Yahoo Autos New, 800HP Lexus LFA Will Debut at 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, Says Wildly Unsubstantiated Rumor
First things first. Officially, Lexus has no intention of building another LFA in the near term. The automaker's European boss even said those exact words back in February of this year.
But man oh man, do we want another LFA.
Mainly because the original was so goddamn fantastic. When we fisrt drove the LFA in 2010 (shown above), we absolutely fell in love with its shrieking, naturally-aspirated, 560-horsepower 4.8-liter V10, calling its sound "like a sport bike ridden wide-open in a concrete parking garage." Here, just listen for yourself. You can see why they sold out mere months after they were first announced in 2010, even though it took until December of 2012 for Lexus to build the 500th and final example.
All of that is to say: If this rumor that Lexus will debut a second-generation LFA at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show ends up to be true, we will be mightily pleased.
We're not confident enough to call this a sure thing-the rumor appears on the Japanese website Response, along with a speculative rendering penned byJapanese art house Fogilo Design. According to the ever-clunky Google translation, Response hears from an unnamed European source that the next-gen LFA will have a 3.7-liter V8 and enough hybrid muscle to add up to 800 horsepower-a 240-horse bump over the first generation, despite the loss of two cylinders and 1100 cc of displacement.
Response's rendering, which you can see here, hints at styling that would echo the first-gen LFA's body-side air intakes and general profile, but with four-point LED headlights and boomerang DRLs as seen on the production 2017 Lexus LC 500.
So, basically, this rumor is based on nothing. A lot-a whole lot-can happen between now and the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, and even if Lexus has decided to debut a new LFA there, circumstances between now and then could make the automaker change its mind.
But we hope it's real. Because we'd love another LFA.
