road trips without a second thought.

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During the whole week, the most frequent comment I got from the people who saw the HS in real life for the first time was:

“Wow, the car is much bigger than I expected, isn’t it smaller than the IS?”

So I always tell them that the HS is actually sized in between the compact IS and the almost-full-size ES, however the that’s-unbelievable look from their eyes always makes me chuckle. On paper the HS is 4.5 inches longer, 3.2 inches taller but about half inch narrower than the IS from the outside; from the inside the HS has almost full 4 inches more legroom for the rear passengers. It is kind of hard to picture all that from imagination so I took a few pictures with the HS side by side with my IS350 to make HS250h’s actual size more obvious:

It’s really amazing how Lexus is able to make to make the HS look A LOT smaller than it really is, whether that’s good or bad is entirely up to each individual…

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When the power button is pressed, the car is in full silent except for the instrument lights lighting up; then after about 10 seconds the engine will fire up, it is a totally different experience than any ICE cars.

Also, the car will travel on full EV mode for a period of time if the speed does not exceed 15 mph. It seems a bit pointless on paper but is very useful when entering and backing up from garage.

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So, after coupe months of waiting, I finally got my hands on a HS for the week-long test drive. I plan to write about the car whenever something interesting or informative pops up, kind of like Twitter, so stay tuned…

The one that was given to me is a base model with navigation, light maroon (Lexus calls it Metador Red Mica) exterior and tan interior. The first impression I got from this car is that it is definitely bigger than it appears in the pictures, especially when comparing to other Lexus models then one can clearly see that it is sized right between the IS and ES. The interior is very straight forward and pleasant and Remote Touch is fairly easy to use with virtually no learning curve (unlike those knobs on the Germans…). Overall the interior is standard Lexus and the leather padded center stack/console and top of the gauge cluster are definitely nice touch. However, I did spot a few cost cutting executions around the cabin, first the lower part of the door panels are made out of hard plastic, then I noticed that the reading lights for the front passengers aren’t LED and there are not reading lights for rear passengers at all. Obviously those aren’t deal breakers considering how Lexus was able to make such a high tech car at a very obtainable price.

Driving impression will be coming later.

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Following are the performance specs released by the manuactures for both cars:

Lexus LFA / MB SLS AMG

Power Rating: 552 HP / 563 HP
Torque Rating: 354 lb-ft / 430 lb-ft
Curb Weight: 3,263 lbs / 3,571 lbs
Engine Type: 4.8L V10 / 6.3L V8
Engine Placement: Front-mid / Front-mid
Drive Type: RWD / RWD
0 – 60 Acceleration: 3.6 sec / 3.7 sec
Top Speed: 202 mph / 197 mph
Price: ~ $375,000 US / ~250,000 US

As you can see, these two cars match up pretty well on all aspects, including mechanical setup, performance and weight (The SLS is heavier by ~300 lbs). The only difference seems to be AMG prefers the high displacement, high torque V8 but Lexus went with the small displacement, high revving (redline at 9000 rpm) V10.

If that’s not enough to convince you that this is the match-up made in heaven, how about this: The MB SLS AMG is the first car ever developed solely from the ground up by MB’s performance department – AMG. The Lexus LF-A on the other hand is the first supercar from Toyota and many would argue that it is the first true exotic from any Japanese automakers. With that in mind when both cars go on sale in 2010 (or 2011…) we can expect to read all about their head-to-head comparison from all the major automotive publications. So…

Let the hype begin!

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Being one of the advocates who support Lexus to build the LFA super car prior of the premier I was literally staring at my monitors all day on 10/21 because I want to know about the car as soon as any information is out. I couldn’t hold my joy when I first saw the leaked pictures and videos because this car is everything that I imagined it would be and that interior is simply gorgeous. However, I must say that when I saw the released specs, my heart has suddenly dropped because although the performance puts the LFA well in the thick of the current super cars, it is just not as “magnificent” as it should be. The worst has yet to come, after learning that the MSRP of the LFA could be around the $400k range instead of the previous speculated $250k I became a bit disappointed at Lexus’ first ever super car, if not at Lexus…

After hours reading the reviews, visiting auto enthusiast sites and watching video I finally realized what’s my beef with LFA: I just simply couldn’t justify the sticker price and that is a first to me about any Lexus products. Lexus to me is a tier-one luxury brand that offers the same if not better products and service as their competitors but with better values, so naturally I was expecting the same from the Lexus super car. I was hoping that the LFA will be a $400k-caliber car with a $250k sticker but in my opinion we got a $250k-caliber car with a rumored $400k price.

I am not going to deny that this car is definitely an automotive technological marvel with executions such as: 65% of the engine is Titanium, it makes 114hp per liter, weighs 3200 lbs and 65% of the car are Carbon Fiber. Also not to mention that gorgeous and well designed interior which has been universally praised regardless how people think about the car. But it’s just a bit of a bummer that all those incredible achievements and technologies didn’t translate into “crazy” performance specs. I mean yes, talking about the couple tenth difference in 0-to-60 acceleration is silly, sure, the LFA stacks up very well with other super cars and of course I will reserve my final judgment until I see the full test result. However, for Lexus to charge $400k (same price range as all other well established exotic manufactures) on something that is not truly extraordinary is just something I couldn’t understand.

After I was able to gather my thoughts and think about the LFA from a more logical and less objective point of view, I have to say that this is a nice first effort from Lexus to enter the super car arena just like how they did with the IS F. It won’t “crush” the competitors but at the same time it’ll hold its own among other super cars. Also, by producing only 500 units, Toyota/Lexus will be able to avoid the questions such as “Does this car really worth the price?”, smart move I guess.

At last, I would like to summarize my thoughts on the Lexus LFA with one sentence:

This car will be the best thing since sliced bread if Lexus has priced it around $200k.

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