Test Drives: 2008 Lexus IS F

[mikeyb]

Naughty by nature: Polite, upstanding Lexus uses the F word

What does the "F" in the name of this new four-door, 416-horse velocityraptor from Lexus stand for? Company boss Jim Farley doesn't much care. "Maybe 'Fuji,' our racetrack," he says (the F logo is shaped like Turn One). "Or 'Circle-F' [the original code name for Lexus Division]. Or 'Flagship.'"

Allow us to offer a suggestion, Jim: "Fenomenal."


Based on the platform that underpins the IS 250 and IS 350 sport sedans, the IS F is a carbon-spewing, tire-vaporizing mutant, the gentrified Lexus family's black sheep (and you know how much fun black sheep can be). Given Lexus's carefully cultivated reputation for civility, the rip-snorting IS F shouldn't even be here. And yet, by sheer force of will (see sidebar), it is. Lucky us.

For sure, nothing else in the Lexus stable has the IS F's street-bruiser look. Two inches wider up front than the IS 350, the F also sports a larger grille (improved engine cooling), fat brake ducts in the front air dam, 19-inch, dark-gray BBS forged-alloy wheels, quad tailpipes in a dual stacked array, and a pronounced hood bulge that hints of something menacing lurking underneath.


It's in there. The engine, based on the direct-injection 5.0-liter V-8 that serves in the LS 600hL, was codeveloped by Yamaha; it's upgraded with new high-flow heads, hollow cams, a head-scavenge oil pump (to help maintain even lubrication during high-g loads), titanium intake valves, a dual-inlet air intake (the second intake opens at 3600 rpm for enhanced high-rpm breathing), and other performance goodies. The net result is 416 horsepower at 6600 rpm and 371 pound-feet of torque at 5200.

The IS F doesn't offer a manual transmission--and nobody's going to complain. Instead, standard is an eight-speed automatic with manual mode and paddle shifters. While the transmission uses a conventional torque converter in first gear, in manual mode the lock-up clutch remains engaged from second through eighth, directly connecting the engine's output to the rear wheels (lift off the gas, and the engine compression is immediate, as with a conventional manual transmission). Adding to the "manual" feel is ultra-fast shifting; Lexus claims the tranny can change gears in just 100 milliseconds--as quick as the Ferrari F430's F1 box.


From the company that's synonymous with a cloudlike ride comes a suspension that's as cushy as a manhole cover. Front spring and shock rates are up 90 percent; the rear rates have climbed 50 percent. Larger anti-roll bars front and back minimize body roll even more, as does a ride height lowered about an inch. Inside the huge forged-alloy wheels (said to be 40 percent lighter than cast-aluminum wheels of the same size) lie six-piston Brembo brakes up front (the vented and drilled discs are an inch larger than the IS 350's) and two-piston vented and drilled Brembo rotors (up 1.4 inches) at the rear.

If by now you think Lexus has forgotten everything it knows about coddling its buyers, the cockpit will immediately put your mind at ease. It's a racy place--shift paddles behind the wheel, four deeply bolstered sport bucket seats, oil-temp gauge, aluminized composite trim--yet it's still very Lexus. All the typical amenities are standard or available, including heated seats, navigation, Mark Levinson surround-sound audio, and radar-guided cruise. Our tester also featured the optional (and gorgeous) high-contrast interior, with dramatic white-on-black leather.


Acknowledging that their new IS F offers higher-performance limits than any public road can handle, the Lexus team unveiled their new black sheep at Laguna Seca racetrack. There, it took about, oh, two or three turns to realize the Nrburgring-tuned IS F is going to make serious trouble for the likes of the new BMW M3, the Audi RS4, and the Mercedes C63 AMG. The car is, quite simply, a monster: Acceleration is brutal, the brakes are wicked-strong, and handling grip is immense (a Sport mode for Lexus's VDIM stability-control system increases steering weight, boosts throttle response, and allows the tail to step out usefully before the electronics step in; Lexus says Sport produces faster lap times than switching off the system altogether). You could easily convince yourself you're driving a track car. The engine note completes the illusion. Given that Toyota runs its own F1 team, you expect the V-8 to scream like Jarno Trulli's single-seater. Wrong series. Instead, the IS F bellows like a Nextel Cup Toyota Camry (redline is a relatively low 6800 rpm).

Back in L.A., senior editor Kiino grabbed the keys and came back from a sprint through his favorite canyons all but frothing at the mouth: "This may be the best Japanese car I've ever driven! Under normal driving, the 5.0 feels like a typical Lexus V-8--super smooth and quiet--yet stomp on it and all of a sudden it's like there's a honkin' Hemi on-board--one that got its Ph.D. at the University of NVH. Shift speed is remarkable--feels like a DSG. And you can flog the suspension and it never gets upset. This car is a riot."


The test gear confirmed our giddiness. The IS F blazes to 60 mph in just 4.7 seconds and stops from the same speed in only 106 feet. It'll also churn up a nice, warm, vibraty feeling all through your gutty-works: Max grip is 0.91 g. Got a long driveway? Top speed is electronically limited to 168 mph, making the IS F the fastest Lexus ever.

How much? Lexus won't say yet, but there's a special Neiman Marcus Edition IS F set to make its debut soon for $68,000. Subtract $5000 for the N-M edition's included Skip Barber Racing School package, and another couple thou for some special goodies on that car, and you're probably looking at a base sticker of around $60K when the IS F goes on sale in late February or early March.

F Troop

Lexus didn't want the IS F. Yukihiko Yaguchi, formerly in charge of brand strategy at Japan's Lexus Center, did. Though Lexus was already producing world-class luxury sedans and several impressive sporting cars, Yaguchi dreamed of a Lexus that would run with BMW's M, Benz's AMG, Audi's RS Quattro division. He pushed his idea to the conservative higher-ups--and won. Like that, he became chief engineer, Lexus IS F.


"Most chief engineers have development teams of between 1000 and 1500 members," the quiet, unassuming Yaguchi says. "I had 200 to 300." But like Kelly Johnson's famed Skunk Works team at Lockheed, whose skeleton crew designed such ground-breaking aircraft as the SR-71 Blackbird, Yaguchi's enthusiastic F troops often worked on the IS F on their own clocks. Yaguchi enlisted the help of long-time friend Takaai Kimura, senior officer at Yamaha, to develop the IS F's engine and borrowed engineers at Toyota Technocraft (which builds everything from police vehicles to race cars) to design the chassis.

"The luxury market is going to change dramatically in the next decade," says Lexus general manager Jim Farley. "In six years, 50 percent of our buyers will be 30 to 40 years old. The IS F is an experiment for us. I don't know if it'll steal buyers from BMW and Mercedes, but we've learned that prestige buyers like to be surprised. If the IS F does well [Lexus hopes to sell 200-300 cars per month], you might well see a wider application of F-branded cars."


"In Japanese," Yaguchi says, "'go' is a word that used to describe a large ship, moving forward and unstoppable." No wonder, then, that this radical new Lexus owes its existence to a team nicknamed "Yaguchi-Go."

<TABLE class=insettxt cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=1><TBODY><TR class=hdr><TD colSpan=2>POWERTRAIN/CHASSIS </TD></TR><TR><TD>Drivetrain layout </TD><TD>Front engine, RWD </TD></TR><TR><TD>Engine type </TD><TD>90-degree V-8, aluminum block/heads </TD></TR><TR><TD>Valvetrain </TD><TD>DOHC, 4 valves/cyl </TD></TR><TR><TD>Displacement </TD><TD>303.2 cu in/4969 cc </TD></TR><TR><TD>Compression ratio </TD><TD>11.8:1 </TD></TR><TR><TD>Power (SAE net) </TD><TD>416 hp@6600 rpm </TD></TR><TR><TD>Torque (SAE net) </TD><TD>371 lb-ft @ 5200 rpm </TD></TR><TR><TD>Redline </TD><TD>6800 rpm </TD></TR><TR><TD>Weight to Power </TD><TD>09.1 lb/hp </TD></TR><TR><TD>Transmission </TD><TD>8-speed automatic </TD></TR><TR><TD>Axle/Final-drive ratios </TD><TD>2.94:1/2.01:1 </TD></TR><TR><TD>Suspension, front; rear </TD><TD>Control arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar </TD></TR><TR><TD>Steering ratio </TD><TD>13.6:1 </TD></TR><TR><TD>Turns lock-to-lock </TD><TD>2.9 </TD></TR><TR><TD>Brakes, f;r </TD><TD>14.2-in vented, drilled disc; 13.6-in vented, drilled disc, ABS </TD></TR><TR><TD>Wheels, f;r </TD><TD>8.0 x 19 in; 9.0 x 19 in forged aluminum </TD></TR><TR><TD>Tires, f;r </TD><TD>225/40R19 93Y; 255/35R19 96Y Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 </TD></TR><TR><TR class=hdr><TD colSpan=2>DIMENSIONS </TD></TR><TR><TD>Wheelbase </TD><TD>107.5 in </TD></TR><TR><TD>Track, f;r </TD><TD>61.4/59.6 in </TD></TR><TR><TD>Length x width x height </TD><TD>183.5 x 71.5 x 55.7 in </TD></TR><TR><TD>Turning circle </TD><TD>33.5 ft </TD></TR><TR><TD>Curb weight </TD><TD>3805 lb </TD></TR><TR><TD>Weight dist, f/r </TD><TD>54/46% </TD></TR><TR><TD>Seating capacity </TD><TD>4 </TD></TR><TR><TD>Headroom, f/r </TD><TD>37.2/36.7 in </TD></TR><TR><TD>Legroom, f/r </TD><TD>43.9/30.6 </TD></TR><TR><TD>Shoulder room, f/r </TD><TD>54.4/52.7 in </TD></TR><TR><TD>Cargo volume </TD><TD>13.3 cu ft </TD></TR><TR><TR class=hdr><TD colSpan=2>TEST DATA </TD><TR class=hdr1><TD colSpan=2>Acceleration to mph </TD></TR><TR><TD>0-30 </TD><TD>1.8 sec </TD></TR><TR><TD>0-40 </TD><TD>2.7 </TD></TR><TR><TD>0-50 </TD><TD>3.6 </TD></TR><TR><TD>0-60 </TD><TD>4.7 </TD></TR><TR><TD>0-70 </TD><TD>5.9 </TD></TR><TR><TD>0-80 </TD><TD>7.2 </TD></TR><TR><TD>0-90 </TD><TD>8.6 </TD></TR><TR><TD>0-100 </TD><TD>10.5 </TD></TR><TR><TD>Passing, 45-65 mph </TD><TD>2.2 </TD></TR><TR><TD>Quarter mile </TD><TD>13.0 sec @ 111.7 mph </TD></TR><TR><TD>Braking, 60-0 mph </TD><TD>106 ft </TD></TR><TR><TD>Lateral acceleration </TD><TD>0.91 g, avg </TD></TR><TR><TD>MT Figure Eight </TD><TD>24.5 sec @ 0.78 g, avg </TD></TR><TR><TD>Top-gear revs @ 60 mph </TD><TD>1600 rpm </TD></TR><TR><TR class=hdr><TD colSpan=2>CONSUMER INFO </TD></TR><TR><TD>Base Price </TD><TD>$60,000 (est) </TD></TR><TR><TD>Price As Tested </TD><TD>$64,000 (est) </TD></TR><TR><TD>Stability/traction control </TD><TD>Yes/yes </TD></TR><TR><TD>Airbags </TD><TD>Dual front, front side, f/r curtain, front knee </TD></TR><TR><TD>Basic warranty </TD><TD>4 yrs/50,000 miles </TD></TR><TR><TD>Powertrain warranty </TD><TD>6 yrs/70,000 miles </TD></TR><TR><TD>Roadside assistance </TD><TD>4 years/Unlimited </TD></TR><TR><TD>Fuel capacity </TD><TD>16.9 gal </TD></TR><TR><TD>EPA city/hwy econ </TD><TD>16/23 mpg (est) </TD></TR><TR><TD>CO2 Emissions </TD><TD>1.05 lb/mile (est) </TD></TR><TR><TD>Recommended fuel </TD><TD>Premium </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--endclickprintinclude-->

 

[BlackCherry06]

More icing on a sweet cake, IMO. One thing I could live without is that FUNKY tailpipe configuration. AWD would be nice too. A handsome member of Lexus' stable.

 

[TinmanMS6]

I literally just finished reading another review of this car on Edmund's Inside Line blog. They, too, seemed impressed by the tranny. I guess we can knock it for not providing the direct connection to the car of a manual, but not its performance.

My favorite picture from that article:

 

[mikeyb]

I literally just finished reading another review of this car on Edmund's Inside Line blog. They, too, seemed impressed by the tranny. I guess we can knock it for not providing the direct connection to the car of a manual, but not its performance.

My favorite picture from that article:

That is interesting....

Post that article.

 

[BlueWolfCry]

Man that is hot! It's gonna take some time getting used to the exhaust tip...why isn't the tip connected to the rest of the exhaust?

 

[mikeyb]

Is it odd that I've seen a IS-F on the road already when its stated to be on the market Feb 08? The one I saw and actually ran with had regular New Hampshire plates on it.

 

[CHICO2003]

those hideous tailpipes have to go

 

[mikeyb]

those hideous tailpipes have to go

Their fake and a part of the rear bumper.

 

[sanblaster]

das is gu'd. I like very much.

 

[TinmanMS6]

No time to post all the pics right now, but here's the article.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FullTests/articleId=123125

Rather than shoehorning a 5.0-liter V8 into the nose of an IS 350 and simply calling it the IS 500, Lexus has instead cooked up a far more dedicated sport sedan with its new 2008 Lexus IS-F.

According to Lexus, the "F" in Lexus IS-F is derived from Toyota's initial "Circle-F" designation of 20 years ago for what would become the Lexus brand itself. Circle-F later morphed into Flagship One or F1, which in turn became the internal code for the first Lexus car, the LS 400.

Lexus is using this convoluted pedigree to help explain the importance it attaches to the IS-F. It promises that this and subsequent F-type cars will give Lexus real performance credentials, and it hopes that the F sub-brand will become as synonymous with performance as BMW's M Division and Mercedes-Benz AMG.

Frankly, we would've been just as satisfied with a simple "IS 500" badge and far more subtle exterior styling. But from now on, it's all about the F-word.

F Is for Fury
Regardless of what it means to the luxury carmaker (and how it appears to the serious sport-sedan buyer), the 2008 Lexus IS-F is a serious piece of highly engineered hardware indeed. At its heart, the 5.0-liter V8 (2UR-GSE) comes from a stroked version of the 4.6-liter engine (1UR-FSE) found in the luxo-cruising Lexus LS 460. Now that Yamaha (a frequent collaborator with Toyota for engine projects) has had its way with it, an essentially all-new engine pumps out an impressive 416 horsepower at 6,600 rpm with 371 pound-feet of torque available at 5,200 rpm.

Exclusive to this Lexus V8 are trick cylinder heads with solid lifters and titanium intake valves, plus a water-cooled oil radiator. There's also an oil-scavenge pumping system that keeps the engine supplied with life-sustaining lubricant even in high-G cornering, and even the fuel tank uses an offset pump in a sub-tank for the same reasons.

The engine's lightweight reciprocating mass (said to be half that of other UR engines) combines with variable valve timing to produce a lofty redline of 6,800 rpm.

There's an instantly recognizable pubescent change in the IS-F's voice at 3,600 rpm when the dual-path intake system opens the secondary plumbing (located in the right wheelwell), immersing the passengers in a furious symphony of eight-cylinder baritone.

When you pour the 5.0-liter V8's power through the highly modified eight-speed automatic transmission (from the LS 460), the 3,780-pound IS-F is good for a 4.8-second time to 60 mph on the way to a quarter-mile in 13.2 seconds at 109 mph, and it's still accelerating hard — very hard.

The Competition
Frankly, we expected even better performance from such a good power-to-weight ratio. In our testing, the IS 350 has run to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds and done the quarter-mile in 13.8 seconds at 101.2 mph. Meanwhile, the BMW 335i sedan with an automatic clocks 60 mph in 4.9 seconds and the quarter-mile in 13.4 seconds at 103.9 mph.

And when it comes to BMW's official performance estimates for the 2008 BMW M3 sedan with its 414-hp 4.0-liter V8, the benchmark of 60 mph is supposed to come up in 4.9 seconds. The same stat for the 2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG with its 457-hp, 6.2-liter V8 is less than 4.5 seconds.

We admit we might've left a tenth or two on the IS-F's table, however. As much as we feel that Michelin Pilot PS2 tires are like sticky Lucky Charms, the IS-F's 255mm-wide rear contact patches aren't wide enough to duplicate a magically delicious launch.

That said, the roar of the rev-happy V8 is one of the most lust-worthy we've heard, rivaling the thrilling sound of the 4.2-liter V8 in the Audi RS 4, which also sounds like a flat-bottom drag-racing boat powered by a small-block V8 with open headers.

F Is for Fuji
Though if drag racing isn't quite the IS-F's sort of environment, road racing is. Besides the four other racetracks where camouflaged IS-F mules spent much of their time during testing, the car primarily was developed on Toyota's own Fuji International Speedway. A nice thing, if you can afford it.

What this did for the IS-F is readily evident in the car's ability to hold a line in the corners, the linearity and tractability of the engine's power, and the magnificent proficiency of the transmission's shift action in manual mode.

The brakes are also track-worthy. The fixed Brembo six-piston front calipers feature three different piston diameters and clamp 14.2-inch drilled and vented discs, while two-piston rear calipers squeeze 13.6-inch drilled and vented discs in the back. Sixty-to-zero stopping distances tumbled down with each successive stop with a best of 112 feet. We tired before these fade-resistant brakes did.

Thank You for Smoking
We had a few laps at a local track and can tell the IS-F is no stranger to an apex. We tried all three modes of stability/traction control and found Sport VDIM mode largely unobtrusive. It's pretty permissive and becomes slightly annoyed only if the driver's corner entry or exit is less smooth than Sir Jackie Stewart would recommend.

Still, we couldn't help but enjoy the drive-at-your-own-risk mode with the stability control switched off. When you briefly lift off the throttle pedal midcorner, then whack it wide open, the tail of the car is easily coaxed into a slide. The faux, brake-induced simulation of a limited-slip differential initially fights the slide, but it eventually relinquishes its hold on the tires and two plumes of magnificent white tire smoke finally emerge.

The IS-F's turn-in is breathtakingly quick, as the car takes a confident and very firm set through corners with pretty stubborn understeer on the car's limit. We measured 0.93g on our skid pad.

Though the steering action is as precise as any rack-and-pinion can deliver, the artificially heavy effort of the two-mode, electric power assist (a 42V system) still cannot communicate as much information about the contact patches of the front tires as other sport sedans we've driven. Even so, the IS-F weaves its way to an exhilarating 70.2-mph slalom run where oversteer becomes the limiting factor. Credit the car's weight distribution of 54 percent front/46 percent rear.

F Is for Fast
Automatic transmissions are slow-acting, power-sapping, indirect hindrances between an engine and a driver's will, right? Yet the IS-F's eight-speed Sport Direct Shift automatic transmission (AA80E) obliterates this notion with an entirely novel — and we think industry-changing — control system.

While the hardware again has its foundation in the transmission of the LS sedan, lightweight yet robust internals plus a complete rewiring of the transmission's brain have produced an entirely new definition of an automatic transmission. In manual mode, it comes as close to instant shifting as anything we've driven.

When manual mode (shifted via steering-column paddles or the console-mounted gearlever) is selected, upshift times drop from a Lexus IS 350's typical 1.3 seconds (0.7 second to initiate plus 0.6 second to change ratios) to a mere 0.3 second (0.2 second to initiate plus 0.1 second to shift). We also appreciate the perfectly timed tone that reminds you to shift just before you hit the rev limiter in each gear.

The gloriously quick downshifts (with matched revs) sound as if the car has a true sequential gearbox. It's unbelievable. The only other transmission that comes close to such quick, driver-friendly action is the dual-clutch DSG gearbox like the one in an Audi A3, or perhaps the latest $9,000, Formula 1-style automated sequential manual like that in the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano.

When it's in Drive, the transmission behaves much like a traditional automatic with the personality and torque-converter lock-up habits of the latest BMW StepTronic, but with two or three too many gears from which to choose. The mundane cut-and-thrust of everyday traffic produces frequent shifting among the eight ratios and it takes some getting used to.

F Is for Freeway Hop
While the kind of on-track schooling the IS-F has received is generally a good performance-tuning practice that tends to breed more performance-capable vehicles, it doesn't always make for a livable car.

The IS-F short-travel suspension rides taut and firm like a racecar's — all the time. Without driver-adjustable suspension, freeway overpasses that are usually registered by the seat of your pants as a gentle, rolling hop become spine-compressing jolts. Consider yourself warned.

Generation Gap
What do you think of when you hear "Lexus"? Maybe it's not performance. Initial quality studies, customer satisfaction ratings and a luxury-car benchmark with a reputation for reliability are more like it, and that's why the median age of a Lexus buyer is older than any of its competition among performance-oriented brands.

The way Lexus sees it, all those WRX and Evo owners are getting older, have increased their earning potential and shortly will be looking for cars that satisfy their inner enthusiasts while avoiding the boy-racer stigma. So the IS-F is the right thing to do for the future of Lexus.

The 416-hp 2008 Lexus IS-F also intends to take a preemptive bite out of the high-performance compact-sedan pie currently sized up by the forthcoming BMW M3 sedan and Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG.

The price of the 2008 Lexus IS-F might make it persuasive. Though the official numbers won't be announced for a bit, Lexus says our estimate of $59,900 isn't "embarrassingly inaccurate," so we used the current IS 350's optional $2,550 navigation system price to calculate this IS-F's $62,540 as-tested price.

The F-Word
If it seems that our enthusiasm for the IS-F is mixed, you're right. While we can appreciate all the work that went into this performance-minded, track-worthy Lexus, we're more than a little put off by its harsh ride on the street. Is this truly a usable high-performance car, or just a car for extreme profiling?

There's also something about the gimmicky styling. The most telling trace of disingenuousness can be found in those stacked quad exhaust "resonators," as Lexus describes them. We discovered that not one of the chromed ovals is directly plumbed to the muffler and are instead part of the rear fascia. They're there just for looks.

There's too much of this car that reminds us of the supersonic jet-powered sports cars we all used to draw on our denim binders back in third grade.

F Is for Future
Yet there's a whole lot more invested in this notion of a high-performance Lexus than the ill-fated "L Tune" kits for the first-generation IS, which were little more than stiffer suspensions, tacked-on body parts and loud exhaust systems.

Depending on its success, Lexus says the IS-F is but the first in a series of F-division vehicles, with the next obvious, though not confirmed, candidate being the GS-F.

We applaud the effort and support Lexus' path down this road, but we hope they spend a little more time on city streets and a little less time on race tracks.

 

[TinmanMS6]

Man that is hot! It's gonna take some time getting used to the exhaust tip...why isn't the tip connected to the rest of the exhaust?

The MS6 has the same thing. The tips are integrated into the bumper and not actually connected to anything.

 

[mikeyb]

Here are the pics from the Edmunds test.

 

[jred321]

very nice. the faux tips, yea they suck. they'd suck even if they were real. i'm not totally up on quarter mile times but isn't 111mph a high trap for only a 13.0? does it have traction issues?

 

[redrims]

very nice. the faux tips, yea they suck. they'd suck even if they were real. i'm not totally up on quarter mile times but isn't 111mph a high trap for only a 13.0? does it have traction issues?

I doubt it has traction issues. Lexus is great at overdueing traction control, almost to where the driver as no control even with TSC off. I believe they are seriously underrating this car on purpose. I've seen a 100% stock IS350 run 13.3 twice.

 

[mikeyb]

Automobile Mag test drive

"The brakes are on fire," says a bystander, pointing to the front wheels of my matador red Lexus IS-F as I pull into the pits after a few hard laps at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. "No, really-they're on fire!"


And they are. Six-inch flames are shooting out of the six-piston front calipers; thick smoke is billowing out of the two-piston rears. Someone hops into the IS-F and drives off in the hope of extinguishing the fire before it ignites the whole car.


From the driver's seat, I had zero indication that the big Brembos had gotten so hot; neither pedal effort nor travel increased, and their ability to scrub off speed didn't diminish one bit. The Lexus just kept putting a smile on my face, generating huge lateral grip, demonstrating its remarkable balance, and showing off its big underhood muscle.
Lexus? Smile? Track? Seriously? Seriously.

he IS-F's engineering team had a clear goal: create a car that you won't want to stop driving even after ten hard laps on a racetrack. If that sounds like something you never thought you'd hear from Lexus, that's because it is. The goal was decreed instead by an ambitious engineer, Yukihiko Yaguchi, who started the project on the down-low.


In 2002, while in charge of global brand strategy, Yaguchi suggested creating a high-performance division for Lexus. Lexus executives said no, but Yaguchi secretly started development of that division's first car-the IS-F-anyway. When he finally presented the car to management, or so the story goes, they liked it so much that they green-lighted the project for production.


The first thing that any skunk works hot-rod team-factory-backed or not-does is shoehorn a big engine into a little engine bay, and so the IS-F received a V-8 transplant. The 5.0-liter unit produces 416 hp, which is right in the range of the IS-F's competitors: the 414-hp BMW M3, the 420-hp Audi RS4, and the 451-hp Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. The IS-F's 0-to-60-mph time, at 4.6 seconds, is also right in the middle of its peers' times.


Unlike the German cars, though, the IS-F isn't a high-rpm screamer. It's actually very much like an American hot rod in its power delivery: its 371 lb-ft of peak torque might arrive at a high 5200 rpm, but the curve drops off steeply thereafter. Despite Yamaha-developed cylinder heads with titanium intake valves and hollow camshafts, the oversquare V-8 feels like it's running out of breath by 6000 rpm, and the engine note goes flat by the time the computer pulls the plug at a mere 6800 rpm.

So, it doesn't scream, but the Lexus engine won't win any singing competitions, either. A secondary air intake opens up at 3600 rpm, filling the cabin with a contrived, nasal induction honk under big throttle openings. It's not particularly pleasing inside the car, and it completely stifles the exhaust noise-the noise that makes the German V-8s so desirable.


The IS-F is available exclusively with an automatic transmission, and Lexus wisely eschewed the slow-witted, jerky six-speed in the V-6-powered IS in favor of the eight-speed automatic from the LS460. It has been reprogrammed to include a paddle-shifted manual mode that keeps the torque converter locked up in all gears but first. The locked converter eliminates a major portion of the slip that is inherent in automatic transmissions, and it stays locked even during shifts, which are practically instantaneous. Gear changes aren't nearly as smooth as they would otherwise be, but the locked converter's direct connection between the engine and the wheels makes you forget that you're driving a car with a conventional automatic, which isn't a bad thing.

Unfortunately, the transmission uses the same curiously spaced gears as it does in the LS460. To wit, first, second, and third are so far apart that you're constantly wishing for another couple of gears in between, especially on slow, twisty roads. Conversely, the higher gears are so closely spaced that half of them seem superfluous. Case in point: when you are cruising at 50 mph in eighth gear, you need to pull the left gearshift paddle six times to downshift to your optimum passing gear. This confuses the transmission and results in no additional forward progress for what seems like an eternity.


The solution is to drive in the normal automatic mode, which allows the transmission to perform a magnificent eighth-to-second downshift at the nudge of your right foot. In automatic mode, though, there is no permanently locked torque converter and no lightning-quick shifts.


In the process of becoming an F, the IS has lost its perfect visual proportions. The front overhang has been lengthened by three inches to accommodate the big engine, and the hood, the grille, and the front fenders have swollen in sympathy. The wonky front fender vents do nothing to help, nor do the strange-looking, stacked exhaust diffusers in back (don't call them tips, because the mufflers release their gases into the air an inch or two before the rear valance). Despite its slightly awkward appearance, the IS-F doesn't look much different from the regular IS. In fact, the young driver of an IS350 with aftermarket wheels and suspension sitting next to us at a red light didn't even notice our IS-F. Until the light turned green and we dusted him, of course.



nlike the German competition, the IS-F isn't a complete rework of the chassis it's based on. It includes no additional chassis stiffening or unique suspension mounting points; Lexus deemed them unnecessary, since the IS's basic structure is shared with the larger GS, which was engineered to carry a V-8 engine and more weight. The truth more likely lies in the fact that, since the IS-F wasn't a planned derivative of the IS from day one, it was simply too late to engineer those changes. That's not to say that Yaguchi's team left the suspension untouched, as the front springs and shocks are a full 90 percent stiffer than those in the IS350, and the rears are 50 percent stiffer. The antiroll bars are thicker, and the ride height was reduced by 0.8 inch.


The IS-F rides on nineteen-inch BBS wheels that are forged rather than cast, saving somewhere around ten pounds each, but the result of all these changes is still one stiff-riding IS. The ride is fairly brutal, so your passengers certainly won't mistake this for a regular Lexus.


Then again, how could they? There are F badges strewn all over the interior, and the hand-finished composite trim, which looks like aluminum in a carbon-fiber weave, is positively stunning. The IS-F's cabin seats only four, but the front passengers are the luckiest, because their sport seats are supremely comfortable and hugely supportive. And there's no need to worry about that missing exhaust note, because you can fill in the acoustic blanks with the optional Mark Levinson fourteen-speaker stereo, one of the best sound systems in the business.

Surely no one will buy the IS-F because of its stereo, so what's it like to drive? On the road, it feels like an IS350 with another 110 hp, a much stiffer suspension, and a transmission that stays in the gear you select. But unlike the IS350, which is a numb and floaty disaster on the track, the IS-F is a tied-down, capable tool, with good steering feel to boot. Quick turn-in masks the weight of the big engine up front, and the chassis loves to settle into a four-wheel drift, corner after corner. With stability control completely disabled, copious throttle applications induce smooth, sweet oversteer. Compared with the tail-snappy M3, the IS-F is a pussycat-albeit a quick pussycat. We wouldn't be surprised to see an IS-F keeping up with an M3 around a racetrack.


But is that enough to turn the IS-F into the kind of icon that the M3 has become? We don't think so. The small sport sedan category is less about track prowess than it is street cred. The M3 has that in spades. Like the C63 and the RS4, it shares precious little of its driveline, suspension, and chassis with the more pedestrian car that it's based on. And, unlike the IS-F's relatively prosaic engine, which seems to have gained nothing from Toyota's involvement in Formula 1 racing, the M3's 8400-rpm V-8 starts its life in the same factory that builds BMW's F1 engines.

The IS-F simply cannot compete with that kind of lineage, no matter how charming it might be that it's the product of an underground skunk works team. Yaguchi's team has fulfilled its mission-the IS-F is so good on the track that you'll still be smiling even when the brakes are on fire.
But that hot-rod mission is one-sided, and the IS-F's potential customers will expect their cars to do more than simply tear up the tarmac on a racecourse. For all the speed the IS-F gained on the track, it lost even more of the ordinary IS's drivability and good looks. And on the streets and in the showrooms, that's what really counts.



V-8 Sport Sedan Smackdown
Twenty years ago, the Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars that created this lunatic-small-sport-sedan category beat up the big-boy sports cars by using highly tweaked four-cylinder engines under their hoods. But now, this segment is chock-full of V-8s. What happened? Weight.
Today's "Baby Benz" C63 weighs just as much as the S-class did back then. The same goes for the M3 - it weighs almost as much as the 1980s 7-series. It seems our baby sedans aren't really babies anymore - they're big, heavy fighting machines. There are now four V-8-powered competitors in this segment.


Here are the cars that the Lexus IS-F will go up against when it goes on sale early in 2008.



Audi RS4

The 2004 Audi S4 was the first sport sedan in this class with a V-8. Its 340-hp, 4.2-liter engine made seven ponies more than the benchmark E46-chassis M3, but its heavy all-wheel-drive system meant that it could never quite keepup with the BMW. Three years later, the 420-hp RS4 stunned everyone by besting the six-cylinder M3 not only on straight roads but in the corners, too.


Unlike the S4, the RS4 isn't just an A4 with a big engine and a few suspension tweaks. Its completely revised suspension gives a firm-but-never-harsh-ride, and the V-8 is strong throughout its ultrabroad rev range.


The RS4 is nearing the end of its life as Audi starts production on the next A4. But from behind the wheel, nothing about it feels like last-generation goods. It's still the only all-wheel-drive car here, and unlike the Lexus and the Mercedes, it has three pedals.



BMW M3

The M3's 8400-rpm V-8 makes about as much power as the Audi's but with 0.2 liters less displacement, and its haunting, tenor exhaust note sounds even better. Its well-balanced chassis has a surprisingly easy time coping with all the power, although power oversteer is still very much an integral part of the experience.


Available only as a coupe (at least for now; we expect that a sedan version will debut at the L.A. auto show in late November, followed by a convertible in 2008), the M3 gives up a little practicality to its four-door brethren, andpreliminary drives have given us the impression that the brakes arent up to repeated abuse.


Nevertheless, the M3 still owns this segment. Its weight might have ballooned over four generations, and its cylinder count might have doubled, but it has remained true to its manual-transmission, rear-wheel-drive roots.

Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

If the rest of the cars here are black cats, the C63 AMG is Pep Le Pew. Not in smell, of course, but in speed. If you recall, the lovestruck cartoon skunk always kept up with his disinterested feline objet damour without breaking asweat, no matter how hard she scrambled, scratched, and oversteered to get away.


It is with exactly such ease that the C63 AMG chases its prey. While the V-8s in the M3 and the RS4 are tuned to within a horsepower of their lives, the AMG engine was electronically detuned for C-class duty, and yet it still makes 148 lb-ft more torque than the M3's.


The seven-speed manu-matic performs perfect blip-throttle downshifts as you enter a corner. Add to that near-perfect chassis balance, spot-on suspension tuning, great brakes, and a plus-size cabin. The C63 might have dethroned the M3 if it weren't missing a clutch pedal.

Please note that Lexus has just updated its earlier preliminary figures. The IS-F's top speed has been raised to 170 mph instead of the 168 mph indicated in the chart above.

 

[altspace]

The MS6 has the same thing. The tips are integrated into the bumper and not actually connected to anything.

Yup, I found that out months ago when the concept came out. Kind of cheap in away if you ask me. Not to mention part of the exhaust is blocked.

 

[andrew.savage]

I'd still take the Audi, I don't care what you all say.

 

[TinmanMS6]

Well, this should be priced squarely in the middle of an S4 and an RS4, so it's not that simple of a comparison.

 

[mikeyb]

Well guys the RS4 is dead by the end of this year.

 

[TinmanMS6]

They're ending production. They'll still be available for a little while.

It's coming back! Stop stomping all over my hopes and dreams!!!111!!