The 2010 Lexus IS F
Lexus have announced a range of updates for the M3 competing Lexus IS F for the 2010 model year.
The Lexus IS F is almost oxymoronic – a high performance Lexus. We do of course now have the Lexus LFA, but that’s a different kettle of fish altogether. No, the Lexus IS F is a sports saloon in the German sense – big engine, small-ish saloon car. In this case the IS F gets a seriously fettled version of the 5.0 litre V8 out of the LS 600, with the addition of some different heads and other fettling to deliver 417 horse and a 0-60mph of 4.6 seconds. Very un-Lexus like.
The ride’s a bit crashy-bashy, it doesn’t have a lot of room and it needs servicing every five minutes (by modern standards). But it flies with the best, is beautifully built and can average around 30mpg if you don’t thrash it to within an inch of its life. And it really is a credible alternative to the M3 and C63. If you’re in that market for the Beemer or the Merc try the Lexus before you dismiss the option. You might be surprised.
You might be even more surprised if you go mad and splash out £55,595 on a 2010 Lexus IS F. Lexus has added a new limited slip diff to the F which, although not changing straight line performance, obviously helps in the bends with Lexus saying it chops 2 seconds off the lap time at Fuji.
Lexus has also fitted a new SatNav system in to the IS F, with a 40gb HDD which has full European mapping and 10gb of space to act as a ‘Music Box’ to rip and store CDs. The sound system also gets upgraded to DAB and you get USB connection added. Finally, you get a white leather option and some new alloys.
Nothing to set your hair alight, but nice tweaks to a car that is exactly what Lexus should be all about.
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