Quick Drive: 2011 Lexus IS-F

This car is better than the old IS-F, by a fairly large margin. It feels sharper, more communicative, and generally a lot more fun. I still love the dual-stage exhaust, which sounds mellow at low engine speeds but sounds downright burly and racy north of 4000 rpm.

At the same time, I can’t help but feel that it could be even better. The most obvious improvement would involve ditching the current car’s eight-speed automatic. This isn’t a bad transmission, in the sense that upshifts, especially under wide-open throttle, are handled quickly and easily.

No, the problem comes when it’s time to downshift, where regardless of Sport mode or manual shifting, the gearbox simply can’t react quickly enough to inputs. Say you are on the freeway, cruising along in eighth gear, with manual mode engaged, and it comes time to pass slower traffic. Rather than just drop a gear or two, you need to drop four to get the engine where it needs to be to make the pass quickly. And while the dash display may indicate you are now in fourth gear, a considerable amount of time passes between the indication and the actual reaction from the gearbox. Let me be clear, I have no issue with automatic transmissions in performance applications. I love a good dual-clutch trans just as much as I like a three-pedal deal. In the case of the IS-F though, eight speeds is simply two too many.

At risk of beating a dead horse, the IS-F needs another transmission choice. Frankly, I’m not too picky on whether it gets a proper six-speed manual or even the six-speed sequential box from the LFA. The IS-F just needs something better, as that’s the only way it’ll ever be able to compete with the likes of the BMW M3 and Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG.

—Brandon Turkus, Test Fleet Manager