I've tried, it seems to make no difference. however if you put it in manual mode and neglect to shift, the car will shift at a higher rpm just shy of redline which helps some.

but the bottom line is a lack of torque below 4000 rpm the HP numbers don't impress me much as i don't race much, i just hate the fact it takes nearly a full second to get any power from a roll and from a dig it makes a lot of noise but doesn't really pin me in the seat.
my 2IS 350 seemed faster from off the line.

 

i know exactly what your saying about power on the street and i very much felt that way in the vette especially after i got a couple tickets. the problem with the Z06 was being a centennial edition i was always worried someone would damage it, scratch it, sit on it or do something stupid. couldn't leave it anywhere without worrying about it.
also it is an impractical car as a DD and i knew it would be before i bought my first one. after the excitement wore off that became more apparent.
but in truth i did drive the 2 corvettes a total of about 48,000 miles over 4 years, so i definitely had enough time to enjoy them more than most owners do. and i can afford the payment but would prefer not to pay that much.
and about the Z28 no thanks! with all the problems corvette owners had with dropped valves on the LS-7 and GM pretending the whole time there is no problem, ill pass on the LS-7 the LS -9 had similar problems they just weren't as many of those engines around to make a big case out of.

but on the GM side the CTS and ATS look interesting with a turbo application, this would be easy to mod with a flash and at my altitude make a big difference while easy to ref lash to stock before i trade it in. and they fit into a sport / luxury segment which is what i am looking for.

 

this may be true but not necessarily with every turbo car. i can assure you many of the FI vehicles experience the approximately 25% power loss up here. however the BMW i suspect reads MAP to control boost. even so there will still be a bigger lag here than at sea level as the air is thinner and needs more compression to accomplish the same thing at sea level.

 

I hear you on the Z06. I had a very rare 69 RS/SS that I worried about driving for exactly the same reasons. Worry about damage, whether someone hitting it or breaking something that would be difficult or expensive to replace.

The ATS and CTS look like great cars; especially the ATS. Best of luck on whatever path your choose.

 

I totally agree. The SS is a little too big for me but it's still appealing. I'm pretty sure I saw something on GM inside news about them putting a manual in the SS.

Ideally an LS3 in the ATS would be a home run.

I think by the time your lease is up you'll have some great options.

 

IS350 has power enough to be called a sports car, but the IS250 is way too slow. In my opinion 5 seconds range is good enough for me.

 

I lived on the western slope of the Rockies for several years (@6,000') and I can confirm that FI cars lose power at altitude. While I lived in CO I had an '06 STI and an '09 WRX. Both cars were appreciably faster at sea level. A 25% power loss at altitude seems right to me.

As to the IS 350's lack of grunt, it's depressing to think my 16 year old E36 M3 (with only 240HP) could run neck-to-neck with the Lexus through the quarter. Worse still, my '09 WRX could run away and hide from the Lexus in any test of speed.

My pedestrian '13 Mustang GT is a d/d and I love the car. With only a flash tune, I have about 390 RWHP with equivalent torque. With an intake (and a flash tune geared to the intake) Mustang forum members routinely report dyno numbers of more than 400 RWHP/400 ft lbs TQ. The car is noisy and unrefined, with an antique rear suspension, but it's a blast to drive and rides and handles well. The Lexus disappoints after driving the Mustang. Not an apples-to-apples comparison, but it brings home the reality that slower cars aren't as much fun to drive. The Lexus is the better car, but it's not my favorite. Twenty years ago you could by an infinitely tunable twin turbo Supra, but good 'ol Toyota decided to play it safe with the 2014 IS 350. The car is underpowered at sea level and I can only imagine how slow it is at altitude. Too bad BMW lost its mojo with the F30. With better steering and suspension tuning I might have popped for a 335i. But, as has been said before by others on this forum, Lexus would own its segment with 50 more HP/TQ.

 

i spoke with my dealer and he is pretty confident lexus will have a new IS-f for 2015 i haven't had time to research any of this, i thought the RC-f was the only V8 powered sports car lexus would be offering.
to be honest if the IS was offered for 2014 in the new body style i would not have even bothered to post this thread!
i like my IS a lot and wish it had a V8.
can any of you confirm this rumor?
if it is true i would expect it to be around 60k and i can probably deal with that.

 

I'm coming from a 2011 Wrx 330hp and 380 trq, I've come to terms with the lack of torque and mods, simply with the fact that this car is just really unique. Now time to save up for a project car, while I make this the sexy car lol

 

around 60k for an ISF? They usually go for 70-80 after it's all said and done. If they do have this car ready in a year though, it'll be nice option for anyone complaining about the IS350 power.

 

Hey Kevin, Go for RC-F! I know it'll be more than 60k but it'll be very much worth it. I'll be looking for pictures of your RC-F soon!

 

I am at about 5.5k ASL. When I test drove the 335i (well 3 of them actually) there was definitely a turbo lag. The S4 had a far more impressive kick at this elevation thanks to the supercharger. The 335i simply felt faster than the IS350. The S4 felt like it was in a completely different class. Amazing how much difference elevation can make.

Anyhow, while I completely agree the low end power is a complete disappointment in this car I'm not really sure why everyone is so obsessed by it. The only time you need it is if you are street racing at lights or going to the drag strip. Not going to lie, I've done both ...enough so that if you knew how much you'd probably wonder why I'm making this argument. Real world tho, there is very little need for 3k and below RPM power. When I want to pass someone on the freeway, I do. When someone is tailgating me and I want to lose them, I do. When someone is crowding me and I want distance, I get it. That's what I care about. I have yet to lose a race on the freeway, not once ...even at this elevation.

This car does need more power (said it day 1) but if power is all I cared about I wouldn't have bought this car because I wasn't even planning on test driving this car when I first started looking. I think I'm the one UncleSpud is quoting when he said someone said if this car had 50 more HP (and torque) it'd own this segment. If power was it though and I had to have it I'd probably deal with the S4's horrible handling and crappy reliability or seriously consider the Stingray. The Stingray wouldn't even be close to as nimble as the IS or the german competition but its still a pretty damn sweet car. If the IS-F had the 3IS styling and drive train or the RC-F was out, that'd shake up the competition quite a bit. I really want to say the 335i because that is the car I wanted before I test drove anything else but there is absolutely nothing it excelled and lead the pack in. Still an extremely solid car but till they bring back the BMW magic it doesn't excite me. If I could afford a real sports car, Porsche (911 ...or Cayman GTS ...only dream of 918). Power, beauty ...and oddly enough reliability.

 

your right about the street racing, thats only part of it, although i don't do it often. but what bothers me the most is the car feels ok in sport mode, but won't use the upper gears unless you put it in manual mode.
so because i normally drive in normal mode its always lacking response and if i need to nail it and pass someone it has to shift from 8th gear all the way to 2nd and that takes time. that makes it feel laggy.
so its not entirely the engine torque, but its also the way its been programmed to operate. if i had more torque id guess the trans wouldn't have to shift as many gears and i also wouldn't be looking for the floor under the gas pedal when i just want to accelerate quickly.

its like my truck for example, i rarely feel i need to floor it, about 1/2 throttle and it downshifts 1 gear and has enough torque to get you moving. thats all I'm asking!!

but the IS feels lethargic all the time.
now when i drive my GS with the same engine and a 6 speed trans it feels fine in normal and even better in sport mode.
so i think its more of a combination of the additional gears and the lack of torque. i sometimes wonder if i had got the AWD version with the 6 speed if i would have been happier with it.
whats more my 2007 IS 350 RWD i never felt any of these issues with. thats why i think my theory is accurate. the 2007 seemed to come out of the hole from a dig with a lot more oomph and never seemed to lag much. the throttle was more responsive.
if there was a way to retune this cars electronics i think it would be something that could be fixed rather than redesigned.

 

the wife and i talked last night about this and we are both thinking about trying to downsize to just 2 vehicles the truck and a car.
she loves the truck but will drive whichever.
right now she drives the 2013 GS 350 F sport awd
i drive the IS as my DD
and the truck sits in the garage about 90% of the time unless i go dirt biking or it snows.

we discussed maybe trading both Lexus in and getting something really over the top luxury sports sedan. maybe an LS but i don't know if it makes enough HP to meet my goal. maybe a cadillac CTS-V?
5 series BMW?
this would move my price point up to about 70+ and we could just take turns driving it.

heres the other thing to consider. i have a 3 mile commute to the office each day it seems silly to have 3 cars for 3 different purposes.
if we could combine 1 car into the 4 door family car that has all the luxury and a big set of ***** to go with it i think that might be a good fit.
and the truck is pretty pimp also, after all it is a 50,000 truck with every option!

i dunno still considering options..

 

You will definitely be better off going with a forced induction engine. They do not lose nearly as much power due to altitude. This is why turbo props are a nice upgrade in planes.

Forced induction engines make a great amount of their power through the turbo or supercharger based on injecting additional air and fuel based on load tables. The MAF system in a car will read ambient pressure and will know you are at altitude. It will then request additional boost to meet the same load targets.

Yes, you're BMW x35i will feel like a 400hp/400tq car at altitude.

Mike.