Here’s a video to go along with Auto Express’ comparison test of the Lexus IS-F, BMW M3, Mercedes C63 and Audi RS4, though the RS4 is omitted from the footage, due to the fact that it’s been discontinued:

It’s nice to see all three cars as they cut a line across the same track, but the presenter doesn’t address the comparison test at all.

Auto Express is the latest to pit the Lexus IS-F against the competition, throwing it into a test against the BMW M3, Mercedes C63 and the Audi RS4.

It’s almost a forgone conclusion that the M3 is going to place first, but Auto Express puts in a curveball, calling the Mercedes C63 the best of the test. And how did the IS-F fare?:

On a more fundamental level, the driving position is the least adaptable. The plush seats don’t hug you enough and you sit too high, so headroom is tight, while the chunky windscreen pillars leave you feeling hemmed in. And it’s not that spacious in the back, either.

But it’s pace, not practicality, that’s crucial here – and first impressions suggest the IS F is lacking. It was the quietest at idle inside and out, and its 5.0-litre seems like any other Lexus unit; effortlessly smooth, docile and calm. Don’t be fooled, though, because once the needle sweeps past 3,700rpm the 417bhp V8 takes on a whole new persona – there’s an instant hit of acceleration and the engine note, previously almost silent, becomes purposeful and loud.

Overall, while the Lexus is fast, composed and technically very capable in corners, it doesn’t quite have the handling of the M3, the fierce power, control and charisma of the C63 or the surefootedness of the RS4. Still, for a company with no previous experience in this segment, it’s a great achievement.

The more comparison tests that come in, the more clear it becomes that Lexus is going to be facing an difficult and lengthy uphill battle to establish the IS-F, but it certainly seems that they’re on the right track.

Every once and a while, a classic Lexus LS 400 clip will show up on Youtube, showing the car up against its competitors, and it always amazes me just how throughly Lexus thought out their first model. Here we have a 1990 video clip from Top Gear, putting the LS 400 up against the Mercedes 420SE, Jaguar 4.0, and the BMW 735i:

To think that the Mercedes cost £4000 more than the LS 400, and didn’t even come with air conditioning or a radio (mind you, it was the long-wheelbase version). I’ve read that the luxury brands at the time were fairly complacent, but I had no idea of the extent.

The Lexus IS-F comparison tests keep pouring in, this time from Motor Trend, who pits the new super-sedan against its primary competitors, the BMW M3 and the Mercedes C63. Here’s some selected highlights:

Steering feedback and response are everything in a car like this…The C63’s turn-in is crisp, with plenty of honest feedback and a meaty feel. Lexus equips the IS F with electric power steering, which isn’t as organic as a good hydraulic system. It’s fine for normal to moderate driving, but loses sensitivity when you’re really honking it. The IS F’s cornering abilities are impressive, but the car understeers heavily at the limit, and the wheel feels disconnected at that point. The BMW’s tiller is about as quick as the others but a bit lighter. Its communication is even clearer than the C63’s, with plenty of true road feel.

Kim Reynolds says, “The Lexus and the Mercedes feel like performance versions created out of something else. The M3 feels like it was born this way.” Ed Loh’s summary is even more succinct: “The Lexus and Mercedes are great hot-rod sedans. The M3 is a race car with four doors.”

Lexus is new to this game, yet has delivered a fast, edgy, credible piece from a company most known for quiet and beautifully crafted, if uninvolving, luxury sedans. A couple of clunky design elements let it down, and its steering and suspension calibrations aren’t as well synthesized at the limit as the others. As the IS F costs no less than the German duo, there’s no value card to be thrown. But we’re picking nits, and we know the brand’s next effort will be fully class-competitive.

Predictably, the IS-F came in last, not all that surprising considering the other competitors’ performance-brand history, not to mention how fantastic both these new versions of the M3 and C63 are.

As the article is quick to point out, this is only Lexus’ first effort in the super-sedan category, and there’s significant tuning and improvements that will need to be made.

Turns out there was more than one part to the Best Motoring comparison that I posted about a couple days ago. Get comfortable and and take a look at this 20 minute video (for quickness’ sake, the two main competitors as I see them, the BMW M3 and the IS-F, are at 1:25 and 13:36 respectively):

Again, there seems to be an issue with improper shifting with the IS-F, but regardless, the stats against the BMW M3 broke down like this:

Lap Time

Grip

Drift

No matter how subjective the Grip and Drift ratings may be, these are numbers coming from a highly respected source, so it’s hard to find fault with the results. One thing’s for sure, it’s no question that these cars are neck and neck, and I imagine that’s exactly what Lexus was gunning for.

[Via: Auto Spies]

The January 2008 editon of Best Motoring, one of Japan’s most popular automotive TV/DVD shows, has a Lexus IS-F vs. Nissan Skyline Coupe 370GT Type S (Infiniti G37 Sport in North America) showdown:

While it can’t match the IS-F in a 0-60 race, the 333hp Skyline Coupe Type S holds its own on the track, with only a two second difference in laptimes. Not bad for a car that retails for a little more than half of the IS-F. The details are lost due to the language barrier, though.

As an added bonus, the host, ‘Drift King’ Keiichi Tsuchiya, also slides each model through the track:

Motor Trend assembled some super saloons in their latest ultra-luxury sedan comparison test, pitting the Lexus LS 600hL against the Jaguar Super V8, Mercedes S550 & Maserati Quattroporte Sport. The LS 600hL didn’t have a great showing, at least in the driving department:

The all-wheel-drive Lexus exhibited pigheaded understeer in most corners, often attended by the beep-beep nagging of the stability nanny. Switching it off kills the beeps, but never allows one scintilla of chassis slip angle. And despite being fitted with $3000 worth of active anti-roll bars, the LS 600hL seemed to roll as much or more than the other cars here, even when set to “sport” mode (it’s borderline nautical in “comfort”). Charging hard up the hill depleted the battery quickly (actually, pressing the gas pedal on any type of road kills the battery quickly), and horsing the CVT through its eight virtual gear ratios with liberal doses of carpet-crushing throttle provoked an unseemly “hybrid system overheat” warning. We didn’t find the hybrid gear equal to sacrificing a golf-bag’s worth of trunk space for and, after this session, all editors were ready to red-pencil the 600 badge down to a 500.

I’m of two minds with the review and its emphasis on driving performance, as I see it as a secondary consideration in this class. That’s hardly a justification for its fourth place finish, though.

Right out the gate, the Audi A8 had a very significant advantage over the Lexus LS 600h in Autoweek’s recent comparison test — After all, the A8 is £20,000 cheaper than the LS 600h, and £20,000 is a steep hill to climb:

More crucially, while the low 219g/km emissions are very impressive, it’s hard to get the [LS 600h] to run on battery power alone. And our average of less than 20mpg suggests there are few reasons to opt for the hybrid over the standard LS460, which performs as well and is only slightly less economical.

This poor result, combined with the fact the Lexus costs so much, means the Audi A8 earns an easy victory here. Not only is it £20,000 cheaper, it’s also better designed from superior materials, just as fast and around 10mpg more efficient.

There is an argument that the LS 600h should be going up against its competition’s top V-12 models (Audi’s A8L W12 in this case), but it’s doesn’t seem to be holding much weight with the automotive press.

Coming from an automotive marketing company that counts Lexus as a client, this AMCI video comparing the IS-F with the BMW M3 and Audi RS4 does seem more than a little bias, but that doesn’t stop it from being a great watch:

To be fair, test driver Dave Sherman doesn’t proclaim the IS-F the king, but rather a legitimate contender in the super sports sedan market. Still, I wouldn’t take the acceleration or the brake tests very seriously, they seem to lack any sort of methodology. The domination by the IS-F is far too overstated to be accurate.