Bass Mech

so for those of you who had been following i ordered my 2014 IS 350 F-Sport RWD from japan, followed it all the way to the US and waited 4 months for it to arrive.
i have 3700 miles on it now and honestly i love pretty much everything about it except the lack of power!
keep in mind i live at 6500 feet ASL and to put that in perspective for the 90% of the population that lives below 2,000 feet we loose nearly the difference between a 250 to a 350 in power.
you might say my 350 has a tad more power than a 250 at sea level.

i am just very frustrated! also it doesn't help the fact my last car was a 2012 Zo6 corvette! but honestly i just want more TORQUE!
i am in a 27 month lease as i saw this coming to some degree before i bought the car. I've been looking at the cadillac cts-vsport with the twin turbo 3.8l V6 making over 425 hp and nearly the same torque.
i recently bought as my secondary vehicle a 2014 GMC sierra truck with the 6.2l and it has the same engine as the stingray but despite its 5600 lbs of *** it is still faster than my IS 350!

lately i have been looking at camaros, dodge chargers, cadillac, BMW and AUDI i really want to stay near 50-60k price range and the caddy exceeds that. I've heard rumors the ATS may get the twin turbo 3.8 and if that happens i may have to take that option.

i am pretty sure to get the v8 in the RC-f is going to put me at about 70k at that point the CTS Vsport becomes a contender.
i really wish Lexus would bring back the IS-F in the new body style, from a price point it would be just about exactly what i am looking for.

my friend just got a BMW 235 M sport i don't like 2 doors but it is definitely faster and easy to ref lash for more power, and the price point isn't too bad but it is still well shy of 400 hp and thats my goal, i really want something close to 400 hp and tq

anyway what suggestions do you guys have that i over looked? i don't want anything i have to modify as i plan to lease. i had considered a nissan 370Z but its really a kids car and they don't really have a match on the infinity side either.

tea

A c63 AMG can be had for around $60,000. Ample amount of torque

RA101722

Note that your friend's Bmw has got a twin scroll turbo engine with 400 nm of torque from 1200 to 5000 rpm...and it's lighter.

Turbos are great if you want the power at low rpm but as you live at 2000 feets the turbo suffers more than NA engine about power loss at high altitudes.

Bass Mech

that may be true, but i drove his car and their was a clear difference in seat of the pants performance.

goshawk823

I'm moving from my 2013 Camaro 2SS/RS (400HP at the crank) to the IS350. I had a 2010 Camaro with the 6 and it was almost exactly the sam hp as the IS350. You'd probably want to step to the ZL1 or the Z/28 if you have that need for speed/HP.
My SS is a great car, fun to drive, but you have to do plenty of mods to get it to really sing. (tune, headers, intake minimally; most people keep going... plus the 6 speed LS3 has a better upper end in the motor over the L99 I have in the automatic.)
I'm not in it for the HP. You really can't use it on the street here and I don't track my car.
I'll gladly deal with less HP and get back to a performance luxury vehicle.
EDIT: just saw your price range. Forget the Z/28. That's 75K, and will be a ***** to find. The supercharged ZL1 may be what you want.

RA101722

Yes, I trust you, and that's why even considered the power loss the BMW had more torque, because of the turbo, and as the car was lighter it was simply faster in every condition.

A more direct comptetitor for your car would be the BMW 335i with same engine but similar weight...I guess that in the end you'll like the BMW for the reasons I just explained.

In conclusion I'd go for a turbo.

Sean

iTrader: (3)

I always thought turbos did better than N/A engines at higher altitude. There was an (incredibly stupid) video going around a few weeks ago where a M235 was shown to be faster than an IS-F at 5000 feet.

2014 BMW M235i vs Lexus IS F Mashup 0-60 MPH Review: Japanese vs German Muscle - YouTube

If the ATS-V becomes a thing, it might be what your looking for. Closer in size to the IS350 but the same engine as the CTS-Vsport.

unowned

That's because a modern turbo car will always try to reach it's target PSI even at altitude.

RA101722

Yes that comparison is stupid because the Bmw weights 1350 kg (with manual transmission) and the IS-F 1600 kg, also they've got two different engine types.

You know, the IS-F is a sports luxury car and the Bmw is more likely a sports car lighter and smaller than the Lexus...also it has got a big turbo!

---

I've got another option for the OP: what about the Infiniti Q50 hybrid?

V6 with a punch of torque from electric engine, sounds similar to a normal turbo engine.

Driving my IS 300h I feel like having a turbo assisting me everytime especially uphill where it's brilliant.

TheShaddix

I'm in the same boat as you, the IS is really lacking in power compared to my old 335i e92 which had tons of torque in any gear. There is literally no torque in the IS below 4k rpm, and if the downshifts were instant, it would kind of help the situation, but it takes forever to go down the gears, and the engine whine is getting pretty annoying. I didn't mind any of this due to the initial excitement and wow factor that this car had, but now I'm seeing more cons than pros. Even the amazing LFA gauge is now old. I've been eyeing the new m3/m4 that's coming out in a month or so. Over 400 torque at 1800 rpm, that's a roller coaster on demand. And also will need to see what the RC-F will be like, but the looks are questionable and they'll just use the same 8-speed tranny again and I want something with a dct already.

Vairox

I had a C6, and a 11' WRX and yes the IS torque sucks but you can't have everything that's life... imagine having to drive a 250 around, be happy you aren't doing THAT. Don't get anything with a turbo unless you like replacing crap, blown turbos etc....

NebulaIS

Shots fired lol. To the OP, does it make any difference if you disable the traction control by holding down the button? I've found this has made a bit of a difference in acceleration for me although I'm only at ~3,500ft ASL.

LH1

Have you considered the Chevy SS? 415 hp/415 tq, 4 doors and it's in the price range your looking at. If you can get past the vanilla Malibu look you might really like it since you clearly like GM V8's.

tea

Nothing wrong with a 250. Yes it's slower than a 350, but apparently the 350 is slower than a lot of other cars too. Not everybody is racing down the streets

Bass Mech

actually I am glad you mentioned this, yes at the Denver auto show i did look closely at the SS its a little bigger than i want, but it is well equipped. the camaro i am not considering until it gets a redesign, i felt it wasn't all that fancy when it came out and even less than impressed with the interior now.
but the SS is interesting, however it has an LS-3 and while its a solid motor i would rather wait to see if it gets the new DI 6.2l gm is using in a lot of other cars now.

the 1 good thing about anything GM is they are easy as pie to modify if i ever get bit by the bug and decide to keep and buy out my lease.

for example, I've considered putting the edelbrock SC on my GMC! 600 HP at the crank would be a hoot! even in a pickup!