Lexus IS F (2008 - 2012) 5.0 V8 IS F 4d Auto Owner Review

Overall: Very very fast, a special driving experience, but fairly Q-car (I've only had one person comment on it in 8 months - perfect), despite the fact that outside central London, I can drive for hours without seeing anything remotely as quick. It's not as ostentatious as any other car like it and is a relaxing place to be a passenger too. This was my realistic dream car when it came out and actually owning it has been even better than I hoped for. Highly recommended! Dislike: The ride - ok in the seat for my back and behind, but a bit harsh via the headrest, which taps the back of my head when going over bumps, so it's always reminding me that it's a fast car that just happens to be going slowly and I end up not resting my head on it at all. It's also impossible to remain a fully law-abiding citizen- at full blast the change from 2nd to the 3rd of 8 gears comes after 5 seconds and means I'm going over 60mph, and flooring it on the motorway at, say 70, on an average empty straight, and I could be going 140 (in 5th of 8) while still accelerating very hard, with a lot more to come. This is of course not the car's fault, but it shows that it's ludicrously overpowered for british roads (which is part of the appeal). Finally the back seats don't go down (that's for every IS from that generation, not just IS-Fs) so it's not super practical for big items. Like: This doesn't look much like a sports car unless you look closely, yet this 2012 model is faster on most tracks than an M3 from that generation (not the later generation) and can match a 911 from 2012 (not current generation) on the motorway. The heated front seats are extremely comfy and it's a very relaxed cruiser with the adaptive cruise control. As a performance car, it's very easy to drive at 7 or 8 tenths and comfortable either in dueling a mega hatch on b-roads, or surprising a Porsche on the motorway. It also is hilarious with the noise, power and 4 wheel drifts out of corners. When driving normally in traffic and under the speed limit (99% of the time) it feels like a really nice car that originally cost £58k.