New Member from Northern CA USA

4176 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by timeslip, Jul 30, 2009

ISFnFast

Discussion Starter · Jun 3, 2009

Hi Everyone,

Got a new 2008 IS F in Feb this year and loving it!
Started joining IS F forums after attending a car control course over the weekend...WHATTA RUSH...I'm hooked! Anyone know of good tracks with courses in Northern Cal area or even an IS F performance driving group/academy/course? (The one I went to was actually offered by the Golden Gate Chapter of BMW Car Club, but all cars are welcome not just Bimmers.)

F'in High On Adrenaline!

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Nightspore68

· #2 · Jun 3, 2009

Welcome to the club!
Congrats on taking the course. A good idea for anyone with a performance car.
I don't know of any Northern California tracks, but you might seek out the local chapter of Porsche Club of America or whatever the local Ferrari club is called. They're how I discovered our "local" road course, Talladega Gran Prix (it's actually in Alabama).
Also Sports Car Club of America has autocross events all over the country. These tend to be a bit crowded and not allow for much driving time, though; that's why I prefer to rent a track with some like-minded speedfreaks from PCA. Who have great difficulty keeping up with my Lexus, I might say!

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ISFChamp

· #3 · Jun 3, 2009

Welcome to the Site

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baba

· #4 · Jun 3, 2009

Hey ISFnFast,

I'm here in San Jose, and would also be interested in joining a club of some kind. Where about in N.Cali are you?

Allen

ISFnFast said:
Hi Everyone,

Got a new 2008 IS F in Feb this year and loving it!
Started joining IS F forums after attending a car control course over the weekend...WHATTA RUSH...I'm hooked! Anyone know of good tracks with courses in Northern Cal area or even an IS F performance driving group/academy/course? (The one I went to was actually offered by the Golden Gate Chapter of BMW Car Club, but all cars are welcome not just Bimmers.)

F'in High On Adrenaline!

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ISFnFast

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 3, 2009

All - thanks for the welcome postings. Didn't know which forum(s) to join since starting recently, as I saw that the lexusownersclub wasn't that active for IS F folks...glad to see this one seemingly pretty active.
Anyway...
Allen good meeting you. I'm in the Oakland area and thinking of joining the BMWCCA as I've a few friends in there already (and haven't found an IS-F group yet). Met some great people over the weekend there - although alot of Bimmers, all of them were cool and not Bimmer snotty. Actually my car did raise ALOT of eyebrows and it was a BEAST on the track!!

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Flipside909

· #6 · Jun 4, 2009

Welcome to the club. We really need to plan an all IS F meet in the Bay Area soon.

-Ryan

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MMJ4mil

· #7 · Jun 10, 2009

hello just got an ISF used 08 starfire pearl with 4.5k miles on it for a steal price.

came with every option except satellite radio and park assist.

coming from a 330i

too much power i dont know why people would s/c this beast.

the biggest gripe i have: automatic tranny in D mode. accelerates real nice in sport mode though but I rather not have it on 24/7

all in all, best purchase i made. bought it in cash title in my name. was going to get the m3 but not feeling the bmw service warranty and bs. also they wouldn't go down on price. punks

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ISFnFast

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jun 17, 2009

Flipside909 said:
Welcome to the club. We really need to plan an all IS F meet in the Bay Area soon.

-Ryan

Gonna post a roll call for NorCal IS-F owners just to see how many members exist. (The summer's still early and alotta driving to do.)

Anyone - Let me know if there's another thread out there with NorCal owners in case this would be a duplicate.

ISFnFast

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timeslip

· #9 · Jul 7, 2009

Would someone in NorCal mind chatting with me over IM about the ISF? I just went to the Lexus dealership last night to test drive it. To be honest, I wasn't in the market for an ISF, simply because I thought the price was too high. However, the salesmen said they are going for about $60-61k OTD with the ML system.

At that price, I am not sure if I can resist.

1) What kind of prices should I expect for OTD?
2) I don't really care for that silver carbon fibre, can I get a different color?
3) How well is all the software integration?
4) Does the iphone connect to it, and can you control it from the screen?

As far as performance is concerned, it's not bad. Certainly not as much grunt as I expected, but I suppose it is still luxury first, then performance. Handling was a little soft, but I am comparing this to the M3, or my tuned g35 coupe. I took it around the turn from 85 -> 280 just for a quick handling test.

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Flipside909

· #10 · Jul 9, 2009

timeslip said:
1) What kind of prices should I expect for OTD?

61K OTD is roughly invoice price for the car. Is it an 09? If so, I would jump on it.

2) I don't really care for that silver carbon fibre, can I get a different color?

You can buy a dark c/f overlay which is available for the regular IS250/350.

3) How well is all the software integration?

Very intuitive and very easy to use.

4) Does the iphone connect to it, and can you control it from the screen?

Yes via bluetooth. You can only operate it as a telephone from the nav screen meaning dial pad and an internal phone book.

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ratxtom

· #11 · Jul 26, 2009

just got my isf this past wednesday. another bay area member woot woot!

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timeslip

· #12 · Jul 30, 2009

Thank you flipside909 for your input. I finally decided to buy a used 08 ISF in USB. It has the nav, assisted cruise control, parking sensors, and to my surprise Satellite Radio.

Quickly hard wired my v1, and purchased the Data System / R-Spec override kit.

First impressions...

1) The ML audio system is very disappointing. There is way too much high's, not enough mid range. I found the following settings to help out, but the high's are still too much. I went from a crappy Bose system in my G35 to this, and very disappointed.

a) Turned on ASL
b) Sound is set two notches back instead of center
c) Low is 3 up, mid is 2 up, high is 1 up. (all from neutral / center)
d) Turned off surround sound (this made biggest difference with the high's)

2) Notice my avg gas millage is 17 (mixed freeway & city).

3) I am getting used to the silver carbon fiber trim, it is growing on me.

4) They should have integrated the maintenance timers with the on-board computer along with the one in the nav.

5) I am not sure that I really care about having 8 gears, it does seem a bit much. I would have to agree with Top Gear's assessment about it.

6) They should have used wider wheels in the rear (maybe 9.5) so it looks a bit more aggressive in the rear to match the front.

Overall, I am very happy with the car. Though I am getting used to not having a clutch. I think I would have loved this car more, if it was stick shift. The interior is beautiful, when you compare it to the M3, or Mercedes C63. I love all the little subtle LED lights in the car. The only thing that I thought the M3 did a better job with, was the integration of the seat belts. How slick is it to have it handed to you.

Now I need to find an exhaust to replace the stupid fake quad, add some sway bars, and change the tire setup to 245/30 & 275/30.

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