2008 Lexus IS F New York Vacation - Performance and Specs

Assistant editor David Zenlea brings the IS-F out to New York, where contributor Jamie Kitman and I will spend several weeks with the car. Zenlea, who already has logged plenty of miles in the bright blue Lexus, traveled on the day of a major wind storm, which he was unaware of until he stepped out of the car to refuel and the door flew back in his face.

Although Zenlea comes away with even more respect for the IS-F, citing its "effortless acceleration and bullet-train-like high-speed stability" (which can find you at 120 mph when you thought you were doing 80), he prefers the return trip in the BMW 135i, despite its somewhat less awesome speediness.

Zenlea joins several others in criticizing the responsiveness of the eight-speed automatic - which does, after all, have to swap down several cogs in answer to a booted throttle. The gearbox might seem more responsive if you could just quickly slap it down a few ratios with the shift paddles without first having to move the gear lever out of drive.

Coming out of the 135i, which isn't exactly the most plush-riding car you can name, it's still a notable change to get into the IS-F, which feels far more stiffly sprung. The IS-F has a very busy ride, even over what appears to be smooth pavement.


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