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Lexus LFA: Be quick, 500 only

The long awaited successor to the Toyota Supra, the Lexus LFA, has been revealed at this year's Tokyo Motor Show. It's not all good news though...

Derek Fung
Derek loves nothing more than punching a remote location into a GPS, queuing up some music and heading out on a long drive, so it's a good thing he's in charge of CNET Australia's Car Tech channel.
Derek Fung
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Limited edition

The long awaited successor to the Toyota Supra, the Lexus LFA, has been revealed at this year's Tokyo Motor Show. It's not all good news though...

With just 500 being sold worldwide, it's more limited than those cricket photos peddled by Channel Nine's

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Still not in production

The LFA on show in Tokyo is still not the final version, with production not slated to start until the end of 2010.

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V10

Enough of the bad news, let's get on to the good stuff. The LFA is powered by a 412kW/480Nm 4.8-litre V10 that Toyota claims is more compact than most V8 engines.

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Not daddy's Prius, part I

Weighing 1480kg, the LFA can sprint from zero to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds.

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Not daddy's Prius, part II

If you can find a piece of track long enough, the LFA can crack a top speed of 325km/h.

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More than more meets the eye

Despite the profusion of vents at the rear of the car, the LFA's engine actually resides at the front.

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A short history

The first LF-A concept car — note the now eliminated hyphen — was revealed at the 2005 Detroit Motor Show. This was then restyled in 2007 for a little more drama and was followed in 2008 by a roadster version.

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Nurburgring bred

Since the initial concept car was revealed oh-so-many years ago, various prototypes have been seen pounding their way around Germany's famed Nurburgring circuit.

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A paddling with paddles

The paddles behind the steering wheel control the LFA's six-speed sequential gearbox via an automatically actuated clutch.

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Just one friend required

There's only seating for two inside the LFA.

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Touched remotely

Lexus' Remote Touch controller, which we first saw on the RX350, makes an appearance in the LFA's centre tunnel. It controls the entertainment, navigation and communication system via the centre LCD screen.

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Cleared for take off

The faster the LFA goes, the closer the rear wing spoiler is to the sky.

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Rev it

The LFA's V10 is redlined at 9000rpm, so there's always plenty of rev range to make exhaust music with.

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Tipping the scales

Instead of just moving the engine, the designers have placed the transmission near the rear axle to improve weight distribution, which now stands at 48 per cent over the front wheels, 52 per cent over the rear.

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Shifty

The sequential gearbox has seven selectable shift modes. At its quickest setting, and no doubt most brutal too, the six-speed box can shift gears in 0.2 second.

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Bird's eye view

Call us odd, but this top-down view is actually one of the car's more appealing angles.

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Hey shorty

Standing at just 1.22m tall, the LFA is significantly wider than it is tall.

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Final thoughts

We're not entirely sold on the profusion of mesh grilles at the rear, nor the stacked exhaust pipes, but the LFA sure does look mean and aggressive. Oh, and quick too.

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