2011 Lexus isf may not look so different than IS-Fs of the past four years, but thorough re-tuning of its suspension has
he 2011 Lexus IS-F may not look so different than IS-Fs of the past fo
ur years, but thorough re-tuning of its suspension has
Lexus UK revealed today the first details about the forthcoming 2011 IS-F Sports sedan. For the first time in its history, the IS-F line will be offered not just with a limited slip differential, but also new high-tech features and a cool new all-white interior lead. The car, which is available exclusively in the UK, will come with a price tag starting at £55,595.
Thanks to its new standard limited slip differential, the IS-F offers better traction and stability in high-speed cornering. But as far as technical changes are concerned, this will be the only one the IS-F Sports sedan model will come in. Underneath its hood will be the same 5.0-liter V8 engine rated at 416 horsepower at 6,600 rpm and 371 lb.-ft. of peak torque at 5,200 rpm.
Another thing: the 2011 IS-F will also get a new satellite navigation system, powered by a 40GB hard disc drive (HDD), 14-speaker Mark Levinson 5.1 surround sound system and a new white leather interior in place of the standard black finish.Lexus has given out some new details for the IS-F just ahead of the Paris Auto Show. On the exterior, the sedan gets HID headlamps with integral, arrowhead, LED Daytime Running Lamps (DRL) and a new a new Starlight Black GF finish. In the interior, it gets new dark sliver fiber inserts, and a change of contrasting stitching for the leather upholstery from white to blue. A revised front seat design offers improved driver support, and a new steering wheel improves grip and feel. Check out more photos of the IS-F in the gallery after the jump.
Press release after the jump.
A double wishbone front suspension along with a multilink rear suspension and sticky 19-inch tires do the trick of fulfilling the handling needs of most exuberant drivers. Brembo brakes will put a big whoa to the proceedings any time you need them to.
Things quiet down substantially on the interstate, giving the driver and passenger a chance to enjoy the luxury car interior. Well fitted and formed, the gauges are easy to read, and there is more than adequate head and leg room for a 6’-tall driver. The rear seats are for storage of nonhumanoid-type cargo that might be lugged home from the office or grocery store.
The front sport seats will have a lock on your bottom and back yet were all-day comfortable on trips. The blue ambient lighting also added to the sporty nature of the car.
If it matters, the car is rated at 16-23 miles per gallon of premium unleaded by the EPA. I got 18 miles per gallon in mostly back road, highly enjoyable driving.
The car earned a “good” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in its crash tests.
Audio wise, the car came with a premium, 13-speaker system that produced some crisp sounds. The so-so navigation system will also keep you up to date on traffic jams and the stock markets that can be equally frustrating.
Looking at the market as a whole, the IS F is often overlooked by those seeking a fun to drive sedan. Yet the combination of power, handling and luxury touches is hard to beat, not to mention the usual Lexus quality. In the end, this is a 5-star car on a 5-star scale.
Nationwide the price of gas has hit $3.10 on average, according to the Energy Department. One Toyota sales executive predicts that customer buying habits will change toward more fuel-efficient vehicles when that nationwide average hits $3.50 a gallon. The average price of $3.38 a gallon in San Francisco, now leads the pack.
ationwide the price of gas has hit $3.10 on average, according to the Energy Department. One Toyota sales executive predicts that customer buying habits will change toward more fuel-efficient vehicles when that nationwide average hits $3.50 a gallon. The average price of $3.38 a gallon in San Francisco, now leads the pack.
If there’s one thing you get here at TTAC, it’s diversity. Well, it’s actually sarcasm, but you also get diversity. Here’s an example: This week, we tested two different cars. Out on the West Coast, Alex and his partner were rolling around in a completely electric Nissan Leaf. Imagine them, gliding silently down the road, perhaps having a polite conversation about the proper color of glass for one’s table service. No, that isn’t a stereotype, I happen to know that he’s actually worrying about that. Think of the peace! The quiet! The sustainability!
Meanwhile, on the East Coast, your humble author was thumping a Lexus IS-F down the back straight at Summit Point’s Shenandoah Raceway. I had a stunning-looking young woman from metro DC trapped in the passenger seat and digging her nails into the door handle. We were swinging the needle past 110mph, deep into the braking zone, gulping fuel at a rate of just four miles per gallon.
It’s hard to believe that one site can bring you both kinds of coverage, the same way it’s hard to believe that the Leaf and the IS-F can both be produced by the same enormous Japanese conglomerate.
That’s because they aren’t produced by the same enormous Japanese conglomerate, of course. I just wanted to see how many of you ran off to comment about my stupidity before reading the rest of the article.
The IS-F is authentically Japanese, however. Its distended nose is a direct tribute to the original long-nose Celica Supra, and like the Supra, the change is necessary to make the engine fit. In white, the IS-F often looks as if it is about to challenge Captain Ahab for supremacy of the sea. Your opinion may vary.
Car and Driver’s opinion of the changes made to the IS-F for 2011 — limited-slip differential, completely revised suspension — is that they put it on par with the BMW M3. Having recently driven the M3 during our Mustang BOSS 302 test, I’m not so sure. Although the collective M3 owner group is the most loathsome bunch of subhumans since the Manson Family, the car itself deserves no such criticism and on track it’s almost self-directing despite its weight and complication. I can see the IS-F being able to stay close to the M3 at tracks like VIR and Road America where it could stretch its legs. Our test track, Summit Point’s “Shenandoah” course, has no such opportunity. One of my journalist pals takes the IS-F out for a spin and I have no trouble keeping up, using a V6 “Mayhem” Mustang. True, the IS-F drops the ‘Stang on the back straight and out of certain corners, and it has a genuine advantage in “Big Bend” where it just seems slightly more comfortable doing the high-speed, constant-load thing than the aforementioned ponycar, but in the tight sections the IS-F flounders, requiring its driver to turn it on the throttle.
Which, by the way, is easy to do. When it’s my turn to take a seat in the IS-F’s two-tone interior, which is a seeming attempt to combine a whorehouse, Superfly’s Eldorado, and the video game “GORF”, I set the eight-speed transmission to manual mode and end up going sideways on the pitlane exit. This is a big-hearted engine, and it’s amazingly close to Ford’s “Coyote” five-liter in character. The way it catapults the IS-F down Shenandoah’s short straights is positively Supermarine, old boy.
If only the transmission would play ball. With a six-speed manual, the IS-F would be fun. With a dual-clutch auto, it would be quick. The transmission is fundamentally a conventional torque-converter, planetary-gear automatic. “Manual” shifts take place pretty much whenever the transmission feels like it, which is almost never immediately after one clicks the paddles. Once you’re rolling, the torque converter locks and all shifts are absorbed by the planetary clutches. Honestly, if the transmission came from anyone else but Toyota I would describe it as “a grenade waiting to happen,” but I haven’t heard any reports of it being anything other than reliable. Every shift, however, feels like bloody mechanical murder and it makes driving the car in wet conditions a bit of a challenge. The clutches engage with a “bump” and if you’re already at the limit of traction you are going to have a chance to become acquainted with the I’m-off-no-wait-I’m-really-on-but-waiting-for-you-to-screw-up stability control. The electronic leash on this call pulls tight and it can kill forward progress around a racetrack like an arrester hook.
With a little more grip from the front end, the IS-F would be even quicker. Blame the 225-width front tires, which are thirty millimeters narrower than the rears and simply give up too quickly when asked to shove the nose around in a hurry. I’d balance mine out to 265s all the way ’round.
The brakes, on the other hand, could be left alone. Pedal feel is good, which is important since for most trackday drivers this car will be a point-shoot-brake-turn device. I didn’t experience any fade during my two sessions, although to be fair one session was in the wet and the other was limited to about eight laps. Another nice surprise: the ABS isn’t in a massive hurry to engage.
My overall experience with the IS-F was pleasant. It’s more than fast enough on the track, and if the transmission doesn’t work very well at least the rest of the running gear is up to snuff. The competition is all of either questionable reliability (M3, C63, RS4 when it arrives) or dubious prestige (CTS-V). I would be happy to own one. In fact, it’s probably the only Toyota I would be willing to own. The ridiculous exuberance of the sperm-whale snout, dopey stacked faux-tailpipes, and “Unique Whips” interior just about rescue the IS-F from the shameful, completely manufactured prestige associated with Lexus. I’d probably end up being one of those morons who puts “Toyota Crown Altezza Century Super Bongo” badges on his IS simply to avoid parking-lot chats with soccer moms who just love their RX350.
Naturally, any misconception of “Toyota” ownership would be shattered when the monthly lease statement arrived. Lexus made their name in this country with bargain-basement pricing, and the LS460 still sells at a five-figure discount compared to the Germans. The IS-F, on the other hand, is priced heads-up with the C63 and slightly above the M3. On the positive side, you’re buying a car that is far more likely to knock out 200,000 miles than either of the above. On the other hand: AMG money for a Toyota with a deformed hood, a make-do automanual, and white leather seats? At $50K this car makes a solid case for itself as a 335i alternative. At $65K, its appeal will be limited to only the most hardcore of Lexus fanatics, assuming any exist.
Perhaps Alex and I were really reviewing the wrong cars. He could have traveled serenely to work and play in an IS-F, knowing it would never break and that it would be recognized everywhere as a wise choice. Any deficiencies versus the big Germans wouldn’t matter much on the open road. Meanwhile, I could take some gorgeous broad out of the town and we could clutch each other in shared terror at the prospect of being stranded somewhere. Range anxiety? Maybe that’s more exciting than anything Lexus has to offer.
For the current model year, minor changes have been applied in typical mid-cycle fashion -- as well as some others with a bit more substance such as an improved suspension intended to increase driver feedback and confidence, updated electronic power steering which improves driver control and a Torsen rear differential to dramatically increase traction.
For the latest model year the interior is complemented with new IP gauges, a silver colored-trimmed steering wheel, and dark finish aluminum composite ornamentation. The Sport mode switch has also been moved to the steering wheel for easier access.
In addition, vehicles with a Black interior receive Alcantara seat inserts with leather bolsters that enhance its sportiness. An all-new Orange and Black leather interior with contrast stitching flaunts the IS F's attitude and replaces the Terra Cotta interior.
Much of the development of the new IS-F took place at Fuji Speedway and the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Japan. The IS-F is based on the rear-wheel-drive Lexus IS, which is equipped with a double-wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension.
The IS-F engine is mated to the world’s first eight-speed "direct sport-shift" transmission. A new torque-converter lock-up control was developed that allows for a direct, crisp gear change through the constant lock-up of the torque converter in second through eighth gears.
In Drive mode, the IS-F transmission performs smoothly, and the torque converter allows for quick zero to 60 mph acceleration of 4.6 seconds. The transmission also features a manual mode operated via a pair of paddles. Downshifts are accompanied by automated throttle blips to match engine RPM to vehicle speed.
Heavy-duty Brembo brakes with 14.2-inch discs and six-piston calipers ensure all the power is kept under control. The IS-F features custom-designed 19-inch forged alloy wheels with 225/40R19 sized rubber up front and 255/35R19 at the rear as standard.
Lexus claims the IS-F can hit a top speed of over 185 mph but the Japanese-spec IS-F is electronically limited to about 110 mph. Lexus failed to address why the IS-F is limited to such a low speed as the car will undoubtedly be able to hit that speed in the 1/4 mile. The U.S. version is limited to 168 mph.
Lexus plans to sell 500 IS-Fs annually in its home market of Japan with U.S. sales estimated at 5,000 per year.
 |
| 2011 Lexus isf |
 |
| 2011 Lexus isf |
2011 Lexus isf
 |
| 2011 Lexus isf |
of the past four years, but thorough re-tuning of its suspension has 2011 Lexus isf
 |
| 2011 Lexus isf |
 |
| 2011 Lexus isf |
 |
| 2011 Lexus isf |
 |
| 2011 Lexus isf |
 |
| 2011 Lexus isf |
 |
| 2011 Lexus isf |
 |
| 2011 Lexus isf |
 |
| 2011 Lexus isf |
 |
| 2011 Lexus isf |
ur years, but thorough re-tuning of its suspension has
Lexus UK revealed today the first details about the forthcoming 2011 IS-F Sports sedan. For the first time in its history, the IS-F line will be offered not just with a limited slip differential, but also new high-tech features and a cool new all-white interior lead. The car, which is available exclusively in the UK, will come with a price tag starting at £55,595.
Thanks to its new standard limited slip differential, the IS-F offers better traction and stability in high-speed cornering. But as far as technical changes are concerned, this will be the only one the IS-F Sports sedan model will come in. Underneath its hood will be the same 5.0-liter V8 engine rated at 416 horsepower at 6,600 rpm and 371 lb.-ft. of peak torque at 5,200 rpm.
Another thing: the 2011 IS-F will also get a new satellite navigation system, powered by a 40GB hard disc drive (HDD), 14-speaker Mark Levinson 5.1 surround sound system and a new white leather interior in place of the standard black finish.Lexus has given out some new details for the IS-F just ahead of the Paris Auto Show. On the exterior, the sedan gets HID headlamps with integral, arrowhead, LED Daytime Running Lamps (DRL) and a new a new Starlight Black GF finish. In the interior, it gets new dark sliver fiber inserts, and a change of contrasting stitching for the leather upholstery from white to blue. A revised front seat design offers improved driver support, and a new steering wheel improves grip and feel. Check out more photos of the IS-F in the gallery after the jump.
Press release after the jump.
A double wishbone front suspension along with a multilink rear suspension and sticky 19-inch tires do the trick of fulfilling the handling needs of most exuberant drivers. Brembo brakes will put a big whoa to the proceedings any time you need them to.
Things quiet down substantially on the interstate, giving the driver and passenger a chance to enjoy the luxury car interior. Well fitted and formed, the gauges are easy to read, and there is more than adequate head and leg room for a 6’-tall driver. The rear seats are for storage of nonhumanoid-type cargo that might be lugged home from the office or grocery store.
The front sport seats will have a lock on your bottom and back yet were all-day comfortable on trips. The blue ambient lighting also added to the sporty nature of the car.
If it matters, the car is rated at 16-23 miles per gallon of premium unleaded by the EPA. I got 18 miles per gallon in mostly back road, highly enjoyable driving.
The car earned a “good” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in its crash tests.
Audio wise, the car came with a premium, 13-speaker system that produced some crisp sounds. The so-so navigation system will also keep you up to date on traffic jams and the stock markets that can be equally frustrating.
Looking at the market as a whole, the IS F is often overlooked by those seeking a fun to drive sedan. Yet the combination of power, handling and luxury touches is hard to beat, not to mention the usual Lexus quality. In the end, this is a 5-star car on a 5-star scale.
Nationwide the price of gas has hit $3.10 on average, according to the Energy Department. One Toyota sales executive predicts that customer buying habits will change toward more fuel-efficient vehicles when that nationwide average hits $3.50 a gallon. The average price of $3.38 a gallon in San Francisco, now leads the pack.
ationwide the price of gas has hit $3.10 on average, according to the Energy Department. One Toyota sales executive predicts that customer buying habits will change toward more fuel-efficient vehicles when that nationwide average hits $3.50 a gallon. The average price of $3.38 a gallon in San Francisco, now leads the pack.
If there’s one thing you get here at TTAC, it’s diversity. Well, it’s actually sarcasm, but you also get diversity. Here’s an example: This week, we tested two different cars. Out on the West Coast, Alex and his partner were rolling around in a completely electric Nissan Leaf. Imagine them, gliding silently down the road, perhaps having a polite conversation about the proper color of glass for one’s table service. No, that isn’t a stereotype, I happen to know that he’s actually worrying about that. Think of the peace! The quiet! The sustainability!
Meanwhile, on the East Coast, your humble author was thumping a Lexus IS-F down the back straight at Summit Point’s Shenandoah Raceway. I had a stunning-looking young woman from metro DC trapped in the passenger seat and digging her nails into the door handle. We were swinging the needle past 110mph, deep into the braking zone, gulping fuel at a rate of just four miles per gallon.
It’s hard to believe that one site can bring you both kinds of coverage, the same way it’s hard to believe that the Leaf and the IS-F can both be produced by the same enormous Japanese conglomerate.
That’s because they aren’t produced by the same enormous Japanese conglomerate, of course. I just wanted to see how many of you ran off to comment about my stupidity before reading the rest of the article.
The IS-F is authentically Japanese, however. Its distended nose is a direct tribute to the original long-nose Celica Supra, and like the Supra, the change is necessary to make the engine fit. In white, the IS-F often looks as if it is about to challenge Captain Ahab for supremacy of the sea. Your opinion may vary.
Car and Driver’s opinion of the changes made to the IS-F for 2011 — limited-slip differential, completely revised suspension — is that they put it on par with the BMW M3. Having recently driven the M3 during our Mustang BOSS 302 test, I’m not so sure. Although the collective M3 owner group is the most loathsome bunch of subhumans since the Manson Family, the car itself deserves no such criticism and on track it’s almost self-directing despite its weight and complication. I can see the IS-F being able to stay close to the M3 at tracks like VIR and Road America where it could stretch its legs. Our test track, Summit Point’s “Shenandoah” course, has no such opportunity. One of my journalist pals takes the IS-F out for a spin and I have no trouble keeping up, using a V6 “Mayhem” Mustang. True, the IS-F drops the ‘Stang on the back straight and out of certain corners, and it has a genuine advantage in “Big Bend” where it just seems slightly more comfortable doing the high-speed, constant-load thing than the aforementioned ponycar, but in the tight sections the IS-F flounders, requiring its driver to turn it on the throttle.
Which, by the way, is easy to do. When it’s my turn to take a seat in the IS-F’s two-tone interior, which is a seeming attempt to combine a whorehouse, Superfly’s Eldorado, and the video game “GORF”, I set the eight-speed transmission to manual mode and end up going sideways on the pitlane exit. This is a big-hearted engine, and it’s amazingly close to Ford’s “Coyote” five-liter in character. The way it catapults the IS-F down Shenandoah’s short straights is positively Supermarine, old boy.
If only the transmission would play ball. With a six-speed manual, the IS-F would be fun. With a dual-clutch auto, it would be quick. The transmission is fundamentally a conventional torque-converter, planetary-gear automatic. “Manual” shifts take place pretty much whenever the transmission feels like it, which is almost never immediately after one clicks the paddles. Once you’re rolling, the torque converter locks and all shifts are absorbed by the planetary clutches. Honestly, if the transmission came from anyone else but Toyota I would describe it as “a grenade waiting to happen,” but I haven’t heard any reports of it being anything other than reliable. Every shift, however, feels like bloody mechanical murder and it makes driving the car in wet conditions a bit of a challenge. The clutches engage with a “bump” and if you’re already at the limit of traction you are going to have a chance to become acquainted with the I’m-off-no-wait-I’m-really-on-but-waiting-for-you-to-screw-up stability control. The electronic leash on this call pulls tight and it can kill forward progress around a racetrack like an arrester hook.
With a little more grip from the front end, the IS-F would be even quicker. Blame the 225-width front tires, which are thirty millimeters narrower than the rears and simply give up too quickly when asked to shove the nose around in a hurry. I’d balance mine out to 265s all the way ’round.
The brakes, on the other hand, could be left alone. Pedal feel is good, which is important since for most trackday drivers this car will be a point-shoot-brake-turn device. I didn’t experience any fade during my two sessions, although to be fair one session was in the wet and the other was limited to about eight laps. Another nice surprise: the ABS isn’t in a massive hurry to engage.
My overall experience with the IS-F was pleasant. It’s more than fast enough on the track, and if the transmission doesn’t work very well at least the rest of the running gear is up to snuff. The competition is all of either questionable reliability (M3, C63, RS4 when it arrives) or dubious prestige (CTS-V). I would be happy to own one. In fact, it’s probably the only Toyota I would be willing to own. The ridiculous exuberance of the sperm-whale snout, dopey stacked faux-tailpipes, and “Unique Whips” interior just about rescue the IS-F from the shameful, completely manufactured prestige associated with Lexus. I’d probably end up being one of those morons who puts “Toyota Crown Altezza Century Super Bongo” badges on his IS simply to avoid parking-lot chats with soccer moms who just love their RX350.
Naturally, any misconception of “Toyota” ownership would be shattered when the monthly lease statement arrived. Lexus made their name in this country with bargain-basement pricing, and the LS460 still sells at a five-figure discount compared to the Germans. The IS-F, on the other hand, is priced heads-up with the C63 and slightly above the M3. On the positive side, you’re buying a car that is far more likely to knock out 200,000 miles than either of the above. On the other hand: AMG money for a Toyota with a deformed hood, a make-do automanual, and white leather seats? At $50K this car makes a solid case for itself as a 335i alternative. At $65K, its appeal will be limited to only the most hardcore of Lexus fanatics, assuming any exist.
Perhaps Alex and I were really reviewing the wrong cars. He could have traveled serenely to work and play in an IS-F, knowing it would never break and that it would be recognized everywhere as a wise choice. Any deficiencies versus the big Germans wouldn’t matter much on the open road. Meanwhile, I could take some gorgeous broad out of the town and we could clutch each other in shared terror at the prospect of being stranded somewhere. Range anxiety? Maybe that’s more exciting than anything Lexus has to offer.
For the current model year, minor changes have been applied in typical mid-cycle fashion -- as well as some others with a bit more substance such as an improved suspension intended to increase driver feedback and confidence, updated electronic power steering which improves driver control and a Torsen rear differential to dramatically increase traction.
For the latest model year the interior is complemented with new IP gauges, a silver colored-trimmed steering wheel, and dark finish aluminum composite ornamentation. The Sport mode switch has also been moved to the steering wheel for easier access.
In addition, vehicles with a Black interior receive Alcantara seat inserts with leather bolsters that enhance its sportiness. An all-new Orange and Black leather interior with contrast stitching flaunts the IS F's attitude and replaces the Terra Cotta interior.
Much of the development of the new IS-F took place at Fuji Speedway and the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Japan. The IS-F is based on the rear-wheel-drive Lexus IS, which is equipped with a double-wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension.
The IS-F engine is mated to the world’s first eight-speed "direct sport-shift" transmission. A new torque-converter lock-up control was developed that allows for a direct, crisp gear change through the constant lock-up of the torque converter in second through eighth gears.
In Drive mode, the IS-F transmission performs smoothly, and the torque converter allows for quick zero to 60 mph acceleration of 4.6 seconds. The transmission also features a manual mode operated via a pair of paddles. Downshifts are accompanied by automated throttle blips to match engine RPM to vehicle speed.
Heavy-duty Brembo brakes with 14.2-inch discs and six-piston calipers ensure all the power is kept under control. The IS-F features custom-designed 19-inch forged alloy wheels with 225/40R19 sized rubber up front and 255/35R19 at the rear as standard.
Lexus claims the IS-F can hit a top speed of over 185 mph but the Japanese-spec IS-F is electronically limited to about 110 mph. Lexus failed to address why the IS-F is limited to such a low speed as the car will undoubtedly be able to hit that speed in the 1/4 mile. The U.S. version is limited to 168 mph.
Lexus plans to sell 500 IS-Fs annually in its home market of Japan with U.S. sales estimated at 5,000 per year.
2011 Lexus isf
Lexus car service centers are trained professionals capable of handling any repair you may need for your vehicle. Whether it's a simple oil change or something much more complex, they have the know-how to get you back on the road quickly and safely.
ReplyDelete