Two for the Road USA drives Lexus’ potent IS-F Sports Sedan

Cath and I had the pleasure of going to Lake Las Vegas with Lexus to drive the all new IS-F sports sedan. There’s a lot to say about this car and I’ll have that up soon but I thought readers might find the story behind the story of the development of the IS-F interesting so here’s what we found out about how of this killer car came to fruition.

Most people don’t know that when the idea of Lexus was first conceived some 20 years ago, the project was coded “Circle-F.” The Circle-F designation evolved into the name Flagship One, or F1, which became the code for their very first car, the LS 400. The LS of course stood for Luxury Sedan and the 400 represented the 4.0-liter engine. So, according to Lexus, taking it to the next level, the “F” now symbolizes Lexus’ special “flare” as well as a separate brand designation within Lexus. And the first production car to carry the “F” as part of the formal identification is the IS-F Sports Sedan.

I think it’s important to mention that the development of the IS-F was far from the normal deliberate process that epitomizes Lexus, but rather by a lone engineer that had a dream to produce an all-wheel-drive supercar with huge horsepower, racetrack handling and great stopping power. The problem, Lexus didn’t buy into the idea so, an engineer that had been with Toyota for over 30 years who had been involved with performance cars like the turbocharged Toyota Supra, took things into his own hands and designed the IS-F pretty much after hours with a very limited team and an even more limited budget.

Basically what happened was that Yukihiko Yaguchi wanted to build a car that he wanted to drive and own that would be a take-no-prisoners Sports Sedan that would combine comfort, sophistication and performance to compete or beat the best that the world had to offer. He got tired of waiting for an okay, so he decided to figure out a way to build it, and he did. While it’s easy to romanticize about an engineer having the spunk to challenge a company like Lexus and completely circumvent product planning and come up with a winner, well let’s just say Yaguchi earned his stripes. Non-the-less, it is a remarkable story.

Yaguchi pitched his concept to product planning which is unheard of, and after a lot of negotiating, he received approval to go ahead with the project. That was the good news, the bad news was, there was no budget for the project. That didn’t deter Yaguchi because like a true gear-head Yaguchi recruited his own special “Skunk Works” team to work under the radar in their spare time and between assignments and the result is one incredible Sports Sedan that I absolutely loved driving.

This is what Lexus PR said about testing the IS-F in their press info. “To be certain performance targets were met on the IS F, it was tested at racetracks that count, at tracks that have challenge and heritage. Those test tracks include the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife, in Germany’s Eiffel Mountains; Circuit Paul Ricard, in the South of France; Circuit Zolder, in Belgium; Laguna Seca Raceway; and at Fuji Speedway, in Japan.
In fact, the “F” logo design comes directly from the shape of Turn One at Fuji Speedway, the home circuit of IS F.
The “F” might also mean “fast,” or “fun,” “fascinating,” or “formula,” suggesting a precise recipe for excellence. But as much as anything else, it’s also a symbol of our “focus” on satisfying every element of the market.
Most importantly, it could also mean “finally.” If it means that, it’s only because it signifies our relief that there’s now a serious, fire-breathing enthusiast’s car that embodies all of the Lexus flagship DNA.”

I’ll have a lot more about the Lexus IS-F on our website, Two for the Road USA soon.