About this time last month, Automotive News reported that Lexus would reintroduce their L-tuned lineup of vehicles in order to compete in the ever-growing, performance luxury marketplace. Well, it seems that the letter 'L' has been dispatched in order to make room for the real performance division of Lexus.

'F,' as it turns out, stands for 'fast,' and will grace the trunk lid of Lexus vehicles that seek to do battle amidst the AMGs and Ms of the world.

The first F-inagled Lexus to make its debut will be a hotted-up version of the IS sedan, equipped with a 5-liter V8. What was originally assumed to be called the IS500, the newly dubbed IS-F will come with a revised version of the V8 that resides in the LS600h L and will produce upwards of 425 HP. Pricing is expected to come in around $50k, and is aimed squarely at the upcoming M3.

Other models expected to get the 'F' treatment include the GS sedan and a coupe version of the IS.

According to Automotive News, Lexus filed for a trademark on the IS-F and also for the 'F' logo above, however, Lexus has not confirmed the reports.

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/04/f...rformance-arm/

 

And probably still be available only in automatic

 

F stands for fast :rofl:
lexus, what have you done :reechy:

 

http://today.reuters.com/news/...E.XML

TOKYO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp.'s high-end Lexus brand will launch a performance brand late next year to compete with Mercedes-Benz's AMG and BMW's M divisions, industry paper Automotive News reported on Monday. The offensive will start with the IS sedan, which will get a retuned version of the LS600h's hybrid engine, the paper said, citing dealer sources.

The car, to be called IS-F, with F standing for "fast", will debut at an auto show next month in Detroit and go on sale in December 2007, the paper said. The 425-horsepower car will be priced in the low $50,000 range, it said.

A Toyota spokeswoman declined to comment on the report, saying the company would announce plans for the Detroit auto show in the coming days.

Automotive News quoted a dealer as saying Lexus will likely follow the IS-F with a GS-F sedan and IS-F coupe.

Japan's top auto maker filed a stylised "F" logo on Oct. 9 and a trademark for IS-F on Nov. 8 and with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

 

this is F-ing retarded.

:edit:

i feel that the IS-F will be a nice car, but in all honesty, a V8 seems a tad too big for that car...


i will contest to the fact that while the IS-350 only came in automatic that it always seemed to be ontop of the ball when it came to guessing the moves. it was quick and precise, and it seemed to be a perfectly nice AT

 

AMG manages to do just fine without offering a manual transmission of any sort.

Automatics keep getting better and better, making less and less of a need for traditional robotized manuals like BMW SMG. I predict in a few years that all flappy-paddle gearboxes will be either traditional automatics with torque converters, or dual-clutch robo-manuals like VW DSG. All the single-clutch robo-manuals will be made obsolete.

 

I think Lexus might be able to make a tiny dent Against BMW and Mercedes, but many people might not buy it because it is not known for performance.

Hopefully Lexus improves steering and makes the cars fun to drive.

 

i have a feeling this has been far out of their minds.


lexus is taking alot of positive PR as well as performance reviews for their overall domianace in the performance hybrid market, all this press is nothing but positive in the performance sector.

as i have thought for a while the IS350 as well as these hybrid models was the start of pulling people away from MB and BMW.

if the IS350 is any indication of the power and the type of car the IS-F will be then the smaller AMG cars may definatly be in a hard spot. the seqential in the IS350 is also one of the best automatic transmissions i have ever been witness to-- the shifts were precise and quick.

 

If this IS-F will come with hybrid V8 engine, it will be THE SHIT! You guys out to test drive the current GS450h, even though its only a V6, and even though its 0-60 and 1/4 mile times are slighly slower than lets say BMW550, its torque is soooo instant, its unreal.

 

I dunno man, I took an IS350 out on some back roads and while generally alright it hesitated to answer commands issued by the flappy paddles with far higher frequency than I miss shifts in my manual transmission car.