You read correctly, the chief test driver and essentially the godfather of the LFA died behind the wheel of a special edition LFA today. Colliding head on with two other test drivers who were in a BMW. The two BMW drivers are in critical condition while Hiromu Naruse (67), the driver of the LFA died behind the wheel. The LFA is the upcoming LFA Nurburgring Edition which was recently spotted on the Nurburgring for testing. A moment of silence please.
Everyone has a cell phone and each has a ringtone. The question is what is your ringtone? If you are into cars Lexus wants to offer you a few select ringtones for free. These are not just any ringtones rather they are sounds from the LFA engine.
You can choose from-
LFA Accelerating
LFA Downshifting
LFA Engine Starting
LFA Full Flight
Regardless of how you feel about the LFA it is worth the free download to listen and decide for yourself what you think. They are providing both .mp4 for iPhones and .mp3 for all other phones. Quite nice of them. I just doubled clicked on the .mp4′s once onto my computer and they instantly showed up in iTunes under the Ringtones tab. Upon syncing to my iPhone3Gs I had and instant LFA soundtrack for my ringtone should I choose to keep it.
Many car people knew that Acura was planning on resurrecting the NSX for 2011. That was the plan until the drop in both the economy and the auto industry. The car was well into development with what seemed to be a production ready (almost) body and interior. Spy shots showed a front engine long hood short deck stance. Rumors were a revised version of SH-AWD was going to send the power to all four wheels. We also heard that the vehicle would be powered by a 5.5 liter V10 putting out 500-550 hp while using iVTEC. Reliable sources said an aggressive cylinder deactivation mode would help obtain decent fuel economy. This was supposed to be a super car to put a halo around Acura. Similar in concept to the recently debuted Lexus LFA. In fact, the new NSX would have been competition for the LFA. No pricing was ever announced or leaked but I would assume the price tag would have been under that of the LFA’s $375,000 price.
Spy Shot of the 2011 NSX at the Nurburgring
I for one always like both the first and second generation NSX’s. It brought something new to the table. Showing super car manufactures and buyers, that you can have a high performance car that is still reliable. This was somewhat of a revolutionary concept. The mid-mount V6 was also unique. This was not the fastest car. Nor was it the most expensive car. It was a unique car from a company that was out to prove themselves.
Spy Shot of the 2011 NSX at the Nurburgring
As I mentioned earlier the NSX replacement was in the final stages of preparation for an unveiling. Sources say the dream is dead and the NSX replacement will not be coming. While I completely believe this I wish it were not true. Competition in the marketplace is a good thing. While I have a feeling the 2011 NSX would be vastly different (front engine and all wheel drive vs mid-engine and rear wheel drive), the reliability attribute would still probably be there.
Below is a video recorded of the 2011 NSX prototype in in final testing stages driving around the Nurburgring.
You read correctly, the chief test driver and essentially the godfather of the LFA died behind the wheel of a special edition LFA today. Colliding head on with two other test drivers who were in a BMW. The two BMW drivers are in critical condition while Hiromu Naruse (67), the driver of the LFA died behind the wheel. The LFA is the upcoming LFA Nurburgring Edition which was recently spotted on the Nurburgring for testing. A moment of silence please.
