Say It Isn't So: Lexus To Limit IS-F Production to Under 1000 Units?

This month's print version of AutoWeek on page 22 we saw a short blurb about the new Lexus IS-F so unbelievable that we had to read it twice.

Hopefully the AutoWeek got either confused or were still suffering from jet lag, but right there in print mixed in with Detroit Auto Show Coverage is the following about the IS-F:

"The car has a top speed of 200 mph...Toyota will build less than 1000 for the United States."

This performance aspect actually contradicts our generally accepted top speed of about 160 mph from the high performance version of the IS. While we feel AutoWeek may have been confused with the LF-A, we certainly hope the IS-F is not limited to less than 1000 copies.

After all if Lexus intends to be serious about taking on the BMW M Cars, the quantity will need to be higher than this to be considered a serious contender.

Any thoughts?


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answer - 1/30/2007 12:01:26 PM

+6 Boost

Does sound more like the LFA.

M53R - 1/30/2007 12:02:34 PM

-15 Boost

Look at the idiots! They found out that the only way to sell this rubbish is to make it exclusive!! So smart!

EL34 - 1/30/2007 12:57:34 PM

0 Boost

Actually the truth is Toyota decided along time ago to run it's business like the American company Piggly Wiggly, and that is to only build something when it's needed, and by building only 1000 they will have plenty of time to build more when the suppy demands it.

EL34 - 1/30/2007 1:14:09 PM

0 Boost

It should have said when the consumer demands it.

I got a negative boost, but you can read what I said anywhere on the net.

Mazman - 1/30/2007 12:12:17 PM

-10 Boost

Doesn't Matter it's Ugly!

EL34 - 1/30/2007 1:15:12 PM

-4 Boost

Yet, the Lexus fanboys say the BMW 5 Series ugly.

supermoto - 1/30/2007 12:13:31 PM

+1 Boost

That move would just be idiotic. They're not Ferrari! They're freakin' Toyota! If potential buyers can't get one, they are going to take their cash elsewhere.

Mazman - 1/30/2007 12:29:25 PM

-3 Boost

Toyota is a very profitable manufactuerer, 1000 units would mean that this venture would lose money for them. I think AutoWeek is trying generate urgency and hype before the launch of this car. Its too bad that they had to butcher the beautiful lines of the IS with all those fast and furious fins and gills. It looks good on paper, lets see how it performs! Remember the LS460 looked pretty good on paper too, the figures that car turned in were nothing to write home about.

Rupert - 1/30/2007 12:28:01 PM

+2 Boost

1000 units per year?
that's 1/3 of how many aston martin v8's britain gets!

Rupert - 1/30/2007 12:28:24 PM

+4 Boost

but i think this is a mistake, 200mph is ridiculously optimistic.

Sauceboy01 - 1/30/2007 12:41:28 PM

+4 Boost

Definitely a confusion with the LF-A. No wonder i had a friend call me one night and was absolute raving about the IS-F being able to go 200mph..

NEXT!

Rupert - 1/30/2007 5:15:43 PM

0 Boost

the controversy is 1000 units, which is nothing.
there's limited production and there's limited production, and on a car such as the IS-F, far more are needed.
like i said, aston allocates 3000 AMV8's to britain each year, so for the US, and for a car like this, many more should be going.

S4cabriofoxone - 1/30/2007 4:50:19 PM

-4 Boost

LOL.

LexusKindaGuy12 - 1/30/2007 7:19:02 PM

+1 Boost

that is unbelievaly recist

EL34i - 1/31/2007 10:49:20 PM

+1 Boost

Michael Richards, is that you?

Michael Richards Omar?

Lexus - 1/30/2007 4:42:45 PM

0 Boost

I serously doubted if Lexus is only making 1000 Lexus IS-F. I think they just doing this just for the publicity. And also at the same time to see what the public think. Only time will tell if it the truth or not.

Lexus

S4cabriofoxone - 1/30/2007 4:49:31 PM

-4 Boost

Sounds like the LF-A.

I've never seen a compact sedan with its stock engine that can reach 200mph.

If it can, I'm impressed.

And yes, 1000 units? If they want to get what BMW makes on the M3, they have to push! Try 10,000!

S4cabriofoxone - 1/30/2007 7:32:58 PM

-1 Boost

Why was I being de-boosted? I didn't bash Lexus, or BMW.

trd1 - 1/30/2007 7:18:44 PM

+5 Boost

i hope it does 200mph, but on the video, when they show the speedometer it only went to 190, so i dont think that it would go faster then what it says on the meter.

S4cabriofoxone - 1/30/2007 7:32:17 PM

-3 Boost

Most cars go slower than what it says on the speedometer. I'd expect something in the 170s for this car.

LexusKindaGuy12 - 1/30/2007 7:19:41 PM

+3 Boost

*unbelievably racist

S4cabriofoxone - 1/30/2007 10:15:28 PM

0 Boost

I didn't understand what you were trying to say at all, and I don't know what comment you were replying to, because the Lexus fans all de-boosted my comments for no reason, as usual.

Could you please put what I said in quotes, so I can see?

The site won't let me see "de-boosted" comments, because whenever I press the "Show Comment" button, it doesn't work.

Bill - 1/30/2007 9:01:34 PM

+1 Boost

Those stacked exhausts just look awful. What were they thinking?

EL34 - 1/30/2007 9:13:08 PM

0 Boost

No doubt, they make my stomach hurt.

answer - 1/30/2007 9:34:26 PM

+5 Boost

I heard the ISF is responsible for all the wars in the world.

The ISF destroyed the cure for cancer.

Lexus has designed the stability system in the ISF to target children and elderly folk in crosswalks.

dusty - 1/30/2007 11:07:39 PM

+4 Boost

Yeah answer. Although the IQ threshold required to appreciate sarcasm is rather modest, it still zips right over some of these clowns. Just be careful.

p.s. Did you forget it also single-handedly destroyed the ozone layer?

1970toyotamarc - 1/31/2007 11:47:56 AM

+1 Boost

From 60 mph the Lexus stops in just 128 feet, which is almost as short as the Mercedes S550. -Edmunds.com

Not everyone uses 70-0 like C&D does. And not evrybody tests pre-production models and puts the inaccurate numbers up as gospel, like C&D does. The brakes in the LS460 are exceptional, and this has been proven. But you are all so willing to discredit anything that shows something good in Lexus, you didnt bother researching that, huh.

EL34 - 1/30/2007 11:59:17 PM

-1 Boost

The IS-F looks like a snowplow.

Must be a good winter time car.

underthegravity - 1/31/2007 3:35:54 AM

+4 Boost

Obviously, that is impossible! Why would someone spend billion dollars on product development without intention to make profit?

acurardx - 1/31/2007 8:01:31 AM

+1 Boost

OMFG LESS THAN 1000UNITS!!! :| NOOOO I WANT ONE OF THESEEEE..i hop they will have some in montreal (:

S4cabriofoxone - 1/31/2007 8:52:40 AM

+5 Boost

This isn't the car. It's obviously about the LF-A.

EL34 - 1/31/2007 10:15:06 AM

+2 Boost

When Lexus was designing the tailpipes on this car what do you think the inspiration was?

You have to admit the design of this entire car is weak at best, wouldn't you agree?

NARunner - 1/31/2007 11:06:04 AM

+2 Boost

yeah, half-assed, even.

gee, the engine doesn't really fit, so lets take a hammer to the hood and bang it out a little ways.

that was awful...even Hamann came up with a better way to fit the V10 into the 3-series without a bulging hood.

the IS-F looks bloated, like it hasn't taken a sh*t in months. usually i don't like auto designs at first and then they grow on me. the IS-F had the opposite affect...i liked it when i first saw it, but now the more i look at it, the more i don't like it.

ok, now deboost me for stating my own opinion, lexus posse.

answer - 1/31/2007 11:09:28 AM

+4 Boost

I believe the entire creation of the ISF from the design to R&D was made with the sole purpose of pissing off some autospies.com posters.

Think of the tailpipes as a middle-finger to the Lexus-haters if you will.

S4cabriofoxone - 1/31/2007 11:03:44 PM

+1 Boost

Yes, the hood bothers me. And not just the way it looks. You can tell that the IS-F engineers (and Lexus engineers in general) are clueless, because look at what Audi did with the B6/B7 S4. From an Inside Line test...

"For 2004, Audi added almost 100 hp (well, 90 to be exact) over the previous S4 by installing a new version of the company's 4.2-liter V8 — good for 340 hp and 302 lb-ft of torque. Audi engineered this power plant to fit in the S4's engine bay by shortening the block. This was partially accomplished by relocating the motor's drive chains to the rear of the engine."

Audi seriously modified the 4.2L V8 to fit the B6 A4's body, without having to make do with unseemly bulges. Note to Lexus: over time, maybe you'll learn.

EL34i - 1/31/2007 2:31:01 PM

0 Boost

"My god what where they thinking when they design this? It looks so ugly, so terrible. Terrible."

-Gogo's Design Instructor

VinnyP - 1/31/2007 5:49:09 PM

0 Boost

Just talked with people from Toyota. And SADLY the IS-F and LF-A will not be at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto....However the LF-C, the convertible version of the LF-A will debut, and then a hybrid version of the LS460...but who cares about the hybrid version...really...I want the FT-HS, LF-A and IS-F...piece of shit Toyota Canada

S4cabriofoxone - 1/31/2007 11:19:24 PM

+2 Boost

60-0 mph braking length, in feet:

Lexus LS460- 128ft

Mercedes-Benz S550- 123ft

Audi A8L (335hp)- 121ft

BMW 750i- 110ft

S4cabriofoxone - 1/31/2007 11:20:59 PM

+1 Boost

By the way...

The LS460 quote is the one everyone has been posting, the S550 quote is from edmunds.com, the A8L quote is from Road & Track, and the 750i quote is from Motor Trend.

M53R - 2/1/2007 6:54:55 AM

-1 Boost

Why did i get de boosted? For saying the facts out loud??? It is true and you lexus fans have to face it. The idiots at toyota found out ( smartly ) that the only way to sell this rubbish is to make it exclusive! Get that in your heads! I think i broke the record (-13) ? lol. Proves you guys dont want anyone to find the truth!

Kostin - 2/2/2007 10:27:37 AM

+1 Boost

I can't understand what's that special about that car so they decide to build only 1000.What is the point? a 5000cc V8 with 400hp...wow that's a huge accomplishment...but then again maybe for Lexus it is.

The only reason i see here is that they decide to only build 1000 so people can't compare sales with the new RS4 or the new M3 for obvious reasons.

SupraNeverBack - 2/2/2007 12:16:42 PM

+2 Boost

Again 400+hp, not only 400hp. The racing version of 5.0L v8 (limited by 500hp) just won the Rolex 24 hr@Daytona.

Even if it has only 400hp, the torque is going to be close to 400 lb.ft (For reference, ~4,000lbs RS4 has 317 lb.ft).

It was said BMW are struggling to make the v8 M3 run faster than their own 335i? ^0^

SupraNeverBack - 2/2/2007 12:22:28 PM

+1 Boost

Plus M3 will be overpriced like RS4.

BTW, don't forget to enjoy the ~$2,000 Gas Guzzler Tax, which Lexus IS-F won't offer.

Kostin - 2/3/2007 8:44:12 PM

+1 Boost

SupraNeverBack: What part of what i wrote didn't you understant? I said that this is NOT a so damn special car to be limited to 1000 units.What's the Gas Guzzler Tax have to do with what i said? My comment was about the limited number of units produced.
BTW all sources i checked say that Is-F is a 400HP car with 350nm of torque.How can you compare a street car with a racing car? A racing car's engine is made to last one or two races only....you know that right?