New Lexus IS F

What is it?

A significant step for the Lexus brand, being the first proper sporting model to come from Toyota's luxury subsidiary. Like BMW's M, Merc's AMG and Audi's RS models, Lexus has associated its new brand with a letter, 'F', though the exact meaning of the letter is elusive, as the company has stated that it means finesse in the past. However, for the IS F, the F is said to stand for Fuji Speedway, the car's 'home circuit'.

The fact that a racetrack is referenced in the car's preamble suggests that Lexus is branching out from its luxury bread and butter models, though it only takes a glance at the bulging bodywork of the new car to realise that. As you'd hope, the IS F is a lot more than just an aggressive new body kit. Under the bonnet is a 5.0-litre V8 producing 417bhp and 505Nm of torque, figures that exceed the outputs available to drivers of the new BMW M3 and the Audi RS4, though the C 63 AMG still betters them all. Performance figures are right on the money, but Lexus isn't openly pitching the IS F against its hardcore rivals, instead saying that its new car is docile and even luxurious at normal speeds, but still capable of thrilling its driver.

Is it any good?

Put simply; the IS F blew us away at its launch. Surprisingly, it looks much more subtle in the metal than it does in photographs, but retains a pleasingly aggressive stance. At motorway speeds and around town the new car feels compliant enough, even if you are aware that the suspension is stiffer than the regular car's. The engine is quite subdued in this mode too and the bolstered seats are fantastically comfortable.

You'll need those seats to hold you in place once you hit a decent stretch of twisty road, as the IS F has very high levels of grip and encourages you to approach its limits. On track, it proved to be massively quick and more importantly for any car claiming to be for drivers, entertaining too. That's despite the standard fitment of an automatic gearbox and a lot of standard equipment meaning the car weighs in at a portly 100kg or so more than its rivals.

It's no ordinary gearbox though, featuring eight speeds and clutch lock-up once out of first gear. Paddles behind the steering wheel are responded to quickly and the electronics will even allow you to bounce the engine off the rev limiter if you have it in full manual mode. Lexus also claims that this unit shifts gear quicker than nearly any other production car made and it feels it, which is just as well, as the 5.0-litre engine spins around to the limiter rather rapidly, emitting an incredible sound once above 3,600rpm that'll have you downchanging and accelerating through the gears just for the sake of it.

Should I call the bank manager?

Don't hang about sorting out the cash, as the IS F will be limited to just 150 units for the UK for 2008 and rumour has it that a lot of those are already spoken for. At £51,000, the IS F compares favourably with the aforementioned competitors, but Lexus wins on the equipment count. We believe that the only option is a sunroof, so niceties such as climate control, satnav, adaptive cruise control and the Pre-crash Safety technology are all standard at that price. Another interesting fact is the IS F's relatively low CO₂ figure of 270g/km, which points to better fuel efficiency than some of its key rivals and less trips to the pumps for you. That is unless you drive the IS F in a manner in which it has been designed to be driven. But you don't need to mention that to the bank manager...

Summary

At its first attempt at a real sporting car, Lexus has created a sports saloon worthy of comparison with well established rivals such as the BMW M3, Audi RS4 and Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG. And you thought Lexus just made luxury cars...

Shane O' Donoghue