Camouflaged Lexus LFA Spotted at Nürburgring


A camouflaged Lexus LFA complete with custom wide-body rear fenders has been spotted doing laps at Nürburgring — from Autoblog:

Lexus LFA Successor Side

Lexus LFA Successor Rear

Speculation is rampant that this is an early prototype for a next-generation Lexus supercar, making for an exciting but purely speculative rumor at this point. A far more likely move for the brand would be the introduction of a high-performance version of the LC coupe, but that does not to explain this patchwork LFA in Germany.

(When asked for a comment, a Lexus USA spokesperson said “We have no idea what [this LFA] is.”)

Lexus LFA
Comments
I have seen two post on Instagram some months ago by Lexus Dealers, claiming that Lexus is working on a new LFA. But my speculation is that Lexus could be preparing for a new Nurburing time record with upgraded Suspension, tires and body modifications as the pictures suggests.
Well that is unexpected.....
From the article:

At first glance, the car pictured here looks like an LFA with the Nürburgring Package and some camouflage on the front and rear fenders. If you look closely, you can see that the fenders are significantly wider than on the standard LFA. Based on the license plate, this appears to be the same car with two different sets of wheels. Lexus may simply be swapping out worn tires, or they may be testing different wheel and tire combinations to fit the wider wheel wells.

Anything beyond this is just speculation.
There's a lot to speculate. Maybe Lexus can refresh the front, back, inside and upgrade the tech while they're at it.
I was looking in the comments section in a Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition where there was this person who claimed to work at Lexus. They said that Lexus plans to build an LFA every 20 (more or less) years. I never heard that before. Is there truth to this?
The new LFA will probably take 10 years to develop like the first one did. So maybe a 2030 release?
The new LFA will probably take 10 years to develop like the first one did. So maybe a 2030 release?
Sander
The new LFA will probably take 10 years to develop like the first one did. So maybe a 2030 release?
Except by then electric vehicles would (hopefully) be predominant so the next LFA would need to be electric.
Sander
Except by then electric vehicles would (hopefully) be predominant so the next LFA would need to be electric.
Seeing how LMP1 is evolving into a hydrogen-powered class in mid 2020s I would say TMC will be investing in a hydrogen powered halo car in the next decade. It makes a lot more sense than electric hypercars.
ssun30
Seeing how LMP1 is evolving into a hydrogen-powered class in mid 2020s I would say TMC will be investing in a hydrogen powered halo car in the next decade. It makes a lot more sense than electric hypercars.
Perhaps, if the refuelling infrastructure is up to scratch, and if battery technology doesn't improve
C
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  • October 11, 2018
Wowza! Now that's one hot prototype! So hard to tell exactly what is being tested...

F1 Silver Arrows
I was looking in the comments section in a Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition where there was this person who claimed to work at Lexus. They said that Lexus plans to build an LFA every 20 (more or less) years. I never heard that before. Is there truth to this?
Yes there is. Over the years since the LFA release a number of ToMoCo executives have stated that within Toyota the idea is to build a new supercar about once a generation or so. So timeframes of around 20-30 years were mentioned. So given this has been talked about by Toyota and Lexus executives, there is very much truth to this.

Here's also a thought that I don't think most fans and observers may realize; research or work into any hypothetical next-generation supercar could go on for many, many years, especially all the ongoing years since the LFA release. Also related to this, there is constant research and development going on for the F division and for the Gazoo Racing division and thus this LFA could be testing any number of things ;).
This could be a test mule for high speed aerodynamic parts for LC-F. After all, LFA remains the only downforce-generating car capable of going to 300km/h in their history... LC-F needs all the downforce for high speed stability and handling improvements.

TMC has historically been really good at developing low drag chassis, but they rarely design downforce-generating bodies (the only one remains to be the LFA).
C
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  • October 11, 2018
The next addition in a long line of radical, mysterious LFA prototypes :cool:.
If only the photographer gave any feedback about the sound of the car, the mystery would solved.
Need to see a video to listen to what type of engine it has. V10 is unmistakeable and it would be easy to tell if it has a FI engine.
Faisal Sheikh
Need to see a video to listen to what type of engine it has. V10 is unmistakeable and it would be easy to tell if it has a FI engine.
For a second I mistook what you said for a F1 engine instead of a forced induction engine. Yes. The 1LR V10 is developed from a Formula 1 engine from Panasonic Toyota Racing during the V10 era. That's why it was so legendary.
F1 Silver Arrows
For a second I mistook what you said for a F1 engine instead of a forced induction engine. Yes. The 1LR V10 is developed from a Formula 1 engine from Panasonic Toyota Racing during the V10 era. That's why it was so legendary.
Shame Tanahashi san wanted to give LFA a 10,000 rpm redline, but the bean counters did not allow it. So it was reduced to 9000 rpm (9500 rpm rev limit) Now, AMG-ONE will be the first to have an 11,000 rpm redline (but, needs to be rebuilt something like every 30,000 miles).
Faisal Sheikh
Shame Tanahashi san wanted to give LFA a 10,000 rpm redline, but the bean counters did not allow it. So it was reduced to 9000 rpm (9500 rpm rev limit) Now, AMG-ONE will be the first to have an 11,000 rpm redline (but, needs to be rebuilt something like every 30,000 miles).
Grrrrr even the stupid bean counters still managed to meddle. Can't they just go away?! >: (
I doubt Toyota/Lexus would ever ship anything that needs an engine rebuild every 30k. Remember, even the LFA had to be a bulletproof daily driver, and that's largely been borne out by owner experience.
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  • October 12, 2018
Faisal Sheikh
Shame Tanahashi san wanted to give LFA a 10,000 rpm redline, but the bean counters did not allow it. So it was reduced to 9000 rpm (9500 rpm rev limit) Now, AMG-ONE will be the first to have an 11,000 rpm redline (but, needs to be rebuilt something like every 30,000 miles).
The LFA 1LR was durability tested quite a bit up to 11,000 or 12,000 RPM. So a 9000 RPM redline is still exceptionally high, but it gives the 1LR very high durability and reliability as good as any standard Lexus model. To this day the 1LR remains the most reliable high RPM large engine.
I just read it in an interview of Tanahashi saying, he wanted the LFA to have a 10,000 rpm redline, but Lexus did not approve it. Given how over engineered the 1LR engine is, I am sure it could handle 10,000 rpm for its lifetime without issues. I think it was to avoid any potential lawsuits or liabilities arising due to something that has never been done before.


CIF
The LFA 1LR was durability tested quite a bit up to 11,000 or 12,000 RPM (can't recall). So a 9000 RPM redline is still exceptionally high, but it gives the 1LR very high durability and reliability as good as any standard Lexus model. To this day the 1LR remains the most reliable high RPM large engine.

So bean counters had very little to do with the decision. It was a decision made for reliability more than anything. Don't forget the LFA project had no defined completion timeline and no specifically defined budget.
Doesn't the 1LR need a five-valve head to take advantage of the extra rpm?
ssun30
Doesn't the 1LR need a five-valve head to take advantage of the extra rpm?
I don't think that going past 4 valves does much for performance, since it doesn't increase the maximum valve area. Probably the best reason to go with more than 4 valves would be a variable lift system that could control the individual valves, similar to what some VTECs do. This is an option on the Freevalve heads by that K-something supercar maker that I don't feel like spelling right now...
ssun30
Doesn't the 1LR need a five-valve head to take advantage of the extra rpm?
Adding more valves is not directly correlated with how the high rpm can be utilized. The 1LR already has an incredible powerband. Over 90% of the peak torque is available from 4000 rpm to 9500 rpm. Even close to redline, torque never drops off. At 10,000 rpm, I am sure it is still holding on the torque band very well.

1LR has one of the highest piston speeds in a production car. Piston speeds, internal inertia and cylindrical capacity as well as how well the headers flow all contribute to how high the engine can rev, how quickly it can get up there and also how the engine can continue to build more and more power beyond the rpms where 99% of the engine are gassed out etc.
I stand corrected. Well engineered modern 4V heads can have good breathing at 10k+rpm.

Also interesting to me 11k rpm 4AGE builds are mostly 4V instead of 5V. Anybody knows why?
TMG will never stop
And it's part of many TMG/ GR projects
ssun30
I stand corrected. Well engineered modern 4V heads can have good breathing at 10k+rpm.

Also interesting to me 11k rpm 4AGE builds are mostly 4V instead of 5V. Anybody knows why?
I've never worked with those engines, but my google-fu is decent.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/f...d-vs-16v-head-Big-cams-and-serious-flow/page2

he is talking about the theory of 4 vs 5v not comparing the different 4age models. The 5v head is inferior to the 4 in non boosted form for these size of engines because of multiple things like middle intake valve shrouding, small bucket + spring diameters, poor quench zones/large chamber surface area and split chambers on the earlier engines.

However when Toyota went from the 16 to 20v design they made the intake port shape massively better, added a basic intake VVT, raised the compression and of course that awesome intake. So most of the time the head design that theoretically worse ends in one aspect ends up being superior in use. Take a 16V with the same design upgrades say like a 3sge BEAMS with a quad throttle conversion and you have something that makes real good useable power.


Interesting stuff, and they also reference "billzila" which lead me to this site: http://www.billzilla.org/4agmods.htm
Warning: that site has lots of engine pr0n and neked metal bits
Airplane
If only the photographer gave any feedback about the sound of the car, the mystery would be solved.
Hey. I can help with that. I found this. Skip to 2:20, 6:40, and 9:25.



This is definitely a prototype testing for aerodynamics, tires, and chassis for future F cars or it could possibly be the beginning of a new second generation Lexus LFA.
Sander
The new LFA will probably take 10 years to develop like the first one did. So maybe a 2030 release?
Half of the 10 years is because they scrapped the aluminum chassis was changed to carbon fibre. So, hopefully a new LFA (LFB?) within 5 years.
I cant wait for next gen F cars. I am pretty sure Lexus does not want the new Supra to be better than the F models, probably one of the reason we are seeing all these testing out of nowhere on the Nurburring.

J