Up Close And Personal New IS-F Interior Shots

That's not where Lexus got it's name. The word Lexus comes from the German word 'luxus' which means luxury. Then they changed the first u to an e to make it a new word, instead of a german word.

Sorry cutie,

but you have many deboosts and you need to calm down a bit and not get so pumped up when a person with a Lexus username says something you don't want to hear.

I believe Lexus was designed for the US Market to take on the German cars(Mercedes marque for luxury) when they first debut. Now as for your comment in regards to the IS-F interior being better than what AMG has to offer I don't agree with you. It still lacks the look of solidity. I have been in the IS and it's good quality but it lacks the solidity of an German brand A4 build and maybe even the new C-Class build but I have to wait and see about the Merc.
THE LEXUS NAME HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NO DAM GERMANS....STOP TELLING YOUR LIES, AND MAKING UP STUFF...."
Don't give him such a hard time. Haven't you noticed Lexus fans have been talking about the GS-F and LS-F and LF-A or whatever the heck F line cars but they don't even exist. Now I think that is worst than lying. IT IS LIVING A LIE.

the name may have german references
but all the alphanumeric model nomenclature was copied from mercedes.

Houston if Lexus fans are supossed to be more inteligent then you hopped on the wrong bus.

hustoncutie-

First of all, the whole Lexus coming from the word luxus is a reference I read on Lexus' website several years ago. Second of all, Lexus fans sure are smart, but you don't like to hear people tell you what you don't want to hear. I believe that everything I've had to say is true, but you don't want to hear it so you call me stupid. Third of all, your ALL CAPS isn't cute. It's obnoxious and I'm not the only one who think that. And fourth of all, judging that you're a girl, we don't need the PMS you bring to this website. I mean, calm down. For the love of all that is good and holy, calm down.

lexus is a ancient latin word, not used anymore because it refers to a biological belief in the humors theory, and since that has been discredited so long ago, the word was almost forgotten, except for 18th century aristocrats who used it to point someone's sense of unrealistic (unfounded) pride
I'll wait till i can drive -or read a trustworthy test drive about- the IS-F before judging it, seems reasonable to me

I don't see much craftsmanship difference between the IS250/350 and the IS-F. Sure it has two toned leather and a letter F on the steering wheel but how does that mean it's better craftsmanship than the already satisfactory interior of the non-F models.?

LEXUS
NOT INSPIRED

HousonCutie,

Your comments are a HUGE waste of Website Space. Keep it short, if u wanna take up space POST AN ARTICLE

HousonCutie, my goodness, take it easy please. lool

All I want to say that no car manufacturer can over come Lexus's quality. I remember reading an article before comparing the Flying Spur's interior quality to Lexus. So just imagine!

Houston,

Ever wonder why? this site has Lexus advertisement and if you're sponsored by them why wouldn't you talk more about Lexus? Plus it's fun for the German boys to argue with the Lexus cult. Anywhere else in the world there is absolutely no contest in terms of prestige. Lexus to the Lexus cult is prestige because it's great bang for buck prestige and very affordable compared to the S600/S65's. You see Casino Royale. Did you see one Lexus in the front parking lot of that hotel? I didn't. In some scenes I saw Audi's, Jaguars, Merc,& Bentley's. If Lexus was so hugely prestige wouldn't they used at least one for the background? :)

Houston, stop it, your SexyLexusDude and Lexomanic. Be open minded or stop coming back. We didn't care what you had to say then and we don't care now. Alot of us don't like lexus, just like you hate everything else, accept it and move on.

lexus inspires boredom.
that why their average buyers are signifantly older than MB and BMW.

awards? the vast majority of the awards lexus wins are quality and reliability awards...jd power, consumer reports. they rarely show up in other top awards.

Houstoncutie- Why don't you put all of those awards together as an article?

I'm inspired to....YAWN!

your caps lock is on

yeah, too bad you can't actually fit anyone back there to enjoy them.

No, they're not going to sell, sell, sell. Why? Because Lexus is only going to make several thousand of them. They'll definitely sell all of those, but if you consider that a lot of cars...

This looks almost identical to.... A regular IS350?

Wow... it looks like a carbon-copy of AMG/RS/M fittings, except with more plastic and less real aluminum... what else could we expect?

The IS still lacks the solidity of an A4 & 3 series. It gives you a different feeling when you get into a German car. Perhaps that's why many favor those from Europe than a Japanese.

Even the Lexus salesmen/women admit that Lexus does not feel as solid as the Germans even though they their fine finishing is satisfactory. I agree to that too. I guess it depends on what cars you have owned before and in comparison you then can notice the difference.

I was fortunate to grow up with German automobiles that is why I have grown used to Mercedes and BMW mainly (not so much Audi).

I feel that Lexus has come a long ways but still is far from being world renowned. It's getting recognition but realistically Mercedes Benz is the marque brand when one mentions luxury. Of course ultra luxury you think Bentley or Rolls Royce and for the elite who know of Maybach it is up there as well.

Anyways back to the nature at hand. The IS-F interior obviously looks better than the normal version but it's not significantly better. It's more sportier and actually more riced out than the standard models but it is Japanese so it is allowed to be a little riced out. In terms of having an F-Line it was only a matter of time Lexus felt desperate enough to start a performance division. How successful it will be I don't know. Try convincing the baby boomers that having a stiffer ride along with more power will suit their driving needs. Especially if they make a GS-F or LS-F. However for the IS-F the price range it's hitting, people may turn heads towards the AMG's, M's or R/RS models let's face it. There is no F-heritage why would someone pay that extra for a Lexus when all their known for is good quality and a comfortable ride? For the more mature buyers, if that is their sole purpose to buying a Lexus or Toyota even why would they sacrifice the key aspects that drew them into buying one in the first place? Why be less comfortable.

I think Lexus should stick with what they are doing and not mess with a good thing. These are risks they do not need to make. Loyal Lexus fans will buy the F's and curious people will buy the F's but the German performance division owners will probably stick to their respective models. That's the way I see it.

bulldogz, you have no idea how much Audi has improved since you owned one, if you ever did (2001 or something?). My "cheap" A3 winter car has real aluminum; the S4 has wood, but aluminum was one of four options.

This is just a completely expected interior in the IS-F; it has nothing new, compared to any others, and doesn't break any ground. The real aluminum thing is irrelevant.

bulldogz, he did not imply that they copied- they just aren't doing anything new or different. Can you even admit that? They're just an also-ran in this class; until they come out with a breakthrough sports car, which may or may not happen, this looks like it's just a pet project so that Lexus can say they made sports sedans.

How can you say all of these things without even feeling the interior? I love Lexus and all but how can they claim that this is a performance car and not offer a manual trans? I would have seriously considered this car but now I won't give it a second thought. What a shame...

Manual, enemy of performance.

Leave that commander knot to Germans. If I want to play video game, I have xbox360 at home.

I hate plastic.

"Then you hate all German cars."

Pretty much.

No, hate is a strong word but you're right in that I generally don't like the interiors of most german cars for that exact reason.

...and most Japanese Cars..

...and most American Cars....

cdoke, get an old British car. Nothing but tree and cow...

Oh I know. I particularly love 60's Bentleys [Rolls Royce as well] where the dash is 100% wooden- inlay and all. I don't want a dash, I want furniture.

Alfa's aluminium does look nice, although I wasn't sure if it was real...

And thank you Fanboy.
It's nice to know my humour is appreciated :)

Whilst I am sure that my present vehicle is not near as bad to maintain as an older English car, it has made me realise that I ultimately don't care about the maintenance. I am an aesthete above all else I think. I love things of beauty.

...and because someone de-boosted it, I went back and checked 1961 still had the all wood dash- although I will admit that it was more prevalent in the 50's.

It looks great in person, saw it at ToyotaFest last weekend. I dont expect German fans to like it, but that's cuz they are biased toward their makes.

That's my thing for today....admit your bias!!! And therefore no subjective opinion will matter, which means we will have to wait for the objective tests.

the fact that you went to an event called toyotfest tells us all we need to know about you and your opinions.

look out! here come hyundaifest and kiafest!

I have not stated that I dislike this car; it's nothing interesting or special. Like I said to bulldogz, the Lexus F-line is just an also-ran in this group of competitors. You're calling me biased, but you can't admit that yourself. Please, tell me, what does this offer that the competition doesn't? And I don't need another lecture on reliability. How boring, in a supposed performance sedan.

Interior is so plastic-y especially the center column around the Nav/shifter. It doesn't even come close to any Audi interior, even a base A3.

uhm, audi interior falls off in 5 years? stop smoking toyota weed and look around before making ridiculous statements. this interior is appropriate for an economy sedan, not a luxury car this pretends to be. look at a hyundai sonata and compare.

Is this a 2+2 seater? Anyways, its a nice interior but the dash resembles the new Camry's WAY too much...

Does the Lexus have a carbon fiber roof like the BMW M3?

I didn't think so!

Sailor,

You know, distaste for plastic actually makes my life much easier I think. It is pretty easy for me to know what I do and do not like. Plastic buttons are to some extent at the moment a necessary evil, but I am holding out until something which I know won’t have them hopefully, but I don’t know If I can wait two years. I think that we will begin to see more metal in cars as far as buttons are concerned- I believe that some of the new Mercedes use stamped metal for their buttons.

In addition, it has allowed me to add structure, because there are few options, to my intended buying plan. I intend to wait until that car which shouldn’t have plastic buttons: the next XJ. Supposedly, the “buttons” are nothing more than etched sections on glass [please crystal] which are suspended over the dash and backlit- the technology is such that you have not actual contact with any switches. I have also read from someone who has seen the full mock up that upon seeing it they thought it was a Bentley [which could be bad- Bentleys are a bit bloated anymore]. If I like it I’ll buy it if I don’t finding something else won’t be that hard.

As to the DB9: it is the only car that upon seeing I instantly fell in love with. It is such a thing of beauty. I really like, and believe that other car manufacturers could benefit from, the satin polish technique that Aston Martin uses in the DB9. I learned this from the lovely people of Henredon that by using a satin polish you can see the graining better. The difference is night and day.

How does it go: the Americans spend all of their time trying to make their plastic look like wood, the English spend all of their time trying to make their wood look like plastic

Lol at that last statement.
But surely you mean the Japanese make their wood look like plastic? Just look at an RX...

You know, I think it was someone on here that actually said that.

Sailor, all that I know about the XJ setup is that they intend to use "proximity switches" which are also due to appear on future versions of the iPod. Apparently, their name is exactly descriptive, if you wanted to turn the lights on in the car, you wave yor hand near the lighting unit and it turns on. originally I thought that it was some optical mechanism, but re-reading, I am not so sure. Then again, what I have been able to find makes me think they wouldn't work well with suspended glass due to the fact that they are primarily inductive or capacitive in nature.

I have also read that they were working on ways to make activated door handles that appear when you need them. I would imagine this is another application of the proximity switch given that it does appear on the car.

cdoke, do you have any idea of whether or not the XF and new XJ will be available with AWD?

I have not the slightest clue, S4. Were I to guess I would say no, but I would just be guessing.

A Lexus is a Toyota is a Scion is a lawnmower.

Same old $h!t sharing platforms.

LOL. love it.

lawnmower...or appliance of your choice.

That's right!

I don't know who to believe on the whole "where Lexus got its name" and frankly I don't care, as it does not change my view on their cars one bit. But, I would find it somewhat odd for a japanese luxury brand (who's main competition is german) to name their car after a german word.

i hope they don't make too many with that two-tone white and black interior.
nobody will want it because it will show dirt way too easily.

houston cutie is a psycho bitch who clearly needs hormonal therapy.

That was uncalled for. Even though she is on the crazier side, she's just expressing her extremely subjective opinions. How does that make her a "psycobitch"? Clearly, she isn't the only one who needs some hormonal therapy.

I love the seats & little F badges around the car, but the steering wheel & shifter still look like they've been pulled from a Corolla.

In fact the whole dash still resembles that of a Toyota, especially the cheap digital clock that requires a pen or pencil to set the time.

Damn it I'm a Lexus guy but this car will never appeal to me unless they get a manual gear box in that IS-F,if I'm going to drive something with that much power,I want to be in control of it,not some damn ECU,I'll stick to my Lexus SC300 twin turbo(2JZ-GTE) thank you very much!!!

Well I'd still rather have this ECU IS-F over a manual SC300 anyday, but I hear ya loud & clear...What's a performance vehicle without a manual?

If I'm not mistaken you can get a manual tranny with the IS250, but not with it's high performance counter-parts! What's that all about?

S4cabriofoxone you truly are a sad bastard. You sniff around for any posts regarding lexus and then spew out ridiculous waste of space comments which offer no information to anyone at all. "This offers nothing new and exciting" "My A3 has aluminium". Get a life mate, no-one gives a shit about what you've got or what you think. This is a great car. It will be something completely new for lexus and even though in this segment they are late at joining, that is because they are the newest company. Please give everyone a break with your complete and utter inane uninteresting and pathetically biased comments. prick.

I'll give you a boost for that one Dessy.

Hey come on, S4 is good guy.

so what substance did you add to the conversation with this comment?

Oh, okay, so you single me out by saying I have ridiculous comments and tell me that nobody cares what I think, and proceed to spew out your own useless opinions? Get a clue.

And, let me continue.

"This is a great car. It will be something completely new for lexus and even though in this segment they are late at joining, that is because they are the newest company."

Show me once where I said this wasn't a great car.

But being great sometimes isn't enough- my own S4, the C32 AMG, even the E46 M3 were simply "great." But now, some of the other brands have moved beyond that. The RS4 is almost perfect, and there's not a doubt in my mind that the M3 will be, also. I'd just like to know what this Lexus offers that will set it apart, thanks. An automatic transmission?

"...newest company?" That's a sad excuse, considering that if Toyota or Lexus want something, they make it, immediately. I would never deny the efficiency of that company.

"Please give everyone a break with your complete and utter inane uninteresting and pathetically biased comments. prick."

You do know you're giving yourself a kick out the door of this site, without even posting any comments... but more relevantly, you can't call me biased. I have owned a Swedish car (Saab 900 Turbo), Japanese cars (Acura Vigor, TL, Datsun 510), German cars (Audi A3, A6, S4) and even two Lexus models that my wife drives (RX300, which was replaced by RX330). I am definitely interested in an LS600hL to replace the RX, as she wants a big sedan, and it looks pretty amazing. And if Lexus's SC were a worthwhile car, I'd look at it, but it's just not.

So, I don't like one Lexus, and I'm suddely a "pathetically biased prick." I think I could safely say that you are a whole lot more biased than me.

lexus fans are morons

Are you just obsessed with hating Lexus? I wouldn't call this car cheap.

Perhaps what it's missing is a German badge? Yeah, that's it. It will not be considered anything until they put the German badge on it, then it will be great, you just wait!

perhaps what's missing is a tasteful exterior? a high-quality lexus interior? a weight distribution worthy of a performance sedan? any impressions from someone who's actually driven this car?

Even though I think Will was correct, Sailor's contradictory post put it perfectly.

Stop bitching about this interior. It looks just like an IS350 interior with carbon fibre, following the same motif that Audi, BMW, and Mercedes do with their performance cars. The IS's interior alone already looks ten times better than both the 3-Series and even the new C-Class.

It's the same ol' story here. This car is destined for greatness. This is indicated by the ferocity of German opposition here. ;)

Stop bitching about this interior. It looks just like an IS350 interior with carbon fibre, following the same motif that Audi, BMW, and Mercedes do with their performance cars. The IS's interior alone already looks ten times better than both the 3-Series and even the new C-Class.

It's the same ol' story here. This car is destined for greatness. This is indicated by the ferocity of German opposition here. ;)

Will-

Where do you exactly see Carbon Fiber? It's simply silver painted plastic; not exactly something "new" or "expensive looking".

how come everyone just "forgets" that AMG models do not come with manual transmission. or that even the mcclaren SLR has the same exact dash design as the regular SL and that its even made of cheap plastic! a plastic dash for half a million bucks. or that the IS-F has a clutch for its so-called direct shift tranny, but that no one still has no idea what the specs are.

will is right, its the same story over and over again. german fanboys driving their audi 1.8T or bmw 325 who have never been inside a regular IS350. mind you, this is not directed at people like S4 or enthusiastx11.

see you guys at the track, buttonwillow this upcoming june 2 weekend! oh btw, not a single e90 bmw will be going.

The thing is Merc doesn't pretend it rivals M cars or is a performance handling brand: they make fast cars, Lexus however seems to be awfully keen to say this rivals the M3.

Rupert pretty much took the words out of my mouth.

And the SLR certainly doesn't have the same dash as the SL- the SLR's is all metal.

im not so sure, benz made the CLK DTM. they make the SLR, which btw has its dash lifted straight out of the SL. how is a very fast lexus any different than a very fast benz? bmw doesnt even have anything remotely considered a super car. but no mistake, the SLR is the worlds fastest automatic.

The SLR's dash is very different to the SL's, they're not very similar at all on the inside.

hey Sailor, thanks for the reply. yes i have been fortunate enough to see inside the SLR in person. i have no problem with the build quality, it is superb. but seriously, if you look at the air vents, the buttons on the center console and knobs for the a/c, they're identical to the SL. the SLR just has an outline to the oblong shape of the center console and dash. the speedo and tach have the same twin periscope design. but the cheap part? the flip up lid with "SLR" written on it to reveal a very very ugly piece of cd player. why isnt the nav screen integrated into the center console like it is on the SL?

btw, i did not mention the M3 nor RS4. i mentioned the CLK DTM as a reference to a car that benz made that proves they are more than capable of producing a car far sportier than any offering from anyone. they just choose not to and make locomotive type AMG models. now my point is...why come down hard on lexus for doing the same thing? i have no doubt they are capable of producing a full on race/street car, but just choose not to.

The reply button doesn't work today, Sailor (as usual), but yes, the SLR's dash is pure metal. It's very impressive on the inside.

Some materials in the SLR interior look and feel a bit cheap. Especially the centre console is made from nasty plastic!

The 722 and has fully carbon fibre which looks a lot better in my opinion.

President George W. Bush will start speaking in complete sentences by the time I can afford an IS-F!

President George W. Bush will start speaking in complete sentences by the time I can afford an IS-F!

Lexus ALWAYS understates their 0 - 60 times by at least .5 seconds. Here are the results of the 5 Top Luxury Cars in this test which was reported in the January Issue of Car and Driver. Please note these tests were all done on the same day at about the same time and at the same altitude. The results reflect the average of 3 runs and all cars are the 2007 vintage.

Mercedes S550 5.6, 0 - 60 quarter mile in 14.1 (Benz show 5.4 in their specs)
BMW 750iL 5.7, 0 - 60 quarter mile in 14.2
Jag XJ Super 6.0 0 - 60 quarter mile 14.5
Lexus LS460L 6.2 0 - 60 quarter mile 14.6
Audi A8 6.8 0 - 60 quarter mile 15.2

Note that Lexus, as usual, is more than the 5.4 the manufacturer CLAIMS to get by .8 seconds.

Also note the LS430 (prior model the LS460 replaced) was rated at 295 HP and was actually 278 when Lexus corrected their rating. And there were no refunds or apologies from the so-called "quality" car company. ABC - Always Be Careful what you buy from the Lexus people.....