So, [info]idioglossia's friend had his hands on Toyota's just released Lexus IS-F. This is an interesting move. (The release of the IS-F, NOT that someone I know indirectly might have one) Lexus is the luxury arm of Toyota, and they have, in the past, made some interesting cars. Generally, they're cars that appeal to a ... certain... subset. Lets say, successful men and women, fifty-plus, and definitely making upwards of six-figures. Basically, they're the Cadillac that Cadillac is trying to recapture. Historically, their cars have been upscale redos of cars that Toyota already makes: the ES series was basically a re-skinned Camry with some more engine choices, etc. The only really original cars they had were the GS Series, and the SC Series of cars. The GS's were gigantic rear-wheel-drive luxo-liners, competing with the Cadillac DTS, Mercedes S and BMW 7 series. All vehicles that are often lengthened for limo service, or at least to have a chauffeur. Nothing as crass as driving them yourself. The SC series was a little more enthusiastic, coupe/convertibles with V8's and rear-drive, but still, not serious contenders in the sports car arena. Merely so-so GT tourers. Lots of automatic transmissions, good for cruising the boulevard with the top down to make sure everyone sees how much money you make.


Enter the IS.


See, the IS was an interesting car when it was introduced in 2001 or so. A lot of companies were getting into that bracket at the time. The industry was heading downhill, and the idea was to make relatively inexpensive cars that still held up to the luxury image for each of the brands. BMW has always had it's 3 series, but Mercedes got serious with the pricing and styling of the C series of coupes and sedans, and Lexus introduced the IS300.


When I was looking at cars, my Acura RSX was definitely the low-side of the entry-level luxury market. I bought a 2003 used, for about twenty grand after tax. New, it went for around thirty, depending on the options. The IS300, C230 kompressor, C320, and 330i tended to start around $42,000, and worked up from there. The demographic, (you knew I was getting there) was definitely thirty-somethings, affluent, and build a relationship with them so they buy more expensive cars from the same brand later in life. Brand Loyalty, in a phrase. This is a big deal. Mercedes, BMW and the like had always traded on reputation, but MB's reputation for the prior ten years was lousy. They were trying to rebuild, which was a perfect time for the upstarts to get into the game, and steal some market share. Guys like Lexus, infiniti and to a lesser extent, Subaru.


Back to the IS300. Lexus introduced it as an alternative to the Mercedes and BMW. Mercedes especially had been plagued with quality problems since the early nineties, and Toyota had become a powerhouse built on a spectacular reputation for quality. What they came up with was the IS. A rear-drive, front-engine sedan to compete with the big lads, at the entry level. A 3.0L inline (not Vee) six cylinder engine, a la BMW. Toyota build-quality. Sedan and wagon. They aimed it at that performance sedan market, and they hit the button square on. However, what they didn't have was a real performance reputation. Good car, adequate power, fun to drive. 210 horsepower. Import kids started buying them, which was a good sign.


The redesign came along last year. Much smoother lines, a much more adult car. The IS250 was the true entry level, with a good four cylinder, the IS350 with the six, pretty damn good power, and all-wheel-drive. Great commercials too.


Somethings still missing.


Mercedes has it's AMG. BMW has the M division. Cadillac has it's V variants. Despite being Euro-style luxury sedans, people buy these cars knowing that the big, tough brother is out there. The M3. The CTS-V. Little cars stuffed with gigantic engines, warmed over by a performance division, and stolen from much, much bigger cars.


In other words, hotrods.


There was no hotrod Lexus.


Until now.


I got to ride shotgun in one, and while I didn't get to drive, I did get some pretty damn good impressions of the car.


On paper, it definitely holds it's own against it's Mercedes and BMW counterparts.


416hp. 371lb.ft of torque. 0-62mph (100km/h) in 4.7 seconds.


And very pretty. Also like the competition, very obviously derived from the cheaper sibling. Yet... something is different about it. And unless you're a car person, you might not catch it.




Lexus IS-F Driver's Rear Quarter




Now, compare that to the Stock car. Now you can see the difference.


The exterior is beautiful. The paint was fantastic. They've obviously put a lot of effort into getting the paint right. Expected of a luxury brand, but not always the case. The wider haunches and deeper wheel wells are not blatantly obvious until you see the F sitting next to (or compared to a picture of) the standard IS. The tires/wheels are a dead give away. It's a muscular looking car, without being outrageous. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a sleeper, but it's definitely not crazy ostentatious. Step inside, and, upfront it's a pretty nice place to be. Good, supportive sport seats, better than the Recarro's in my car, and the leather looked, to my untrained eye, to be of excellent quality. I do know the leather in my Acura is a good grade, if not an excellent one, because I test-drove a Mazda 3 2.3GT with leather, and the leather was awful in that. [info]idioglossia mentioned the bulk of the transmission tunnel and centre-console, and she's right, it's a MASSIVE slab of metal and carbon fibre. That's definitely a personal taste issue though. It's not intrusive, and it definitely helps cocoon the driver, and makes him/her feel that they're properly held in place. I don't know if it's a styling decision or a functional one, however. All the controls looked to be in a good place: easy to read gauges, although the numeric counter on the speedo was small. That's an occupational hazard when the speedometer goes to 300km/h, however. The stereo and HVAC system looked decent too: Two thin LCD displays with different info, and what appeared to be pretty functional buttons, etc. Nothing irritating or intrusive like BMW's Notorious I-Drive.


Why would the transmission tunnel be that huge to be functional?


Well, the transmission is a little special. And you'll have to let me do a little research here, because I'm not quite sure what type of transmission it is.


See, there's pretty much four types of transmission in the automotive world these days. First, the basic manual transmission. Clutch pedal, shifter, we all know the basics. Anywhere from a three-speed in some old, old cars, to a six or seven speed. These days, it's pretty much an H gate setup. Second is your basic automatic transmission. Put it in "D" for Drive, and pretty much forget about it. My preference is the manual. The last fifteen years have seen the development of transmissions that cross the line though. The first time is the manumatic. It's basically an automatic transmission, but it lets you use either paddles, or the stick, to bump gears up and down. It won't let you bump down if you're reving too high, and if you back off the gas at the high end, or get too high in the rev range, it will sometimes force a shift for you. Not so good, but better than a regular automatic. These have become nearly synonymous with the CVT Drive transmission, which I won't explain, if you're interested, follow the link. I'm not a huge fan of these transmissions. I test drove one in a Mazda 6 and I really didn't like it: it wasn't smart or fast enough to be a viable alternative. The viable alternative is the fourth option. Rather than an automatic you can shift manually, it's a manual with no clutch, that you can tell to shift automatically. Each manufacturer calls their own version something different, but what it equates to is an SMG transmission, or Sequential Manual Gearbox. This is the 'automatic' I would be willing to drive. Yes, you can put it in "D" and forget about it, but it comes alive when you use either the bumpstick, or the paddles on the steering wheel: Left paddle (-) to shift down, right paddle (+) to shift up. Because the computer is dealing with the clutch for you (and some of these are starting to have double sequential clutches, don't get me started on that) it shifts much, much faster than a regular manual. For instance, in the quarter mile, the BMW and Porsche variants of this transmission are almost a second faster over the same distance, than the equivelent manual transmission.


The Lexus IS-F has an 8-speed SMG type transmission. And it works well. Well enough that if you engage quickly, say, while three-point-turning, you get a little wheel spin as it switches from reverse to first. The shifts felt, from the passenger seat, sharp and almost harsh. That's not a bad thing: you don't want a sloppy shift in a performance car, but it might become somewhat trying on a daily basis.


However.


When you mate this transmission to the truly fantastic engine under the hood?


Dreams come to life. The reality is, this is a variation on a theme. The quality is unquestionable, without doubt. It's a Toyota. However, this has been done before. And long before BMW or Mercedes did it. Ford, General Motors, Dodge, AMC, they did this in the sixties and seventies. These are muscle cars. The formula is simple. You take a mid-size or compact body style, and stuff the engine from the full-size-or-bigger vehicle from the same manufacturer in it. It's how Chevrolet ended up with Nova's with 454cu.in. engines under the hood, how the Mercury Cougar ended up with a 460cu.in plant, how the Charger ended up with a Hemi. It is a tried and true method for making a car go fast.


There is no subsititute for cubic inches


Basically, the IS-F drops the 2.5L four cylinder of the IS250, or the 3.5L six of the IS350, and stuffs in the V8 from the SC430 or GS430. It's a brilliant execution though, because the handling doesn't go away.


Would I buy one?


For $65,000+? No. I really like this car, but it's totally unproven. I'd probably spend the extra seven or eight grand, and buy a BMW M3, with its 420hp V8. The layout is the same, the plan is the same: big engine, small car. But BMW's been doing this for longer, and at the end of the day, I think they do it better. For now.


It's really, really close though.




Lexus IS-F




Oh, yeah. [info]notmikesince91 asked how it sounded?


It sounds a lot more aggressive than the .wav files floating around made it out to be. And the throttle-blip that the transmission forces on downshifts? I could listen to that all day long. There is really something about a high-revving v8 that really does the job, aurally. Sublime.