Threxx

I like the IS-F exhaust better, though the backside of that SC does look nice.

The camber of those wheels looks absolutely retarded, though... and I hope that's an air suspension setup or those nice clean black ground effects are not going to go unscathed for long!

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

I just have to be honest, I wonder if Lexus won't put in slightly more than 425HP. Not that 425 isn't already plenty, but the "old" RS4 has 420 and should be replaced in the next few years, and the C63 could have as much as 500, and the new CTS-V will have 505HP or so.

I guess it really comes down to power/weight ratio in these cars but we all know the IS is already a little porker. And I think that raw numbers stand for a lot as well. After all, this class is really all about bragging rights.

Threxx

Well I wouldn't be surprised if it was more like 450hp because the LS' 4.6 = 380hp and while the math doesn't always line up exactly... that's 82.6 hp per liter.

So with a .4 liter increase in displacement to 5.0 assuming they kept the efficiency at least 'even', that's 413hp. I'm sure with yamaha working on the motor and also the fact that they can open up the exhaust a lot more, allow more intake noise, possibly increase the compression ratio a bit, make the cam profiles a bit more aggressive... all the things that would cause a bit of extra noise and vibration in the LS that is acceptable in a car like an IS-F...

Though with all that said, if the IS-F comes in at low 50s well equipped... it will be a better bargain than the RS4 and M3, though probably comparable to the CTS-V in price, which will offer more power and a little bigger car.

LexFather

I am thinking that the IS will stay around 415-425hp and if a GS-F comes, that may get 450hp since it is a higher model....

XeroK00L

The C63 will have around 450hp, not 500hp, while the CTS-V is really a midsized sedan competing with the M5/E63/GS-F.

The IS-F with 425hp should be competitive enough.

JessePS

Lexus will be playing catch up with everyone else. Plus the 505 hp Cadillac CTS-V does what 0 - 96 km/h in like 4.6 seconds.

I have a feeling IS-F will be able to pull it off 0 - 96 km/h in 4.5 - 4.7 seconds and it will have less horsepower, now that will be something to see, probably could go down ... 4.3 seconds if tuned correctly and other stuff.

The 2007 Audi RS4, does 0 - 96 km/h in 4.8 seconds, with 420 hp.

Plus who knows when Audi will redo the S4/RS4. Might see a revision by what 2008, so it be a 2009 model?!

Mercedes Benz C63/65 which ever one they choose, probably will be the C63, but I wonder how the hell they will fit a 6000 cc engine in a car that size. Which I think the C63/C65 will do the 0 - 96 km/h in the same thing as the IS-F.

Goes to show even with 80+ more horsepower your like 0.2 seconds faster, which by me its cutting close.

Goes to show sometimes, more hp is not always better.

Hameed

I am so excited about this car!!!!!

Time to start parting out the GS (and selling it) and start saving up for this monster!


Switching gears - I liked this sentence the best in the autoextremist article:

That's too funny and true. Now, Lexus, dissappoint everybody and do something different from above!!!

TAMR_GUS98

Hey Lexy,
This is a great "problem" to have. Decisions, decisions!! LOL. Do you know how many people would love to have this "problem" my friend. He he.
-Will

LexFather

............................

UberNoob

^^^ hahaha troll...

and yeah
it isnt just about pure speed
if the IS-F can handle then im sure it will bring M3 and RS4 lots of pain as lexus is becoming a fashion and status statement
i dont think lexus is ever meant to be super high performance when toyota first came out with the brand
it is meant to be a luxury brand that people will want just because their neighbour has one

like how it was in the old days with mercedes

so the main consumers that lexus is targeting are not the enthusiasts but the people in a middle-upper income demographic that is in a race with their friends and neighbours in this capitalistic world...

btw if i made some of those F badges, would any of you buy it and put it on ur 2IS?
lol
i think it would look nice in place of the L badge on the trunk

Threxx

When you get into the range of 500hp cars, 0-60 has very little if ANY thing to do with horsepower anymore. It's nothing more than tire traction, FWD/AWD/RWD, street surface, weather conditions, torque converter, first/second gear ratio, lock to lock shift quickness, suspension setup (particularly rear suspension), traction control (if enabled), launch method, etc.

The difference between a 420hp car and 500hp car if all those other factors are equal is likely negligible until you start looking at 1/4-mile times and so on. And to the driver the biggest difference they'll make is just the whole 'effortless acceleration' factor, and of course that's where lexus wants to make sure this 425hp IS-F isn't just all top end... hopefully they ensure the torque curve is nice and broad/flat too.

JessePS

From what I heard AWD, is great to have its slightly helps out with the 0-60 (if ur into that stuff) ... one thing i like more torque than anything else in cars ... im more of torque person than horsepower. True there is alot of factors in everything. I dont know why everyone dislikes the SMG / DSG / F1 style gearboxes ... is it because a computer can shift faster than you can?! (Not you, but people in general)

Threxx

Just for your reference torque IS horsepower when it comes to flywheel power ratings on a car they are always directly connected and inseparable on a dynograph... they simple vary in ratio to each other depending on the rpm in question.
At any given current/analyzed RPM the following equation holds true:
HP= TORQUE * RPM / 5252

Now granted you can have applied torque without any power, but that is only if the torque is not accomplishing any work, and thus the "RPM" is zero which still works with that equation... hp = zero, in that case, no matter how much torque there is.

Absolutely... a properly setup sequential manual gearbox or similar can shift far far quicker than ANY human could, plus much more reliably (no more hitting the shift fork on a quick 2-3 upshift or downshifting from fifth to second instead of fifth to fourth when you didn't mean to.

For that matter most automatic transmissions these days can shift faster than most humans, however they still work like a traditional automatic and thus 'manumatic' shift inputs still take a few tenths of a second to 'kick in' (delayed reaction), plus due to the nature of automatic transmissions, you lose around 5% or so more horsepower between the flywheel and drive wheels than you do with a manual transmission or SMG transmission or similar.

Basically an SMG transmission is all the benefit of a manual transmission, with the response, accuracy, and speed of a superhuman or super computer working the clutch and shifter.

TRDFantasy

The funniest thing is we don't even know for sure if the IS-F will have 425HP or not. It may quite likely have more. If the heads are being tuned by Yamaha, hell, they may be different heads altogether compared with a stock 2UR-FSE. With some tuning, the 2UR-FSE can easily produce 500HP or more. For all we know, the IS-F may have 430 - 440HP, and the GS-F could very well have 460 - 480HP. Nobody yet knows what the exact power ratings will be, but the potential of the 2UR is a fact.

Even with the rumoured 425HP, the IS-F will still have tremendously more torque than either the RS4 or the next M3. It will also have a flatter powerband.

Threxx

I'm not sure with just "some tuning" the 2UR-FSE could "easily" produce 500hp. To pull that much more power out of that displacement and design of motor without forced induction, you'd have to compromise in one or more areas including durability, cost of production, and drivability.

I have to imagine if they "easily" got 500hp out of the 2UR-FSE without FI, it would probably compromise one or more of those three areas pretty substantially, as that's 100hp per liter out of a (relatively, for 100+hp per liter motors) high displacement per cylinder V8 engine and with a low (again, relative to other 100+hp per liter motors) red line.