Wicked shots of the 2008 BMW M3 from Spain- Is it the Hottest car of 2008?

All the reviews come to the same conclusions:

"the steering never scores more than six out of 10 no matter where or how you drive the car. Nor do the brakes, which suffered from fade on the road and went away badly on the track. Or the fuel consumption, which was regularly down in the mid-teens on roads on which the old car would have hit well over 20mpg."

Let me tell you what IS-F will be over the sucker M3:

1. Power/Torque: 430+hp/385+lb.ft, 100+lb.ft more than M3's.
2. Steering: not act like M3's light and vague.
3. Brakes: 14.2" 6 piston calipers Brembo, not fade and suck like M3's.
4. Gas mileage: no gas guzzler tax, not gas guzzler M3's low-teems mpg.
5. Gear box: lock-up control from 2nd to 8th gears, throttle-blip for rev-matching during down shifting, virtually no gap, no lag for up-and-down shifting, not the long-throw action of M3's manual and over-sensitive clutch.
...

The IS-F is still an AUTOMATIC, and the C63 has the torque lock up from 2-7 as well.
430hp? Yeah right, I'm betting no more than 415.
It has a big old 5.0 litre V8 up front, not a purpose built unit like the M3 but a bigger 460 engine, and steering? What do you know about the steering that we don't? All Lexi have had light and vague steering, do you really think this will have better steering than the BMW?

You are speculating wildly on no fact at all, other than 5 litres and 400hp +.

Mercedes still has some work to do. This doesn't sound like it has locke-up control from 2nd gear.

"On the early example we drove, however, the C63’s gearbox didn’t do the engine justice. Despite being reworked to provide a satisfying blip of the throttle on downshifts, it was slow to respond to upshift requests. AMG admits it needs work and says a fix is in the pipeline prior to North American sales early next year."

Don't be surprised if IS-F has 450hp. It will limited by the Lexus' response power philosophy to avoid gas guzzler tax by all means.

Funny you don't quote the rest of that article. Here's some highlights:

"Brakes have long been an M3 weakness, but the single caliper items fitted to the test car coped admirably with high-speed runs on the tortuous Spanish mountain roads that formed our road route."

"In many ways it is a deeply impressive car, with a huge range of abilities and very few flaws."

"And it is very, very good. This car is fast, practical, well built, comfortable and safe."

The article never bothers to mention the IS-F, they simply suggest that 'purists' wait for the CSL.

get a grip. the IS-F is totally unknown quantity. lexus has never even made a performance car. let's wait to drive the thing before we decided that lexus has taken over a category that they don't currently play in.

the M3 is an icon. and this new one is beautiful. can't wait to drive it!

i'd be surprised if the IS-F tops 400hp. either way, it'll likely have typical numb and lifeless lexus handling. not to mention a less-than-ideal weight distribution due to the large conventional v8 and the stretched front nose.

The IS-F will be BORING with horrid steering. No driving experience.
If Lexus matches the original M3, I will be very impressed.

In reply to Ricemaster.
Toyota has the biggest budget in formula 1 and they have been there for quite a few seasons and they are not even close to the likes of Ferrari. Whereas BMW is in their 2nd season and already they are the 3rd best team and improving all the time. Just because you have the most money to spend on development, that does not mean you will create the best car.

What's so special about torque converter lock-up? It was an ZF invention and has been around for quite some time now.

As a final note, you - SupraNeverBack - have tendency to overstate Lexus/Toyota horsepower, torque and performance figures.. remember you were convinced the LX570 was going to have 400+ horsepower and an 8-speed transmission? Stop lying to yourself and others. So now you're saying the IS-F will have 430+ horsepower and 385 torque? Mind you the M3 has 300 torque and doesn't has a torque-eating slushbox so let's look at actual RWHP and RWTQ when those become available.

Also, read this (you probably know it by heart now)

Straight from Lexus.com

"Inside you will find more than 400 horsepower [1], the most powerful gasoline engine we’ve ever made [2]. You’ll hear what’s in store the instant you turn the ignition and bring the IS-F to life. Its 5.0-liter direct-injected V8 engine delivers over 350 lb-ft of torque [1], along with a 0-to-60 time below 4.9 seconds [1] [3]. To keep the driver in synch with so much power, the IS-F comes equipped with the world’s first eight-speed direct sport-shift transmission with paddle shifters that snaps quickly and crisply between gears, upshifting within a tenth of a second. In addition, a new torque converter lockup control allows the engine’s power to be directly relayed to the transmission in second through eighth gears, accelerating with the responsiveness of a manual transmission."

They're talking about over 400 horsepower (RS4: 420, M3: 420, C63 AMG: 457) and over 350 torque. 0-60 in under 4.9 seconds (RS4: 4.4 or lower, M3: not available yet, C63 AMG: under 4.5 seconds)... I mean the Lexus is never on top. So it will not be a class-leader. But then again nobody expects it to be, you can't just erase 40 years of AMG experience or the fact that BMW Motorsport was already active before 1939. And I haven't started about quattro GmbH (they develop and produce the S/RS-models)

SupraNeverBack, is there anything you can prove that IS-F of yours is the best?

That's right, I don't think so.

Wow, can't believe I got so many deboost-s. I understand you guys are very depressed by the poor M3 reviews and the M3 and its boys rely on reviews to sell and buy.

The car felt big, poor steering feeling, poor throttle response, poor brake performance, horrible horrible gas mileage (<10mpg)...

SevorbeupstryIsBack: Lexus said LX570 will have 400hp, 420lb.ft.

http://www.lexus.com/pursuit_archive/april_2007/index.html

As IS-F's 430+hp, that is my conservative estimation ^0^

LS460 4.6L v8 6400rpm 380hp/367lb.ft
LS600h Detuned 5.0L v8 6400rpm 389hp/385lb.ft
Normal version of the 5.0L v8 should have around 410hp/400lb.ft

IS-F's 5.0L 2UR-GSE: 7,000+rpm, RPM increase alone will make it close to 430hp, plus others features like a new cylinder head design (Yamaha tunning G head) and dual air intake etc.. That's why I said don't be surprised if it has 450+hp.

BTW, Lexus said, 0-60 Well Below 5.0s. Please use your brain, IS350 already did 0-60 in 4.9s and IS-F has 100++hp,100++lb.ft. Lexus 5.0L v8 may be not much heavier than BMW 4.0L v8. The 8sp is lighter than the 6sp it replaced. The forged wheels are lighter. One seat is cut. Some sound damping materials will be removed. Some lighter weight materials like aluminum could be used... So I don't see IS-F will be much heavier than the ~3500lbs IS350.

My bad, ZF didn't invent the lock-up torque converter but they were the first to offer it on 6-speed transmissions. In fact the lock-up torque converter is an American invention from the late 40s.

As a final note, the 7G-Tronic from Mercedes/AMG has lock-up on all 7 gears. From 1-7.

And there is another thing I found out, the 5-speed automatic from the LS430 pre-facelift has the same basis as the current 8-speed. Basically for the LS430 facelift they added 1 gears and for the LS460 they added 2 more. WITHOUT touching the ratios on the first 4 gears!

You know 001, I was enjoying your post very much until you mentioned the IS-Fugly.
Nice pictures, that parrillada looks delicious. We need more woman shots. Enjoy the ride!

Marbella?
Clearly the M3's key market, full of Essex wives and footballers.

Didn't Beckham had a villa there?

I agree Rupert! LOL! Great observation!! With the softer steering and all being reported...maybe this is the M3 for the Footballer's Wives

i wish when u guys do the photoshoots, you would do one full side shot at least.

Yeah more women shots would be nice...

and perhaps more shots of the buffet. Ha ha!

the M6 has more sex appeal to it..i think its weak that they didnt give it standard 19inch rims.those 18 inch look really plain and old. 7/10.

Excellent photos 001.

The only thing that would ever make me consider a Lexus over BMW is that the Lexus is about $10,000 cheaper. Otherwise, no way in hell.

That is what Lexus counts on, 80% of the car for 80% of the price.

exactly how does lexus build a sports car? idiots. The IS350 is supposed to be Lexus entry into the sports sedan market. It has lost every comparison it has faced. It is small. You might as well buy a coupe. At least the BMW coupe provides an actual back seat. I know, I know what you are thinking that there is room in there. Just not for anyone above 6' tall.

Exactly Agent 80% of the car 80% of the price. wake me when Lexus actually builds a performance car, k? How is toyota doing in Nascar with all that money? have they even finished a race yet this year? Are they even in the top 20? I didnt think so. Better yet how are they doing in Formula 1? Same story, different race.

hottest car of 2008? hmmm, don't think so

A lot of people have been comenting on the white color. I must agree, that the white with the carbon fiber roof looks rather special and aggressive. Much better than the red one.

Is it the best looking car IN THE WORLD? HELL YES! Im so excited about it.... its just fantastic! :) The white colour looks unresistable! I love the M gauges, the exterior looks fantastic, most beautiful side mirrors ever, the rear is very agressive looking, the interior is very sporty. What else do you need?
I cant wait till the engine wins the engine of the year award too.

Someone is very passionate about the M3 here. Sell that Tahoe of yours and buy this instead! :)

haha will do hopefully. :P Just give me the cash :P. No seriously I may buy the new M3... but not next year, my cars are all new.

lol. i really like how the dude in the white m3 in that first pic looks huge! the 3 series including the m3 has a tiny interior. i thought it felt smaller and more claustrophic than the last generation 3 series and ive owned a an e46 m3 before.