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Nissan GT-R: Did It Spook Lexus?
Filed under: Opinion, Sports
Motor Trend recently posted speculation about Toyota suddenly pulling its Lexus LF-A supercars from the famed German Nurburgring track upon arrival of Nissan's GT-R.
Though some have stated that Toyota is running scarred, fearful that it expensive, first-supercar will be unable to meet the GT-R head on, the truth is that it is more likely to be waiting to fire its own return volley.
Has the GT-R effect caused the various makes to fear?
No. In our opinion, Nissan's latest entry has simply raised the bar to a level in a way that it hasn't been raised, arguably, since the introduction of the NSX.
The parallels are all there: a Japanese company introduces a car with capabilities seemingly drawn out of nowhere; aluminum intensive structure; VTEC, and a chassis tuned by the late, great, Ayrton Senna that was both everyday comfortable and supercar capable all done with supreme quality. The GT-R has it AWD, dual-clutch transmission, sophisticated electronics, and a similarly balanced package.
The result of the NSX is the Ferrari and other supercars of today. The result of the GT-R? The LF-A is soon to arrive, as is the ZR-1, as well as a diesel R8 and numerous others.
Our take? The GT-R was merely an opening shot, and a good one at that. You better do better, Toyota/Lexus.
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