History is not aware of any world domination goals that ended well. First victim of Toyota is Toyota.

Damn, well all I can hope is that it gets back ‘on track’ soon. No pun intended.

From a corp philosophy they seem to be making major concessions in certain areas of developement to reach goal of world domination. They are seeming more and more like big dumb corp giant (A.K.A. GM), and less like the model of Japanese efficiency.
Lexus wants to build there first sports car, they start with 218 mph goal and a carbon fiber chassis. They really think they are going to produce an Enzo on first try, they are crazy. Just make a decent sports car and develop it from there. The way things going this sounds like it will be Toyotas “Phaeton”.

at least they are taking their time to get it rite. 218? why that for an internal goal? i give major props to nissan and the gt-r for a hype free car that just rips.

Toyota Enzo?
The L-division’s first dedicated model is upon us!

Looks too much like the new IS from the front and thats not good. Rear looks pretty decent

I agree with CTS. Why 218? Everyone publishes top speed figures but the cars seldom make it to those speeds in the real world. Besides, where the hell are you gonna that fast and if your name isn’t Jeff or Robby Gordon I don’t want to be sitting next to you when you do.

So instead of the car being 200k in aluminum body it will now be 300k in a carbon fiber body. Is anyone going to pay that much for a Lexus?

Oh boy, I bet the engineers that were working on the LF-A are really excited that they get to work on the new Prius Wagaon!!!

Yep. I definitely agree with CTS. Rather than top speed figures, Toyota should be focusing on building something with good acceleration and braking… and they better be damn sure that it can turn well. Japanese Supercars will never have the cachet of the European brands, but Nissan responded to that by kicking almost everyone else’s ass in overall performance… and for way less coin. Everywhere people were harping on numbers… “It should have more than 500hp to be a real supercar” or “It should be able to hit 200+”… absolute rubbish. Toyota should just build a successor to the Supra, with a healthy power increase and better handling, 218 mph be damned. That’s the only benchmark they should be aiming for IMO.

I’ll bet you that the GTR had more than a little to do with the delay for this car. I suspect that after lexus put the finishing touches on the LFA’s futuristic white leather interior and typed up a 10 page long list of all the technogadgetry this car would come with, they suddenly realized that performance-wise they were only matching or slightly bettering the GTR. In that case I think delaying the car’s release was a great choice. Debuting this car along side the $120K cheaper GTR at the TAS would have been suicide. People would have been saying “why buy a 200K lexus, when you can get the GTR for almost a third the price” Of course this is all speculation but, look at how the IS-F has turned out.

Toyota needs to pull their heads out of their own pretentious asses with this stupid hybrid Lexuses.

Hybrid Lexus cars and designed specifically for the Hollywood celebrity in mind: good for photo ops, means nothing otherwise.

A hybrid super car makes about as much sense as a screen door on a submarine. What I find interesting is that Toyota is able to market such a thing with a straight face. “And for the guilt ridden egoist who wants to make a real eco-statement…” We are on the cusp of moving back to the stone age of car design.

Toyota should just settle with 217 and 1/2 and then maybe round up. And I’d be pissed off at my Toyota overlords if I was working on the kick ass LF-A and then was demoted to working on a Prius wagon or some crummy Daihatsu. Way to boost morale, Toyota.

Unlike the US and European giants, Toyota is building a lot of cars and still making money. If they fancy a little vanity project, why shouldn’t they have a go, and since it is a vanity project of course they will take time to get it right.
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I doubt the board give two ****s whether this car ever earns them a penny.

218 mph is a nice round number (well, at least in km/h it is), so why not. I agree that top end numbers have little relevance even to those few who live next door to a race track or autobahn. We enthusiasts are more concerned with real world boasting–0-to-60, quarter mile, braking, etc. But a 200+ car is just as much of a bragging right to those who can afford one as anything else.

I think the set backs are due to Toyota’s quest for domination, and Toyota’s realizing that it might have to slow down in some areas. And I too believe that a Supra successor would be better than a Lexus supercar.

Just FYI, topspeeding is quite a popular passtime in Europe and not alone on the unrestricted German autobahn.

======>>well dang it, just make A SUCCESSOR TO THE SUPRA already!! not a successor to the enzo….

Hey Ken. You own an SRT-4. I own a ‘95 DOHC Neon Coupe. So really, how bad would you kick my ass- around corners? I already know the answer to the other question.