The burnt orange Toyota you're looking at is the Lexus LFA Nürburgring edition.

Short of offering an entirely new version of the LFA - which is, after all, quite new and exclusive as it is - Lexus has unveiled a Nürburgring package. It comprises a plane ticket and a packed lunch.

Not really, it's a mechanical overhaul of the standard LFA that gives it more power, more downforce and a quicker gearchange. Power goes up to 562bhp from the V10, shifts happen in a barely detectable 0.15 seconds, and 0-62mph takes 3.7 seconds. It tops out at 202mph.

The extra downforce comes from a fixed rear wing and body kit modifications, and 'Ring editions are shod with stickier tyres. The suspension is re-tuned too.

The link to the 'Ring is the LFA's participation in the 24-hour endurance race there in May - the first time it will do so in production guise. It was famously entered in pre-production form during its development.

Buyers will get a free year pass to the Nordschleife track and, should they want or need it, individual instruction from a 'Ring specialist.

Only 50 Nürburgring editions will be made, and that's within the total run of 500 LFAs. Lexus promises it absolutely will not make more than that.

Mark Nichol - 29 Mar 2010