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.
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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)