I came by the local Lexus dealer to check out the IS-F yesterday after the sale guy kept calling me for the past month about seeing the car. My mother, my girlfriend, and my self included had all purchased a new car from this dealer in the past two years.

After seeing the car on the show room, I asked for a test drive. He came back and said that the cars can not be test drove unless one actually sign paper to buy it. But he then told me that Lexus was having a dyno event across the parking lot for the dealer that I could go and see and hear the car in action. Apparently, Lexus send out these teams with the cars to the local dealer and educate their staff about the new product.

We went over the lot and saw 4 IS-F sitting there. One was on the dyno deck. Long story short, I got permission to do a dyno run with the engineer

Did three runs up to about 130/140mph. There was a computer screen that allowed me to see my reaction time, shift speed as well as trap speed in manual vs drive mode. My best time was 13.98 at 108mph.

The shift paddles are impressive. Quick, and sharp. Much quicker than my slk55. Down shifts are fast too, and smooth but I wish the blips were a bit louder. The car is actually louder than I though it would be. Especially from outside. Maybe just because there's no wind noise since the car is stationary but it did sounds pretty aggressive. Deep growl. But the sounds were not as fine as the AMGs.

It was a blast and overall I had a great time doing the dyno run . The engineer said that I was only the second non-employee that was allowed to do this in the US on his leg of the tour. I wasn't sold on the car look but definitely appreciate the performance, sounds, and feel. The gear box was cool. Wish that was on my slk. But over all it wasn't good enough for me to want to part with my slk.

Can't wait to play with the c63 when ever my MB dealer gets it in.