Exluxivity???????? (I made a word) LF-A???

[bigearl]

Originally Posted by Rogue Leader

You're correct, Lexus is breaking even or losing money on each LFA.

That said theres a combination of factors that causes these companies to make these cars limited. Firstly the manufacturing process. This car is built by hand, and Toyota even invented some new CF weaving processes for certain parts of the car. Secondly people who buy cars like this PAY for the exclusivity. In the end this car is still a Toyota, and to charge astronomical amounts of cash for it people who buy cars like this not only need to know they are buying the pinnacle of technology, but that when they drive it down the street their neighbors are NOT gonna have one too.

Ferrari and Lamborghini are a bit different, they generally don't limit production of any of their cars and will build as many as people will buy. That said their cars are hand built as well so obviously they can't make as many as GM can make Camaros. Now both do offer occasional special editions or supercars like the F50 and Enzo and make them limited for the same reason the LF-A is, because even in the big money world they have to offer the fact that to charge a premium over an already super expensive car this special edition has this, this, and that AND its one of only 50.

When it comes to money or muscles, theres always someone who has more than you.

Yup. I agree with RogueLeader.

I also don't think America is the target for this car, I think it's the middle east. They hold Toyota/Lexus's in high regard there (watch that crazy driving in Dubai video again, 2 out of 3 cars was a Toyota).

Also, you spend 10 years developing the technology for a car with the CF looms and all of those other things and you need to put something out to show for it.

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by bigearl

Yup. I agree with RogueLeader.

I also don't think America is the target for this car, I think it's the middle east. They hold Toyota/Lexus's in high regard there (watch that crazy driving in Dubai video again, 2 out of 3 cars was a Toyota).

Also, you spend 10 years developing the technology for a car with the CF looms and all of those other things and you need to put something out to show for it.

Kind of a proof of concept thing, 'we made this technology, and here is what we can do with it'

[Kyle2k]

Originally Posted by All-Or-Nothing

...because some things are more than just a pricetag.

Unfortunately, the LF-A has nothing of that "more than a pricetag" It doesn't have a returning name, it doesn't have heritage, it doesn't have a made in Europe sticker, it doesn't even have a business point. Toyota is leasing these things because they can't sell the 500 as easily as they thought they could. Furthermore...it is ugly.

[SS 376]

Nice car but it isn't terribly exciting to see another mega-budget supercar... There's plenty of those out there: Koenigsegg, Ultima, Noble, McLaren, etc. I have a lot more respect for a car like the Elise or Exige. To me, it's harder to figure out how to build a car that weighs under 2000 lbs. and costs under $50k than to build a 3800 lb. car with a massive motor that costs six times as much.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by Kyle2k

Unfortunately, the LF-A has nothing of that "more than a pricetag" It doesn't have a returning name, it doesn't have heritage, it doesn't have a made in Europe sticker, it doesn't even have a business point. Toyota is leasing these things because they can't sell the 500 as easily as they thought they could. Furthermore...it is ugly.

Thats not true actually. The plan from the beginning was always to lease them because they want people who are buying them to drive them and not flip em for a quick buck.

Not that any of us are in the market for it but when Ferrari or Lamborghini release a new car speculators buy up as many as they can so when joe schmoe rich guy goes to the Ferrari dealer to buy one there is a 6 month - 1 year waiting list to get a new one. BUT Mr Speculator will sell you it, with a $50,000 markup. And they pay it because when you have $200k+ to spend whats $50k more.

OR in the case of really limited and hot cars they buy them and sit on them for a few years and THEN sell them for a larger premium to those who couldn't get in on it when they were new. The Jag XJ220 is a good example of this... and the speculators getting screwed because the car underwhelmed in popularity.

[DGthe3]

This car would be more impressive if they had released it 5 years ago. But alot has changed since then. Even the 'F1 derived engine' is outdated. F1 has since switched over to V8's and Toyota has pulled out of F1.

And it doesn't weigh 3800 lbs. Its 3263-3483 lbs (from http://www.lexus-lfa.com/), but that is still a little high given how much they're bragging about the usage of weight saving carbon fibre and aluminum.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

This car would be more impressive if they had released it 5 years ago. But alot has changed since then. Even the 'F1 derived engine' is outdated. F1 has since switched over to V8's and Toyota has pulled out of F1.

And it doesn't weigh 3800 lbs. Its 3263-3483 lbs (from http://www.lexus-lfa.com/), but that is still a little high given how much they're bragging about the usage of weight saving carbon fibre and aluminum.

That weight is actually very impressive in this day and age because it has a large engine, luxury items like navigation and other electronics, sound deadening, heated power seats, etc, and they have all the "safety" features of any other Lexus included, such as knee and seatbelt airbags and stuff.

Some things that make the Lotus Elise and Exige so light is that barely the size of a Mini Cooper, they have little 4 cylinder engines, no power steering, race seats, no radio, and safety wise they have the federal minimum which is just driver and passenger airbags. And even with that they still weigh around 2k lbs.

[G8GT4now]

hey I made a word too.........Redorkulous

that toyota (lexus, whatever) is a bit over priced.

[SleepWarz]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

This car would be more impressive if they had released it 5 years ago. But alot has changed since then. Even the 'F1 derived engine' is outdated. F1 has since switched over to V8's and Toyota has pulled out of F1.

And it doesn't weigh 3800 lbs. Its 3263-3483 lbs (from http://www.lexus-lfa.com/), but that is still a little high given how much they're bragging about the usage of weight saving carbon fibre and aluminum.

I'd like to see it sub 2800 pounds. Then I'd be impressed.

[TaylorRyanSS]

I think it is awesome, yeah its overpriced but it looks cool

[lil_chef]

Originally Posted by TaylorRyan74

I think it is awesome, yeah its overpriced but it looks cool

at around 5:50 in the video they say that the engine noise is actually being piped into the cabin from the intake. Ford much?

[Number 3]

Originally Posted by Rogue Leader

That weight is actually very impressive in this day and age because it has a large engine, luxury items like navigation and other electronics, sound deadening, heated power seats, etc, and they have all the "safety" features of any other Lexus included, such as knee and seatbelt airbags and stuff.

Some things that make the Lotus Elise and Exige so light is that barely the size of a Mini Cooper, they have little 4 cylinder engines, no power steering, race seats, no radio, and safety wise they have the federal minimum which is just driver and passenger airbags. And even with that they still weigh around 2k lbs.

Keep in mind, the ZR1 Corvette comes in at 3,250. A Z06 is around 3,100. So a sub 3,000 pound Corvette is possible.

Originally Posted by SleepWarz

I'd like to see it sub 2800 pounds. Then I'd be impressed.

Again, if you don't want a radio, or airbags or windows that roll down you could probably get there in a car this size. But again, going back to the Corvette - lots of premium materials, aluminum, carbon fiber and yes even a little bit of balsa wood are required. And "premium" comes with a big price tag. And not many people want to pay 300,000 for a car without safety or modern conveniences.

And as far as the price vs. volume, it's simple economics. If you price it a million, you might sell 100 of them. Look at the Veyron. Well over a million and the volumes are very low. If you priced it at $100,000 you might sell 1,500.

And also, Ferrari doesn't sell as many as they can. They tool up and set up a manufacturing plan that results in X number of cars. You have to tell your suppliers how many parts you want and they contract to build that number at a fixed price. Can you up that? Yes, but in most cases it means buying another tool set as the original tool set was set up to only produce X parts. That also gets crazy expensive. And if you are hand building cars on a single and very short assembly plant, you can't just up the line rate without adding automation which makes the car no longer "hand made". Low volume is planned for just as much as high volume.

[AZCamaroFan]

I think it's all about exclusivity. Aston Martin just built a special model ,and only built 77 of them.
Personally, for a Lexus, it may perform well but it's not worth it. Lots of cars perfrom great. You drive a Ferrari, and people know what they are and they're impressed. a japanese car just doesn't have the history. you tell someone it's a lexus, and they might think it's 50k or something.

[All-Or-Nothing]

Saying "it's not worth the price" is just personal opinion. Obviously it is worth the price to 500 people. Plain and simple the car is bad-ass from a performance standpoint and everything else is personal choice.

If I had the money I would get one today