CDNROCKIES

In all seriousness....this just shows how close the two cars are in real life. If they're that close with professionals driving them....on the street or track with amateurs driving either car could win huge depending on the driver.

LexFather

Genius! Let a M3 owner drive the IS-F! Genius!

Great post, I agree.

CDNROCKIES

I actually posted on M3post that Tanner was sandbagging cuz he didn't want the car he owned to look bad.

Mister Two

Man... first time watching this show... This show is all about drama and nothing about testing the cars for real. Oh well, they need to keep the viewers entertained and happy somehow.

TF109B

Well glad I skipped this episode. Hopefully the LFA vs. R8 goes better for Lexus and Tanner doesn't 'kill' the engine

GFerg

Not even mad at this showing. The M3 was faster in the straights, but not by much. And the IS F, driven by someone who "allegedly" has less road course experience (and also owns an M3) came from behind and overtook the M3 on the road course. Nothing to really complain about here. It is clear that both cars are pretty evenly matched and for Lexus first effort, they aimed for the benchmark and pretty much met it. That's pretty damn good IMO.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Bizarre the engine shut off. Never had that problem with mine at a road course. Maybe I'm just too slow?

AUTOLVR

I have to set my tivo now

rominl

iTrader: (4)

lol it's good entertaining show either way, for the drama and laughter. the test results? they are ok but even with me an m3 owner i wouldn't go yay coz' it won.

what's the problem with m3 owner driving the isf? so he's going to be biased and intentionally drive the isf slower? come on, that's a bit silly, tanner probably wants to win. and similarly, keep in mind the other guy doesn't know how to drive the m3 as well (obviously), so if tanner is to drive the m3 and win, people would complain saying it's biased because he knows his car well and how to push it?

if anything, i think the isf shutting off on the course is more hilarious. now that's something that should never happen no matter who drives the car

i agree with CDNROCKIES and GFerg, both cars are very close to each other, and that's the good thing we get out of this

rominl

iTrader: (4)

and i am a bit surprised about the m3 winning on the straight line acceleration, i always think that's the weak point of the m3. and especially the 0-100-0. the m3 is known for weaker brakes. surprised....

LexFather

I thought it was very ironic that the M3 with nearly 100 less lbs of torque won all the straight line tests but the IS F wins the RoadCourse which is where the M3 usually dominates.

Agree that it was good to see the two against one another and still pretty amazing that Lexus actually has a competitor here.

Considering they were on the track I would like to see them go to speeds OVER 100 mph. I mean what they were doing is what people video on Youtube Then we can really see how the M3's higher redline works vs the lower end torque of the IS F.

Notes from me:
-Would have liked to seen sedan vs sedan (M3 was a coupe)
-Was that a M3 Competition Package? The wheels seemed to be the ones from that package
-Hilarious that Paul could not figure the M3 out at first and reading the owners manual
-Tanner with the engine shut off?
-I do believe both can have Michelin PS2 as a factory tire
=Both cars looked great in their bright colors

rominl

iTrader: (4)

lol good post mike for tq, i think i have to go back and say it again, the number on paper doesn't mean that much. the setup on the m3 is very weird with the gearing. although on paper it has so much less tq, but in reality, in the first 2 gears, it put down even more tq on the wheel than a vette, and as long as it's in high rev and punch it, the car is no joke.

but back to your point, i also find it very funny that on the straight line the m3 won. in my eyes, the c63 will be far up front, then the isf, then the m3. m3 is never known for straight line punch. on the corners, i think it has a bit more to do with the driver. tanner is a drifter and on road course i think he can throw the car around better. maybe that's why he could overtake the m3 in the end

but yes, i wish they could have done higher speed of at least 110mph (even i hit that at m school). but then again this shows that the show is more about entertainment than performance

regarding your notes:
- sedan and coupe won't make difference, for m3 they perform the very same. if anything, some people say the sedan being a tad wider has better cornering
- yup, i would like to know that too, whether the m3 has the comp package. the wheels for sure say so. i think for the comp package the performance gain is the lowering?
- yeah, and it's funny tanner refused to tell paul how to launch it. hilarious and the first time when paul used the launch control, the car shot forward and paul was like oh xxxx
- for m3, from factory it's either ps2 or continental. for isf, from factory it's either ps2 or bridgestone i believe

Lexura1414

iTrader: (6)

The BMW won the half mile race because the model that was used was the 7 speed DCT which is faster that the 6MT model. Most of the youtube videos we have seen the IS-F beating the M3 in a straight line were 6MT's.
Regarding the IS-F's win on the road course, the model that was used was a 2010 model which had the Torsen differential which negated the M3's advantage on the track. I am sure Lexus engineers tested the Torsen equipped model against the M3 before anything else.

Now the 2011 model is a different story..I think I will own this model in a few years.

Galaxy 40

I did not see the show but had a feeling the M3 would win.....it always wins anyway.

I wish we had something like the "Soccer World Cup" only for cars. no mods just stock....M3 with a German Driver from BMW and IS-F with a Japanese Driver from Lexus

rdgdawg

Saw the preview

Yes on comp package, yes on lowering