2012 Lexus LFA: Suspension Walkaround

We had this plan, you see. Had it all figured out in advance.

After the 2012 Lexus LFA was finished with its date with the dyno at MD Automotive, we'd put it up on one of Mark's gen-u-ine 2-post lifts and have a good long look at the suspension. We'd get great access and you, the readers, would not have to suffer the indignity of seeing a $375,000 Lexus LFA in a compromising position on mere $10 jack stands.

Funny things, plans. They don't always pan out.

Turns out the LFA sits far too low for the lifting pads on Mark's lifts. There's also a brittle-looking carbon sill extension all around the LFA's edges and its underside is masked with a full carbon belly pan that's held on with like a jillion Torx-head fasteners. I thought we were sunk.

And then I spotted what looked like non-skid skateboard deck tape on the main carbon frame rails, four squares of it, just about where you'd expect to find...jack points!

But the LFA wasn't giving up that easy. It was still far too low for Mark's "experienced" floor jack. We ended up driving the left side tires of the LFA onto 2x6 planks to raise the car high enough to slip the jack underneath, at which point we placed a perfect-sized spacer atop the jack to distribute the load across the skateboard tape of one of the reinforced jack points.

Slowly, carefully, we raised it up, listening for creaking, watching for the tiniest of deflections. Nothing. We're good. Time for photographs and arrows.

We can't see much here except bitchin' brakes and an utter lack of wheel studs. Yes, the Lexus LFA uses wheel bolts like the Germans. Could this be a remnant of the engineering influence exerted by Toyota's now-defunct German-headquartered F1 team?

After the shock and awe of all that forged aluminum has worn off, the Lexus LFA appears to use a double wishbone front suspension. Close, but no cigar.

Yes, an A-shaped wishbone (yellow) does locate the upper ball joint. Interestingly, its inner pivots (green) and the upper shock mount all appear to use "pillow ball" ball-and-socket joints instead of rubber bushings. Nice-looking aluminum front subframe, too.

But there's no wishbone down below. Instead there are two forged aluminum links, each with their own ball joint. Such a dual pivot setup improves the scrub radius by moving the virtual steering axis outboard to where these two lines intersect. The effect is more pronounced at straight ahead than it is here at full lock.

This view shows how the two lower links (white) bolt into the knuckle; one from below and one from above. The stabilizer link (yellow) bolts to another pillow ball that has been press-fit into the rearmost lower link.

Meanwhile, the KYB aluminum bodied monotube shocks have threaded spring perches (orange) to facilitate vehicle height and weight distribution adjustments.

Here we can see the remote reservoir (yellow) for the KYB shocks. As expected, the LFA's steering tie rods (orange) act at the front of the knuckle. The stabilizer bar (white) loops over the top to meet the stubby drop link we almost saw in the previous photo.

Note also how the forward lower link is partially sheathed in a protective rubber facing.

Even though they say Lexus on them, these are Brembo-made 6-piston brake calipers and two-piece carbon-ceramic rotors. Brembo will put your name on the side if you pay them enough cash.

Easy pad changes are facilitated by the open window caliper design once you remove the bridge bolt (white). A pad wear sensor (yellow) will tell you when it's time. Let's hope one of you out there is lucky enough to see that warning lamp come on someday on the dash of your own LFA.

One of the LFA's grille openings feeds air to those big Brembos. From here it looks like the remote reservoirs of the KYB shocks enjoy the breeze, too.

We can't yet see the multilink rear suspension, but we can see two brake calipers. The smaller one is the parking brake.

A pair of upper links emulates an upper wishbone. A toe link (green) operates from behind to keep the wheel pointed straight ahead.

Another view of the upper links.

Two lower links (yellow) hold the lower end of the knuckle in position. Back here the remote-reservoir KYB monotube shocks are steeply reclined to fit in the tightly packaged space.

The barely-visible lower link (green) in the last shot is fully visible here. It bulges wide in the middle to carry the coil spring. The toe-link (yellow) we've seen before in another shot.

Finally, our first peek at the LFA's carbon-fiber frame (yellow). Here we can see a blob of adhesive where the aluminum upper spring perch (adjustable, like the front) is bonded to the structure. There may be other fasteners hidden from view, but we didn't disassemble anything to find out.

All of the suspension links mount to one massive rear aluminum subframe, These bolts (yellow) represent two of the places where it is bolted to the carbon fiber frame (white).

Another view of the rear subframe shows us a bit of the 6-speed automated manual transaxle, some exhaust heat shielding and the carbon fiber belly pan which has made it difficult for us to get the camera just where we want it.

Brembo 4-piston fixed calipers do the dirty work at the rear axle. Incidentally, that nick was there when we took delivery. No, really.

Bridgestone Potenza S001 tires are mounted on 20-inch rims all around. The 265/35ZR20 front tires are mounted on 9.5-inch rims and the 305/30ZR20 tires in back are mated to 11.5-inch wheels. In case you're curious, Tirerack sells the front tires for $362 and the rears for $441 -- each.

All of this is good for 75.1 mph in the slalom and 1.02 g on the skidpad, with limits that are relatively easy to approach and maintain. This car just flat works.

Categories: Lexus,Road Trips,Sports Cars,Suspension Walkarounds

61 Comments

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doss1 says:

08:53 PM, 04/13/11

Thank you for the post. Amazing car.

Report ItReport It

blackdynamite0 says:

08:54 PM, 04/13/11

I think it is safe to say that after 10 years, this is the most researched, developed, engineered, tested, and fine-tuned Lexus, or Toyota, ever created

Considering how long it took to make, you would think it might be out of date in places

It seems to be tuned to perfection
BD

peakarach1 says:

09:02 PM, 04/13/11

Amazing LF-A.

kevinlch says:

09:29 PM, 04/13/11

Thank you for bringing us this special walkaround, amazing work of art.

zoomzoom97 says:

10:05 PM, 04/13/11

No bathroom scale wheel weights?

actualsize says:

10:11 PM, 04/13/11

I forgot to bring it! But I was able to weigh a front assembly at the track -- 58 pounds. Expect the rears to weigh 4 to 5 pounds more.

10:47 PM, 04/13/11

Can we also have an Engine walkaround? if you've time...

morrisg2 says:

11:03 PM, 04/13/11

Big smile, Big Thank You! I especially like the ability to click into the photos and load the hi-res versions so I can really get my engineering jones on.

You know, I don't subscribe to car magazines anymore, not even when they offer $8/year subscriptions through SCCA. They just never bother to do stuff like this. I never figured out why a magazine dedicated to car nuts wouldn't shoot pics of the mechanical bits underneath the car. Anyway, thanks again, and +1 on an engine walkaround on this beast. Hmmm, anyone got a lipstick camera with led lights?

akula1 says:

11:35 PM, 04/13/11

I wouldn't mind a nice shot of the undertray as well. Is there any dimpling? I guess I wouldn't mind an aero walkaround too. =P Same for 458 and MP12.

v8vader says:

12:06 AM, 04/14/11

cz_75 says:

12:41 AM, 04/14/11

These suspension walkarounds are one of ILs best features. I still subscribe to several of the automotive rags though as the stats and specs are better from R&T and C&D has the most industry clout, for what that's worth.

kyolml says:

12:53 AM, 04/14/11

LFA road trip blog just bring a lot of fan boyz in and unadulterated flamboyantly saying the car is best...

Be honest, the suspension is really of the caliber of what a $375k car should be these day?

Aventador and MP4-12C already seems better incoporated the race car suspension geometry (or push rod) with road car compliance and refinement. Also the way they construct seems a bit more new school approach.

The whole concept of LFA make me feel like the M5 E-60 approach. The whole engine concept feels like a race version of s85 but more durable. It's a High revving engine with not much torque, which BMW abandoned to make a way of turbo new M5. At the end of day, a driver we just really want a engine have good torque curve so it's easy to control, and good top end so it won't run out breath, turbo or not.

vierwege says:

03:24 AM, 04/14/11

Please don't use the term "pillow ball" to describe a spherical bearing. "Pillow ball" seems to be a uniquely Japanese mistranslation combining the definition of a spherical bearing and a pillow block bearing.

ed341 says:

04:21 AM, 04/14/11

So 75.1 mph in the slalom and 1.02 g on the skidpad on street tires you can order from tirerack isn't good enough? I'm not exactly sure what you were expecting.

bonzjr says:

04:49 AM, 04/14/11

Thanks for another excellent suspension walkaround. This series is one of the best automotive features anywhere (print, web, etc.).

That front suspension wouldn't look out of place in an art museum.

Toyota just flat out did everything well on this car. It's astounding (I don't care what it costs) that they were able to turn out something like the LF-A. If they ever want to go back to having a line of sports (or merely sporty?) cars like they had at one point (Supra, MR2, AE86 Corollas, Celicas, GT2000, whatever), this gives them some much needed credibility. I don't expect the FT-86 to be a piece of art underneath like this car is (especially for $20k), but Toyota certainly can engineer/develop some choice stuff when they want to.

This car is everything a halo car is supposed to be.

throwback says:

05:34 AM, 04/14/11

Thanks again Dan, i love this car! How do you change a flat tire by the side of the road with this car? Or is that something people with money aren't allowed to do?

2001gs430 says:

06:39 AM, 04/14/11

throwback
I am not Dan, but I think I know the answer to your question. There is no spare tire in the LFA, but it does come with a electric pump and tire sealant. Maybe IL staff can confirm it.

07:03 AM, 04/14/11

Yep. It comes with a small compressor and a can of goo. The lug bolts heads are unique and require a special tool. The correct 1/2-inch drive special socket is packaged in the same pouch. There is no jack, however. Well, I should say we didn't find one and this test car came with no owner's manual to consult -- that's frustratingly common with press loaners.

a1c_scg says:

07:07 AM, 04/14/11

Ehh, it's a nice setup I suppose. Not as fancy as what one would expect for the pricetag, but hey. So long as it works, tht's all that matters.

kosmo69 says:

07:12 AM, 04/14/11

great write up.

07:14 AM, 04/14/11

@akula1: Aero walkaround... Too late for this beast (it goes back this morning) but I'll keep that suggestion in my hip pocket for the next cars that's worthy.

louiswei says:

07:24 AM, 04/14/11

@ a1c_scg,

I am just curious... How fancy do you want? I've never seen a suspension walk-around for an Enzo, have you? Were you expecting that the the car will suddenly hover, wheels flip up, lightening appears ahead and we are in 1985?

carguy622 says:

07:51 AM, 04/14/11

It's funny that all cars share the same basic components. Obviously I know this, but I expect to see some sort of suspension magic on a car this expensive. I guess the magic is in the tuning!

07:53 AM, 04/14/11

One more item I have learned about the LFA brakes is that the pistons are made in various sizes and strategically located, so that the pads would apply even pressure on the rotors resulting in even wear. This would help make them fade free for longer periods. I believe profession race cars use this setup as well.

08:05 AM, 04/14/11

@2001gs430: That's the case with just about all 4-piston and 6-piston calipers, certainly Brembos. The leading edge pistons (bottom on the LFA's front calipers, top on the rear calipers) are smaller and they get progressively larger from there. Why? The front edge of the pad sees a cooler rotor than the back edge of the pad.

08:07 AM, 04/14/11

REMINDER: you can click any of these photos to enlarge them to full screen.

08:24 AM, 04/14/11

Dan,

That's good to know. So I guess the biggest reason why the LFA brakes are so fade free would be due to the rotor material?

ziggerman says:

08:28 AM, 04/14/11

Awesome write-up, as usual. Thank you!

@ed341: You said "So 75.1 mph in the slalom and 1.02 g on the skidpad on street tires you can order from tirerack isn't good enough?"

Well, IL tested the GT-R at 74.7mph slalom and 1.02g skid pad. So, while I admire the LF-A, the $375k have NOT gone into the suspension.

The LF-A costs $375k due to its exclusivity and the fact that Lexus can sell every one of them at that price. It is that simple. This price point has NOTHING to do with what is actually in the car tech-wise.

08:43 AM, 04/14/11

A Omega watch and a Casio digital watch both tell you what time it is. How you get there is completely different.

08:45 AM, 04/14/11

@ ziggerman,

"The LF-A costs $375k due to its exclusivity and the fact that Lexus can sell every one of them at that price. It is that simple. This price point has NOTHING to do with what is actually in the car tech-wise."

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

Oh my god, is it really that hard to understand? Has no one here taken ECON101 before?

smokincrater says:

08:51 AM, 04/14/11

Surprised to see pillow balls for the suspension after reading about the the ride being fairly smooth for a super car. Those do look like large rubber bushings for the lower shock mounts. The suspension seems to be one of the best parts of this car.

stovt001 says:

08:57 AM, 04/14/11

+1 to bonzjr. Another reader asked me if the LFA changed my generally negative outlook towards Toyota/Lexus. In itself, a 500 run $375,000 supercar doesn't because at this time it isn't representative of the rest of the lineup, but if the FT-86 and any other sporty cars from Toyota/Lexus that I hope are in the works follow in spirit with what we see here (adjusting for price, of course) then absolutely I'll be much more on board with Toyota. They've promised they'll make more interesting cars, and they made the LFA so I consider that a good faith gesture. Let us all hope they follow through with the rest.

jmnyc1177 says:

09:06 AM, 04/14/11

Guys, this is really a chicken and an egg conversation. You make the argument that price point has nothing to do with what is actualliy in the car because Lexus can seel every one o fthem at the price they demand. The flipside of that is that they can sell every one of them at that price BECAUSE of the technological makeup of this car.

Yes, there is a difference between cost and value, but most people purchasing a super-car at a super-car price demand that the car be WORTH the money they pay for it. If the car wasn't technologically superior to nearly every other car (not all, but most) on the road, it wouldn't be worth the price to the consumers who purchase it.

09:10 AM, 04/14/11

louiswei-

Don't be daft. If this is the most exotic suspension setup you've seen, sorry. I have, in fact, seen some great personal views of the suspension on an Enzo. It makes this look like what you'd find in a Camry.

Lay off the bias. I said as long it's effective, that's all that ultimately matters. What more do you want, me to build a shrine to this car and worship it??

baggs32 says:

09:45 AM, 04/14/11

bonzjr,

"Toyota just flat out did everything well on this car. It's astounding (I don't care what it costs) that they were able to turn out something like the LF-A. If they ever want to go back to having a line of sports (or merely sporty?) cars like they had at one point (Supra, MR2, AE86 Corollas, Celicas, GT2000, whatever), this gives them some much needed credibility. I don't expect the FT-86 to be a piece of art underneath like this car is (especially for $20k), but Toyota certainly can engineer/develop some choice stuff when they want to.

This car is everything a halo car is supposed to be."

It took them 10+ years to bring this to market. 10+ YEARS! If ANYTHING is wrong about or out of place in this car then Toyota should be very ashamed.

09:47 AM, 04/14/11

The Econ101 argument is certainly valid, but there are a lot of expensive bits on the car -- much more expensive that anything found on the GTR. The carbon undertray (and the meticulous and complicated way it's installed), the rear diffuser, the carbon fiber used in the primary structure of the car (and the hatch, and that carbon hood prop rod ...), the bespoke limited-run V10 engine that isn't used in any other car in the lineup. Many aspects of the LFA's very construction are much more expensive than the GT-R. It's not all exclusivity and gravy. As with most things, reality includes bits of both sides of the argument.

fantastic says:

09:49 AM, 04/14/11

THANKS, I ENJOY IT VERY MUCH....VERY SPECIAL PEACE OF MACHINERY!!!!

cr_driver says:

09:54 AM, 04/14/11

"Well, IL tested the GT-R at 74.7mph slalom and 1.02g skid pad. So, while I admire the LF-A, the $375k have NOT gone into the suspension."

HA!

It didn`t took them 10 years for Nissan ............ but it was tuned to perfection! ;)

toyotapowerx says:

10:04 AM, 04/14/11

Why do you guys care so much about the price of this car? Even if the LFA was sold for 125,000 dollars, 99 percent of Americans still wouldn't be able to afford it. Just be happy the world has another super car.

bthayer23 says:

10:39 AM, 04/14/11

This suspension is fairly impressive and race-ready, yet you can still see the compromises made to keep it a street car. Real threaded coilovers - that's cool.

A few questions: what's the mechanism for damping adjustment? Did you see any camber/toe adjustments? If the ride height is adjustable, you'd think they'd have adjustable endlinks, too, for corner balancing. And where's the rear sway bar?

sodiezl350 says:

12:00 PM, 04/14/11

Car porn doesn't get more graphic then this. I love it!

12:09 PM, 04/14/11

There is a rear stabilizer bar, but the photo got misfiled. Looking for one now. You can see faint glimpses of it and the end link in a couple of these shots, back behind the spring.

This car had a lot of shrouds -- they don't want stray air getting under the car, It's hard to see certain things without partial disassembly.

Still looking on the cutting room floor for some additional shots. They're in someone else's computer; I have to wait.

cambino123 says:

12:35 PM, 04/14/11

Thank you for exposing its underbelly to Ferrari, Mercedes and Lamborghini.

new generation of supercars on their way.

csubowtie says:

12:57 PM, 04/14/11

I'm a little confused how the front upright/knuckle works with the two lower pivot points. While you're looking around for additional shots, are there any that show a different view of this? It seems like having those two lower links triangulated with the two pivots it would prevent the knuckle from turning. Or is it kinda like a four-bar linkage and the two lower move forward and aft in relationship to each other?

goinpeace says:

01:02 PM, 04/14/11

great post, love to see these edmunds-unique suspension walkarounds

and yes, sodiezl350, absolute automotive pornography

funboy says:

01:07 PM, 04/14/11

People, price for a car is subjective. Look at Apple, whatever new "toy" they come up and no matter what price they charge, people still jump in. So it is pointless to argue whether LFA worth $370K. Whoever loves this car, or any other exotic car, and they can afford it, they will buy it. If you tell them this car doesn't worth that much, do think they will listen, if they really like this car?

Look at jeans; some jeans cost $35 (wall mart), and some cost $350; people still buy it!

01:11 PM, 04/14/11

"Look at jeans; some jeans cost $35 (wall mart), and some cost $350; people still buy it!"

+1.

And there is no guarantee that the $350 jean will last 10 times longer or is 10 times softer or looks 10 times better or will get you 10x more chicks than the $35 ones...

lautomobile says:

03:46 PM, 04/14/11

Very neat.

05:40 PM, 04/14/11

@csubowtie: I don't have a better picture of the LFA, but I do have this video of a dual-pivot front suspension in motion, shown from directly below. It's a Pontiac G8 GT (RIP) with a strut setup up top, but the dual lower links work the same way, as you said yourself, like a 4-bar linkage.

http://youtu.be/2VHwxFHPWhM

excusei says:

06:23 PM, 04/14/11

the first picture = hahahahahahaha

i think it's really cool the way goop is used to attach things in this car.

obviously the best car ever made in the history of the world.

by humans.

flwind says:

06:25 PM, 04/14/11

I fully expect a Bugatti Veyron suspension walk around where the Bugatti is held up by 2x4s.

letta_rx7ors4 says:

06:59 PM, 04/14/11

I think the price is subjective. Vette fans got mad @ me at an Autoshow because I yelled "100k for this" while pushing in the back bumper of ZR1 like a big button. Does it make it any less of a beast. NOT @ ALL! Regardless you can't deny that it is a well built, and intensely dynamic car.

ENJOY IT FOR WHAT IT IS!
(+1 on the car porn).

THANK YOU FOR THIS WALKAROUND!!!

300zxtt says:

08:24 AM, 04/15/11

Another great 'Edmunds-uniuqe' suspension walkaround. Great car, videos, and articles Edmunds guys! I'm surprised the car-mag rags haven't tried to duplicate... perhaps they can't afford to...

12:11 PM, 04/15/11

actualsize: Thanks for that link, very good visual. Man the engineering analysis of a setup like that would be crazy.

6sptl says:

01:00 PM, 04/18/11

Fabulous car that happens to be overpriced by a factor of 3. Sell it for 200K then it might amount to something worth crooning about. As it is its simply not worth the money when you can buy cars with similar performance for less than half the price. Goodness an NSX was originally available for 60K and the only main big difference is the engine! The Veyron can at least boast another 500HP, SHEESH.

sierrabravo says:

08:40 AM, 04/20/11

These walkarounds are both fascinating and educational to me. This one was especially so.

rungfee says:

05:47 PM, 04/20/11

Wow, that is one NICE looking ride! Amazing.

www.total-privacy.int.tc

crackheadalley says:

09:58 AM, 04/21/11

What a think of beauty. Thank you.

rocket_88 says:

05:39 PM, 04/26/11

Awesome car but the paint looks like it has orange peel. If you look at the picture of the back half of the car. The reflection looks wavy in front of the rear wheel opening. For $375,000 they should be able to buff the paint a little bit. Hopefully this car doesn't have problems with the accelerator pedal getting stuck on the carpet.

norm_peterson says:

09:48 AM, 05/ 6/11

I'll bet that mitigating pad taper wear had a lot to do with the different size pistons in the calipers.

If Toyota wants any chance of making any money off me via the household automotive purchases, they'll have to inject 'sport' into their more realistically priced choices a whole lot faster than it took them to develop this car. No matter what lives up in the halo penthouse chassis-wise, if it doesn't filter down to the ground floor I won't be interested. Life's too short to settle for 'inoffensive'.

Norm