Very nice eh? Whoever designed this has MAD SKILLS! :biggrin:
Cam, I've had the IS-F for about a month now, absolutely love the car. I've been shopping for a replacement for my e46 m3 ever since it was sold and I was looking at all the rival competitors.
Well I haven't had the IS-F that long to give some real world driving or racing experience but thus far, the IS-F feels a bit heavier on turns/sweepers and just seems to be more thirsty for gas. In normal driving mode it's SLUGGISH and I would say almost requires to be driving in SPORT mode to get any responsiveness out of the tranny and motor.
It's very much like the GTR in that you MUST put it in manual mode to drive around town. Otherwise the auto shifts from 1 -3 - 5 - 8 and you end up lugging the motor on most occasions. I mean how often do we punch it from stoplight to stoplight? Lexus built an awesome car with an awesome motor but the auto is not that smart.
In comparo the e46 m3 is like a surgeon's scalpel ~ razor sharp and slices through traffic with precision. Don't need to have it in sport mode and it's still FAST. Perhaps it's not fair to compare a 6-speed manual tranny to an 8-speed auto? I loved everything about my e46 m3. No real downfalls except it only had 2-doors making it hard to get in back.
Sometimes I think the BMW DCT tranny in the new m3 is superior to the Lexus 8-speed but can't be too picky...
