CAR was recently invited to the launch of the Lexus LFA Nürburgring at, where else, the Nürburgring. The special-edition LFA is a simple evolution of the regular LFA, so on top of a 4.8-litre V10, front/mid-engined, carbon-tubbed supercar, you also get stickier tyres, grippier bucket seats, extra aero, 11bhp extra and lashings of carbon trim. At £411,752, it’ll also cost you an additional £65k over the standard car.
But while it would have been easy for Lexus to fob us off with some laps of the relatively safe and easy-to-learn GP circuit, we were actually let loose on the fearsome Nordschleife.
The first video shows CAR’s Ben Barry on a high-speed passenger lap with Toyota test drive Iida-san who scared our staffer senseless and then, the very next day, posted a record-breaking 7min 14sec lap.
And now for the perspective: in the second video, Nürburgring newbie Ben Barry gets behind the wheel of a standard Lexus LFA and follows GP2 driver Dani Clos in a Lexus ISF. ‘It was really useful to follow someone who knew the place so well,’ says Barry. ‘Prior to this I’d only done two laps, so it was a great way to learn the lines plus, more importantly, I had advance warning from his brake lights!’