"Have not you pushed this point A GROUP of times?" asks my half-alert partner, Tiffany, like I start packing my testdrive essentials -- an iPod cable, shades, water-bottle, and snack bar. It is just 7 a.m. on the Saturday morning, meaning almost everybody with the exception of yogis, boat rowers, and surfers are sound asleep. More significant, they are off the streets.

The "thing" Tiffany is talking about is the speed-eager 2012 Lexus IS F sedan. Yes, I drove the F a great deal a couple of years back, when our 2008 IS F longterm examiner resided within the MT garage. I admired that car for the torquey approach and lavish accoutrements, but it wasn't just surefooted and its own trip wasn't all that supple, to mention but some niggles. It wasn't a sedan you needed to generate "a group of times" unless you had to, notably on L.A.'s clogged, unkempt trails.
"Technically speaking, I never have," I answer.

With that easy reply -- and a couple of grumbles from the woman -- we set-off over a halfday experience, hunting for a suitable sidewalk resort area for this 416-hp sled. Forty minutes east of Hillcrest, just past Pine Valley -- a sleepy town at the foundation of the 6000foot Mount Laguna -- we discovered an ideal serpentine route.

Climbing behind the IS F's leatherwrapped threespoke steering-wheel, it is difficult not to remember several memories of our old longtermer. First, it was (and ) among is the most fuelefficient highperformance sedans around. 2nd, the 2008 F, with its 8-speed automatic, was obnoxiously fast in a straight-line, because of accelerated downshifts that held the 5.0liter V-8 in its wide torque band. More, when riled, the IS F sounded, well, incredibly furious, which only heightened the attractiveness of the focus - catching muscle fenders, supersized Brembo brakes, forged 19inch wheels, and slammed stance.

But our longterm IS F wasn't ideal. The most noteworthy gripes included a stiff ride that almost loosened fillings, an electrically boosted helm that supplied also mild and brake rotors, and artificial that squealed like piglets. That is not all.
Time to provide the V - 8 a huge dose of accelerator.

Creating such a demonstrative bellow and much more mid- to highrange strength demands a gap of the 2nd intake hidden inside the right-front wheel well. Cross the barrelchested rumbles of a MercedesBenz SLS using the metallic roars of an Audi R8 4.2, and also you'll get the tones permeating my ear canals.

The IS F's back 255/35R-19 Michelin Pilot Sports hardly chirp throughout their search for grasp, but once they catch, the 3800pound Lexus wants only 4.5 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour.
Graciously, Lexus and Brembo have endowed the F with considerable braking abilities.
For model-year 2011 and beyond, chief engineer Yukihiko Yaguchi launched new nutrients to his infant's formula, specifically stiffer front and back spring/damper calibrations, bigger antiroll bars, thicker bushings, more collide stops, and revised power-steering logarithms. In addition, he gave a regular to the IS F - issue Torsen limited-slip differential. The group left the paddle and 90degree eightcylinder - activated gearbox untouched, simply because these were considered to snuff.
On east San Diego's mountain-top roads, Yaguchi's easy tweaks leave extreme improvements. The IS F's electro-boosted helm now responds like a suitable sport sedan's should -- immediate, communicative, silky smooth, and natural -- that is crucial for the faster, very receptive lateral jinks the F performs on its cast BBS footwear.

Yaguchi also paid particular attention to the F's inside. A fundamental tachometer sits directly under the driver's line of sight, which makes it simple to use on a fastpaced excursion. Close to the 5000rpm hash, LED shift lights change neon orange for the benefit of the V-8's support and longevity.
Gatling gunlike shifts in 0.1second increments have me believing this normal automated should have another clutch concealing somewhere. Delectable WOMMMMP! WOMMMP!
Incredibly, the 5.0-liter's petroleum temperature gauge has not flashed once, nor has its coolant gauge glowed red -- accurate testaments to the auto's savage improvement routine and high pain thresholds.
Yaguchi - san has not just changed the F into an even more astute gripper. No, he is morphed it into an actual M3 chaser, and rather possibly, a valid mauler of Munich's (and Stuttgart's) current best. Today it correctly orchestrates its speed and strength with livable ride quality and commendable agility. For an updated firstgeneration player, this Lexus has what is needed to create M and AMG quiver; that is, before the brand new batch of Germans arrives. (IS) F yes.

2012 Lexus IS F: Toyota's Turning Point? - Ignition Episode 33