gengar

Wow, I didn't know that. That restores a lot of my faith in the IS-F, honestly. Let me go find the thread in the forum...........

EDIT: Here

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=316810

Cruise

Well, at least Lexus is in the same sand pit as the other kids, not just the little brother who wants to play but isn't cool enough to warrant anyone's attention. Lexus WILL be a treat and a threat on the streets. At $60K you'll get a decent fanbase, at $55-57K you'll get a decent following, at $50K-$55K? You'll have yourself a cult revolution. Well, maybe not all that drastic, but let's just say, when it comes down to pricing, I'd rather be part of the revolution.

If anything, given the stats that the F is pushing out, the only real number I'm considering now is the one on the MSRP when it hits showroom floors.

gls350

Let's all not forget that this is the first time that Lexus has tried to build a car like this. As someone in an earlier post said (I'd link back to it but I'm typing this in a hurry at work), for them to come so close to the leaders on their first attempt is pretty impressive to me.

Also, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned what was written in one of the counter-point sections in the C&D article. I'm paraphrasing but it goes something like "Give the F three more generations and people might be saying that we're under Toyota's payroll instead of BMW." That says a lot coming from a mag that basically worships at the altar of the Bimmer.

Personally, I'm more than satisfied with the IS350 I have right now so I can wait for them to put more time into this car. The potential is definitely there though and you honestly can't call this an anything but an extraordinary first effort can you?

LexFather

I think it was me that said that and I agree with you and C&D. This car wasn't even meant to be built!

flipside909

As far as the exhausts, the sleeve added is what is routing the actual exhaust's true dual pipes into the oblong exhaust tips. I need to upload my pic of the exhaust from under the car. The actual exhaust is not a true extension of the bumper exhaust bezels. The metal sleeves were added to help route the exhaust gases to the tip extensions rather than into the back of the bumper cover, hence you can still see both exhaust tips by looking through either of the exhaust bezels. Lets hope the actual production car has the proper distance of the exhaust tips into the exhaust bezels integrated into the bumper.

KKelly

After reading all the reviews, I did notice a couple mention it runs out of breath over 6k rpms. Which can be good because that means some aftermarket tweaking can reap some gains or bad because the factory could have done better. Objectively, in 2008 416hp from 5.0 liters is not earth-shattering given the E39 M5's numbers back in 1999 and the fact that that engine will not run out of breath to its redline of 7000rpm. Given the head in the IS is supposed to be quite nice I think they may have choked it a bit in the intake department. Will be interesting to see what the aftermarket can do about that. If it can be made to make power to its current redline or to 7000 there should be some good gains.

flipside909

Agreed. I hope Toyota & Yamaha left room there to squeeze more power out. The Five Axis F is rumored to have more N/A HP by 08 NAIAS in Detroit. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

gls350

As I'm sure others have mentioned before, Toyota is generally known for leaving a LOT of room for improvements to their engine in order to preserve reliability OTD. Just look at the things people were able to do to their Supras without tearing apart the original engine.

I'm sure that once the tuner/aftermarket community picks this thing apart (which I hope it will) they'll be able to squeeze a lot out of it.

KKelly

It was a turbo. Yes, it was a strong engine which could take a lot of hp but that's an apples to oranges comparison. Straight six vs. 5.0 V8. I am not talking about huge numbers just increasing the redline to what is should be for a high-performance car (the 7.0 liter Z06 redlines at 7000 rpm after all) and getting it some extra air and fuel to make power. Maybe a larger MAF and some software would do it.

flipside909

Actually Toyota is the hardest to work with as far as working with the ECM and trying to squeeze more HP out of their motors. Unless you are in Toyota's or TRD's garages, there are not very many tuners out there successful in maximizing HP in Toyota and Lexus vehicles. That's why you don't see very many companies out there that offer F/I upgrades or common bolt on parts for our cars.

The Supra's 2JZ-GTE is a great example of extracting tons of HP but it took a long time for tuners to figure out how to do it and how to do it right. That is why most tuners go to Hondas and such as they are easy to upgrade and work on. But look at the N/A 2JZ-GE in the previou IS300/GS300/SC300. Sure they had a 2JZ in there but they were configured very differently. There aren't very many F/I upgrades available for those cars and for those that are available, most of them need to run with some sort of piggy back computer to run just okay. Toyota has always been known to engineer and maximize thier motors to yield a healthy combination of power and fuel economy.

MR_F1

the difference between 6800 and 7000 aint that much.

KKelly

It is if the car currently isn't making much more power past 6k and you can improve it all the way to 7k.

gls350

Well I never said it would be easy to do it, just that it's very possible given how stable their engines generally are. Then again I'm not as well versed in tuning as I'd like to be so I'll just leave it at that.

MR_F1

Yeah, but with 416hp the cars achieves Lexus' performance targets, Including class leading Fuel economy (and this wide margin). I must say, I myself was disappointed with the numbers, because I know it is capable of much more, but once I saw the 0-60, 1/4mile, braking distance and handling numbers, I wasn't concerned anymore, because he car achieved what it set out to do, and is more efficient in doing so, with a huge, huge ceiling for improvement in the after-market.

The UZ engines can be run to well past 8000 rpm and make power all the way there. I have no doubt that the UR will have the same capability.

KKelly

Before spending the dollars necessary to get to 8000 rpm I think I would just buy a used E60 M5. :-)

It is amazing that my porky M5 was 3800lb's in 1991 and now a competitor to the M3 is weighing in at 3800lbs. So, while the M5 has gained 200-300lbs in 15 years the M3-type cars have gained almost 1000lbs (E30 M3 was 2750lb I believe). It is just too damn much for a compact sports sedan.