[Dean]

Had dinner plans down in LaJolla this past Saturday night with a group of friends. So I headed down a bit early to enjoy the sunshine, avoid the traffic (NOT), and to just let the IS F run a bit!!! And run it did!!

LaJolla is about 140 miles each way from my home in WLA. Leaving from WLA was not pleasant as the traffic on the 405 South is always stop and go these days. Had to wait until I got down to the Toll Road, 73 I think it is, before really letting the IS F run... Up until then I had to stay with the traffic flow which ranged from stop and go, to cruising in a crowed pack up to 70 or so... Very few seemed to notice the car, which is fine with me. A couple of BMW's gave the thumb's up and one guy in a new Lexus IS 250 were all I noticed taking a good look at the IS F....

On the 73 I finally got to let her loose a bit. Plus by this time I had almost 800miles on her. The car runs very smoothly and quietly, as one would expect from a Lexus, nicely settling in around 2100 rpms in 8th gear , which is about 80 or so... I would still modulate my speed/RPMS, as per the manual during this time. However a smooth press of the throttle uping the RPM's will get an immediate response, especially above 3500 RPM's, a much louder throaty note is heard, as the car says "YES, let's go!" and the MPH"s climb faster then you can beleive. You know you are moving as you are pressed fimly back into the comfortable seat. NICE, very nice......

The ride home was even more fun as the return trip took place a bit after midnight and the trafffic on the 5 North & 405 North had subsided quite a bit. After 6 plus hours of driving, 4 down to LaJolla, and 2 back up, I felt great, no ill or side effects of the much stiffer springing/suspension of the IS F over the prior IS 350 or our current ES330 or RX350.... A great day of driving indeed....

 

[stangar]

The only negative comment from the mags I've ever heard regarded the stiff suspension. You mentioned the IS350. How much stiffer does it ride from a IS 350 in your guestimate? 25%, 50%, more? Thanks and congrats!

 

[rushnut]

I took delivery of my new blk/blk IS-F today and had the absolute pleasure of driving the car from Tucson, where I bought it, to my home in L.A. I of course took the 10 West almost the entire way, and after traffic subsided around 5:30 or 6p tonight, I really, really, REEEEALLY felt good about my purchase. This car is absolutely civilized and tolerant of putting along at 60 or 70mph if need be, but on a couple wide open stretches of highway tonight, I downshifted from 6th to 5th, slammed the pedal for a moment and before I knew it, was comfortably (yes, comfortably!) doing 130mph!

This is NOT my IS350, which I am selling as of tomorrow. To answer your question re: comparisons of the two cars, I'd say the IS-F is approximately 50% stiffer than the IS350, though I've only had about 8 hrs. total in the car today and just over 500 total miles driven.

I'll tell you this, one of the most exciting parts of this car is when I start it up--it sounds almost exactly like a 911 Turbo starting, and just as ferocious and throaty. I don't think Lexus could've done a better job tuning the exhaust notes while starting, at idle, and when the hammer's dropped to really get moving, as mentioned by Dean, above.

I apologize for the length of this post, however this is probably the most impressive car I've ever driven in terms of civility at low speed/city driving blended with exotic car performance when asked to do so.

Lexus, take a bow...this car's a masterpiece.

Lastly, could someone give me their personal opinion of how long the "break in" period is, and what exactly 'breaking it in" entails? i.e. what speeds/RPMs should I be concerned about. Tons to read in the manual still, but haven't had a chance to yet.

Sleeping in my IS-F tonight,

Rushnut the lead foot

 

[Dean]

Congrats on your "F" ! Enjoyed reading your post.

You pretty much nailed the driving experience.

I've read on the various forums where the IS "F" has 90% stiffer springs in front and 50% stiffer springs in the rear then the IS 350 and I would say that seems about right from my owning both cars. To me, the only thing the IS F and the IS 350 share is a simular body style and cockpit. All of the underpinnings, engine, tranny, suspension, etc, are totally different in feel and reaction, The IS 350 is a very very good car for what it was supposed to be. It was never intended to be an IS "F", just as the IS "F" is not an IS 350 with an extra 100 HP. The IS "F" is a totally different breed IMHO, then the IS 350....

The break-in period as told to me by my dealer is 1000 miles. For the first 500miles you should vary your RPM's, not use your cruise control, keep it under 85 mph, no sudden starts or stops, to punching the gas, etc.... after the first 500 miles you can push it a bit more but one should stay conservative 964 miles on mine, and counting !

 

[rushnut]

Dean,

Thanks for the break-in period info! Keeping this car under 85mph is nearly impossible, but I'm trying.

Loving the "music" of the "F,"

Rushnut
Next speeding ticket date: July 2008, Long Beach, CA, Superior Ct.

 

[ism-skzm]

drive it like you stole it!

 

[stangar]

ALL the mechanicals are getting to know one another. Break in is also important to the trans gears, rear diff, brake rotors and the engine. Take it easy and help the parts out be keeping the stress low and also the heating of these mechanicals if you really want to make the car last and be trouble free further down the road. If you are planning to sell in 3 years then have at it and don't worry about a break in. JMHO

 

[rushnut]

Tks 4 break-in feedback

Thanks guys for the break-in period info...much appreciated. I guess letting my wild brother drive my IS-F today at obscene speeds wasn't the best idea, but hey, he let me borrow his 911 a little while back to thrash, so I guess we're even now!

Hope you're all enjoying your rockets.

Rushnut
Radar detector ALWAYS on

 

[Bakasan]

when is the first oil change then?

 

[brandonst878]

Service intervals and oil changes are every 5k mi. You can take the car to Lexus after 1k mi to have them check it over for free.

 

[ism-skzm]

1k service checks car and offers Lexus Personalized Settings changes if you care to...

F.Y.I. not synthetic oil in IS F, (ls460 -yes) might change sooner than rec. 5k if you drive hard or stop and go. My oil in IS250 is always real dark, I change at 3k interval

 

[Bakasan]

I was expecting first oil change to be at 1k......

Coul you explain " Lexus Personalized Settings change ..." ?

Not really familiar with the Lexus dealership experience thing yet.........

Thanks

 

[Dean]

Couple of follow-ups!

Took my IS F into the dealer yesterday for several things. One was to replace the defective Mark Levinson Amp. Meet with a factory rep at the dealership who brought one of their IS F's to compare sound with. The dealership didn't have another ML Amp instock so the factory rep suggested we take the one out of his IS F, which was built at the same time as mine and had the same milage as mine, 1000 miles on it, and switch that. Works great and I appreciated his willingness to exchange the bad part with a good one from his car!

Asked for and was willing to pay for the oil and oil filter to be changed. I'm an old school kind of guy and have always changed oil and filter in all of my cars at 1000 miles irregardless of the factory saying you can go 5000 miles. However the dealer did NOT have any oil filters in stock for the IS F yet. Said they are on back-order and won't be in for a couple of more weeks. They promised to call when the oil filters arrived !

Did a pretty complete debrief with the factory guy about my likes, preferences, etc for the F. He took a ton of notes. Looks like they are very interested in getting feedback and I apprecaite that....

Still smiling and loving the car!

 

[gkcmilner]

I was expecting first oil change to be at 1k......

Coul you explain " Lexus Personalized Settings change ..." ?

Not really familiar with the Lexus dealership experience thing yet.........

Thanks

For Lexus Personalized Settings go to the purple section of your owners manual you will see "customizable features" or something like that. These are electronic setting in your car that can be changed to your preference i.e. lights, locks, keys, etc. Some of them you can change yourself but other need to be done by a tech. A lot of people have this done at there 1k mile complimentary survice, but you have up to 12 months to have anything changed for free. Hope this helps.