Repair-It

Power and spooky exhaust rumblings aside, the one aspect of the F’s personality that got the most attention was its hard ride. Hardly a logbook entry was written without mention of it. Some said it was just plain rough; some said it was distracting to the point of seasickness. Others did not seem to mind, and a few even enjoyed it, but those folk also drive ’30s hot rods.

Because the IS F sits so low to the road and its big wheels leave little space between fender and tire, there is very little suspension travel available, and the resulting tune is firm. The car bucks and heaves and never settles down; it will bob like an apple over a seemingly good freeway. Nonetheless, Lexus claims its sophisticated sport-tuned suspension offers improved body control without degrading ride quality. We disagree. One of our number with deep technical credentials noted astutely: “Lexus really needs a good suspension consultant to fix this car.” Indeed.

Ride aside, the IS F proved to be an excellent assault vehicle, expressly built for attacking expressways. While cruising at 85 mph, the eight-speed automatic keeps the revs below 2300 rpm. We averaged 21 mpg over the 40,000-mile test—amazing for this naturally aspirated beast with 416 horses. Consider that our long-term BMW M3, which kicks out 414 horsepower, has returned 17 mpg over 30,000 miles of its stay here. The IS F has achieved fuel economy as high as 28 mpg a few times, but its range on a full tank exceeded 400 miles only once.

This is a fashionably snug car inside