I dare an owner to stick a big decal on the hood of an Italian chef kissing his pinched fingers, because in white this thing is starting to remind me of an ultra-futuristic pizza box.
There's an incredibly boring and arcane legal argument about how to characterize "leases" like these. I'll skip the details, but the relevant questions are:
1) Whether Lexus can make the "lease" nontransferrable (to achieve the anti-speculative effect); and
2) What happens when a bankruptcy court (or other forum) has to rule on what the "lessee" actually owns.
I'm sure Lexus has great lawyers who already thought of these issues, but I question whether this is a workable arrangement and whether it will have the desired effect.
@VeeArrrSix: Ha! I thought "jeez, this guy has big bucks....what's he doing here?" That swished right over my head.....I need some coffee or sumpthin. ;)
I am sitting here in my room, alone, at 11:17pm on a Sunday night, after having had a few drinks, and I just had a religious experience listening to that noise.
I don't know if the engineers intended it (but I'm fairly sure they did because it's freakin' Yamaha), but the noise it makes right at the red line on full throttle, right before you shift - I cannot get enough of it. Heavenly.
Ehhh.. can't say I'm a huge fan... When it was started up it still sounded like a whinny ricer engine and even though it sounded good at higher revs it still had that weird piercing aspect to it
@ab3: I'm mostly into ~2L imports already, but I agree about the piercing sound - that thing makes a sportbike sound like a muscle car. The recording at least had no bass at all, which is like the polar opposite of what I think makes a good sounding exhaust - I like the smooth lower tones you can feel reverberate in your head a bit...
I think you could definitely design an engine for a certain sound and make it work, and I like a high-revving engine, but I found the clip pretty unappealing.
@Kyle Lackey: It sounds like an impressive high performance engine, but very harsh on the ears and almost shrill. I think it would get really annoying in very short order unless it sounds way different in real life.
So I won't imply, I'll state that the GC sounds better because it actually makes a sound that's pleasant to hear. The LFA sounds like a fast car, it just doesn't sound good. I suspect the recording was taken from a strange spot and that it's missing a whole range of frequencies because it's rare for any car to sound so hollow.
Some of you toffs place too much on the brand. Just because it says Lexus and not Maseratti does not mean that this should be under valued. Desire should come straight from the engineering. Its a car not a painting. You want the love of it to come from the drive, not from name dropping in social circles.
I think of it like this. I buy Ansell condoms. Not because the name sounds sexy and inspiring or desirable, but because i trust their engineering. I do not desire to simply own them for the name sake, but i do desire to use them.
Take off the badges (get naked) and drive till your hearts content.
I think I've figured out what it is about the LFA. Absolutely every part of it is as close to perfection as Toyota could make. There isn't a single piece designed to a price, and absolutely every bit is designed to be the very best at what it does. Its an amazing level of attention to detail, and its an amazing feat to have essentially a perfect car.
At the same time, we expect little oddities in vehicles. We want to find something wrong, because flaws make it easier to anthropomorphize a car. We want to feel like the cars we drive, the cars we lust after, are more human. We want them to have things like 'soul' or 'passion'.
This car, for all its perfection, has nothing we can identify with. There aren't any tricks to driving it, it doesn't have a single button somewhere other than where you would expect it. This is the essence of a perfect car, and because of that we cannot love it. There's nothing to learn, there are no tricks to it, it just feels cold and calculating and very, very fast.
So, Toyota, if you're listening: We know you can build the perfect car. You've shown us that, and we respect it. We just can't love it.
Wait a minute, didn't you guys just make fun of the Mustang for basically piping extra intake noise into the cabin in the "most redundant automotive features" article? Isn't this pretty much the same thing? Just sayin...
The more I know about this car, the less outrageous its price tag becomes. Still not the prettiest or the fastest or the most luxurious or the most desirable, its little foibles (all in a good way) and that sound (THAT SOUND!!!) is starting to win me over.
11/24/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
Maybe I need lunch.
11/23/09
1) Whether Lexus can make the "lease" nontransferrable (to achieve the anti-speculative effect); and
2) What happens when a bankruptcy court (or other forum) has to rule on what the "lessee" actually owns.
I'm sure Lexus has great lawyers who already thought of these issues, but I question whether this is a workable arrangement and whether it will have the desired effect.
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
No thanks.
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
I wish! One VeeDub, one Olds in mine.
Thats the Jalop meme garage.
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
Rightly or wrongly, I'm going to go ahead and file that away as a good thing.
11/23/09
They still control the ultimate destiny of the car.
11/22/09
I don't know if the engineers intended it (but I'm fairly sure they did because it's freakin' Yamaha), but the noise it makes right at the red line on full throttle, right before you shift - I cannot get enough of it. Heavenly.
A choir of angels couldn't top that.
11/22/09
11/22/09
I think you could definitely design an engine for a certain sound and make it work, and I like a high-revving engine, but I found the clip pretty unappealing.
11/22/09
Please throw away your copies of the Fast and Furious series at once.
11/22/09
So I won't imply, I'll state that the GC sounds better because it actually makes a sound that's pleasant to hear. The LFA sounds like a fast car, it just doesn't sound good. I suspect the recording was taken from a strange spot and that it's missing a whole range of frequencies because it's rare for any car to sound so hollow.
11/20/09
11/20/09
Some of you toffs place too much on the brand. Just because it says Lexus and not Maseratti does not mean that this should be under valued. Desire should come straight from the engineering. Its a car not a painting. You want the love of it to come from the drive, not from name dropping in social circles.
I think of it like this. I buy Ansell condoms. Not because the name sounds sexy and inspiring or desirable, but because i trust their engineering. I do not desire to simply own them for the name sake, but i do desire to use them.
Take off the badges (get naked) and drive till your hearts content.
11/20/09
At the same time, we expect little oddities in vehicles. We want to find something wrong, because flaws make it easier to anthropomorphize a car. We want to feel like the cars we drive, the cars we lust after, are more human. We want them to have things like 'soul' or 'passion'.
This car, for all its perfection, has nothing we can identify with. There aren't any tricks to driving it, it doesn't have a single button somewhere other than where you would expect it. This is the essence of a perfect car, and because of that we cannot love it. There's nothing to learn, there are no tricks to it, it just feels cold and calculating and very, very fast.
So, Toyota, if you're listening: We know you can build the perfect car. You've shown us that, and we respect it. We just can't love it.
11/20/09
11/21/09
11/20/09
Now, I just need to find that money somewhere.