What Makes the IS F Special? Let Us Count the Ways
Nowadays, we’re all getting pretty comfortable with the idea of Lexus competing in a variety of performance car segments. But that wasn’t the case a decade ago. And much of that shift in perception can be attributed to the IS F.
At the 2007 North American International Auto Show, the IS F debuted, right alongside the stunning LF-A supercar concept. It could easily be argued that was the watershed moment when people started thinking differently about Lexus. But while the LFA would take a few more years to hit the market place in a very limited way, the IS F was ready to start shifting perceptions with a 2008 model.
Now that that shift in performance perception seems to have cemented itself, perhaps it would be a good time to speak about the importance of the IS F. That may have had something to do with Club Lexus member and Test Driver Tro209 posting up a recent thread titled “To you, what makes the ISF special?”
As you might expect, the thread has inspired quite a few love letters, some of which we’ve included below…
“I feel the ISF is special because it was Lexus’ first attempt at making some[thing] performance oriented. Something that wasn’t anything like the Lexus people knew before.” — Tro209
“To me the most impressive thing is the transmission. With the fast, rev matched shifts and occasional burbles it turns a rather sedate sedan into a race car, relatively speaking. And I love telling people that don’t know what it is that the F is ‘everything you don’t expect a Lexus to be.'” — Jz39
“It was the first crack at a performance Lexus, even before the LFA… with a tune and exhaust there are people running high 11’s in these things… that is faster than a stock Camaro ZL1.” — MisterSkiz
“Not everyone and their grandmother has one.” — tpham32
“My car has 90,000 miles with zero hiccups or rattles. I mean common, for the price that some of these are going for these days you get a car that performs way above its price range. Plus if you add some basic aftermarket parts it’s game over for the competition.” — 2010ISF
That’s just a sprinkling of the love you’ll find for the IS F in the thread. Check out the rest for yourself, and by all means, if you have some words of praise you’d care to add, don’t be shy.
