Questions from a forum newbie

Welcome to the site and Happy Holidays!

I take it you haven't driven an F yet right? You definitely need to visit a dealership and take a test drive. A lot of dealerships have F's sitting on their lots and you can get great deals on the 08's from what I've heard

The transmission on the car doesn't seem like it is constantly shifting imo. When your cruising down the freeway it stays in 8th to conserve gas but it immediately downshifts once you step on the gas to pass someone. A lot of members and drivers never drive the F in automatic anyway. We always throw it in sport mode, turn off traction and put it in manual, that way we can control the gears ourselves. The shifts in the car are so smooth, you don't even notice that it shifts. So to answer your question, I personally don't think it's overly annoying as you can't feel it shift when in automatic and you know when your going to shift when in manual so no worries there. The gearbox is also one of the quickest on the markets for any car. It shifts in 0.1 seconds which is up there with Ferrari and Lamborghini shifting times.

Your husband has an STI that has 5 seats so you can lose one If your concerned about room, the trunk has tons. You can put goods and people back there if needed haha

I really think you need to go test drive it, it will help answer a lot of your shifting and gearbox questions. Don't be afraid to open it up either, your not going to get a sense of how powerful the car is until you have some open road Enjoy the Holiday's and let us know how it goes and how else we can help!!

I personally don't find it to shift too often, but some of the reviews have complained about too many gears. I'm not sure it is really ever a problem to have too many gears. The shifts in standard drive mode are smooth enough that I don't really notice unless I'm paying attention.

My IS-F is my daily drive and I really enjoy it. The only frustrating thing is that most of the time I end up driving in fairly heavy traffic, so I can't enjoy it like I would want to.

In some ways I miss a manual, but when I get stuck in gridlock it sure is nice to just put it in "D". I have a feeling that there will be very few manuals in the coming years unfortunately.

I personally didn't worry about the lack of the fifth seating position. The car is small enough the back seat isn't really that practical. It works fine for my dogs, but I wouldn't put people in the back seat for long unless they are pretty short. I doubt it is any worse than the STi though.

Good luck with your decision.

Jeff
08 Smoky Granite Mica IS-F

Nd4Spd said:

Happy Holidays All!!

This is my first time reading and posting on a forum of any kind so I apologize in advance for any breaches in etiquette.

A bit about myself - I'm a 27 year old chicka living in San Diego. I still own my first car - a 2001 honda civic LX. It's got about 100k miles on it and I'm ready for a change. My husband drives an 05 STi and over the years I have gained an appreciation for speed (and luxury) when it comes to cars. I'm looking for an upgrade and a nice treat for myself. It would be a daily driver...I work about 15 miles from my house which consists of equal distances of freeway and street driving.

I've had my eye on the IS F for a bit now...I'm going to look at (and hopefully) test drive one on Sunday but I wanted to see if you guys thought this would be a good car for my needs. I've read quite a few articles on it as well as a lost of posts on this site. My main concerns would be 1) I'm a bit wary of giving up my manual option...I love the feel of a stick shift 2) Does the car constantly shift when driving on the streets since there are so many gears? Is it overly annoying? 3) Not too sure I want to give up my 5th seat.

What do you all think? I appreciate the input. Happy Holidays!!

Click to expand...

Welcome! The F is the way to go...as a weekender or a daily. To answer yoru questions..

1) When I first got to drive this car on the streets in "F" Manual mode and SPORT vdim settings, I inadvertently found myself looking to press down the clutch when I got to redline. You'll be surprised how direct and the paddle shift (or the gear shift if you wish) feels when rowing through the gears.

2) Nope, the gearshifts in regular drive mode are very seamless. All the magazines and such complain about having too many gears, but having that 8th gear is crucial while cruisin on the freeway. Fuel economy with the higher gears are key.

3) That's middle row seat in the back is pretty useless in the IS, even with having a formal seat in the middle. If you really have to squeeze a 5th person, just have the person sit on a thin cushion and stay very still.

You definitely should drive it and experience first hand. We can tell you all the pros and cons, but ultimately in the end, it's how the experience pleases you.