North Vancouver, British Columbia - To get an idea of how satisfied Lexus engineers and designers are with their flagship sport luxury sedan, consider the only change to the 2009 IS F over the 2008 model: a standard Smart Key card. That’s it.
No minor, let alone major, tweaks of suspension bits. No tinkering with the refined yet ground-shaking 5.0-litre V8 power plant. No shaving of the already slippery tuner-inspired silhouette. Just a new key.
I was only a day — actually about an hour — into my week-long test of the 2009 IS F, when it became clear why those perfection-seeking engineers would, albeit reluctantly, keep their hands off every aspect of their creation: it’s already perfect.
Well, as perfect as a car in this category can get.
From the technologically advanced eight-speed (yes, eight-speed) Sport Direct gearbox that provides lightening quick shifts to the over-the-top 416-horsepower big block that produces a head-snapping exhaust note so pleasurable, as my CanadianDriver colleague Russell Purcell wittingly observed in his review of the ‘08 IS F, “to have you drop the windows and look for tunnels and overpasses to add to your daily commute.”
That race-car-like roar is no accident, of course, as the IS F is the brawny yet beautiful lovechild of a union forged on the Fuji Speedway between speed freaks and luxury coachbuilders, the former represented by Lexus parent Toyota’s multigenerational and multi-formula racing engineers, and the latter being the crisp minds behind the IS luxury sport sedan series.
After just a few laps of the famed Japanese race track on that first test day of the IS F, it quickly became apparent to the two sides that their new creation achieved the two seemingly opposed characteristics of the world’s top luxury sport sedans — track-ready performance and a sense of style, comfort and class of a country saloon.
Just to be sure, though, the team convinced their bosses to crate up a few IS Fs for testing at some other tracks. Not surprisingly, the IS F excelled at Germany’s Nurburgring, Circuit Paul Richard in France, Circuit Zolder in Belgium and California’s Laguna Seca Raceway.
“When we launched the IS F earlier this year, this impressive beast and the new F series marquee it wears expanded the Lexus brand’s scope by offering our guests a uniquely Lexus interpretation of driving excitement and authentic performance,” said Lexus Canada Managing Director Tony Wearing at the launch of the 2009 model.
By the numbers, the IS F is indeed a beast: 419 hp 5.0-litre V8; eight-speed automatic; 14.2-inch front discs and 13.6-inch rears with Brembo high friction brake pads; 19-inch performance radials; and dual stacked quad tailpipes providing a not-so-subtle hint at what resides beneath the IS F’s taut body.
No minor, let alone major, tweaks of suspension bits. No tinkering with the refined yet ground-shaking 5.0-litre V8 power plant. No shaving of the already slippery tuner-inspired silhouette. Just a new key.
I was only a day — actually about an hour — into my week-long test of the 2009 IS F, when it became clear why those perfection-seeking engineers would, albeit reluctantly, keep their hands off every aspect of their creation: it’s already perfect.
Well, as perfect as a car in this category can get.
From the technologically advanced eight-speed (yes, eight-speed) Sport Direct gearbox that provides lightening quick shifts to the over-the-top 416-horsepower big block that produces a head-snapping exhaust note so pleasurable, as my CanadianDriver colleague Russell Purcell wittingly observed in his review of the ‘08 IS F, “to have you drop the windows and look for tunnels and overpasses to add to your daily commute.”
That race-car-like roar is no accident, of course, as the IS F is the brawny yet beautiful lovechild of a union forged on the Fuji Speedway between speed freaks and luxury coachbuilders, the former represented by Lexus parent Toyota’s multigenerational and multi-formula racing engineers, and the latter being the crisp minds behind the IS luxury sport sedan series.
After just a few laps of the famed Japanese race track on that first test day of the IS F, it quickly became apparent to the two sides that their new creation achieved the two seemingly opposed characteristics of the world’s top luxury sport sedans — track-ready performance and a sense of style, comfort and class of a country saloon.
Just to be sure, though, the team convinced their bosses to crate up a few IS Fs for testing at some other tracks. Not surprisingly, the IS F excelled at Germany’s Nurburgring, Circuit Paul Richard in France, Circuit Zolder in Belgium and California’s Laguna Seca Raceway.
“When we launched the IS F earlier this year, this impressive beast and the new F series marquee it wears expanded the Lexus brand’s scope by offering our guests a uniquely Lexus interpretation of driving excitement and authentic performance,” said Lexus Canada Managing Director Tony Wearing at the launch of the 2009 model.
By the numbers, the IS F is indeed a beast: 419 hp 5.0-litre V8; eight-speed automatic; 14.2-inch front discs and 13.6-inch rears with Brembo high friction brake pads; 19-inch performance radials; and dual stacked quad tailpipes providing a not-so-subtle hint at what resides beneath the IS F’s taut body.
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