FinalGear.com Forums - Magazine Reviews http://forums.finalgear.com/ Find a good review on a new car online? Post a link here. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:30:25 GMT vBulletin 1 http://static.finalgear.com/forum/vbimages/blaze/misc/rss.jpg FinalGear.com Forums - Magazine Reviews http://forums.finalgear.com/ Evo Magazine - 997.2 Porsche GT3 RS (C. Harris is back!) http://forums.finalgear.com/magazine-reviews/evo-magazine-997-2-porsche-gt3-rs-c-harris-is-back-39934/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:36:52 GMT Image: http://www.evo.co.uk/images/front_picture_library_UK/dir_674/car_photo_337252_25.jpg Image:... http://www.evo.co.uk/images/front_picture_library_UK/dir_674/car_photo_337252_25.jpg

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Detail is everything on the new, second-generation 997 GT3 RS. We’re heading up into the Swabian Alps in two RSs – one cosmetically perfect but mechanically non-representative, the other offering the reverse specification: a perfect set of mechanicals and a delicious patina of age that only a seriously abused test-car can possess.

You’d be right in thinking there are worse ways to spend a Tuesday afternoon. We – that’s Andreas Preuninger, project chief of all things GT3, and development engineer Jörg Juenger – pause in a lay-by to take some pictures and chat.

‘This car is a much bigger step over the base GT3 than the last RS was,’ says Preuninger, only just resisting the urge to stroke his latest creation. You don’t interview Andreas in the conventional sense, you just plonk him in front of his work and through a combination of dictaphone and notebook attempt to bottle some of his matchless enthusiasm.

The detail is, I have to say, exquisite. The front track is now 22mm wider thanks to a half-inch wider front wheel rim and new offset. The tyre is now of 245 section, and to cover the protruding rubber a plastic wheelarch extension has been added. What caught my eye was the side indicator repeater (sad, I know) which has been redesigned to fit the new shape.

I ask Preuninger ‘How much did that cost?’ His wincing, partially grinning reply ‘A few hundred thousand euros.’

It’s about the least sexy detail imaginable, but it demonstrates the level of design and financial commitment needed to produce cars of this type that meet modern legislation targets. Given the projected volumes, I still think it’s amazing that the RS doesn’t cost £250,000 instead of the £100,760 Porsche is asking.

Moving back over the bodywork, Preuninger describes the new, wider rear arches from the Carrera 4, then settles on a rear wheel: ‘The tyres are now the same width as the GT2, a 325 section. The wheel rim is the same width as before but the offset is different, so you can’t swap them with the regular GT3 wheels.’ Naturally, the centre-locking hubs remain.

This being an RS, it’s littered with weight-saving details, and that doesn’t include the fabric door-pulls, which are an appealing gimmick but nothing more. First up, the mandatory Perspex rear screen makes another appearance. A single-mass flywheel shaves 8kg from the powertrain mass (it’s 1kg lighter than that of the old RS) and there is now the grand total of zero sound-deadening, the practical side-effects of which we will discuss in a moment.

The single largest weight-saving measure is actually an optional extra – a new battery. Using Lithium-Ion technology from consumer electronics, Porsche has saved 11kg over the standard battery. It’ll be a costly extra, well over £1000, which sounds like madness, but think how much carbon you’d need to chuck at this thing to make an equivalent saving and suddenly a four-figure battery begins to make sense.

All-up, the car is only marginally lighter than a stock GT3 because the new front tyres are heavier and the RS comes with a rear cage as standard. Still, for something that casts quite a big shadow on the road and packs a 3.8-litre motor, 1370kg with fluids is a fine achievement.

Internally, the engine is identical to the regular GT3’s, but a new intake system with shorter runners, a larger plenum and one hilarious gaping-mouth of an entrance below the rear wing are said to produce a ram-air effect that helps release an extra 15bhp, lifting peak power to 444bhp.

‘We’ve gone very aggressive on the ignition timing,’ says Preuninger, ‘and with the better intake we have had to fit a revised, titanium exhaust. With the Sport button engaged and the valves open, it’s now louder than the Cup car.’

Hardly music to the ears of UK trackday goers, but Porsche acknowledges this specific problem and is working on a solution. More on that when we hear it.

I’m not especially keen on the whole passenger-ride thing, but in something like this it’s still a pretty worthwhile exercise. After all, you’re never going to use all of the performance on the public road and, more specifically, even driving it, you’re never going to answer the most important question that will be posed by potential buyers, namely: is it worth chopping my current 997 RS in for the new one?

To do that we need to explore the new mechanical grip package alongside the new aero package (170kg of rear downforce at 300kph and a vast new front splitter) and match it against the increased power that should be made even more effective through some shorter gear ratios. And that arduous task can only be undertaken at a race track, preferably the Nordschleife, with a truck full of fresh tyres (if you’re listening, Mr Porsche).

The folding carbon buckets that are an option on the base GT3 are standard fare on the RS, but the fixed-back items that weigh just 10kg including the runners are an option. They provide a better, lower driving position and are fitted to the worthy old test car.

Cabin-wise, it’s business as usual, with a few tweaks. I’m undecided on the fabric door-pulls: they’re cool but a touch disingenuous. The cupholder has been binned for a strip of carbon and the standard dash is plain plastic.
Sound dominates the on-road experience from the passenger seat. The motor fires with a thrrrrump but is almost immediately overawed by the rattle-clatter of the single-mass flywheel. Pulling away, everything is noisier: tyres, intake, exhaust – you name it, it’s louder. But not unruly. And you notice the new gear ratios, especially second and third, the way you used to in a 205 GTI through that wonderful telltale of reduced intermediate gearing – the engine note doesn’t subside quite as much as you’d expect after each upshift.

Preuninger gives it plenty on these generous, empty roads, and sure enough it feels insanely fast from the shotgun side, but how much faster than the cooking GT3 I’d be hard-pressed to say. Tellingly, and refreshingly, he doesn’t care about straight performance claims; he just knows that the RS package is far superior on-track, which is where the majority will be used. They’re expecting something like a 5sec advantage at the Ring.

What I can say for sure is that the car is still very much every-day useable. The wider rubber hasn’t brought crazy tramlining, and you can even have it with the optional sat-nav and full hi-fi.

So the differences – and much of the joy – are in the detail, but the collective effect is substantial. Now we just want to drive the damn thing.
http://www.evo.co.uk/news/evonews/24...he_gt3_rs.html

Chris Harris doing freelance for Evo. :) ]]> Magazine Reviews ahpadt http://forums.finalgear.com/magazine-reviews/evo-magazine-997-2-porsche-gt3-rs-c-harris-is-back-39934/ No 56k: 2011 Lexus LFA http://forums.finalgear.com/magazine-reviews/2011-lexus-lfa-39921/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:28:22 GMT Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/26/2011-lexus-lfa-first-drive/) Full Photo Gallery... Autoblog
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It's taken nearly four days to wrap my head around the 2011 Lexus LFA, and if I'm honest, I'm still not halfway there. The combination of a decade-long gestation, a half dozen prototypes comprised of two different materials, a high displacement V10 that cuts fuel at 9,500 RPM and a $375,000 price tag has left me incapacitated and trembling in a caffeine and nicotine-fueled fetal position for the better part of a week. I can't make heads nor tails of Lexus' first foray into supercardom, simply because nothing exists in the four-wheeled world to put it into perspective. Judging by your comments, I'm not alone.

It's a front-engine GT, but its MSRP means it doesn't compete with the Ferrari 599. It's a technological tour de force nearly on par with the Bugatti Veyron, but its 202 MPH top speed doesn't come close to the V-max of Ferdinand Piech's quad-turbo masterpiece. It's lithe and nimble, but lacks the directness and tactility of the Lotus Elise. Its 3.7-second zero-to-60 time falls short of the GT-R, and it can't come close to the Nissan's point-to-point brutality. There's simply no frame of reference to apply, which begs the question: Why? Why has Lexus invested hundreds of million of dollars, ran a dozen races and developed nearly every single component in-house to build a scant 500 LFAs and offer them to the world's elite?

It's a mystery wrapped in an enigma coated in carbon fiber. And there's obviously more to this story than simply driving impressions and photos. So after last week's barrage of LFA news, it's time to take a step back... then get stuck right back in.

The general consensus is that Toyota built the LFA simply because it could. That's just a poor excuse to prevent your head from exploding. The LFA represents more than just a V10-powered, carbon fiber plaything; the investment in development, technology and manufacturing appears to be a cornerstone of ToMoCo's future products and Toyota President Akio Toyoda's vision for the automaker. But let's put the bird's eye view aside for the moment and revel in the details, beginning with the styling.

Compared to the concept that rolled out at the 2005 Detroit Auto Show, the production LFA bears more resemblance to Toyota's follow-up in 2007. The flat, pointed exterior has evolved into a scooped and ducted coupe that's far and away the best application of Lexus' L-finesse design language to date. But as everyone is quick to point out, the LFA is unabashedly Japanese. And that's only the half of it. Literally.

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Up front, it's a semi-convoluted mess of angles and creases typified by the overwrought headlamps that look more like an afterthought than a cohesive design element. But get aft of the A-pillar, and it's marvelous. Swoops, intakes, smooth, organic surfaces matched with raw, industrial (and functional) components. The LFA has presence, though it's decidedly low-key when compared to other exotica – something that could be a boon or a curse for appearance conscious consumers.

Even if you can't get past the fascia, know that everything is there for a purpose. And that purpose is performance. The gap ahead of the hood feeds air to the engine. The intakes below the doors cool the brakes and supply air to the rear-mounted radiators. The sizable side mirrors and quaint set of spoilers hovering over the LED tail lamps are pure, wind tunnel and track-tested perfection. The two small slits housed within the black vents out back provide an exit for air that's been scooped up from an underbody tray to cool the titanium exhaust. And the dual ducts in the hood are mated to a chimney that shuttles the toasty atmosphere away from the titanium exhaust manifold. It's all ruthlessly exacting and terrifically efficient – exactly what you'd expect from an automaker whose recent reputation is built on perfection over passion. But that's not an insult, it's a necessary – maybe even complimentary – explanation when you scratch past the 28 available exterior colors.

Here's an example: Unbeknownst to us, Toyota has 150 years of textile manufacturing experience. Why bring it up? That gracefully arching A-pillar is the product of one of two rotary looms in the world (we're working on snagging video from Lexus PR) masterfully weaving individual strands of carbon fiber into the desired shape. And that's just the A-pillar. Every single carbon fiber component was developed and manufactured by Toyota – from the tub to the body panels – including the blast fiber reinforced sheet panels (think Chevrolet Corvette or Saturn) for the front and rear fenders, doors, roof rails and rocker panels. Parking lot dings are a simple (if expensive) swap away.

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This holistic approach to development is one of the reasons it took so damn long for the LFA to come to market. Midway through its incubation, Toyota realized it couldn't meet the rigidity, weight and sound targets with an aluminum structure, so they went back to the drawing board and decided to replace it all with carbon fiber. The result: the 3,263-pound LFA is 65 percent composite and 35 percent aluminum – not single a piece of steel to be found.

And no, there won't be a convertible version.

That's a pity when you hear the 72-degree 4.8-liter V10 blasting past its 9,000 RPM redline. As evident in the video last week, the engine's exhaust note is muted and a bit of bore inside the cabin. But outside, running down the front straight of the Miami-Homestead Speedway, it sounds like an industrial hairdryer mic'd through a bullhorn. The aural cacophony and prodigious output of the 1LR-GUE V10 is partially thanks to Yamaha, which helped develop the engine for Toyota. But the collaboration didn't just net 552 horsepower at 8,700 RPM and 354 pound-feet of torque at 6,800 RPM. Yamaha tapped its musical department to tune the intake and exhaust tracts, resulting in a decidedly un-V10 soundtrack. It's not quite an F1 blare, but it's not far off, and below 3,000 RPM, there's no hint of the potential underneath and none of the unbalanced rattling found in truck engines modified for track duty.

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Three air-cooled heat exchangers and a 10-liter remote oil reservoir handle both cooling and lubrication duties for the dry-sump V10, which is shorter and narrower than Toyota's own 3.5-liter V6. With weight distribution of paramount importance, the engine sits behind the strut towers and rests so deep that the valve covers actually sit below the tops of the tires. Because of its low placement and the rear-mounted six-speed sequential gearbox, Toyota developed an offset gear mounted to the crank that sends power to the transmission through a torque tube – a world's first. All of this results in a 48/52 front-to-rear weight distribution and a center of gravity that sits just behind the steering wheel. You're practically sitting on top of it, so the LFA pivots around your hips rather than being anchored up front – nearly negating the mid-engine argument.

Nestled into the stylish yet supremely comfortable seats, Toyota's attention to detail continued to assault every fiber of my being. I can't remember the last time I was excited about seat controls (never?), but the milled aluminum switchgear next to one's left leg is modern automotive art. Even the seatbelt causes pause: its thick, textured outer coating stretched across the chest, simultaneously securing and satisfying. I've never experienced that before, and probably never will again.

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With the wheel-mounted Engine Start button depressed, the TFT screen lights up in Auto mode with the central-mounted aluminum bezel surrounding the tach and a digital speedometer – it's all digital and all configurable. Press the D-pad on the left of the steering wheel and the trip computer, engine vitals and lap timer pushes the tachometer to the right. Toggle the switch again and the display smoothly retracts back to the center. Three knobs to the left of the instrument cluster allow you to change transmission, engine and traction control settings, with the top knob allowing the selection of Auto, Sport, Normal or Wet driving modes. Twisting it down to Sport, all 552 horses are at my disposal, the gearshifts drop to two-tenths of a second and the tach's background switches to white, drops the 1,000 RPM mark and moves the redline up to the two-o'clock position for optimal viewing.

Finally, it's time to drive.

I leisurely run through first, second and third gears before making the slow left turn to enter the track. Gear changes are polished, but slightly abrupt, and only slightly smoother in automatic mode. Although two-tenths is properly quick, the latest 'boxes from Italy and Germany could put the LFA to shame in execution, but not refinement considering Toyota's decision to stay sequential.

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I take the first lap around Homestead's infield (sadly, no banked runs for us – the LFAs on hand are the only two production prototypes in existence), to get the feel for the layout, but by the time I make it back to the front straight – tires warmed, carbon ceramic discs begging to be brutalized – my confidence grows in proportion to how quickly the ten individual throttle butterflies shuttle air into the compact V10.

By the time I brake for the first sweeping left-hander, I've crested the 130 MPH mark, the front 15.35-inch and 14.17-inch rear drilled discs clamped by six-piston (front) and four-piston (rear) calipers. Body roll? You'd have a better chance finding a show tunes CD in a Texas locker room. There's absolutely no dive, twist or squat transitioning from the stoppers to the steering to the throttle before downshifting from fourth to third with the left paddle

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I clip the first apex on the left, dab the brakes for the late apex on the right and realize there's no reason to slow down or load up the height adjustable front coilovers. The front double A-arm and multi-link rear suspension is perfectly taut and supremely composed as I lay into the throttle down the infield straight. The tach effortlessly flies to the right, glows green for a moment at 8,500 RPM, then red at 9k joined by an infernal beep when I select third and, a sneeze later, fourth. Heavy braking into another late right-hander, snatch third before going into a long right-hand bend and then right back up through fourth. The whole experience is so undramatic that it's unnerving. And not particularly thrilling either.

Generally, when I come off of a new track after a few hot laps in anything – Versa or Veyron – my hands are a bit shaky and my legs a little on the wobbly side. With the LFA, it feels like I just re-robed after a Swedish massage. That's just not right, so after an internal download session, I head back for another three laps.

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This time out, I've got a flow, a feel for the track and its transitions. On the three sections where the road course meets the oval, the surface changes slightly, providing the perfect opportunity for a few ill-advised – but controlled – hamfisted maneuvers. Coming onto and off the back straight, where a 100+ MPH run is easily attainable, these abrupt transitions simply can't rattle the LFA no matter the steering, throttle or brake inputs. With four strategically placed mounts holding the engine and transmission to the carbon fiber monocoque, the four 20-inch wheels (each wrapped in an all-new Bridgestone Potenza pattern that Lexus isn't at liberty to talk about) remain in constant contact with the tarmac, no matter what idiotic maneuver I pull off. I deliberately nail the sexy machined brake pedal mid-corner and the LFA readjusts its attitude and carries forth. The power-assisted steering may not be the most communicative, but it's perfectly precise and deadly accurate. When I stab the throttle with around 30 degrees of lock dialed in, the Sport mode's traction control setting – which modulates the rear brakes and doesn't disrupt power delivery (the opposite of Normal mode) – and the Torsen limited-slip differential allows the rear end to gently track out, while all I've done is keep the throttle planted and taken a few degrees out of the steering. It's otherworldly and simply effortless to drive quickly.

Right. But is it fun?

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It is, but in a leather-ensconced, grand-tourer from the fourth dimension way. Unfortunately, we never had the opportunity to take the LFA onto public roads, so its daily livability (that suspension is plenty stiff) and horizon-come-forth abilities haven't been fully exploited, let alone assessed. But it's got the potential to be many things – track toy and ultra-GT – to 500 (stupendously wealthy) people. But the overarching question about why Toyota's created the LFA still remains unanswered.

Sure, it's a halo car in the purest sense. With only 20 LFAs being built between December of 2010 and the end of 2011, a $375,000 MSRP and 30 billion ways for well-to-do owners to screw it up configure the interior and exterior, seeing one on the road is going to be all-too-rare. But a halo vehicle is supposed to bring people into dealerships, and we somehow doubt consumers are going to ogle an LFA then turn around and buy an IS 250. So there's got to be something more...

Let's go back to the bird's eye view. Toyota opted for a carbon fiber structure as opposed to aluminum, and while we almost/sorta/kinda buy the line about the previous prototypes not meeting specific targets, it would've been far less expensive to manufacture the LFA out of metal rather than the exotic and expensive weave. By doing everything in-house, Toyota's learned plenty about the mass production of carbon fiber and, possibly, how to bring costs down to a more manageable level – maybe even less than aluminum.

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The age of automotive lightness is nearly upon us, and unconventional wisdom says that the automaker who brings composite production costs out of the stratosphere is going to have a huge advantage going forward. The LFA is a test bed for that development – the first massive leap for the world's largest automaker.

While weight reduction is something all enthusiasts are clamoring for, Toyota's first application is the hyper-expensive LFA. Far, far below that is the FT-86 Concept, which Toyota asserts is the model for lightweight sports coupes going forward. So they've got the LFA at the top and the FT-86 at the bottom... what's in between?

We don't know, but we wouldn't be surprised if Toyota unveils something in the next few years that takes the lessons learned from the LFA and distills them into a lightweight, sub-$100k package. That model – if not that specific vehicle – seems to be the direction President Akio Toyoda is aiming for... and until then, the LFA is here: A harbinger of the future and proof that immensely entertaining things are on the way from Toyota. Finally.
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