A group of 20+ lucky members of ClubLexus were lucky enough to be invited to experience rides in 3 IS-F's with professional drivers at the special Lexus Driving Experience event at Laguna Seca Raceway.
Here are some quotes from them.
VelvetBlue:
"Very awesome car. The throttle blips by itself on downshifts and upshifts are very fast and crisp. The sound is terrific and the car is really planted in the corners.
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It was louder, faster, stiffer than any current IS. The transmission shifted in .1 sec and automatically blipped the throttle on downshifts. The driver told me the traction control has multiple settings but he said it never came on during our test drive and it even allowed the car to drift some but still did not come on."
STIG:
"The car is WOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!
The marketing guy said it will be class leading HP figure. But he did mention that when the car was developing, C63 was not in their radar. So expect the figure somewhere between RS4's and C63.
Folks, if you are thinking of getting one, go get in line. The car is absolutely insane!!
A whole different car and class from my IS350. Two thumps wayyy wayyy up!!
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The guy kept going side ways on all the corners and the car was FLAT!!! The handling was very very impressive. The transmission was ultra quick! I was told that the only faster transmission in the production cars is Ferrari's. Quicker than SMG, and DSG. My butt meter says the car goes to 0 to 60 in well less than 5 seconds granted that there were total of 4 people in the car. The ride is a bit of the stiff side but in no way makes your teeth fall of kind of stiffness.
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I have IS350, and like I said, the car is nothing like my IS350. IS-F is in its own class.
It sounds pretty amazing IMHO. Very beefy, think something like RS4. I personally think it even sounds better than RS4. You guys won't be disappoint. I promise.
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There were also some BMW folks there. Very cool people. One guy I talked to has M3. After the hot lap, he told me that IS-F may well be his next car!!"
rominl:
"what a fabulous event, i was honored to be invited to the event. the is-f is an incredible machine. the gas blipping part is phenomenal, and the car shifts so fast it's completely different from the is350
car is very fast (though not scary fast) and handles very well on the track. our driver had to do a full drift on a corner, the car went beautifully. braking was strong and firm.
i talked to the pro driver, which has been driving on the track for a long time, and he said that the is-f is a very very nice machine. the shifting and gas blipping is very well done, car is extremely balanced and very easy to control. completely different animal from the is350.
i asked him if he'd ask for an auto, he said absolutely not. the shifting on the car is done very well and stick won't help much. he said earlier today he was doing a chase (for video) in another carerra and that car was no match, he had a very hard time catching up"
Follow the links below for the full stories and many more pictures.
http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=300507
http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=300628
http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=300564
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