Lexus Pulls Wraps From New IS-F
Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 19
...and it will still lose the Car&Driver comparo like every other IS-vs-3Series comparo because (a) it doesn't have an option for a manual transmission and (b) the C&D editors have bavarian leather sensors in their asses that make them perk up whenever they're driving a bimmer.
I've loved the IS since its first launch, and I love it more now. Given the choice, I'd buy one over a 3-series any day. But they keep doing things the "Lexus Way" and then have to tweak them later on when the automotive press predictably still awards the win to BMW. I think manual transmissions are for dinosaurs but still I think they should have put one in this car, because not having it only gives industry writers a scapegoat for picking the M3. When you remove all of the idiotic crap they complain about, then you expose the real bias.
Read the "First Place: BMW 330i" page of this C&D comparo and tell me if it isn't boiling just under the surface:
http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...-bmw-330i.html
3/4 of the page is consumed by product quality complaints, they dedicate two sentences to how great the handling is, and they mention that their test car was "ordered just right, meaning with a six-speed manual and without the wonky active steering and the atrocious iDrive". They might as well left the whole page blank except for "yeah the car sucked but it's a BMW wtf do you want from us WINNAH".
Lexus can kill the 3-series if they want to, they just need to stop doing things their way. Their way perpetually leaves openings for complaints that they always fix in a later revision of the car (like how the IS-F can turn off stability control, something the 350 in the comparo could not do). In 2005, Toyota sold more than 5 times as many cars as BMW did. Stop lazily swatting at the fly and just kill the f'n thing dammit.
I've loved the IS since its first launch, and I love it more now. Given the choice, I'd buy one over a 3-series any day. But they keep doing things the "Lexus Way" and then have to tweak them later on when the automotive press predictably still awards the win to BMW. I think manual transmissions are for dinosaurs but still I think they should have put one in this car, because not having it only gives industry writers a scapegoat for picking the M3. When you remove all of the idiotic crap they complain about, then you expose the real bias.
Read the "First Place: BMW 330i" page of this C&D comparo and tell me if it isn't boiling just under the surface:
http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...-bmw-330i.html
3/4 of the page is consumed by product quality complaints, they dedicate two sentences to how great the handling is, and they mention that their test car was "ordered just right, meaning with a six-speed manual and without the wonky active steering and the atrocious iDrive". They might as well left the whole page blank except for "yeah the car sucked but it's a BMW wtf do you want from us WINNAH".
Lexus can kill the 3-series if they want to, they just need to stop doing things their way. Their way perpetually leaves openings for complaints that they always fix in a later revision of the car (like how the IS-F can turn off stability control, something the 350 in the comparo could not do). In 2005, Toyota sold more than 5 times as many cars as BMW did. Stop lazily swatting at the fly and just kill the f'n thing dammit.
Member
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 48
From: Texas
Just more souless crap to me. Should have had a manual transmission option, and should have been a 2door... but Lexus is ____ like that sometimes.....
And I don't care what anyone else says... lexus... any lexus... is a girls car. The majority of lexus drivers are women of all ages, and old men.. but mostly women. And so much of their marketting targets women, and so many unappealing models to men, I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Although it's a very well designed car, and will spend more time on the road than in the shop (unlike ANY 'european' car), they could have done so much better.
___________
I'll be sure to let yall know how they drive when the first ones roll into our dealership next year.
And I don't care what anyone else says... lexus... any lexus... is a girls car. The majority of lexus drivers are women of all ages, and old men.. but mostly women. And so much of their marketting targets women, and so many unappealing models to men, I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Although it's a very well designed car, and will spend more time on the road than in the shop (unlike ANY 'european' car), they could have done so much better.
___________
I'll be sure to let yall know how they drive when the first ones roll into our dealership next year.
Thread Starter
Founder
SL Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 4,281
From: scionlife.com
Looks like the new IS-F should be less expensive than the M3 as well... which it should be, in my opinion, at least until it earns its stripes.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/2007/01/...msrp-for-is-f/
Lexus will price the 2008 IS-F sports car somewhere around $50,000, according to Lexus insiders contacted by Edmunds. A price in this range would make the IS-F only slightly more expensive than the soon-to-be-replaced $48,900 BMW M3.
Lexus might be attempt to undercut the next-generation M3, which rumors have suggested will be considerably more expensive. However, a report in August suggested BMW was eyeing a $53,975 price tag for the next M3, which is a small premium over the old model than originally anticipated.
Lexus might be attempt to undercut the next-generation M3, which rumors have suggested will be considerably more expensive. However, a report in August suggested BMW was eyeing a $53,975 price tag for the next M3, which is a small premium over the old model than originally anticipated.
Senior Member
SL Member
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 261
From: Austin, TX
Originally Posted by YourNameHere
Originally Posted by nnnickkk
manual tranny or BUST.
Senior Member
SL Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 973
From: New Hampshire
Originally Posted by phatcyclist
Originally Posted by YourNameHere
Originally Posted by nnnickkk
manual tranny or BUST.