Exotics of Hong Kong
Lexus LFA
Back on a very foggy morning in April 2016, I ventured down to Big Wave Bay (after much hesitation) to do some solo car spotting. During the taxi ride from Shau Kei Wan MTR station, I felt a little anxious as I had never been out car spotting in such low visibility weather conditions. It was really amazing to look out the window and not be able to see a few metres ahead; it looked like a scene from Jurassic Park. During the 15 minute journey, I constantly looked out the back window to see if there were any cars behind me, but began to feel doubtful after failing to see anything. I feared I had got up at 5am in vain, but to my surprise, I found that the turnout was actually quite good once I arrived. After about an hour of being immersed in the fog and humidity, something arrived that made the trip well worth it; the mighty Lexus LFA.
The LFA is powered by a 4.8 Litre V10 engine which produces a top speed of 323 km/h and can do 0-100 km/h in 3.7 seconds. Lexus says that the LFA’s engine can rev from idle to 9000 rpm in 0.6 seconds. This is so fast that they couldn’t use an analogue tachometer as it couldn’t accurately track the changes in the engine speeds. Engineers made the engine sound like a Formula 1 engine at high revs and they say it sounds like “a roar of an angel” – and having heard the incredible for myself, I have to agree. The LFA has been met with positive reviews ever since its release and many reviews have put it near the top of the list for cars that they have driven. Only 500 LFAs will be produced, 50 of these being a circuit-tuned version called the LFA Nurburgring Edition. There are no plans of making any replacements of the LFA in the near future as the LFA has achieved “icon” status in the supercar world.
When I was waiting for the LFA to leave, I suddenly heard the most amazing sound – the screaming V10 engine from around the corner. I won’t ever forget the experience of watching the LFA blast down the road as that wonderful sound echoed through the mountains. Now almost a year later and after seeing the LFA a few times, I came across it on Sunday when it was parked at the Four Seasons Hotel, just as I was about to go home (I think this is becoming a theme). Just like last April, I was able to get a good look at this Japanese supercar and admire it for what it is. It is really amazing that, Lexus, who had never built a supercar before, really hit it out of the park with the LFA. It will be interesting to see what they do next – that is, if they ever decide to build a replacement. Funny thing is, this wasn’t the craziest thing I saw that day. Stay tuned for more.
To see more photos, check out the Instagram page Morgan and I share: www.instagram.com/exoticsofhongkong
