Lexus LFA you'll simply fall for it

This amazing vehicle will be the halo car of the Lexus range – as well as its key exhibit at the Australian International Motor Show.  The car features a beautifully sculpted CFRP (carbon fibre reinforced polymer) body. In fact, CFRP components represent 65 per cent of the LFA’s body composition by mass – and substantially more than that by volume seeing as it’s a substantially lighter (and stronger) material than either aluminium or steel.

The remaining 35 per cent of the LFA’s meticulously sculpted body is crafted from aluminium. The extensive use of CFRP saves over 100kg of mass – which is directly translated to both performance and efficiency improvements.

Only 500 Lexus LFAs will be made, with production of just 20 units a month over an approximate two-year period. Each will be largely handmade, and customized to each customer’s specifications.

Each LFA body will bear a plaque announcing its position in the limited production run, and each of the 4.8-litre V10 engines will bear the assembler’s signature.

In the USA, where 150 of the 500 LFAs will be sold, racing driver Scott Pruett was commissioned to give demonstration drives to prospective customers. In European markets, customers place their LFA order at a single dealer located in Park Lane, London. This car is exclusively awesome.

Power comes from a 72-degree V10 displacing 4.8 litres and delivering 412kW at 8700rpm. Its peak torque of 480Nm arrives at 6800rpm, although 90 per cent of that (430Nm) is available from just 3700rpm, making the LFA a supremely tractable car.

The engine redlines at an amazing 9000rpm and engages its rev-limiting fuel cut-off at 9500rpm (at which point it is turning at the rate of 158 revolutions each second, and generating torque via almost 800 individual combustion events per second).

The V10 was selected over a V8 with the same displacement thanks to its capacity for higher revs, and over a V12 configuration because of the V10’s lower reciprocating mass – thereby ensuring more rapid engine response.

How rapid? Lexus says the engine can go from idle to redline in just 0.6 seconds – and is used in US TV advertisements to shatter a champagne flute.

A six-speed automated sequential gearbox – rather than a dual-clutch transmission – with paddle shifters can upshift in just 0.2 seconds. There are four computer-controlled operating modes: auto, normal, sport and wet.

The LFA’s top speed is a claimed 325km/h, with 0-100km/h in just 3.6 seconds. Weight distribution is near to the ideal 50/50 front to rear.