The December 2009 issue of Road & Track has write-ups on two impressive cars- the Lexus LFA and the Ford Tarus SHO.

The Lexus LSA is Toyota's new exotic supercar. It has a 4.8-liter, 4 cam V-10 that produces 560 hp and 345 lb-ft torque. The redline is 9,000 rpm. It features a carbon-fiber/aluminum chassis, carbon-ceramic brakes, the best single-clutch hydraulically actuated transmission on the market, and a ringed LCD display in the cockpit. Top speed is 202 mph and 0-62 mph is 3.7 sec. They will build only 500 at a cost of $375,00 each.

On a cheaper note, $42,985 will get you a Ford Taurus SHO. This performance sedan, that weighs 4,455 lbs., has a 3.5 twin-turbo engine that produces 365 hp at 5,500 rpm. Its also has 350 lb-ft of torque. Here are its surprising performance numbers, as compared to a Challenger SRT 8:

0-10 mph= .3 SHO .4 SRT
0-20 mph= 1.1 1.1
0-30 mph= 1.8 1.9
0-40 mph= 2.7 2.6
0-50 mph= 3.8 3.5 (Hemi has slight lead)
0-60 mph= 5.2 4.7
0-70 mph= 6.7 5.8 (Hemi starts pulling away)
0-80 mph= 8.4 7.2
0-90 mph= 10.5 9.1
0-100 mph= 12.8 11.0
0-110 mph= 15.6 13.1
1-120 mph= 19.7 15.5 (No contest)

 

Challenger wins! The ridiculously flat turbo torque curve of the Ford, along with AWD, help it launch hard, but Challenger's power lets it pull away. I like the SHO, but cannot see buying one at the price. Decisions decisions: SRT...SHO....SRT...SHO....SRT, obviously!