IS-F Maintenance Costs

doublexl said:

in my boredom i came across this.

http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/12_month_car_reviews/0902_2009_lexus_is_f/index.html

Click to expand...

I think Lexus gets an unfair rap about 8-spd being too many gears by journalists that quite honestly, for reasons there isn't much else that even compares to it, don't know how to drive it. For example, it's criticized for being slow to downshift in manual from 8th gear, while ignoring the almost instantaneous downshift from 8th to 2nd by simply moving the console shifter to the right to get the immediate 8th to 2nd drop, followed by moving it back to the left to restore the manual shift mode you were just in. In fact, in the racerboy zeal to use the steering wheel mounted paddle shifters, the console shifter probably gets ignored in all disproportion to its true usefulness, as a customary postion where most any serious M3 driver with the manual tranny would be rowing the cogs with his hand anyway. You can do the whole shmear with the console shifter on the Lexus, upshift or downshift sequentially, or exploit the automatic programmed shifts.

The observations about 8 speeds being too many are not valid, but serve to highlight that journalists used to customary 2nd gear/3rd gear corners are not comfortable learning new gears, or they find themselves choosing the wrong gear for the situation. That's not a problem with the gearbox, that's a problem of not taking ownership of the higher level of expected skill to reap the reward benefit.

And there's more to consider in regards to the firm suspension choice made by Lexus for the IS-F. If potholed Michigan roads are the baseline, the entire industry has regressed from the retired Crown Victoria police cruiser equipped with worn out shocks and fare meter. The Lexus can reach 120 mph in an eye blink. That's not the time to be coping with a car that is bottoming or getting air borne. I haven't heard of a single instance of bent rims, broken wheels or flattened tires from jamming potholes with the Lexus, even though there have been impacts severe enough to damage the fenders and the bodywork. I think that's significant. Compare that to the copious BMW forum threads on bent/broken rims and tires. Could it be that the softer damping rates that yield such a plush street and track ride will bottom hard enough over the potholed Manhattan tarmacs to break rims?

Uncompromising performance cars must make trade offs. And that's apparently where the journalists are taking exception to the choices made on the Lexus IS-F while ignoring that Lexus has other cars to choose from which are more suitable for Michigan potholes while still retaining good performance, like the Lexus GS or IS series.

I am happy with the compromises Lexus made for the IS-F compared to the racetrack focused M3 6 speed manual, which gulps fuel at 2600 rpm at 60 mph due to having six speeds, not needing (ahem) eight. Gas guzzler tax not included.

or

Having firm enough damping rates to protect against bottoming and bent/broken rims as compared again to the supremely race track focused M3 that offers lifetime BMW roadside tire changing assistance in lieu of (ahem)...including an "actual" spare tire. Good luck to him if he picks up a nail in the boonies.

Lexus made compromises, yes. There are very few cars the journalists can even drive that would have allowed them to acquire the proficiency with manual automatics, nor have many rated any of the competitive manual automatics superior to the Lexus. I suspect a more fair fight would be journalists on a racetrack comparing the IS-F to the M3 with its DCT manual automatic. There would be an equality of ineptitude to base their professional opinions on.