I was watching the car show Driving Television, and the host said he found the car boring to drive after a week due to it being an automatic. Does anyone else find this to be so? That is my one worry about the car, I love it, but will I get bored with it not being a true manual as you lose a bit of the driver involvement. For the record I haven't driven one yet to see, but I think this is something that would show up in the long run anyway, and not during a test drive.
Thanks.

 

no it is more fun to drive than my sti or my sl55 amg were! i love the engine and the tranny grows on u! i would never drive an manual again!

 

Very true. I love the sound of the shifting during WOT... It sounds like a damn race car... VROOOOM...shhVROOOOM....shhVROOOOM.... I feel like a kid again lol

By far the best car I've owned

 

Tranny in the car is amazing. Love the response and the thrusting feeling that comes with every shift. The car will only get boring when you realize that not every road is a racetrack. But then again, thats why i have an Obsidian ISF in Grand Tourismo lol

 

it really depends on you as a driver. i know people who are die hard stick shift lovers and they drive nothing but stick shifts. no matter how fast or good handling the car is, if it's not stick shift, they don't feel the control over the car and it's a no for them

 

considering i have only got to put 200 miles on my car (the drive from the dealer back to my house and a week around town) before i left for a month of training. i would say that your statement is flawed about the STi. there is just something about a boxer engine with an EWG dumping and the six speed that is pretty much bullet proof that gets me everytime! but considering ill be back tomorrow and can drive my car and put my joe-z mods on ill change my tune real soon!

on a side not i got rid of my car bc i was sick of modding it and dealing with traffic in a manual. I wanted the perfect mix of both worlds (manual/a drivers car and a luxury performance car) i feel that is exactly what the F is!

 

Yes, it's boring as hell. Don't buy one.

 

I have noticed that a lot of journalists actually grow more fond of the car with time. The British car mags Evo and Car both have long term IS Fs as does one of the American rags (Road & Track I believe), and I've noticed that the more time they spend with the car the more they appreciate it. The beauty of the F is that it can be mild mannered when you are just looking to get from point A to point B, but you also have the option of hitting the sport button and putting the tranny in manual mode when you want to do your best Lewis Hamilton impersonation.

I've had my F for close to a month and I still find myself looking for an excuse to drive it. You won't find the F boring unless you think anything short of a Lotus Exige or Porsche GT3 are just too soft.

 

i agree. i am one of those die hard 6 speed guys.

IMO,
if the F had a 6 speed manual i would give fun score of 80-85.
manual mode with VSD off and sports mode, 70-80
auto with sports and VSD off, 65-70
auto with VSD off, 50-60
full auto, 40-50.

Lexus LS 460, 10

over the last 20 years, i had owned an automatic for only two years. so i actually feel more natural with a 6 speed. when i first got my F, i actually had to relearn how to drive it as a sports car. i started turning off the VSD over the last two weeks and i am still trying to get used to the manual mode and auto sports mode.

 

It's boring in normal mode, hence the name. I'm still learning how to drive this thing in sport and manual mode optiminally, so far it's been fun and interesting, sometimes frausting since it's new to me. Bottom line, every time I wonder if I should have gotten an M3, I look at the >$15k I saved in the bank and say hell no.

 

I agree the IS-F isn't as engaging as, let's say, the Z-06 that I previously owned that had the 6-speed manual. On the other hand, I can't imagine having to "row" through 8 forward gears using a stick shift unless it was controlled by a vertical gate shifter such as Hurst produced some number of years ago.

 

On the other hand, would the gentleman call a Ferrari F430 with the F1 transmission boring?

 

There is definitely something to be said for joy you get executing the perfect heal toe downshift and rowing your own gears while storming a back country road. If I had a weekend toy it would probably be a stick shift.

In my opinion a car like the F is a good compromise. I can leave the thing in auto when I'm sitting in morning traffic and enjoy the luxuries that Lexus is known for. When the road opens up I have the ability to set the car up for a more engaging style of driving. The F isn't the best commuter car or the greatest sportscar, but it does blend the two into a fun and, dare I say, practical combination.

 

Very well said. The F is my daily driver but is also my weekend warrior at the drag strip and I still love driving the hell out of it when I have free time on the weekends, 17,500 miles later still. Saying a car is boring is like saying a manual tranny is just work in different situations. And in the end of the day i still love when guys with manual trannies try to race me from a stoplight. They'll stay at my rear bumper through 1st, then as soon as the shift comes I jump 1-2 cars on em, then goodbye. The review guy probably drives a hyundai or something and calls other cars boring out of spite. Bummer

 

If you get bored, take it to a closed track like I did last Thursday and have at it. On the MSR 2.38 mile long track I only used about 3 gears, 2nd/3rd/4th (yes, it will do about 120 mph in 4th). The tranny worked beautifully, downshifting into the corners then powering out and shifting up through the gears. With the paddle shifters you do have to be careful and not forget to upshift or you will hit the rev limiter, but the same is true with a manual transmission.

What I liked about it is that you are able to keep both hands on the steering wheel and concentrate on your driving line at all times.

Pat