I’m a sucker for a good license plate. So, when I see one that catches my eye, I try to snap a photo with my cell phone. I was driving back from a run at Montrose Harbor when I saw the best one I’ve seen in a while: UTOOSLO.
It was on a shiny, new 2008 Lexus IS F.
I tried to get close enough to snap the picture, but the plate proved prophetic. I was, indeed, too slow.
Luckily, I had chance to get my hands on an IS F for a three-day test, and in that short amount of time, the test vehicle quickly stole my heart. There was nothing slow about the IS F. And I loved it.
The “F” marquee comes from an old internal code for what became the Lexus Division almost 20 years ago. But now it has come to represent the new line of high-performance vehicles, of which the IS F is the first. All things considered, I think the better meaning behind the “F” is “fast.”
Since the test period was so short, I couldn’t trust that my daily to-and-from work driving would be nearly enough to get a feel for the car. So, on the last night I had the IS F, I decided just to drive for an hour and to see how it felt. I looped up to O’Hare from downtown, swung back down to Foster, drove east to Lake Shore Drive, went down to McCormick Place and hopped back on 90/94 to head home.
And boy am I glad I did. The 5.0-liter, 416-horsepower V-8 engine packed quite a punch, making the quick accelerations to merge with highway traffic a blast. I had a lot of fun weaving in and out of traffic, holding with a slower traffic pattern, finding an opening in the fast lane and using the steering wheel mounted “F” spec paddle shifters to tap down into third gear and fly into action.
While I’m typically not a fan of the paddle shifters or “sport” mode manual shifting, I thoroughly enjoyed the paddle shifters on the IS F. Because you don’t need to shift into sport mode to click down a couple gears, you can really use them to wring immediate power from every inch of this engine. As if this tight little package needed any extra help.
While the general shape of the IS F mimics is sporty IS brother, you only have to look at the quad exhaust and low-profile 19-inch tires to realize this isn’t your typical Lexus. Sure, the luxury is definitely there with standard features like the leather-trimmed heated front seats, smart key with push-button start, bi-xenon HID headlights and rain sensing wipers. But the down-and-dirty performance features are also standard spec. On the IS F you’ll find a suspension that’s lower by 1 inch; electric power steering for precise, straight-line control; a rear-wheel drive powertrain; heavy-duty Brembo brakes; and an eight-speed sport direct shift transmission that performs upshifts in M mode in just one-tenth of a second.
The interior of the test vehicle was a combination of optional luxury bliss and kitchy aluminized sport. The stunning blue lighting and accents add an air of cool, and the heavily bolstered front seats hint at spirited driving yet to come. The hand-finished aluminized composite trim smacks of carbon fiber, and the sleek “F” badging instills images of fast and fun. Optional features included the DVD navigation and premium Mark Levinson surround sound system ($3,990), preferred accessory package ($210) and the front-and-rear park assist ($500).
The overall package is close to perfection.
Perfection, however, doesn’t come cheep. The IS F is pretty steeply priced, starting at $56,765. However, comparing the IS F to its closest competitor, the Audi RS4, you’ll see this is a (cough) bargain. The RS4 costs an extra $10K but doesn’t boast any significant performance benefits to warrant the higher price tag. It may have four extra horsepower, but the IS F has 54 extra pound-feet of torque and better city/highway fuel economy at 16/23 mpg (compared to the RS4’s 13/20 mpg). Not to mention the fact that the IS F is just an overall better looking vehicle.
The test vehicle tacked on pretty much every option available (except the XM Satellite Radio) and topped out at $61,674. That’s still $5K less than the base RS4.
Sitting in the cockpit of the IS F really gives the feeling of being behind the wheel of a true sports car. From the grippy seats to the stiff steering, I felt surrounded by the car as everything was easy to reach and easy to see. The car fit me perfectly.
“Me,” keep in mind, is 4-feet, 11-inches and 95 pounds. I have a friend who is 5-feet, 9-inches with a 42-inch chest, and he said the seats were a little tight. One of the guys who delivered the car tops 6 feet, and he mentioned that the side bolsters hit him in the kidneys. While I definitely don’t think of this as a “woman’s” car, I’d recommend that the men who might buy it give it a long and serious test for comfort.
And don’t even think about backseat passengers. A small adult would definitely fit behind my far-forward position, but when I tried to get in behind a taller driver who had the seat in the far-back position, I literally had to wedge legs into the foot well. It kind of defeats the purpose of having rear doors – you can get in, you just won’t fit. I like the idea of a sedan in theory, but this car was made to be a coupe.
The one interior feature I did not like on the IS F was the placement of the front cup holders. They are right behind the gearshift. While this is an automatic car and you don’t have to use the shift knob to move between gears, that’s definitely part of the fun. During my one-hour drive, I had a water bottle in one of the holders, and it kept getting in the way while I was testing the shift knob. A nice, but difficult, solution would be to switch the cup holders with the heated seat adjustments. Just a thought.
Cup holders and rear-seat legroom aside, I was smitten with the IS F the instant it pulled onto my street. It’s small, it’s attractive and it drives like a dream. Three days was definitely not enough in this car, and it was with regret that I turned in the keys.
However, it's probably a good thing that I only had the IS F for three days. Any longer and I'm sure I would have started getting speeding tickets.
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