My hot laps in the Lexus LFA at Infineon

[Z K]

There was a Lexus Performance Drive event for the new GS today at Infineon. At the event there was a timed autocross competition. The winner gets some hot laps around Infineon in the Lexus LFA... I had the fastest lap time of the session! I guess 14 years of autocross experience paid off today.

Here's a video of the hot laps. Please excuse the shaky camera and me giggling like a girl with asthma.

Crank the volume and listen to that soundtrack! When you are in the car, the sound tears into you and you FEEL it in your body and brings up a well of emotions only a car person would understand. I swear I had tears of joy coming out of my eyes after I got out and a perma-smile for the rest of the day.

[SoTempted]

I had to whip out the headphones for this one! The LFA soundtrack definitely makes up for the epileptic cameraman. I'd love to hear one of these in person.

Sounds like a cool ass event to be giving prizes like that, good job man!

[Cdnrockies]

You couldn't have possibly have had that much fun. Lexus are for old men....they can't handle....the steering is soft and disconnected....it's too expensive....blah, blah, blah.

Cool vid man, looks like you had a blast, congrats!

[skoot3r]

the sound is pure sex

[Nine]

Originally Posted by Z K

There was a Lexus Performance Drive event for the new GS today at Infineon. At the event there was a timed autocross competition. The winner gets some hot laps around Infineon in the Lexus LFA... I had the fastest lap time of the session! I guess 14 years of autocross experience paid off today.

Here's a video of the hot laps. Please excuse the shaky camera and me giggling like a girl with asthma.

Crank the volume and listen to that soundtrack! When you are in the car, the sound tears into you and you FEEL it in your body and brings up a well of emotions only a car person would understand. I swear I had tears of joy coming out of my eyes after I got out and a perma-smile for the rest of the day.

Congrats, you earned it!

[mike33176]

I was fastest in my group also last year and I got to ride with Scott Pruitt for 2 laps @ Homestead.It was a blast and the car is fantastic but, not for $375k .

[e92_m3]

Damn! Gotta love that intoxicating sound!

Z K,
The gearshifts sounds like your driving a manual.

Thanks for sharing man!

[M3 Montreal]

Damn beautiful sound!!

Gratz to you! Too bad the guy driving was driving it so mild....

If you ever get invited to the Porsche World Tour then you will get a BALLS out hit lap by one of their instructors. I was in the 911 GTS with a retired pro driver and had the BLAST of my life. The guy was going all out and letting the back end slide like crazy.

If anyone here has been to the world tour then they know what I'm talking about regarding a HOT lap.

Man... That LFA soundtrack though... So HOT....

[Erhan]

If it sounds like that through a camera mic, I can't imagine how it sounds in real life!!

[Z K]

I wasn't expecting to get to be in the LFA so I had to use the only recording device I had on me, the iphone.

The LFA uses a single clutch transmission which makes it shift slower than a twin clutch transmission and has more of a "kick" when shifting to give it a more analog feel.

The whole car is just exciting to be in. They definitely concentrated on creating a great experience of driving and not all out performance as most super cars these days aim for. The attention to these details definitely shows!

[991GT3]

I'm jealous. That would be very exciting.

[e46e92love]

Yup, Lexus hit the nail on the head with the LFA......I guess every dog has its day.

Too bad the designer and inspiration for this car was killed while fine tuning the suspension on a back road near the ring......when he suffered a head on collision with two BMW test drivers in a 5-series. BMW guys walked away......totally sucks because the LFA is a sick car and its tragic the guy died in it.

Cheers,
e46e92

[Z K]

Originally Posted by e46e92love

Yup, Lexus hit the nail on the head with the LFA......I guess every dog has its day.

Too bad the designer and inspiration for this car was killed while fine tuning the suspension on a back road near the ring......when he suffered a head on collision with two BMW test drivers in a 5-series. BMW guys walked away......totally sucks because the LFA is a sick car and its tragic the guy died in it.

Cheers,
e46e92

He wasn't the designer behind it. He was the chief test driver for Toyota's performance cars. He's the driver who worked on the 2000GT in the 1960s, the MR2 and the Supra. Sad loss for sure.

[e92_m3]

Originally Posted by Z K

The LFA uses a single clutch transmission which makes it shift slower than a twin clutch transmission and has more of a "kick" when shifting to give it a more analog feel.

Now I know why it sounds like your driving a manual. With that said, can you say that the LFA's tranny is a generation behind the M3 since the M3 uses a dual clutch mechanism on the DCT?

If you have driven a DCT equipped M3, how does it compare to the LFA's tranny in terms of feel and driveablilty around the track?

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the way the LFA shifts man. There's that slight pause that occurs that makes it sound like a manual which I really love.

[Z K]

Originally Posted by e92_m3

Now I know why it sounds like your driving a manual. With that said, can you say that the LFA's tranny is a generation behind the M3 since the M3 uses a dual clutch mechanism on the DCT?

If you have driven a DCT equipped M3, how does it compare to the LFA's tranny in terms of feel and driveablilty around the track?

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the way the LFA shifts man. There's that slight pause that occurs that makes it sound like a manual which I really love.

My M3 is not DCT and I haven't driven an M3 with DCT. The closest thing I've driven is the Porsche PDK. The twin clutch shifts much faster and it feels seamless.

The LFA feels more like a manual in the way it shifts and it shifts hard if you are driving fast. You'll feel the kick and jerk as each gear engages just as a manual does when you are shifting fast. Still way faster than anyone can shift a manual but not seamless like a twin clutch.

[e92_m3]

Originally Posted by Z K

My M3 is not DCT and I haven't driven an M3 with DCT. The closest thing I've driven is the Porsche PDK. The twin clutch shifts much faster and it feels seamless.

The LFA feels more like a manual in the way it shifts and it shifts hard if you are driving fast. You'll feel the kick and jerk as each gear engages just as a manual does when you are shifting fast. Still way faster than anyone can shift a manual but not seamless like a twin clutch.

Cool! Man, I need to drive an LFA to see and feel what you mean.

Btw, are there any more Lexus performance drive event in the Bay Area? I am from the Bay area (Norcal) and I wanted to try one out as well. Anyways, it will be hard for me to get a chance driving the LFA since I only did a couple of auto-x's under my belt. I need more experience to be the fastest on the lot. LOL!

[Z K]

Originally Posted by e92_m3

Cool! Man, I need to drive an LFA to see and feel what you mean.

Btw, are there any more Lexus performance drive event in the Bay Area? I am from the Bay area (Norcal) and I wanted to try one out as well. Anyways, it will be hard for me to get a chance driving the LFA since I only did a couple of auto-x's under my belt. I need more experience to be the fastest on the lot. LOL!

Its a tour to promote the new Lexus GS. This was the only event in the bay area for this. It was an invite only event. I believe they had a similar event last year for the updated Lexus IS.

As for going in the LFA, only 4 people (1 from each session) were able to ride in it out of all the participants.

[j2m]

Soooooooo Awesome, sounds amazing and I'm sure nothing beats being behind the wheel

[M3 Montreal]

Originally Posted by j2m

Soooooooo Awesome, sounds amazing and I'm sure nothing beats being behind the wheel

I believe he was in the passenger seat and driven by an instructor.

[GIdriver]

Awesome man!! Congrats!!

[mmm def]

that sounds amazing!

[stefan]

WTH that's the noise in the cabin? Wow I had no idea. I've only heard it from outside. That would get addictive... Suddenly I understand the price tag.