10th anniversary of Hiromu Naruse's death; Japan's Master Test Driver

The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection.

For a period of time, that was the Lexus motto. It embodied the brand’s obsession with attention to detail. This was one of the cornerstones which Lexus built their cars upon. And at the very zenith of this obsession was the LFA, still Lexus’ one and only forage into supercardom. But what a forage. One that wouldn’t have been possible if not for Hiromu Naruse.

If Lexus’ ‘relentless pursuit of perfection’ was distilled into human form, Hiromu Naruse would be that very person. His attention to detail, his obsession towards finding perfection, was matched by no one. It became his lifelong commitment, the reason he woke up in the morning.

He was - up until his untimely and ultimately tragic demise in 2010 - Toyota and Lexus’ Master Test Driver, in a career that spanned 50 years. Quite how he ended up as a test driver is also rather bizarre, as he was initially hired as a temporary mechanic. But this was to stand him in good stead, because his mechanical nous would be invaluable in his ability to hone cars to perfection.

Throughout his stint in Toyota and Lexus, Naruse’s body of work garnered him reverence. He never focused on just one part of the car; he was at all departments. Powertrain, suspension, tyres, you name it. His roll of honour includes revered machines such as the 2000GT, AE86, A80 Supra, MR-S, Altezza down to the LFA. Yamaha-tuned V10 in the LFA? Yep, all him. Not only did his cars drive well, they had a consistent ‘flavour’ about them. And he meant it to be such.

Tales of his near-pathological obsession with perfection range from his demand to change the ride height of a car, 6 months before its premiere, to spending hours on end on the workshop floor with his engineers, finetuning suspension settings, in the searing summer heat.

He was the living embodiment of the philosophy ‘Genchi Genbutsu’, which means “go and see for yourself.” He once asked his engineers,” Why are you sticking to your desks in the office? Why do you not touch the vehicles more often?” He wanted every member of his team to be as hands-on as possible. Seat time and face time with the cars were all-important to him.

Current Toyota president, Akio Toyoda (grandson of Toyota founder Kiichiro) fondly recalls his first encounter with Naruse. In 2000, Toyoda had just returned from the United States and was eager to meet the company’s Master Test Driver, whom his father Shoichiro told him so much about. He considered himself a car guy, and was excited to have a conversation with Naruse. He was about to get a rude awakening.

“I don’t want to hear you giving me advice about cars, when you clearly don’t know how to drive properly.” Bold words from Naruse to the heir-apparent of the company. But Toyoda took it in his stride. He saw an opportunity to learn driving from the Master Test Driver himself. A Master & Apprentice relationship was formed.

And off they went, honing Toyoda’s driving ability across racetracks in Japan. When that was done and dusted, they headed to the Nurburgring, a racetrack feared and revered in equal measure. Toyoda pounded the circuit lap after lap, familiarising himself with the ‘Green Hell’, chasing Naruse around it until he remembered every turn, every braking point, every apex.

Naruse’s relationship with Toyoda blossomed. In Toyoda, he found an ally, a person who understood why driver’s cars matter. The existence of Toyota Gazoo Racing (yes, that’s what the GR stands for) owes much to this relationship. And more pertinently, the existence of the Lexus LFA.

Naruse-san lobbied for the brand to go racing, for them to set up shop for R&D in the Nurburgring, for Toyoda himself to spearhead Toyota Gazoo Racing (which he did, under the pseudonym ‘Morizo’). Naruse's obsession with the Nurburgring stemmed from his conviction that any car that can cope with the punishment this circuit had to offer, will have peerless driving dynamics. Toyoda bought in to the lobbying, he went all in.

Come 2002, Toyota’s focus moved to cars like the Prius, which signalled a shift in the company’s engineering direction. This did not sit well with Naruse, although he had a major role in developing the Altezza and MR-S during this period. Naruse wanted a game-changer, something that would make the world sit up and take notice, like the A80 Supra.

That game-changer would come in the form of the Lexus LFA. For the first time in company’s history, a Master Test Driver was given carte blanche to weave his vision of the LFA to reality. Naruse’s authority in this project superseded even the Chief Engineer himself, Haruhiko Tanahashi. There was only one place Naruse wanted to develop the LFA in.

Naruse would waste no time. This was to be his zenith, the culmination of his career. He was not going to fail. He badgered the suspension suppliers, Kayaba to no end with his constant input. He hounded the tyre suppliers, Bridgestone till he got the compound he was satisfied with. This was all the more remarkable seeing he had zero tyre or suspension engineering background.

Bit by bit, the LFA took shape. Utilising Toyota’s Formula 1 know-how at the time, the LFA’s chassis was manufactured in-house, with carbon-fiber featuring prominently. Whilst the LFA was notorious for its long gestation period, Naruse had hit all the benchmark targets that were set.

The crown jewel, however, was to be the engine. Drawing further from Toyota’s F1 experience, the naturally aspirated 1LR-GUE 4.8-litre V10, co-developed with Yamaha, produced 560 PS (well above the 100 PS/litre benchmark) and 480 Nm. The engineers called the exhaust note “the roar of an angel.” If you have never heard it before, go have a listen (start at 00:40, you're welcome). In 2008, LFA prototypes were sent to compete in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, under Gazoo Racing.

Finally, in October 2009, the LFA was introduced to the world at the Tokyo Motor Show. Hiromu Naruse had completed his halo car. Lexus now had a world-beating supercar. Funny thing was, just as the LFA development team thought they could wind down and start packing, Naruse told them there was more work. Somewhere in the Nurburgring, there was a collective sigh.

Naruse thought the LFA could still be improved further, and pressed on. He wanted to bring the LFA even closer to perfection. Data gleaned from the LFA race prototypes would be used to fine-tune and create a more extreme, competition-spec LFA, called the Nurburgring Package. Only 64 out of the 500 LFAs ever produced came in this flavour.

Naruse was pleased, the Nurburgring Package had met his targets. His development team could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Naruse could look forward to perhaps retiring. After all, he had achieved his dream, and he was already 66. This was a car he intimately loved, and knew, inside out.

And that was what made it all the more puzzling that he was involved in that head-on collision on that fateful day in 23 June 2010, as he was heading back to Toyota’s engineering facility nearby. He had probably driven the LFA, on that stretch of road so many times prior. Naruse died at the scene of the accident. Toyota lost not only a Master Test Driver, but a leading light, a force of nature, an indomitable spirit.

As if in tribute, the LFA Nurburgring Package went on to set a then production car lap record of 7:14.46 in the hands of Super GT champion Akira Iida, ten months after Naruse’s tragic passing. Ultimately, the LFA, - his LFA - achieved everything he dreamed of, sadly without Naruse witnessing it himself.

Until today, you can feel the spirit of Hiromu Naruse living in many other Toyota and Lexus cars. Without Naruse’s influence, cars like the GT86 and A90 Supra would not have seen light of day. The new New Global Architecture platform has also spawned some great driver’s cars like the Camry (yes, it drives exceedingly well) and ES. All envisioned by Naruse’s protégé, Morizo.

Till the very end, Naruse-san died doing what he loved. He radiated that self-belief, that burning desire, that seemingly-unending obsession to see his life’s work, - building cars that could rub shoulders with the very best the automotive world had to offer - come to fruition. With his last dance, the Lexus LFA Nurburgring Package, he certainly did that, and so much more. Salute to you, Naruse-san. 10 years on, your absence is still greatly felt, and sorely missed.