2016 Tokyo Auto Salon: The Lexus LFA V8 Drift Car - Insanity on Wheels!

"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy) 01/16/2016 at 08:00 • Filed to: None

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The Tokyo Auto Salon is already a bit crazy: Tuners and custom builders coming from all around Japan, gathering to show off their latest creations. And this crazyness doesn’t even take into account the folks at D1-GP who organized a drifting exhibition on a parking lot nearby. A Lexus LFA drift-car was there too...

You might recall Raphael Orlove !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! last !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! with !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! articles. Well, I got to see it in person!!!! Drifting in the heart of Chiba, near Tokyo. How freaking cool is that huh??

I have to admit that, despite sometimes enjoying putting my cars a bit sideways on deserted japanese mountain roads myself, I never really followed D1 drifting competitions. It looked cool, but a bit repetitive.

That was until I saw the thing in person... With a press pass, allowed to be litteraly 2 feet away from the cars passing by, screaming and throwing rubber all over myself and inside my, now almost stucked, zoom lens! The sheer amount of awesomeness of these cars is incredible!

But among all those cars, the LFA, driven by Youichi Imamura, was Queen. The torque that the Nascar engine produces is uncomparable with the other competitors... It was simply way over the rest!

Anyway, enough writing. Here is a quick video of the event (I only had a Gopro and my DSLR camera... No steadycam, microphone or anything which could have been useful. Please don’t expect much on that one...) along with a whole lot of pictures!

Enjoy!

For those interested, the camera used is a Canon T3i and the lens for everything on this shoot is a cheap ass do-it-all Tamron 18-270mm.

Flavien Vidal > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 08:02

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Bonus: It unfortunatly hasn’t been used on friday when I was there.... :(

Kat Callahan > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 08:15

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Flavien Vidal > Kat Callahan 01/16/2016 at 08:27

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“You see me in the parking lot, seven-eleven is the spot”

lol, I actually never listened to the whole song before, so thanks... I guess :)

Kat Callahan > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 08:28

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Famima > 7-11. It has T-Points AND onsite EV charging.

Flavien Vidal > Kat Callahan 01/16/2016 at 08:32

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And it has a great shrimp gratin!! Famima ftw too as far as I’m concerned :)

daender > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 08:37

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Dude, these are some choice pics! Well done!

Flavien Vidal > daender 01/16/2016 at 08:41

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Thanks :) It’s a lot more fun shooting moving cars under the sunlight than statics ones in a convention center haha

PS9 > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 11:50

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STEAL IT! YOU’LL NEVER GET TO DRIVE IT IF YOU DON’T! IT’S YOUR ONLY CHANCE!!

Wheelerguy > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 11:54

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Look at the steering lock on those things!

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 11:57

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I’ll make it clear before you all riot about the LFA having a V8. It in a flood and was a write off, the V8 saved it.

ZunesForBaboons > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 12:24

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Came to see if there was anything about Daigo’s drift Lambo. Was only slightly disappointed.

PhD in Corner Entry Speeds > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 12:26

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I spy a big intercooler on the LFA. Did they throw some turbos on the NASCAR V8 or just throw in a turbo motor like a 2jz?

Dsscats > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 12:33

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4 of my friends are at TAS right now and I’m jelly as hell

ThatbastardKurtis > Kat Callahan 01/16/2016 at 13:49

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But, does it have Black and Milds, fish hooks, fishing line, Febreeze, MuscleMilk, and cops that come by right when you get your smoke on?

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 13:52

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R.I.P. the V10 in that car. Quite amazing anyways.

La Mia Ferrari > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 15:02

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It is an interesting exercise to replace a DOHC V10 full of F1 technology with a pushrod NASCAR V8.

It begs the question of why the auto industry - with the exception of the U.S. - has abandoned the pushrod design when it offers superior torque, more compact dimensions (especially height for a lower hood and center of gravity), lighter weight (depending on materials), and superior highway MPG compared to N/A engines with overhead cams.

You’d think the recent lap record at Laguna Seca by the pushrod V10 Viper ACR - besting even Porsche’s million dollar plus 918 - would give the industry a wake up call.

Stephen > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 16:30

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This Drift LFA is cool and all.. But what’s the point of getting such an expensive vehicle when you’re going to throw out all the running gear anyways?

Sky Higa > Kat Callahan 01/16/2016 at 16:52

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and decent bread too!

Sky Higa > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 16:52

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Wish we had Mark X’s in the states.

Eddie Brannan > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock 01/16/2016 at 18:23

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That story has never been confirmed. Any searches regarding the flood-damage theory only turn up Jalop and Oppo-sourced rumors, and none of them offer any outside confirmation. It’s pure echo-chamber, and in fact there is reporting that the same car was running with the original motor in TAS races here .

“While the LFA was still V10 powered at TAS in January, rumour had it that a Toyota Racing Development NASCAR-spec V8 could well be finds its way into the supercar chassis before the season kicked off. Now, with D1GP’s ‘Tokyo Drift’ opening round and exhibition match in Odaiba just weeks away, all has been revealed in the short shakedown video below.”

Which makes sense because the LFA’s V10 was low on torque and a TRD V8 would be a far better engine for drift racing. I’ve never seen anything which suggests that the engine swap was anything other than a racing decision. Nothing wrong with that, but when commenters like you jump in to defend the swap with “knowledge” that you have no evidence for it makes me wonder why.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > Eddie Brannan 01/16/2016 at 18:35

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Because people need reasonable and believable justification for the conversion of a highly strung £340,000 super-GT into stripped out V8 drift machine. People like me.

Eddie Brannan > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 01/16/2016 at 18:40

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Like I said, racing decision. The V10 wasn’t as viable a motor for the job. Isn’t that a good enough call?

Flavien Vidal > PS9 01/16/2016 at 19:36

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Meh, don’t under estimate my persuasion skills ;)

Flavien Vidal > Eddie Brannan 01/16/2016 at 19:38

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That video shows it equipped with the V8 already. Definitly not a V10 sound...

Flavien Vidal > ZunesForBaboons 01/16/2016 at 19:52

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Yeah same here, I really wish I could have seen it going... But nope...

Flavien Vidal > PhD in Corner Entry Speeds 01/16/2016 at 19:55

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It’s still the V8, definitely doesn’t sound like a V10, but yes definitly a turboed sound. I think it’s always been turboed btw.

Flavien Vidal > Dsscats 01/16/2016 at 19:57

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It IS a pretty awesome place :)

Flavien Vidal > OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars 01/16/2016 at 19:58

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It sounds amazong like this anyway. Besides I highly doubt they just “threw it away” lol. It’s only an engine and can be re-fitted anytime they want.

Flavien Vidal > La Mia Ferrari 01/16/2016 at 20:02

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If you want to improve technologically, you sometimes have to accept a little setback (ie: Nissan delta wing). Also, you have to keep in mind that the LFA was never a sports car. It’s a grand tourer. What you feel with all your senses is sometimes more important than sheer performance.

rearwheelhorse > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 20:29

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This picture makes me happy to live in this world.

raytheater > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 20:45

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4 door drift car? That's a rare bird.

Flavien Vidal > raytheater 01/16/2016 at 20:49

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Not common indeed :)

It did a GREAT job though.

La Mia Ferrari > Flavien Vidal 01/16/2016 at 21:06

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You should have let Lexus know that before they went and made a Nurburgring version.

Flavien Vidal > La Mia Ferrari 01/16/2016 at 21:14

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Just like the F12 is developped at the Nurburgring. Just because they gave carte blanche to Gazoo Racing to develop the nurburgring version and also make a racecar out of it (that won the nurburgring 24 in its category btw), doesn’t mean it IS a sports car. Just like the F12 or the SLS AMG, these are grand tourer...

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > Eddie Brannan 01/17/2016 at 00:25

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No. Because why would you go ahead and gut out a limited-production car that Toyota spent 9 years and unholy amounts of money developing, designing and building, of which it’s fundamental design is what made it so damn special? An LFA is not a cheap purchase in the first place and to do something like that without reasonable justification is practically heresy.

Sir HoonsAlot > Flavien Vidal 01/17/2016 at 00:50

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I’d take it off their hands if they don’t want it :D

Eddie Brannan > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 01/17/2016 at 05:54

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Why? To make it competitive. The car was built by Osaka Toyopet Group, which owns a large number of Toyota dealerships in the Kansai region. When first converted to a drift car it still had the V10 motor, and this was later swapped for the Toyota-built V8. There is a lot of money in drifting, and this is a massive Toyota dealership group. They have deep pockets and it’s great promotion for the brand.

This is not the only supercar being drifted either. There’s a Liberty Walk Murcielago paid for by Monster Energy. As you may know, Murcielagos were AWD, and this was converted to RWD for drift racing. Again, a very expensive conversion to a very expensive car, and done for the sake of making it competitive in this sport.

Eddie Brannan > Flavien Vidal 01/17/2016 at 11:05

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Yes we all know it has the Toyota-built NASCAR V8. I’m simply saying that when first built as a drift car it had the V10, and there is no evidence whatsoever that anyone has ever shown for the flood claim.

The car is owned and operated by a big Kansai chain of Toyota dealers. Drifting is a hugely visible sport in your adopted home, as you know, so it’s not in the least inconceivable that a big Toyota-backed group would be able to get one of the many unsold LFAs and a Toyota crate motor to use as a promotion for the Toyota brand and their business.

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > Eddie Brannan 01/17/2016 at 20:05

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Actually a RWD conversation on a Murcie is cheap as shit and can practically be done by one person in an afternoon including beer breaks.

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > La Mia Ferrari 01/17/2016 at 20:06

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Ah yes, I knew it all along - the *pushrods* are why the Viper was so fast around the track!

Eddie Brannan > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment 01/17/2016 at 20:19

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k

La Mia Ferrari > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment 01/18/2016 at 00:06

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Pushrods have nothing to do with the performance, popularity, and racing success of GM’s LS engines either, amirite?

La Mia Ferrari > Flavien Vidal 01/18/2016 at 00:09

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I guess some grand tourers are just faster around the track than 99% of sports cars then.

Flavien Vidal > La Mia Ferrari 01/18/2016 at 02:58

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Yes of course... Don’t forget that at one point the fastest car sold on earth was the Ferrari Daytona. It is the epitome of a grand-tourer, but fast as hell nonetheless...

techinsanity2011 > Flavien Vidal 01/19/2016 at 02:49

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What did this start out its life as?

Flavien Vidal > techinsanity2011 01/19/2016 at 02:51

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Some kind of 2015 Lexus... Not really bothered checking which model exactly :)

techinsanity2011 > Flavien Vidal 01/19/2016 at 02:54

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I was going to guess the JDM version of a Scion iA

Flavien Vidal > techinsanity2011 01/19/2016 at 03:02

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No no, MUCH bigger car... it’s a 2015 Toyota Mark X, also named Lexus GS 350. On the other hand, this one is fitted with a 2JZ-GTE engine...

techinsanity2011 > Flavien Vidal 01/19/2016 at 03:41

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that’s insane.