Originally Posted by bsteven43

Thanks a lot for the comments ... I appreciate everyone's comments but ones from someone like you in a similar circumstance put me more at ease. I will likely close a deal today. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by lobuxracer

Not touchy, just the same old crap people post all the time. "Well if you couldn't afford it you shouldn't have bought it." Duh.

There's a simple axiom for all engines. Horsepower comes from your gas tank. But you're not asking for 450 hp all the time, only when you go WOT. At part throttle cruise, a good engine will return reasonable economy. Look at the Corvette. They get stupidly good mileage in cruise mode on the highway. Neither the IS-F nor the C63 AMG come close to what I've heard from real world Corvette owners. Granted a Vette is very aerodynamically slick compared to a sedan and is much lighter so accelerating one takes less energy. But it's impossible to ignore the millions of man-hours expended on the small block Chevrolet engine. It is amazingly efficient and powerful given it's stone-age single underhead cam and two valve per cylinder heads.

So, IMHO, MB didn't do much of a spectacular job getting basic efficiency out of their engine and that alone makes me wonder about the rest of the car. If you can't get 16 mpg around town for a vehicle under 4000 lbs, you're doing something fundamentally wrong.

And yeah, I expect I'll get somewhere in the 18 - 22 mpg range around town with the F when I get it, and that's fine. I get 22 to 25 with my 350. Gas cost isn't a big deal at all.

Originally Posted by nuttybar08

Well said and thanks for the insight. My personal opinion is that we're in another short-lived "golden age" for performance automobiles, and isn't it great that we have such excellent choices with each having a distinctive character? Although I pulled out my wallet for the F, I refuse to hate on the M3, C63, or the CTS-V (which is honestly an M5 competitor).

As far as unleashing the horsepower, I joke with my friends that I'm "that guy" doing 60 in a 65 with surrounding drivers cussing and wondering why the hell I bought a fast car. Kidding, but seriously it's fairly difficult finding enough opportunities to check the tune. I'm thinking about joining our local motorsports club and getting my *** on the track.

Originally Posted by DrWillvock

So ive read a few comparisons/opinions putting the IS-F against the Benz C63. Most seem to lean in favor of the Benz. I own a 07 IS and recently have been considering replacing with either of the above, regardless of cost. I only have two complaints about my car: cabin space is terrible, and tail lights are ugly. I guess Lexus didnt get the memo in the mid-90's that orange is outdated? Please share your opinions.

Originally Posted by 1SICKLEX

Welcome to Clublexus. We've discussed this before. There is no "better" car as they are both evenly matched when you consider everything. Both are small super sedans with RWD, big V-8s and more panache than the regular models. The C63 is more the brute beast with power, the IS-F is more the track car. Neither has a truly glaring fault. The IS-F has a better interior and some prefer the C63 styling.

It goes down to personal preference and other details. Cleary we here will say the IS-F is more to our liking and the Benz forums will say "get the C63".

I will say you will get better responses here from people that can maturely point the pros and cons of both, instead of reading things on other forums like "The IS-F sucks, its rice" or "Lexus can't make good cars, they are boring".

Good luck