2008 Lexus IS-F - Luxury Cars - Sport Sedan Comparison - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

The final contender in our Sport Sedan track challenge is the 2008 Lexus IS-F. Lets see if this new entry from Japan has what it takes to topple its more experienced German rival luxury cars.

Transcript

00:00 The third player in our super sedan three-way is the Lexus IS F. Now, Lexus has taken Mercedes

00:13 Benz and BMW's performance sedan formula and applied it to its IS mid-size sports sedan.

00:21 It's got a 5 liter V8, 416 horsepower.

00:25 It's backed by an 8-speed automatic transmission.

00:28 Great fun to play with those steering wheel paddles.

00:30 Let's see how it does out here at Reno-Fernally up against the two German competitors.

00:53 The Lexus is on the roll down the front straightaway.

00:55 Great front straightaway speed for all three of the cars because they have plenty of V8

01:00 torque.

01:01 Now, it is in this first, second, third turn complex that the driver commented that the

01:06 electronic steering didn't have quite the feel as the others.

01:11 It was a little bit imprecise.

01:12 He wasn't always sure quite where he was at in the turn and maybe just a little less precision

01:19 than the others.

01:21 Plenty of torque coming out of the curves.

01:22 No problem there.

01:23 And again, that was the case with all three of our players.

01:27 The Lexus is pretty good in transitions and not much nose dive either under braking.

01:33 Pretty stable chassis, although not quite to the level of BMW or the Mercedes.

01:38 Plenty of grunt going up the hill through this complex

01:48 and quite stable on the downhill as well.

01:52 This complex is nearly flat out, although not quite.

01:55 You'll notice a little braking there to stabilize the car and get ready for this next downhill

01:59 run.

02:00 This particular area is the second fastest area on the Fernally raceway and good speed

02:07 prior to this heavy, heavy braking zone.

02:15 Little bit of scrubbing there, little bit of slip angle as it comes out of the corner,

02:18 but still comes out pretty strong.

02:21 But it's in those transitions, you'll see a little wiggle of the wheel there that the

02:25 electronic steering lightened up and the driver wasn't always quite sure which way the wheels

02:30 were pointed and he wasn't able to hit his turn in and braking points quite as precisely

02:35 as with the other cars.

02:39 Don't you love the sound of that V8?

02:45 This is a real muscle car style 5 liter V8, no doubt about it.

02:49 Ed Lowe said this car was a four door hot rod.

02:57 Little bit of slip as it comes out of that right hander.

03:04 And you'll notice he's right on the rev limiter right there and that might have cost a few

03:17 tenths to hit the rev limiter a couple of times as we're through the last corner and

03:23 down the straight in the Lexus ISF.

03:26 [Music]

03:37 (upbeat music)

2008 Lexus IS-F - Luxury Cars - Sport Sedan Comparison

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