The Lexus LFR prototype testing in California
Posted by AOA1998@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 54 comments
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Posted by AOA1998@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 54 comments
[removed]
Aattttaaccuuss@reddit
They’re benchmarking it against an AMG GT so I’d imagine it’s on the Lexus side of things
TangerineBroad4604@reddit
I hope it's a lot sportier than the LC, was interested in cross-shopping the two but the LC is totally different.
Recoil42@reddit
They're running it in WEC GT3 as a GR next year and have been developing it with Gazoo at the new Shimoyama test circuit shared by the two brands, so by every indication it's going to be a monster.
In general Lexus is about to get a lot more sporty, Akio's put together an incredible set of dominos to make that happen.
gor134@reddit
The common opinion on multiple Lexus forums is the opposite. Akio does not like Lexus and is investing primarily into GR products, hence the strong rumours that the LFR will instead be a Toyota GR GT instead.
Recoil42@reddit
Car forums are full of dummies with bad opinions who don't understand what's going on — nothing new there.
Lexus just moved their headquarters to Shimoyama at billions of dollars of expense, and new CEO Koji Sato was previously the development lead on the Lexus LC. Akio's own daily driver is a LBX Morizo. Lexus is about to set up a massive wholly-owned factory in China with the goal of expansion there.
The idea that "Akio does not like Lexus" is just deranged levels of stupidity — he's pouring money into the brand and daily drives one.
gor134@reddit
Not really, more people closely tied with Lexus are on the forums as opposed to Reddit.
He is pouring money into the brand for sure, but not into Lexus enthusiast products. F-line and all of their RWD-platform projects have been scaled back completely and the "LFR" project which is a continuation of the scrapped LC-F project is most likely to be presented as a "Toyota GR GT" (unless they pull a Honda/Acura and still market it as a Lexus for the US only). Even that LBX you mention skips the "F" badging and carries the Morizo name. Maybe he likes Lexus, but he definitely likes the brand that carries his family name more when it comes to investing in passion projects and enthusiast-oriented models.
Recoil42@reddit
My dude, I just explained to you how Lexus has moved their entire HQ to a brand-new private race track at billions of dollars of expense. An bare-minimum ounce of reading comprehension, please.
gor134@reddit
Attitude lol. I am very well aware of their private race track which is shared with GR. Everyone tests their models on race tracks, and Toyota and Lexus's private in-house tracks allows them to accurately test their models without being exposed to spy photography on tracks like the 'Ring.
Recoil42@reddit
If you want to avoid being treated like you aren't giving an ounce of attention to the information being presented to you, try not acting that way. If you beeline from a direct and clear response to your comment to repeat rubbish, you're gonna get treated like an unserious participant in the conversation.
Then you know Lexus is getting billions of dollars of funding to produce enthusiast vehicles, your whole narrative is knowingly bunk, and you are repeating what we've already established to be nonsense from car forum dummies with bad opinions.
It is straightforwardly not true that Lexus is moving away from enthusiast alignment because the whole company is very clearly moving towards an enthusiast-aligned development process at great expense. Lexus now co-develops their entire lineup alongside Gazoo — the dynamic is the exact opposite of what the know-nothing forum junkies are saying.
gor134@reddit
Great. You are entitled to your opinion as I am mine.
I am not convinced that Lexus having their own private test track shared with GR to develop cars on is going to result in more enthusiast models for Lexus.
TO ME, this means Lexus privately will test their production models, all crossovers and sedans, to the same degree that the Germans test their crossovers and sedans on the Nurburgring. The result being better handling cars? Sure. I'm not convinced Lexus is getting any enthusiast-focused sports cars anytime soon, short of the LBX Morizo and "rumoured" RX Morizo. May there be interlap of GR/Lexus like that rumoured RX Morizo, sure, but again I don't see anything pointing to actual enthusiast Lexus models coming out.
I will believe it when I see these enthusiast models come out.
Recoil42@reddit
Thing is, there's no difference of opinion here at all. We've already both established that Lexus is getting billions of dollars of funding to produce vehicles with more enthusiast appeal and is shifting its entire development process to an enthusiast-centric model. It is a factual statement. All you've got left is a stubborn refusal to acknowledge what you have already agreed on.
Let's re-cap: You agree the patriarchal chairman of the conglomerate has said he wants to build more enthusiast models, and has moved the entire luxury division of the company to a race track at great expense. You agree he's having it co-develop models with a racing team, has appointed an enthusiast as the successor CEO of the company, and has already produced an enthusiast model with his own name on it and which he daily drives. You agree the entire division is being modelled after enthusiast brands like Porsche and BMW and will produce better-handling cars which appeal to enthusiasts...
...but you're just not sure it will produce enthusiast vehicles. Seriously, I must say I'm flabbergasted by this conversation — you're doing performance art at this point.
Ooglybo0gly@reddit
Stumbling upon this thread, just wanna say you are insufferable jesus.
gor134@reddit
BMW, Mercedes, and Audi test everything from base A1s, CLAs, 1-series, to top trim SUVs like the X7, GLS, and Q7 on the Nurburgring, not just sporting models.
Lexus will be utilizing this test track for similar things, testing their NXs and RXs and LXs and whatnot. Toyota has already been doing this since 2019, using the Shimoyama center to test EVERYTHING from the Corolla to their GR Products to their trucks and minivans.
This is the reason why I don't believe Lexus being added to this Shimoyama center will result in more enthusiast products being added. A race track is not just used to test for performance models, but for everything technically speaking from ABS and stability control systems, suspension durability tests, etc.
I don't understand why you won't accept MY point of view and keep having this "higher than thou" attitude. You're entitled to your opinion as I am mine. You think Lexus being added to Toyota's Shimoyama center will result in more enthusiast models, I don't.
I've explained my point of view, you've explained yours, accept it and move on and instead you're just talking down on me lol. Average reddit experience.
West_Independent2551@reddit
I was going to say, we just lost all of the F cars, the RC coupe, and the Lexus IS. That leaves NO sporty cars in the lineup, so I can't say I'm so optimistic as an enthusiast.
Fit_Equivalent3610@reddit
Akio has been a great example of how much institutional change can be effected by a single person in a leadership position
GTOdriver04@reddit
He’s the reason for the GT86, LFA, etc.
When he wants performance, he gets it. I tip my hat to him because my beloved Toyota 86 wouldn’t exist without him.
aprtur@reddit
You know it says quite a bit about his leanings for a car when he has a unique GR Century to get around in.
WarCrimeGaming@reddit
Same
MiloRoast@reddit
Don't forget the Supra that started this whole thing, and his baby the GR Corolla. Dude's been completely shifting the entire vibe of the company, and I love it.
Recoil42@reddit
I'm convinced he's going to go down as an all-time-great automotive patriarch and I just don't think people have clued in yet because some of his moves (Woven, Gazoo, Gemba, Multi-pathway, Area 35) are still going to take years to unfold. There are very few players thinking at this level in the industry.
Puzzled_Region_9376@reddit
I know about a few of those. But what are woven, gemba, multi pathway and area 35. What’s this grand plan he’s working on?
Recoil42@reddit
Tthe big one we're talking about here is how hard the entire org is being steered to care about driving emotion. Briefly, that plan is:
Do a lot of co-development work with 'sportier' brands like BMW and Subaru to learn from them and start whipping out stronger offerings. That's why we have GR86, the Supra, and the new Mazda partnership.
Move Lexus headquarters into an on-premises building at the new Shimoyama test track alongside Gazoo. The two divisions are now co-engineering cars together and have their own multi-billion-dollar racing facility. (This is Gemba, which means "the real place" and prescribes that work should be done on-site. The idea is that design chiefs and dynamics engineers should at any point be able to walk downstairs and jump into prototypes for a test lap to see and solve problems quickly, rather than waiting to talk about them in meetings.)
Make Gazoo and GR first-class brands within Toyota. At press conferences, Gazoo now has equal billing with the Toyota and Lexus brands, and concepts are starting to appear with GR brand badging.
You can see none of these are one-off moves like "make a supercar" — they're all systemic moves meant to embed lasting changes into the fabric of the organization itself. Lexus is going to start naturally pumping out sports cars because HQ now has a race track.
Puzzled_Region_9376@reddit
Dude thank you so much for taking the time to answer. Now you’ve got me excited for the future of Toyotas work
xkmackx@reddit
It's running in the GT3 class. Of course it'll be sportier.
hi_im_bored13@reddit
In fairness the GT was also the least Mercedes-Y mass produced product they’ve made in years
BWFTW@reddit
I hate to disagree with you, but I disagree with you this time, haha. I don't like the new AMG GT, though in fairness, I haven't driven one.
Off-the-shelf chassis, trans, engine, and interior. The old GT used a bespoke chassis, DCT transaxle and interior. The new GT screams cost savings to me. They weren't trying to make a better sports car; they were trying to make a cheaper car with better profit margins.
It's 4300 pounds, I find it hard to accept that it's a real sports car at that weight. Granted, I am one of those weight wierdos, but I also practice what I preach.
Also, the weight distripution is now 60-40 i think vs 50-50 on the old amg gt.
Overall, I am anxious that they are benchmarking it to the AMG GT. I was hoping this would be a track day 911 GT3 fighter, more inline with its homologation special routes, rather than trying to compete with an overweight Mercedes grand tourer.
hi_im_bored13@reddit
Was talking about the old gt (gtr!) in the article yeah. The new one is probably better for their customers, but pretty clearly derived from the c63 coupe and whatever
V8-Turbo-Hybrid@reddit
They also use AMG GT3 to develop their new GT3 car, so that isn’t really new thing, in fact.
Akio bought a AMG GT3 for his own team Rookie Racing. They’re clearly using that car to develop their own.
kinkycarbon@reddit
I assume GT3 race car if they want to.
Quizzie@reddit
This looks like the old AMG GT which was a great sports cars, unlike the new one
Recoil42@reddit
It's being developed by Gazoo, so even better — it's on the Gazoo side of things.
Boostedprius@reddit
the last gen AMG GT especially the GTR is A WEAPON. I would not count on it being any more Lexus-y than the LFA
ArchonOfSpartans@reddit
Why are they double laning in a slightly curved straight? Lmfaoooo
GTR_35@reddit
You know it's gonna be good when it already looks good in camouflage
annonimity2@reddit
LFA successor? That's a looong hood, should be enough for a v10.
Standaloneoak@reddit
I'm SO happy someone caught pictures of this. I was driving down from Big Bear and saw it, and I almost think the folks I told do not believe me.
I was racking my brain trying to figure out where it might be stored so I can try to go grab some cheeky pictures when they were putting it away.
LilBirdBrick@reddit
It's been long confirmed in the motorsport world that the car will be a Lexus and replace the RCF GT3. It's been testing in GR branding because that is Toyota's motorsport division and they are the ones developing the racecar.
Recoil42@reddit
It's quite possible it will launch as a GR in some markets and as a Lexus in others, similar to the NSX. Toyota's been making clear moves to turn GR into a top-level brand with a lineup.
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
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Captain_Alaska@reddit
That wouldn’t make much sense, Honda did that because Acura physically doesn’t exist as a brand outside of North America.
Toyota hasn’t sold Lexus cars with Toyota badges since Lexus was introduced in Japan.
ShiroQ@reddit
But Lexus sells Toyota cars with Lexus badges, Lexus ES being the prime example which is just a Camry
Captain_Alaska@reddit
The ES isn’t called a Camry anywhere in the world though.
ultra_r@reddit
Very cool
gor134@reddit
It was never 100% confirmed and more recent rumours point to it having switched to be a Toyota.
ToastandSpaceJam@reddit
If this is a hybrid, I have zero hopes that it will come paired with a manual transmission (even with no hybrid it’s probably not happening anyways). Bummer, although the car looks and will likely performance insanely well. Will still need to look at the 911 as the only GT-branded car I can purchase in a manual.
Juicyjackson@reddit
Haha, I actually follow Jonny Lieberman on Instagram, and saw this when It was first posted. Noticed it didn't have the aggresive wing it has had in other spy shots at the Nurburgring.
Thought it looked pretty cool, will never buy one, but even with the Camo on, it just looks mean and aggressive.
I am sure it will be at a better price point than the AMG GT63 which starts at an eye watering $180k...
KookyManster@reddit
Reports coming out of Japan are estimating the starting price to be $200k. However there will be a docile and a track version, and I'm hoping the docile will be below 150k. I'm not sure about the styling now with all the camo, but if it looks good, planning to pick one up in a few years into the production.
StrangeSmellz@reddit
Damn you follow him on instagram?
Juicyjackson@reddit
Just didn't expect to see an article written about a journalists instagram post by an entirely separate author.
Thee_Sinner@reddit
Anyone have a link to a website that is at least marginally functional?
kurtthewurt@reddit
That thing is W I D E.
WeBornToHula@reddit
Thank you for covering my screen with bullshit, Mr. Article
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