Thank you very much, that is very kind of you!!

For whatever reason and I wasn't really able to find out any info on this, the Infinitis have a BMW/Mercedes/Audi-esque depreciation curve. No idea why as they are MUCH more reliable than any German brand. And they aren't bad cars by any means. That being said though, I feel like the difference between the G37S I drove and the IS350 wasn't very different on the back roads even pushing at 100% (The Infiniti is better, but not too much better), but as a daily, the IS350 really just does it much better. Complete package indeed.

It doesn't surprise me that people will end up with those choices (Japanese/German car with 300+ HP) because they are in the same class of cars sort of. I already read the responses that others gave (and I mostly agree), but I'll share my thoughts anyway.

Yes, I never drove an IS-F. But from what I saw when I was looking for my car, yes the IS350 retains its value. Yes, there is a chance that it might even appreciate slightly in value as time goes on because of how great of a car it is and how its almost too difficult to find one at a good price with lower miles. It just proves that the people who have them drive them so much and don't want to let them go because they are such great cars. Yes, you can tune a 2IS350 to be much better than an E46 M3 and last more than 100,000 miles without having to rebuy the car in failed SMG pumps and VANOS resealing. I'm even somewhat thinking for the future to do light mods to my 350 and save up for an IS-F in like the next few years and get another daily, but regardless...

Here is my take (If you plan on reselling the car in a few years): If you're going to make ridiculous suspension/power mods (on either car), honestly you're better off saving for an IS-F and keeping it stock. The amount of money you'll put into a 350 won't help the resale value in comparison if you buy an IS-F and keep it stock .​​​​​​That being said however, just simply a tune, sway bars, and springs will improve the 2IS350's feel significantly with not very much money put into it, but just to give an example for those of us who will mod whatever car they get: If I buy an IS350 for 15k and put 10k worth of mods onto it (yes, I know that is obscene and unlikely, but even like 4-6k worth of mods will still kinda not improve resale), the most I could sell it for without parting out would be about maybe 19k, meaning that I lost about 6k. If you buy an IS-F for 30k and keep it stock, even if you put like 50k miles on it during your time as owner, you can still sell it for like 25-27k. And even if you put mods on an IS-F, the resale value is still will be higher than any modded 350 (unless it has a supercharger or other unique mods done to it). You'll lose less money and have a more enjoyable car. Keep in mind this doesn't keep track of maintenance and gas expenses, to which obviously the IS-F has more. If the IS350 retains its value well, the IS-F is slightly, if not much better at that. Good luck finding one for cheap, even a high mileage 2008. If you're going to daily it and not really do much driving at a drag strip or race track, the 350 has plenty of power to even beat some V8 powered muscle cars. I praised the 350 a lot because of just how great of a car it is. the IS-F is no doubt better, but stay practical and realistic (Even if the IS-F has some slightly greater investment 'return' than the 350) Don't expect good MPG from an IS-F and know that every part will cost a bit more than its 350 counterpart. If you feel like that isn't a problem, get the IS-F, no questions asked. If my 2IS was not going to be a daily, I would have saved up for the IS-F, no questions asked. But if you're planning on keeping it practical, IS350 is the way to go.

Now if you're buying your car solely to do mods to it and you want to go with a 2IS, the aftermarket parts for the 350 are the same if not cheaper than those of the IS-F (just look at some exhaust/suspension component prices to see what I mean), so if you don't care too much about a hit in selling the car because you plan to keep it forever and want to work on the car a lot, the 350 will get the job done just fine. This might be a stretch, but a somewhat heavily modded 350 might even handle better than a stock IS-F. Who knows. But only do this if you plan on keeping the car for a long, long time to the point where resale value sort of becomes irrelevant. I am of the opinion though that you should have a unique car. There are probably more stock IS-Fs than heavily modded IS350s.

To sum it all up, stock IS-F if you don't want to mod as much and want resale value. IS350 if you want a more practical daily driver. IS-F if you will be taking your car to a track or drag strip frequently (If it is not your daily driver). IS350 if you don't plan on selling the car anytime soon and want to work on it without spending too much on parts. But hey, you know yourself and your capabilities and what you want to do much better than all of us. Its your call.

As long as you enjoy your ride, that is really what matters. I do second this completely though, the power of that G37 is really addicting (7500rpm redline). At least you will get a decent amount of money if you ever decide to sell your 2IS!

 

Good point, if I get a car, I definitely will mod it, 15k is350 vs 25k ISF, which is 10k different. I think I got my route here, if I put 10k to mod the is350, the value resell will drop a lot when I sell it to get the ISF. I think the better way is save more money and get the ISF, the ISF still look fantastic with bone stock. I have an Altima as daily for now, it's boring that's why I want to get something fun to play, I think I should patient and get the ISF instead of is350.

 

Go for it man. The 350 is a complete blast to drive. I can only imagine how good the IS-F is.

 

To add some perspective using quantifiable data, it will only cost about $2,000 in upgrades to make an IS350 pull similar slalom and skidpad figures as an IS-F.

A 2IS equipped with the F-Sport suspension accessories package (shocks/springs/sway bars/chassis brace) will handle nearly identical to the 2011 IS-F (which itself was an improvement over the 2008 IS-F via a revised suspension and Torsen LSD). Below, you can see an Edmunds video review of a 2IS equipped with the F-Sport Accessories package and its slalom and skidpad results are near identical to the 2011 IS-F which was also tested by Edmunds:


2011 IS-F Review and Stats- http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/t...exus-is-f.html

ISX50 w/ F-Sport Accessories Package-
Skidpad = 0.89
Slalom = 71.0 mph

2011 IS-F w/ Revised Suspension and LSD-
Skidpad = 0.90
Slalom = 69.7 mph

To further enhance a stock IS350, $500 will get you an ECU tune and another $500 will get you a 11+ IS-F Steering ECU to greatly improve steering feel and feedback. So in total, you realistically don't need to spend more than $3,000 in mods to turn your stock IS350 into something special.

 

Honestly I think it may cost less than $3k. I mean the biggest changes for the is350 happen with f sport away bars and honestly you only really need the rear from what I've read since that makes the biggest improvement. As for springs shocks, and chassis brace I'm not sure what that would run you. But a decent set of coil overs cost about $800 from Megan which in my opinion would be better than getting the F sport springs and what not since these give you increased handling and adjustability.

Redspencer what does a chassis brace cost anyway?? And does it really make a difference?

 

The F-Sport Rear Chassis Brace is about $300ish(IIRK). Yes, the rear is much more planted to the ground now due to the reduction of deflection to the rear suspension with the stiffer rear brace. The car also becomes more responsive to steering input thanks to the stiffer chassis brace providing a reduced polar moment of inertia when you initiate a turn. When you try doing some quick slalom maneuvers, you'll really see how fast the chassis responds. I would only recommend getting the beefier chassis brace after you have upgraded your suspension and tires or else you likely won't be maximizing its benefits.

 

I own an IS350 and love it, but I would still say get the ISF. Like some of the other guys said the car is extremely rare. I would have gotten myself one if I had the money for it. For my next car I will probably get an ISF or 335i (Just so I can tune the hell out of it). But if you stick with the IS350 that is still a great choice. Definitely would recommend getting the F-sport exhaust and intake for it as well. Both give you a little more power and make the car sound very nice. And if you are into making a car sound good, I would also recommend getting the Invidia midpipe as well. Hope you enjoy your car!

 

True. But keep in mind that doesn't include exhaust mods or any cosmetic parts that most people will probably get (Off subject, but the IS350 is gorgeous as it is. F-Sport grille and front bumper improve it, but just put in the money for that into performance parts. Or save it. There really isn't a need for anything else cosmetic to improve its looks. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess). And yes I know that everything you mentioned is plenty to turn the IS350 into a completely different handling car. My estimate was just to put the prices of the two cars into comparison, that's all. If I'm overestimating, I'd say $3k for suspension parts/tune, $1k for PPE Headers, another $1.5k for a higher end exhaust system, and like another $2k for lightweight wheels/sport tires, you really don't need to spend more than $7.5k (at all, unless you're going to supercharge it) on any measure on an IS350 to make it handle better than a stock IS-F (Keep in mind this is assuming all parts are brand new and are of the more expensive variety to get). And keep in mind a lot of the parts I added weren't needed to improve handling (exhaust/headers). With used parts, you could probably even do all of this for under 4k. The 10k in mods thing I said was just to show that its very difficult to resell your modded car at or even anywhere close to how much you spent on it. Putting less than that (which most people probably would) would just mean you saved that much more money.

But you're absolutely right about putting minimal suspension parts into an IS350 to make it handle better than an IS-F for pretty cheap. Guess the lesser weight on the 350 does help more than I initially thought. Not to mention, the IS-F has an LSD that the ISX50 does not and they are still very close. I actually never realized that until watching that video and reading the article.

 

Definitely more rare than a 350. If 1 in every 20 2IS cars I see in my area are 350s, like 1 in every 200 are IS-Fs. I never see them here. I would have spent more time looking if it weren't my daily driver. Next car, who knows what I'll do, but I'll keep the IS-F in mind for sure. Already have all three of the things you mentioned on my mod list. Really enjoying the car so far!!

 

Glad you are enjoying it! Those mods are all awesome! I still need to get the Invidia midpipe (hopefully soon). Do you plan plan on lowing the car or getting a body kit for it?

 

Pretty good write up OP. Glad you like the IS350, however the line up you had selected is pretty impressive as well. Kind of surprised you didn't have a Corvette on that list. Probably a insurance thing....

I did have to chuckle a little about your 370.00 insurance quote and being 18 years old. First world problems...LOL.

Do you have some local tracks that you visit?

 

I do plan on getting coilovers. I will lower it a bit, but I won't slam it for sure. Problem is there are a lot of speed bumps in my area, so it would be difficult to lower it too much without scraping constantly. As for a body kit, probably not. To be completely honest I think the car is gorgeous as it is already. I've seen a lot of body kits out there. Some look very very nice, others just aren't my style really. Plus for the money, you can get a lot of performance and suspension parts, which to me is more important.

Appreciate it. Funny you bring up the Corvette actually, because my friend was on the verge of buying one. He had never driven one before, and one of his college friends had a C6 Z06 and let him drive it and then he realized that he would get himself killed if he actually owned it (To be honest I'm still getting used to a RWD 300+ HP car, let alone a lighter, 500+ HP car). I personally never drove one and yes, without a shadow of a doubt they are amazing cars, but yeah, insurance would be much more than any of the cars on that list (assuming I would ever live long enough to see the first payment, first world problems indeed lol), I would still had to have saved a little bit more to get it, and my dad didn't want a 2 door car. Which was really a shame, but hey, that IS350 is a real fun car.

I live in Portland, so there isn't much close to me aside from Portland International Raceway and a drag strip or two on the outskirts of town. (I went to PIR once before and drove the 335i there. Only went once because I never had a good car to track. I will definitely go more frequently now that I have the 350). There are more tracks in Washington, which I have no doubt my friend and I will go there to see who's car is faster. (He has a G37x)​​​​​

 

A Z06 is a lot of car. Most people run out of talent long before they run out of car...lol. Well, at least that is how it was for me. Corvettes are unforgiving when the rear breaks traction. One can sit on YouTube all day watching Corvettes hit cars or ditches due to that.

I am pretty fortunate to have a really nice track 15 minutes away (PPIR), another 35 minutes away (PMI) and yet two others in Denver, CO. One for road racing and one for drag racing. Weather permitting, these are some fun days. Never occurred to me to use the commuter car as a weekend warrior.

 

True. Plus imagine daily driving that. There already is like almost no traction anywhere here because of all the rain. Even if it were dry based on what I heard its almost too easy to lose traction in that car.

That's awesome man. I wish that were the case here. PIR is fairly close to me, but that's it. Absolutely right about the commuter car as a track car though. I still haven't redlined my car once and its incredible how much it pulls even at 4000 RPM. To be fair I haven't driven many cars with over 200 HP consistently but the way this IS revs is amazing. Can't wait to see how well it is on track sometime soon.

 

Bit of an update: Put about 1.2k miles on the car now since I got it, but more importantly I actually took it to a few back roads and went on a trip to the beach. Because some of the roads here aren't the best paved in the world, there is a lot of noise, but if you're speaking to a passenger or have music playing it isn't much of a problem at all. The seats are extremely comfortable in comparison to anything else I rode in (to be fair, its not much, but still...). As for driving it a bit more closer to its limit, I was not used to the power at all. I did drive a few other high horsepower cars (I don't know if 300+ HP is considered high lol) at or close to the limit, but nothing like this. I'll be honest I still wasn't really pushing it as far as it could go because its still a learning experience. I came to this from a car that only made 141hp hence my earlier high horsepower comment. But this thing seriously pulls like crazy its unbelievable. Especially anywhere from 0-80. The car will understeer a little bit but did some research and apparently the F Sport sway bars will prevent this, so I will be looking forward to getting those fairly soon. I won't be able to anything else too exciting because it will be rain season here in Portland and my car has summer tires on it and I'm too lazy to put all seasons on it.

Also got to drive an E46 M3 a week or two back. Excellent performance car but too expensive to maintain. It is slightly faster than the IS350 but mod that 350 a bit and it will easily be faster and handle better than it. Also something else I sort of noticed: my dad's Civic is wider than this car. Or at least it looks wider. This actually surprised me a little bit.

Absolutely loving this car. Nothing that irritates me too much yet. Probably will update this again once rainy season ends.