It's been less than a year since Lexus introduced the LFA Concept car. It looked striking but lacked the V10 soundtrack that made the original so visceral. It has batteries instead, which will carry over to the production version currently in development, with new spy photos showing the progress.
The images, from the mr.grey_4k Instagram account, show the sleek sports car wearing a tight-fitting camouflage wrap. The LFA uses the same chassis as the Toyota GR GT and GT3 race car, minus the twin-turbocharged hybrid V8.
The car looks low and long, with the rear wing deployed. While Lexus has been tight-lipped about the car’s technical specs, we know the concept measures about 10.0 inches longer and 6.0 inches wider than the original production model: 185.6 inches long, 80.3 inches wide, and 47.0 inches high.
The new Lexus LFA might be battery-electric, but you won’t know it behind the wheel. Lexus plans to simulate a gas engine, and a recent patent filing suggests the automaker may even consider a fake sequential gearbox.
According to the filing, the fake transmission would drop motor torque to zero and then restore it, imitating the snap of a re-engaging clutch under load. Lexus would control the function through software, similar to Hyundai's setup in the Ioniq 5 N.
Drivers could even select the aggressiveness of each shift, and the LFA feels like a perfect fit for the technology. The LFA concept featured paddle shifters and a manual mode.
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