EZZ

Those manufacturer specs are pretty meaningless when its been proven that BMW lies about its horsepower (it dynos at 360-390hp at the wheels). Really hard to compare NA vs. turbo as the powerband is much broader on turbo cars giving them that extra oomph. Also, the Model 3 Performance should be in that class and it has 520hp to the wheels and costs are in that range.

At least the IS500 now brings something special to the table and completely different than all the other makes. They may totally kill the Acura Type S sales...

UDel

This is a nice surprise that gives us a little hope and hopefully some good sales.

I am hoping they learned their lesson from the GS-F and RC-F and don't price this too high. By going more F Sport but with the V8 I think that is the right direction which should lead to a much lower price. Most people just want the V8 and extra power, all the real/fake carbon fiber nonsense, huge brakes that cost a fortune to service, punishing trick suspension bits, look at me bodykits/exhaust that drive the price up are not very important. This should be in the 55K-59K price range, if they want to really go after the M3 with the huge brakes and suspension bits then make it a version of this but don't do a all or nothing approach with way too high of a price tag.

I wish the GS would have gotten this treatment instead, mainly just the V8 without all the racer stuff that inflates the price, it would have sold much better then that pointless hybrid. I really hope the LS gets this treatment too, they really have to, give it this V8, don't price it much higher then 6 cylinder and it could really help the struggling LS.

UDel

I just wish they did that with the GS(aside from the pointless 4cyl. The IS is just too small, especially in the rear.

Motorola

Best Car Mag was claiming the IS would use a BMW inline 6. You're free to defend their nonsense lol, and I'm sure most of their other predictions will continue to be nonsense.

Mechanically, there's very little that's different between this IS and the RC-F. Some nicer seats aren't going to make the price difference be over $10K. The current IS350 F-Sport can already be had loaded up to $57K, and all its features are standard on the IS500.

EZZ

They should have never killed the GS. If they had a V8 offering priced at $70k, it would differentiate it much better than the ES cousin and had its own niche. Maybe they'll bring it back with this performance revival from Lexus.

UDel

Agree, I said it from the get go, the 4th GS needed some kind of affordable V8 option with at least 400hp to create buzz and get more performance sales, the over priced hybrid was not going to sell or satisfy enthusiasts who can't or don't want to spend 90K for a GS-F. Instead they put a terrible 4 cylinder in it for some reason thinking that will spark sales/interest. Killing it was a bad move, they had options.

patgilm

I’m hoping a well optioned IS500 would be $65k MSRP. I think that would be a great price point with discounts putting it below $60k.

EZZ

Absolutely. I hope they don't price it in the mid-$70k or higher which would be DOA. Maybe your next car after your M340 lease expires

AJLex19

100% agreed - they killed the GS but at least decided to go all in with the IS. Means there's hope for a performance oriented mid-sized sedan in the future as trends and demands shift.

Tom44

this will be lighter than the GSF. So maybe not slower than m340i.

till we see some numbers, I don’t think that’s that.

RNM GS3

I think it will be right around $65-70k price point.

I also think we may see a full IS-F with a detuned V8TT that will power LC-F.

Zmon

iTrader: (2)

Interesting. Honestly, this tickles me a bit and I'll go take a look when they arrive at dealers since my 08 350 is starting to get a little long in the tooth. Just hope pricing doesn't get too crazy with packages/add-ins.

Tom44

i think it’ll be $59k starting. Top out at $67k maybe get onto $70-75k range with CF options.

RNM GS3

Please read the specs for RCF and GSF.
There are differences compared to this IS500 - some of which I listed for you already and you chose to ignore 🤔

Best Car predicted new Fmodel rollout in their most recent report which you denied over and over. Now at least one of the cars they predicted has come to fruition, let’s hope LC-F is next.

Motorola

Oh, so the same as an RC-F.