The Fall of a L(FA)egend

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Today we pay tribute to the last Lexus LFA, a Nurburgring Edition, that rolled off of the production line yesterday, the 17th of December.

The last Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition being rolled off the line Source

Beginning design for the LFA in early 2000 and kicking off production about a decade later on December 15, 2010, the LFA was only destined to be hand-built 500 times, making no more than 20 models per month and one car per day.  Given the extremity of the figures associated with this car in terms of production, it's no wonder that this was one super Toyota and not just your average Camry.

Nurburgring LFA Source

The engine was designed with a 4.8 L V10 engine to accomodate high rev speeds with a relatively small displacement for a super car and still achieve large amounts of torque thanks to ten cylinders.  In fact, the engine revved so quickly to 10,000 RPM's that an analog tachometer would not cut it.  Quite cool, indeed.

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And despite having the "roar of an angel" according to Toyota Engineers, the car sported much more than a highly advanced engine with heads designed by Yamaha (once again).

Lexus LFA Chassis Source

No, this isn't your average supercar with an all-aluminum body like the revered Honda NSX.  This is a car with a carbon-fiber chassis which not only helps to contribute to the light curb weight of 3,263 lbs and a weight-to-power ratio of 5.9 lbs/hp!

Chassis of the Nurburgring Edition LFASource

With all of that being said, it's no wonder this car was so impressive (and that's beside the production numbers).  With about 10 years of engineering put into this car and numerous concept models-- it's probably safe to say that Toyota will never design anything cooler.  Challenge accepted, Toyota?

Until next time, thanks for reading.

Torque and Horsepower: What's the Difference?

We all know that torque is what slams you into the seat and that horsepower is what carries you at 100 MPH (or at least we're told), but when it comes down to it, how many of us actually understand what torque is and what horsepower is?

Curve of Horsepower and Torque Vs. RPM Source

Think of it this way: both have definitions that can come from your physics text books that can be easily applied to your favorite automotive hobby.

A Car's Wheel on a Dynomometer Roller Source

There is a specific equation relating the two via RPM value, but more simply put, power is defined as "the rate at which energy is transferred, used, or transformed."  Basically, the more horsepower you have, the higher the rate at which you transfer rotational energy from your wheel and tire to kinetic energy, moving your car forward.

This Honda S2000 produces about 125 horsepower per liter, but very little torque in comparison-- very good for road racing in stock form but not fun for the drag strip where force is an important part in getting down the drag strip in a short amount of time.  Source

Torque, however, is defined as "the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot."  In other words, the more torque your car has, the more ability your car has to twist the wheels.  If you have a lot of torque, but little horsepower, like in a diesel car, you'll be able to turn the wheels with great force, but the rate of energy transfer from your wheels' rotational movement to your car's forward movement will not be as great.

Jetta TDi's are well known for their high mileage due to the amount of work they extract out of the fuel they run off of and they are also known to produce more torque than horsepower (nearly double for this model).  Source

I hope this helps you to familiarize yourself with the differences between horsepower and torque.  This writeup is only intended to help you acquaint yourself with the concepts rather than understand the mathematical relation.  But still, it should make you sound a little more knowledgeable if the topic ever comes up.  ;)

Until next time, Lexi.Laron signing off.