He Lexus LFA takes on the LC500 in a battery of performance tests.
Lexus isn’t a brand we normally associate with performance nowadays, but at one point the Toyota luxury brand was serious about making cars that were as fast as they looked.
The LFA was made from 2010 to 2012 as the very best of what Lexus could produce. Powered by a 4.8-L V10 engine, it sounded exactly like a Lamborghini and produced similar power numbers: 552 hp and 354 lb-ft of torque. Zero to sixty was done in just 3.6 seconds on its way to a top speed of 203 mph.
It also cost Lamborghini prices too. When the LFA hit dealers it was a $375,000 car, and that price has only gone up since then.
After the LFA, Lexus turned away from extreme performance and opted more toward comfort, luxury, and technology. The LC500 has a 5.0-L V8, but only produces 471 hp and 398 lb-ft of torque. Zero to sixty is in the high 4-second range with a top speed limited to 168 mph.
The LC500 also has a 10-speed automatic transmission as opposed to the LFA’s 6-speed single-clutch. It also costs a third as much at $96,500, while weighing over 800 lbs more.
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So why not drag race them and see who wins?
As expected, the LFA takes home the checkered flag, finishing the quarter-mile drag race in 12.5 seconds to the LC500’s 13.9. It was a wet track, so both those numbers would likely be higher if the pavement was dry.
Things are much the same on the rolling race, but on the emergency brake test the LC500 seems to perform nearly as well as the LFA despite having steel rotors. So at least the LC500 can stop almost as well as the LFA despite the enormous weight handicap.
Lexus also offers a hybrid version of the LC500, called the LC500h, that has a 3.5-liter V6 hooked up to twin electric motors. Power is down to 361 horses, though, so we don’t expect that to perform any better than the regular LC500 in any of these tests.