Lexus LF-A

The king is dead, long live the king! Lexus’ long-awaited LF-A has unofficially smashed the lap record at Germany’s Nürburgring, with a time of seven minutes, 24 seconds. That beats Porsche’s new GT2 by a second and makes the Lexus the King of the ’Ring. Company insiders have revealed that a 4.8-litre V10 – co-developed with Yamaha – powered the record-breaking test mule. It revs to 9,000rpm and pumps out 552bhp. Combined with a highly aerodynamic body, it should enable the LF-A to hit 210mph.