Yamaha 5.0L V8
 

This thing would be awesome. Hope Volvo goes for it. The Yamaha 4.8L V10 engine in the LFA is my favorite sounding NA motor presently on the market.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/the-yam...ngine-revving/

The motor only sounds good because Yamaha designed the exhaust. I would rather have a CFE block V8 for sound.

If you're talking about the LFA, Yamaha was involved with essentially all aspects of engine design, not just exhaust AFIK. This V8 is a Yamaha engine full whack. Yamaha obviously makes some killer bike engines (not to mention generators, boat engines), but has been involved in car engines for a long time, including the Supra, old SHO, etc.

Sound is aesthetic and personal preference. The LFA is probably my favorite sounding engine on the market in a super car overall, sounds like a 90s era F1. As for V8s generally available, and just referring to sound, it'd be an old school BBC probably. I DON'T especially care for the sound of this V8, but it's obviously a pretty gnarly and tightly packaged engine.

I will take a look at it. The Yamaha that I have heard associated with the LFA isn't the bike or engine builder, it's Yamaha the instrument manufacturer. I thought they made the exhaust and provided input to some cabins details for acoustic value only. The motor sounds great. I just don't like it because it was obsolete before it was released. Shit has no balls.

The instrument side was involved with the acoustics of the exhaust system, that's true. But the motorsport side was involved with the block and heads AFIK.

It does what it was designed to do for an engine of it's type in a car in that category, making 550 BHP from 4.8L NA more or less instantly because of how free spinning it is, dead reliable and surpassing all emissions standards in the world by a mile. I'm not sure what you mean by obsolete for its time. :huh:

Yamaha makes some bad ass two stroke outboard v8's that make 400hp. Two on the back of a small boat really rips.

I mean that the car just didn't perform. The only features that suck out from the LFA release was the price and the sound. As far as having 500 hp instantly.

7:14 at the Ring is not exactly poor performance for a luxury trimmed car anyone could pleasantly drive as a DD. The market didn't seem to mind its relatively steep price either. There are certainly faster cars for less money in different areas if that's all you means.

7:14 was the LFA Ring model too not the original car. The original car was much slower. Again too little too late. The car was so anticipated and hyped as a world beater and didn't do shit.

So it put in the same time as a ZR1 and F458 on street tires and was faster in head to head comparos than, well, a bunch of other expensive fast cars. What a sack of shit.

Can you believe the hype? What's a "world beater" anyway?

Again, updated ring model.

I stand to be corrected, but I believe you are mistaken.

The Ring package specs were announced in March 2010 and were not publicly tested until June 2011, when it ran the 7:14.

The tests quoted above, where it ran a 7:38 on street tires on the longer course, the same as the ZR1 and F458 on PS2s with the same driver were from September 2010 . . . with a press car.

The time from the TG track, where it had the fastest wet lap ever (about the same as a ZO6 in the dry AIR BTW) was in January, before the Ring package was even announced.

That motor sounds good. 650hp for a n/a 4.9L motor from the factory on only 10:1cr is pretty stout.

The motor only made 550 hp @8700 rpm and 354 ft lbm. Pretty much identical to a Gallardo for double the price. Ben, in the local reviews it struggled against a GTR and a Zo6. I'm not impressed. It would have been fine if it cost $120k not $375k. Most manufacturers will that do R&d at the ring release ring times before the model is available.

THE QUOTED TIMES WERE FROM EURO MAGAZINES DOING HEAD TO HEAD COMPAROS NOT THE MANUFACTURER. IT WAS A PRESS CAR.

Nothing that I can see indicates that car was the Ring model, all lists show standard edition (and other cars as their specific models, e.g., Scuderia, Italia, etc.). It was in September 2010, the Manufacturer Ring model numbers are from 2011.

AFIK, they easily sold all units. So the price is completely irrelevant to people in that market. WTF do they care. They're not middle class.

It was an R&D test bed and a Halo car. Lexus got what they wanted out of the car. The fact there are other cars as fast or faster for the same or less money doesn't mean much of anything where it matters. The Market > Forums.

I understand you're not impressed. Ok.

If you're looking for an impressive bit of engineering at an affordable middle class price (sort of) that's fast with basically any driver, one answer stands out by a mile, the GT-R.

Youre such a hater. We should sneak over to your place, have Guy tow away your Corvette, and trade it in for a BRZ. I think your head would explode.

Not everything is speed. Or Jay Leno's garage would just be full of Ferraris.

Id take a 97 Viper over a C6, even though the C6 is probably a better track car. Speed + Sound + Sex Appeal = Desirable Sports Car

Carlos is basically an engineer. Those are highly deprecated parameters to him. :judge:

Enkie,
Yup I'm a hater. Whats new. Yup, you would pick a Viper over a C6. I literally shopped for both when I bought my Corvette. I went with the C6 because it was just as fast and operating cost were much less. I'm sure you would take the viper because for some guys looking cool is enough. Not me. I like to compete.
CNJ

If it's merely track speed : cost calculation, wouldn't something like a Caterham Seven 480 be an even better choice?

Nope. Those things aren't cheap and they aren't necessarily that fast. I have seen quite a few of them. They are hard to keep up with at buttonwillow, but slow at willow, PIR, autoclub.......... They are certainly cheaper to run than a corvette or a LFA.

So is your basic point simply that the Vette platform is the best over all value for cost vs. performance across a range of track settings? That is to be competitive (i.e., run at or near the front) in typical middle class / working man track outings, etc.?

My original point was that the LFA was hyped up to be a world beater. It's release date keeped getting pushed and pushed and pushed. What I remember when it was finally released it was marginally faster than a GTR, but with a $375k price. I distinctly remember thinking that it was a huge engineering failure because of the performanc / $ ratio.

I was talking about your selection of a Vette.