Lexus IS F Review

Good attempt by Lexus, but I would still never consider buying this over the M3.

One thing that is a huge reason I'd buy an M3 over the IF-F is the fact that a normal human cannot get into the back of the Lexus. In the Bimmer, it's tight, but not unbearable. I cannot sit in the back of the IS-F. Since I like to terrorize as many passengers as possible on a routine basis, I'd have to go with the M3. Or the C63 in a straight line.

Why are we talking about the IS-F? Who's trying to hype up an already boring car. It's in the past now. LF-A is doomed and that is the mother-ship of the whole L-Finesse. Lexus is not a serious contender in the performance division. It can NOT compare with Mercedes in power, BMW in great handling, and Audi's conservative sport-luxury cars.

Lexus has never been exciting and never will. Their made for boring people. Funny because I own an LS but it's only for work. My S-Class is where my attention goes to most of my time on the road; perfect ambiance and perfect comfort. I'm much more calm in an S than I am in my LS. There has to be a reason why. =)

Agent 63,

Please remember that your opinons are your own. You don't speak for everyone.

Just because you don't like the IS-F, doesn't mean it's wrong for others to.

The thing ain't my favorite car, but it sure isn't a POS either.

PS- ISF looks good in black!

Star, we would all be hammered if we played that game.

Agent63 should post some pics of his rides on his agent space.

Here is the funniest thing I have ever heard about a car by its own designer.

Yaguchi said:
“The M3 is fun for a really good driver...This(IS-F) is a car everyone can enjoy; with this car, your skill level doesn’t matter.”

He fully admits this is a dumbed-down car for people who aren't good drivers. ROFLMAO Awesome!

Yo Kthor!

Glad to see you post in a story that doesn't involve BMW! (is this a first for you?)

Anyway, Agent63 was stating it was not needed to be discussing the IS-F because he felt it was boring. I'm just saying not everyone thinks so as can be seen by people such as him and yourself who find a need to post in an IS-F story.

I just chimed in because every now and then the Euro-only-fanboy-nonsense just pisses me off.

Carry on your incesant bitching about the IS-F. Carry on.

Ok ok, I'm sorry I didn't say I'm madly in love with your beloved IS-F.

- I'm in love with the IS-F. It's lines are aggressively styled and the exhaust on the rear is so real it almost appears like it's fake. The carbon fibre on the car is superior that of Pagani's Zonda models and it's the true super car in Japan.

How's that?

a63 has shown pics before like mths and mths ago what are you smoking?

OK dudes.

First, thanks for correcting my spelling Kthor (even though it took you a couple of times).

Second, Kthor, if you don't think you have established yourself as both a BMW-only badge whore, and an over-zealous, anti-Lexus whinier, then you are dkidding yourself.

Agent63, we all know you think Lexus is boring. Nobody is forcing you to start writing love poems about the IS-F. I just think it's quite arrogant to say that nobody should be even talking about the car.

As I said, the IS-F ain't my favorite car. I think it is overstyled amoung other things. But it is still worth talking to those who do care for it.

America - easier car to drive doesn't necessarily mean it's for people who aren't good drivers. It just means it's an easier car to drive or exploit the potential without having to be a professional. If not being a professional or expert driver means being a bad driver, then I guess most of us here aren't good drivers.

answer, you're one of the few truly smart members left on this site, and it's a wonder that you've stayed so long.

I saw a white M3 sedan and a white IS-F today within five minutes of each other. I have to say, both looked amazing. I have gotten used to the IS-F's wheel vent thing.

ktu01, let's look at all of the logical fallacies and mistatements in your little post. First, the designer, Yaguchi does NOT say the ISF is easier to drive, he says in that someone who is not a "really good driver" can enjoy it. Second, Yaguchi said the "M3 is fun for a really good driver", he did NOT say a professional. He also did NOT say that the M3 isn't fun for other skill levels as well, he just tried to imply it. Third, you equate being a professional driver to being a really good driver, this relationship only happened in your head. It wasn't said by Yaguchi or by me.

last as usual M3 c63 even rs 4 then is-f. its all for nothing anyway cause in dec cts-v

Why are we still seeing 'reviews' for a car that' been out for a long time. It was and is a loser to all its competition. That doesn't change after 3 months.

"Plant your foot and the 8-speed automatic transmission shits cleanly and at near dual-clutch speeds"

Haha, "shits cleanly", funniest typo ever

lmao....ohhh you german fan boys...this is just the 1st phase of domination in performance. It will take time to get there, but they will only need little time to prove it. I'm sure the 2nd Gen is where your skirts will fly...German Fan Boys. I have to say the "shits" typo is a funny one though!!!...lmao!!!

The scary part is Lexus already dominates in term of Customer satisfaction/ownership/reliability and value. And as they offer more sportier models and improve vehicle dynamics, it only gets better from here.

You have to look at all of the resources. Lexus does deservedly leads in some categories, but not all.

i like the end of the article where it said there will be more F models lol. First the is-f last place in segment then the gs-f is dropped and the lf-a cant get out of its own way. Lexus you make some good cars but stick to luxury thats what your good at.

It's a solid first attempt at a high-performance car. Hopefully they decide to continue developing their performance lineup and introduce the LF-A and GS-F. I also heard there is a sport version of the LS in the works (???) ... no idea how that's going to work out.

whats funny is that german car fans consistantly put down lexus vehicles.

but then they argue for hyundai, and say its good that theres more competition and that will increase the pressure on automakes to make better cars.

you'd think the two are synonymous... :)

and notice how all lexus articles get 100+ posts? well doesnt that mean its doing a pretty darn good job of stirring things up.

Here's my take on why Lexus articles on this site stir things up so much:

Lexus builds great luxury cars for consumers who want little to no "driving experience." As an enthusiast, I do not fall into this demographic. However, I have no problem with people who do -- it takes all types.

What gets the posts going on this site is the fact that Lexus fans say Lexus products are on the same level or better than the cars that are more tailored to enthusiasts or recongized as benchmarks. How many Lexus fanboys have posted the IS-F will crush the M3 or that the LF-A will destroy Porsches and Ferrari's or that the IS350 is a better product than the 335i or G35/37? Countless and this is what creates the flamewars.

The IS-F is a noble and great start for Lexus going down a performance route. However, they are competiting with the best and benchmarks. Simply said, they have come a long way since 1989, but still have a long way to go.

hmmm...and for some reason, "no driving experience" doesnt scream peace to me either. to say that he ISF has no driving experience is absurd. even if its not as good as the M3, its the best that lexus has made.

and for the record. those fan boys that say lexus is the best are the few that we have been ignoring for awhile.

and btw, performance aside, there are many people in the automotive world who say that lexus is just as good or better in other areas.

Lexuskingguy, I think you missed my point. I said the IS-F is a "noble and great start" for Lexus performance. It is certainly not boring. Its a good car. The problem is, its competitors (mainly the M3) are great.

But most of the line up really is boring. The ES, LS, RX, GS, etc. are the antithesis of driving excitement. Buick has actively been using Lexus as a benchmark -- enough said. The IS350 had potential, but only offering that car with the automatic really limited it.

IS350 is 6 speeds

Agent63

"IS-F boring"
IS-F could be anything but boring. Say whatever u want but boring, what do u drive? Enzo

Your hate of lexus is amazing. Hard to beleive u own Lexus LS460(not questioning the affording stuff...i don't care) but u never miss the chance bashing Lexus.

JUGNU

Like I've said before I don't care what anybody thinks. This is just a website. I've shown photos of my S Class before but it's only available as a link because my friend from a shop took pictures of it for portfolio purposes after I added aftermarket wheels. As for me having an LS I had a killer deal and it's done the job very well. I haven't bashed the Lexus but compared to my S it's a boring look.

Anyways as I've said many times before I have nothing to prove on the internet, especially to you. I just speak from my experiences unlike Lexus trolls who think their LS is a Bentley.

I'm a stock & real estate investor and i've done very well for myself over the past few years and i've worked too hard to have anybody on here phase me with comments. Jugnu why should you be jealous? you're from the great UAE. You're the rich guy here. I don't have an Enzo but I'm sure you do. =)

its sad, when a "boring company" which parent company can buy any other company...FACT comes out with an fast car that can match the germans, it sucks...wow, how many people drove this car???

Come on , I own an IS-F, and I like it and enjoy driving around. What I like the most is that nobody knows this car so wherever you go, people walk over to see the car and lots of people follow me around to look at it. It's a well valued purchase, you do get your money's worth. M3, here in Canada, very overpriced and dealers are a bunch of snobs, did not even let me test drive the M3 unless I sit down and fill the paperwork. Come on. Anyway, I'm very happy with this vehicule, good job Lexus.

C63.

Well being a lexus fan, i will admit m3 is a seperate thing it's so agile,responsive,has award winning engine,and the force feedback from steering,transmission everything screams that it is a drivers car,but blogs isf is first attempt(look at mercedes c63 amg it hasn't got the same responsiveness and feedback and amg have been for decade or 2 so how a company in it's first attempt beat an m3) and it has some characteristics like the roar of engine,the chasis balance but on downside it has electronic steering not a hydraulically assisted,brake feel is not upto the mark,and it's a bit harsh ride and expensive.so here m3 is a better choice.

Does anyone here own an M3, C63, RS4 or IS-F? I'm struggling to understand some of the comments based on lack of experience and ownership. Rather than comment on other folks comments, may be I should share my thoughts as an owner.

So, after three months of trying out each car multiple times, occasionally catching owners at the dealership (very important), I decided to get the IS-F. BTW, all four cars here are very good. Really good. I don't think I would ever find myself bad mouthing someone elses car anyway. So, here's why I ended up with the IS-F. Your priorities may/will be different and these are not in any particular order.

- Ride. As other professional reviewers have said, the suspension is tight, but something you can live with day to day, not like the M3 which is way too harsh. It's hard work on the M3. The same is true for the RS4 but the C63 is not too bad, actually I like the C63 ride a lot.
- No gas guzzler tax (M3 13/19) (C63 11/18) (14/21) (IS-F 16/23), IS-F has a bigger engine than M3, 2 more HP and does this much better? And I am doing more like 26 on the highway. This thing purrs 1600 rpm at 60 MPH.
- Reliable and excellent Lexus service (BMW - no). With BMW, it's not if you have to go to the stealership, but when. And that is a deal breaker. I don't care how good the car is, if it's at the dealership all the time, it's useless. Audi reliability is improving, but not to the standard I need. Same story with the C63, MB say there are improving - we'll have to wait and see.
- Price. Standard equipment exceeds the other three by thousands. Easily add another $17k for the BMW and RS4. Yes, I like my toys. And no one can dispute Lexus has the best navigation system of the four. Audi is terrible. BMW - IDrive anyone? And MB copied BMW, their old system was way better.
- Looks. It's better in real life than on a computer screen. M3 is nice, very nice, RS-4 too understated, C63 way too much nasty Chrome. IS-F seemed just enough, and no I am not a fan of the rear exhausts but then I do not get to see them that often :P. It does indeed look like someone stole a VISA card and went down the goodies shop sometimes but no one has yet to make any negative comments on it's looks.
- Paddle shifter. If you are ever lucky enough to test drive the IS-F, you will understand why the M3 is about to get the same system. Few occasions have I been scared in life, but changing from 1st to 2nd in this thing does it. The change up is 0.1s. A little better than the DSG, way better than the hard work required on the M3. Faster shifting than the C63 for sure. Does 0 to 60 in 4.6 secs work for you?
- Sound. Can't describe this well enough, you have to hear it in person. Below 3,600 rpm the V8 is audible but not intrusive. Above 3,600 rpm then this loud deep rawing noise comes from the car. Put's a smile on anyones face. I'll have to youtube it at some point.

So what do I not like about the IS-F as an owner. Back seats do not go down (same for all