ENGINEERS and designers at Lexus continue to use their groundbreaking LF-A premium sports car concept as a medium for expressing their ideas about what a high-performance sporting vehicle not only can be, but should be.

In this latest expression of the LF-A, they have removed the car's top to create a high-performance roadster.

The LF-A Roadster (pictured) is based on the sturdy yet lightweight carbon-fibre and aluminium body used for the LF-A coupe, which helps maintain the structure's strength and rigidity even without a top.

Like its coupe counterpart, the LF-A Roadster is powered by a high-revving V10 engine that approaches 5.0 litres in displacement.

The V10, capable of more than 500 horsepower and test-track speeds greater than 200 mph, is mounted in front of the passenger compartment but behind the front-axle centreline in what the LF-A's engineers refer to as a front-mid configuration.

The engine is connected via a torque tube and propeller shaft to a transaxle that is controlled by paddle shifters. The torque tube is a structural member that adds rigidity to the drivetrain and chassis while also reducing vibration.

Like its coupe counterpart, the LF-A Roadster stands just 48 inches, but the Roadster configuration adds a speed adaptive rear wing.

The rear is marked by a pair of wrap-around, arrowhead-shaped taillights that bracket a pair of large grilles. These grilles vent the heated air from the car's two rear-mounted radiators into the LF-A Roadster's aerodynamic wake. The radiators are fed cool air by two large intake ducts mounted just above the rear wheel wells.