The highlight of the recently concluded Tokyo Motor Show was undoubtedly the Lexus LFA. The long-awaited, forever ‘in the making’, $375,000 (that’s a whopping 1.8 crores plus the 110% tax if an Indian ever manages to be get his hands on of the 500 examples being produced!) supercar that has left auto-philes around the world in a quandary.

Let me explain, the mighty LFA with its stunning looks is not the fastest car around (head over to Bugatti for that!), it’s not got the pedigree of a Ferrari 599, it’s not the mid-engined, coolness personified Audi R8 nor is it a budget rocket ship like Nissan GTR. Its performance figures also leave a lot to be desired, and don’t get me wrong, a 0-60 MPH time of 3.7 seconds, a 550 HP V10 engine and a top speed of 202 MPH is nothing to be sneezed at. But for its price, one can lay their hands on cars that do a lot more. It is positioned as a sports car, so branding it as an ultra-fast grand tourer also doesn’t work. To sum it up, a Ferrari 599 has more prestige, the Lamborghini Murcielago is more nuts, an Audi R8 is cooler and a Nissan GTR is way cheaper and all these cars are as good as, if not better than the LFA. All this begs the question, why would anyone go out and buy the LFA and an even bigger one, why did Toyota invest so much time and money in it?

The key to this answer is Akio Toyoda, the great grandson of the founder of Toyota. The prodigal son stepped in to replace Katsuaki Watanabe as CEO and it seems the LFA has been his baby for quite some time. Akio Toyoda wants Toyota to shed its image of boring family sedans and inject some excitement into the line-up. The first step in this direction is the LFA. During its development, Toyota has grappled with and learned a lot about ultra light-weight cars. The LFA is made almost entirely out of carbon fiber, it is this technology that will benefit Toyota the most in the years to come. Unlike other car makers who outsource stuff like making the carbon fiber weave, Toyota has made it a point to develop its own capabilities in all the areas of the manufacturing of this car. That’s right!, all the technology that went into making the LFA were all in-house and the huge investment that went into the LFA is being viewed as investing in the future. Toyota can afford to incur a loss of few hundred million now (oh yeah, each LFA sold will be a loss for the company much like the Bugatti Veyron!), so as to develop method to make the processes much cheaper in the years to come.

There it is, the answer to all the questions about the LFA, it is essentially an experiment Toyota undertook to arm itself with the expertise required to make faster and hopefully cheaper cars in the future. It will be easy to write off the LFA as merely an attempt to woo younger buyers to the Toyota/Lexus family, an attempt to draw people into the dealerships. But it promises to be much much more. The technology will trickle down to cars like the FT-86, and exciting times are ahead for Toyota!

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The motor show at the Asian Auto capital Tokyo Kicked off today in grand fashion and the first car we are taking about can pretty much be called “the next big thing” in supercar world. This car has been praised by some of the well known petro heads as the best car they have ever driven.

Only 500 pieces will be made and each will cost US $375,000. That makes the LFA exclusive and expensive. But Lexus say they are making a loss with every LFA sold, like the Veyron both are more worthy than what you pay for. The car looks absolutely cracking with the curvey sharpness of a samurai sword, the design as Japanese as Sushi.

The spec of the car is pretty impressive with 4.8L V10 which puts out 552 bhp with a torque of 354 lb-ft. the car hits 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds and it breaks the 200mph barrier with a top speed of 202mph. but the specs are not as impressive as the sound it creates. Check it out in the video.

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Click through for more photos of the LFA

The U.S National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a safely alert for all Toyota and Lexus owners requiring them to remove the floor mat off the driver’s portion. There have been cases of the throttle pedal getting jammed in open position due to the floor mat. This is caused because of low clearance between the floor and the pedal and also because of the floor mat design. This problem is specific to Toyota and Lexus cars because of their unique flood design.

The cars that have been identified to have this problem are:

• 2007-2010 Camry
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• 2004-2009 Prius
• 2005-2010 Tacoma
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2007-2010 ES 350
• 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS350

If you ever find you self in this position Toyota would want you to do this: Brake hard with both feet, apply clutch (in case of manual transmission), and shift to neutral (in both manual and & automatic). If you have key less entry, push and hold the start/stop button for 3 seconds to turn off the engine. If it’s a conventional key-ignition turn the key to the ACC position, do not remove the key at any time since it will lock the steering wheel. To know about various Key positions click here.

Toyota recommend that you remove the floor mat,but if you choose not to , Toyota recommends that you ensure that a proper floor mat is used and installed properly. Toyota gives more information on this in its webpage www.toyota.com.