Lexus released a video yesterday of the LFA Nürburgring vs Eclipse Jet race, which was run back on October 8th. It was the classic car against plane challenge that’s been run many times before – still, they’re always interesting to watch.
The challenge was played out down the 1.45km runway at at Colorado’s Longmont Airport, with Scott Pruett at the wheel of the 562bhp 4.8-litre V10 Lexus and pilot Marc Arnold at the controls of the 424mph Eclipse 500 jet.
To compensate for the LFA’s superior acceleration off the line, Arnold’s Eclipse jet would cross the starting line, already flying just above the ground at 150mph. Both vehicles then travelled down the 1.45km runway before turning around and racing back to the start position.
While Pruett navigated the 180 degree bend at the bottom of the course, Arnold travels much further as he climbs and begins a steeply-banked turn at the far end of the runway before diving back down and flying just 30 metres above the runway before crossing the finish line.
The result? Pruett’s LFA Nürburgring completes the course in 56 seconds, just 2.1 seconds quicker than the Eclipse 500 jet.
Well, what did you think would happen?
The LFA Nürburgring makes its North American debut today at the 2012 SEMA Show, where it will be joined by the new Lexus LF-CC Concept, the Pikes Peak Lexus IS F CCS-R, a supercharged GS 350 F Sport by VIP Auto Salon and LS 460 F Sport by Five Axis. The show runs from the 30th October to the 2nd November at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
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Steve Davies
Steve is an investor, private equity advisor and former Partner at KPMG, PwC and Bain. Most importantly he's a life-long car enthusiast, mountain biker and active sports enthusiast. He designs and builds technology platforms and is the architect behind Transmission.
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