Autoblog recently reviewed the 2009 Lexus IS-F and along the way displayed an evenhanded & thorough approach that the US auto magazines could learn from:
The Lexus IS F is not the fastest, not the most nimble, and certainly not the most comfortable of the clan. It may be the least expensive for now, but the savings are really negligible in this price bracket. What the IS F brings to the table is distinctive Japanese execution of design. That means it does everything it was designed to do with precision, polish, and reliability (yet that exactness may come at the expense of idiosyncrasies and peculiarities many enthusiasts call “personality”).
At this point, the knocks against the IS-F are well-established: stiff suspension around town, tight rear seats, fake quad tailpipes. These complaints are standard in any review and are duly noted here, yet the Autoblog reviewer doesn’t let it distract from what’s really important with this super-sedan: how it performs.
[Source: Autoblog]