The 2012 Lexus LFA

Car and Driver

“Exotic” is the word to describe the LFA, from its “techno-brutal” styling to its “magnificent and outlandish” leather and carbon-fiber interior. Its 552-hp, 4.8-liter V-10 engine fires up with “a throat-clearing mini-explosion” and wails loudly enough “to disturb moon dust” at highway speeds. But our quibbles are minor. We only wish its maker, Toyota, would “put the same soul and passion into the rest of its cars.”

Road & Track

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Toyota has built fast street racers before, yet never produced a true supercar—“until now.” The Lexus LFA has a carbon-fiber chassis, carbon-ceramic brake rotors, and a low-slung, dynamic exterior with “exciting details wherever your eyes choose to scan.” Only 170 of the 500 to be built will come to the U.S. this year. That means exclusivity is guaranteed—“along with an elevated heart rate every time the V-10 screams to redline.”

Automobile

Though the LFA’s high-revving engine might be better suited to the track than to the street, and though its multimode transmission requires a deft touch, that’s it for our complaints. There are more powerful and faster sports cars out there, “but very few deliver their talents in a more focused and emotional manner than the new Lexus flagship.”