Edmunds has pitted the Lexus IS-F against the Audi RS4, and in what might be the first published IS-F comparison test.
The results, unfortunately, were not pretty, as this is a fairly one-sided affair, with the RS4 pulling far ahead of the IS-F in every category. Their conclusion really says it all:
The 2009 Lexus IS-F is the kind of car that really benefits from switching off the stability control, as it’ll do some really wicked powerslides. And the IS-F handles really nicely and precisely. It’s just too much for us, though. Too much to look at, too intricate to fully appreciate and too hard-core for the street.
The all-wheel-drive 2007 Audi RS4 just plain hauls ass. It doesn’t rotate around an apex like a rear-driver. It’s less the rapier than it is the broadsword. But it’s devastatingly effective as a street machine, so it wins.
The IS-F is shaping up to be quite confounding, it seems as though its marketing slogan, “F is everything you thought we weren’t”, is profoundly dead-on.
(There’s a great video accompanying this comparo, be sure to watch it.)