Lexus LF-A Prototype for 24h Rennen Nürburgring
 

...and it'll enter the 24h Rennen Nürburgring along with the Volkswagen Scirroco driven by Carlos Sainz.

Sure it sounds good, but it's the race version, and you just don't do that kind of speed on the road. It probably won't sound as good as a production car. But here's to hoping.

Wow not only does it sound awesome but its beautiful as well

i just hope it finishes the race, that would be an achievement on its own

japan is hogging the spot light in the sports car industry at the moment, and they deserve it with all the new exciting metal they're giving/gonna give us

Hmmm. I didn't get that impression. 99% of that spotlight is due to the GT-R. But whatever. More V8/V10 cars for everyone!

^ ok maybe hogging it all is abit of an overstatement, but they're definitely being watched, as u said cuz of the gtr and also cuz of this lexus, the upcoming nsx, the next supra (if they'll build it), and not to mention that upcoming ae86/impreza coupe

I'm just saying. GT-R's the only car out on the market. The LF-A's been in development for 3 years now, with no end in sight. The upcoming NSX is a joke so far, as nothing but negative things have been associated with it. The rumors of Supra being a hybrid isn't very flattering either. Oh, and there are reports about Subaru getting cold feet with the RWD coupe idea.

I mean, we car nuts know about all these upcoming Japanese products, those are pretty obscure to the public.

Dude, they are trying to compete with worlds best sports cars. Japan are very loyal to themselves and have a history of copying the best car designs and making it their own. Now that there are no HP restrictions in Japan, they are able to develop their cars to beat the M3s and AMGs of the world.

GTR was the first, fine...Ill agree that it has all the hypes first, but Japan is in a Sports car revolution just like we were 15 years ago. Plus, with the world economies getting very strong (India, China, Russia), more people can afford them. Honda and Toyota have gone way too long without a serious sports car and its about damn time.

I don't like Nissan designs but I have to say, at least they know there customers and give them what they want, when it comes to sport cars at least. Honda too now that I think of it, but Nissan is def sports car numba won :lol:

i second that, however I think the japanese manufacturers are over the blatant copying days, they're more about obsessive competition, and I think they're really coming into their own these days especially in terms of styling, eg. the rx-8, nobody saw that coming, the GT-R, the new EVO and its hatch, of course there is the exception of the impreza...

I don't remember anything too great in 1993 . . .

Here's what I remember happening with the main American performance cars. I'm not as familiar with what was happening elsewhere in the performance car market at the time.
- last year of the Fox body - to be replaced by SN95 Mustang
- first year of the 4th gen Camaro and the LT1
- end of the middle of the C4 vette's life
- beginning of the Viper's life

As for Japanese cars, there was the Supra, NSX, and RX7. Then the Impreza WRX's and Lancer Evolutions were starting to get some recognition as well. Is that what you're referring to, Japanese cars from 15 years ago?

LOL you just answered your own question, and you forgot 300ZX

I was asking for clarification since you said "we" after you referenced Japan (one would expect a "they" to be used . . . unless of course you're from Japan)

also the Mitsubishi 3000gt and a collection of hot hatches, Type-R models, Miatas etc.

I just don't see the same thing happening right now. The LF-A looks good, but the release date is still TBA, Honda's NSX replacement is still in development hell, RX-7 replacement is MIA along with the Stupra.
No Japanese "revolution" at the moment from where I see. :-P

think revolution in terms of development itself, japanese cars aren't governed to the previous gentleman's agreement of 280bhp, as a result they do have to spend more and more time developing components to handle the increase in power for competition on the world stage (the GT-R took almost 6 years to develop). You also need to know the japanese are an uber meticulous lot, and i think they really are trying to get rid of the 'copycat' image by doing things their way which incidentally may take an eternity. You can however bet your bottom dollar that when those cars do arrive they will be as good as, if not better than anything else on offer (from an engineering, performance perspective at least) eg. (and i know you must be sick of this by now) the GT-R destroys almost anything from porsche, bmw and mercedes away, so do the Lexus IS-F and The EVO X, the hardcore japanese Civic Type-R, and in the next few years you can expect that list to lenghten quite considerably.

ehh, I can't quite see the same sort of revolution. The GT-R was a big development and we'll see how the IS-F stacks up against the competition. Other mainstays like the WRX and Evo have been fattening up and aren't quite the enthusiast cars that they once were. They're not incapable of course, but they're just "maturing."

The new Civic type R hasn't really made the same impact that the last one did.

The performance market as a whole as been on an upswing in recent years, but there's just not the same kind of explosion or rebirth of new performance cars.