Lexus IS-F: 1st Generation News & Information

Car Magazine has just wrapped up its Four Seasons review of the Lexus IS-F, and like most of these long-term test drives, it’s interesting to see what the year brings (although it does sound like the author and the IS F fit together like a square peg in a round hole).

Read this review

Wednesday’s Lexus F-Sport Event at the Homestead-Miami Speedway has come and gone, but some of those lucky enough to attend have published their photos & videos from the track, including some beautiful LFA shots from Eric Ho:

Be sure to check out his full gallery on Flickr—some very nice 1SC & 2GS photos from the event as well.

Also covering the event was Motoring Exposure, who not only posted a massive amount of photos on their site, but also filmed the IS F & the LFA powering down the speedway:

Even after all the videos I’ve seen of the LFA, I still get chills watching it scream through a track. What a beautiful day to have an event.

Marking the end of a two year rumor, Lexus has debuted the IS F Circuit Club Sports (CCS) concept at the Tokyo Auto Salon—a lightweight IS F with loads of carbon fiber, including the roof, hood, trunk, ground effects—just look at this wild rear wing:

Along with the carbon fiber weight savings and a new exhaust system that bumps output up 12 horsepower to a total of 428hp, the IS F CCS concept is meant for the track, and is likely the source behind all the IS F Evolution rumors that have been going on for some time. No word on whether the CCS will ever see production, or if the carbon fiber body parts and new exhaust system will be available as accessories.

[Source: Le Blog Auto]

Another day, another virtual lap—only this time it’s the esteemed Gran Turismo creator, Kazunori Yamauchi, driving a race-modifed Lexus IS F in the 8th round of the VLN series at Nürburgring:

Back in August, Mr. Yamauchi and a team of two others (Motor Journalist Peter Lyon and racing driver Hideshi Matsuda—all three judges for the World Car of the Year Awards) competed and won the SP8 (close-to-production) class in this four-hour race. The IS-F was the same car that was used at this year’s 24 hour Nürburgring race.

What’s even more impressive is that this was Mr. Yamauchi’s first international race and his first racing car—though from the sounds of it, the 1000 virtual Gran Turismo laps certainly helped:

On the reason for competing in the event, Mr. Yamauchi stated that “I wanted to confirm just how effective the experience in the virtual world is, by competing in a race on the Nurburgring. And that includes not just the driving aspects, but on a wider range of things including the building of the car, communication, and much more. And of course, this will all be fed back into future renditions of Gran Turismo.”

Very interesting story, the official Gran Turismo site has the all the details along with some photos, including this shot of the car exterior:

[Source: Gran Turismo Website]

Motor Trend has just turned in the results of their year-long Lexus IS F road test—doesn’t sound like the car was well-liked:

Naturally, our discerning staff found plenty to criticize about the IS F, notably high-performance Brembos that all too often emitted high-pitched squeaks (dealers either could not replicate the noise or told us it was a byproduct of the high-friction pads), a transmission with too many gears (“While its nice to see the revs under 2000 rpm at 70 mph and the accompanying fuel economy, downshifting to pass becomes a chore—to get to the real power, you have to drop four gears.”), and a stiff ride most deemed too firm and borderline harsh.

There’s not much else to the review, just these complaints and some 0-60 times—to think that’s all the entire Motor Trend staff got out of the IS F. Must be all those Michigan potholes. 

[Source: Motor Trend]

EVO has a 2008 Lexus IS-F as one of their long-term vehicles, and recently took the sedan on a trip to Germany to test out its upper limits:

Our chosen section is bone dry, bright and mercifully light on traffic. Time to let the 5-litre V8 strut its stuff.

What follows is the longest sustained exposure I’ve had to that fantastic bellowing induction note as the IS-F hungrily chomps its way through gears three, four, five and, from 140mph, six. This all happens rather rapidly, the acceleration meaningful, the speedo sweeping inexorably upwards.

Writer Ollie Valentine ends up passing the IS-F’s claimed maximum speed of 168mph, hitting 173.2mph during one of three runs down the German highway. Absolutely fantastic.

[Source: EVO]