lexus LFA 2012 Owner's Manual / LEXUS 2012 LFA NURBURGRING PACKAGE GUIDE

LFA_Nurburgring_U
30
Germany, 1927: Birth of Nürburgring Nordschleife, the most challenging racetrack
in the world. Carved out of the Eifel mountains and spanning an altitude of 300
meters, this 20.83 kilometer track was built with 172 corners, narrow roads and
very few escape zones. Exalted as sacred and feared as “The Green Hell”, what
better place than the Nürburgring to begin development of the Lexus LFA?
On this holy ground of automotive passion, Lexus developers sought not only to
test the utmost limits of the LFA’s dynamic performance, but also to further polish
the LFA’s unique driving essence. The LFA was honed to perfection on this vener-
ated track and now shows its gratitude with the Nürburgring Package, a new chap-
ter in supercar history.
With enhanced aerodynamics, a fortified underbody and an engine precisely tuned
for even more power, the sharply honed driving performance of the Nürburgring
Package offers endless appeal to drivers. This vehicle will enthrall you and every
moment you spend in its company will be sheer, hedonistic pleasure.
This book tells the story of the driving passion that motivated the developers of this
iconic vehicle as well as the effort they went to in the pursuit of ultimate driving
pleasure. It also outlines special notice s and cautions regarding the Nürburgring
Package that you, as the owner of this powerful machine, need to be aware of. Infor-
mation regarding items that are unchanged from the standard specification model
can be found in the Owner's Manual included with this book.
This book is available in four languages.
Preface
LFA_Nur_J_U_K_M_OM77029U.book 30 ページ ２０１２年１月１７日　火曜日　午前１０時１３分

32
LFA_Nurburgring_U
In the pursuit of responsiveness and emotive performance that outperforms the engine
in the standard package, the 1LR-GUE en gine in the Nürburgring Package reduces
friction losses to realize an 8 kW (11 PS) increase in power. An impressive output of
close to 88 kW (120 PS) per liter has been achieved.
As proof of this, the surge tank bears a specialized emblem and the oil filter cover
comes in a specialized color.
N-041
Front view Side view
Powe r t ra i n
LFA_Nur_J_U_K_M_OM77029U.book 32 ページ ２０１２年１月１７日　火曜日　午前１０時１３分

33
Powertrain
LFA_Nurburgring_U
■Low friction internals
While the engine in the Nürburgring Package is the same engine model as the stan-
dard package, by meticulously adjusting items like the amount of oil supplied and the
friction surfaces of moving parts, a further reduction in friction has been achieved.
■Oil feed pump
In the standard engine, an inner relief system that circulates oil inside the oil feed pump
has been adopted. This restricts oil level fluctuations in the crankcase and oil pan,
achieving a reduction in friction and the occurrence of air bubbles in the oil.
Moreover, an exclusive pump was adopted for the cam timing adjusters (VVT-i). By
increasing the pressure of the oil supplied from the feed pump, the VVT-i can be oper-
ated even more effectively while the total amount of oil was reduced, thereby contrib-
uting to a reduction in total friction.
With the Nürburgring Package, the clearances inside the pump were optimized by
balancing the oil supply more precisely, further reducing friction.
■Piston rings
In the standard package's engine, linerless thermally sprayed bores were adopted for
the cylinder bore surface, simultaneously improving heat dissipation and reducing cyl-
inder bore distortion.
This accordingly made it possible to lower the tension of the top & second ring more
than that of a common mass-production engi ne and at the same time a thin 2-piece
nitride processed oil ring has been adopted, reducing friction losses.
Through the utilization of these aspects and optimized ring specifications, a further
reduction in friction has been achi eved in the Nürburgring Package.
LFA_Nur_J_U_K_M_OM77029U.book 33 ページ ２０１２年１月１７日　火曜日　午前１０時１３分

34
LFA_Nurburgring_U
Dry sump system
In order to lower the center of gravity, the LFA adopts a dry sump system which
positions the oil tank separately from the engine itself and does away with a conven-
tional oil pan, enabling the location of the engine to be closer to the ground.
Simultaneously, the center of gravity is further lowered and the yaw moment of iner-
tia is further reduced by placing heavy objects such as the oil pump on both sides of
the lower back end of the engine.
As high dimension driving performance was achieved due to these engineering
techniques and the packaging of the Nürburgring Package, a lubrication system
that could handle up to 2G of lateral acceleration was required.
LFA_Nur_J_U_K_M_OM77029U.book 34 ページ ２０１２年１月１７日　火曜日　午前１０時１３分

35
Powertrain
LFA_Nurburgring_U
In order to secure lubrication performance that could withstand high lateral accel-
eration, seven independent scavenger pumps were adopted and are located in
both sides of the cylinder head, the front and rear chain case and the crankcase,
pumping the collected engine oil into the air-cooled oil cooler and the oil tank.
Only the oil with a high temperature collected from the crankcase is pumped into
the air-cooled oil cooler, minimizing drops in pressure, which in turn reduces the
pump's driving loss.
The oil tank's construction achieves stable oil circulation even during high lateral
acceleration due to the adoption of a vertically long shape and specially designed
baffle plate.
Within the oil tank, cyclone type gas-liquid separation is performed and air bubbles
are removed from the collected oil. The oil is then sent to the lower part of the oil
tank and supplied to various parts of the engine via the feed pump which is located
on the same horizontal axis as the scavenger pump.
While a similar sequence of circulation is common with the standard package, it
plays a more important role in the Nürburgring Package, which pursues an even
higher level of driving performance.
LFA_Nur_J_U_K_M_OM77029U.book 35 ページ ２０１２年１月１７日　火曜日　午前１０時１３分

36
LFA_Nurburgring_U
The Nürburgring Package has improved the aerodynamic performance of the vehi-
cle’s whole body, so that a high level of handling stability can be acquired during high-
speed driving.
A prepreg hollow CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics) large-sized front spoiler,
canards and a fixed type large-sized rear wing have been adopted as exclusive exte-
rior equipment. These items increase downforce as well as precisely control airflow,
further improving the LFA’s high driving stability.
Aerodynamics
LFA_Nur_J_U_K_M_OM77029U.book 36 ページ ２０１２年１月１７日　火曜日　午前１０時１３分

37
Aerodynamics
LFA_Nurburgring_U
■Large-sized front spoiler
A hollow structure has been adopted,
achieving weight reduction. Addition-
ally, a one-piece front spoiler that
extends from the front to the sides has
been achieved, ensuring rigidity.
The air that flows along the underbody
is precisely controlled, simultaneously
increasing downforce.
■Canard
Attached to each side of the front
bumper, the front canards have been
constructed to be as thin as possible.
By increasing downforce, straightline
stability and grip when cornering are
enhanced, contributing to an improve-
ment in handling stability.
LFA_Nur_J_U_K_M_OM77029U.book 37 ページ ２０１２年１月１７日　火曜日　午前１０時１３分

38
LFA_Nurburgring_U
■Fixed type large-sized rear wing
By enlarging the wing in a transverse
direction and by making the wing and
its deflector form a gurney lip, down-
force is efficiently generated.
Furthermore, end plates are integrated
into both ends of the wing, reducing
induced drag and optimizing the
wing’s efficiency.
■Aluminum support frame
An aluminum support frame has been mounted in the area where the active rear wing
is stored in the standard package, increasing the support's rigidity.
This helped to ensure that the fixed type large-sized rear wing that can withstand a
load of 3500 N while also achieving a significant weight reduction.
LFA_Nur_J_U_K_M_OM77029U.book 38 ページ ２０１２年１月１７日　火曜日　午前１０時１３分

39
Aerodynamics
LFA_Nurburgring_U
Cd and Cl
“Cd” is an abbreviation that means “Coefficient of drag”. When referring to a car,
“air resistance” is proportional to this value multiplied by the frontal area (the surface
area that is seen when looking at the vehicle from directly in front). In other words,
the lower, more compact the vehicle, the lower the air resistance.
On the other hand, “Cl” is an abbreviation that means “Coefficient of lift”. If this value
is less than zero, downforce (the force that pushes the vehicle onto the road) is
being acquired.
Drag (D) and lift (L) can be calculated using the following formula:
( ρ : Air density V : Velocity (vehicle speed) A : Frontal area)
D (or L) = ½ x ρ x V
2 x Cd (or Cl) x A
With the Nürburgring Package, the Cl value has been enhanced and downforce
has been increased by adopting aero-parts, helping to pursue a feeling of reassur-
ing handling stability, even when driving at high speeds.
Due to the Nürburgring Package making changes based on circuit driving, mini-
mum ground clearance is lowered. When passing over an uneven surface, drive
extremely carefully to ensure the body do es not interfere with the road surface.
LFA_Nur_J_U_K_M_OM77029U.book 39 ページ ２０１２年１月１７日　火曜日　午前１０時１３分

40
LFA_Nurburgring_U
For the Nürburgring Package, in order to further improve stability and corning speed,
exclusive shock absorbers, coil springs, stabilizers, high grip tires and aluminum
wheels that enhance body control and grip have been adopted.
During repeated test runs at the Nürburgring, controllability was increased across all
speed ranges from low to high, and a sense of oneness between the driver and the
vehicle was pursued.
Chassis and suspension
LFA_Nur_J_U_K_M_OM77029U.book 40 ページ ２０１２年１月１７日　火曜日　午前１０時１３分