The last time we talked about the price of the Lexus LF-A, we had only the car's price in China and a whole lot of speculation to go on. The car's retail in China was set at $264,700, and based on that a Lexus fan site did it's best guestimation to arrive at a US price of approximately $130,000. Say it with us now: oh boy, was that wrong.
Lexus has said the first number of the car's price will be a "2," and Inside Line has word that the car might run $225,000. That is more than either a Gallardo or an F430 Spider, including European delivery and two weeks of vacation in Via Reggio. The LF-A convertible will cost even more.
Inside Line says "Lexus is gunning for the Italians." With that kind of price, we actually believe Lexus is sidestepping the Italians and has simply declared, "Your comparisons are futile, this is the best. If you want it, this is the price." It's almost as audacious as the Babe's called shot. And we respect audacity. But we respect performance even more, so we'll be watching closely to see what kind of chops the race version of the LF-A showcases at the 'Ring.
We were left hanging yesterday with a ton of pictures of Lexus' brand new LF-A Roadster Concept, but no information to go along with them. Now Lexus has filled us in by releasing information and rather vague specifications on the car, although it's nothing we wouldn't have guessed. The LF-A Roadster is essentially based on its coupe brother that first made its debut back in 2005 in Detroit. A revised version was also shown in Detroit last year. Power comes from a V10 under 5.0 liters with something north of 500 horsepower, and shifting is done via a sequential transmission with paddle shifters. A significant change to the Roadster version, besides not having a fixed roof, is the retractable rear wing that adjusts according to the vehicle's speed.
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Motive dropped Lexus' bomb on the unsuspecting masses a few minutes ago, showing the roadster version of the LF-A premium sports car concept. The high-po roadster is made up of carbon fiber and aluminum, supposedly maintaining a high amount of structural rigidity even without its roof.
Pulling both design and (assumed) engineering from the LF-A coupe, the roadster will be packing approximately 5.0-liters in its front-mounted V10, sending over 500 hp down to a transmission fitted between towards the back for optimal weight balance.
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