Buy one – you’ll love it! – Kent Life’s verdict of the IS F after Lexus Sidcup lent the magazine one of its models to drive
Traditionally, if you wanted a barnstorming saloon car, you went immediately to a BMW dealership. Upon arrival, you presented the suited chap behind the desk with a wincingly large cheque scrawled with a shaking hand and, after choosing some paint and some carpet, left with the keys to a BMW M3.
But this was OK, because what you got in return for your first child’s trust fund was one of the finest pieces of automotive engineering ever to grace our roads.
The Germans are rather good at this sort of thing. The five-seats-and-monstrous-engine combination is something of a specialty over there but, although Audi and Mercedes have both had a fair stab at super saloons, the Holy Grail has always been BMW’s M3.
But now there’s a new contender, and it comes from an unlikely place. The Japanese have always been able to make quick cars – reliable ones, too – but taking on the Germans? It’ll have to be very, very good…
As you’ve probably deduced from the images, this is a Lexus, and a good-looking one at that. The way this new IS-F looks is almost irrelevant, however, because you’ll hear it coming well before you clap eyes on it – underneath the bonnet nestles a five-litre, 417bhp V8. And you’ll know it has a V8 because it’ll be making a noise like a Stegosaurus with its tail caught in a fan.
Now, Lexus has never really been in the market for sporting cars. Large, swift luxury cars for directors have been the company’s mainstay and, despite an unfortunate association with Alan Partridge, the track record is excellent. But with a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive car already in the line-up, it seemed almost rude not to furnish it with a monstrous engine and spend months testing it at the Fuji Speedway in Japan. Which is exactly what Lexus did, and the result is overwhelmingly impressive. 0-60mph takes a face bending 4.8 seconds, and a complete disregard for the law would see you nudging the limiter at 168mph. A carefully tweaked exhaust system means you can tool around town in near silence, but when you hit 3,600rpm all hell breaks loose.
A proper V8 roar is rare these days, but the IS-F is worth the (fairly steep) asking price for the noise alone; the exhaust pops and crackles under braking and the gearbox blips the throttle on the down change. It’s really quite magnificent.
You’re well looked after inside, too. The smart interior is nothing revolutionary, but it’s cosseting and well thought out, and the seats are extremely well bolstered in readiness for any sideways action.
Cool blue dials do an excellent job of letting you know how far you are from losing your licence, a reversing camera should keep you out of rearward trouble and, if you ever get bored of the V8 noise (you won’t), the Mark Levinson stereo could easily drown out Wembley.
All well and good, but you don’t buy a car like this just to sit in some nice seats – it needs to hold its own on the road, too.
Obviously, the IS-F is quick. Hours of meticulous testing on the Fuji Speedway have paid off, and with thicker anti-roll bars, stiffer springs, uprated brakes and other extra-large pieces of geometry to help handle the power, there’s barely any standard IS left.
Virtually impossible to unruffle, corners are dispatched with a quick flick of the wheel, and grip levels from the forged alloy wheels are really quite astonishing. It occasionally struggles to put all that power down, especially on a damp road, but the traction control soon reins in the wheelspin – unless you’re really into botany, keep the TC on and stay out of the hedges.
But before you rush out and buy one, there are a couple of niggles. The stiffer springs may enable you to corner like a demon, but for everyday driving, they make the ride quite harsh. Bumps and imperfections in the road are transmitted straight to the driver; a lack of composure that comes as a real surprise from Lexus. The eight-speed gearbox is a mild disappointment, too. While it helps achieve a decent fuel economy figure on a cruise, it’s constantly hunting for ratios and never seems quite sure which gear it’s meant to be in.
So, should you buy one? A proper alternative to an M3, the IS-F offers a completely different take on the V8 saloon, and the market is all the better for it.
The Lexus may lack the ride composure of the BMW but, making no apologies for its race-bred origins, the IS-F’s combination of awesome power, fine handling and its ability to morph into a relaxed motorway cruiser makes it an extremely convincing case. While it probably won’t tempt BMW drivers away from their cars, the IS-F is a beautifully built example of what Lexus is capable of. Buy one – you’ll love it.
by Michael Palmer pictures by Matthew Richardson
Reprinted by kind permission of Kent Life
www.kent-life.co.uk