im thinking of picking me up one or the other. I was so mesmerixed by the new m3, and well i went to go look at the is-f and wow now i love it a tad more than the m3. I dont know but both are amazing but im leaning towards the is-f.

what you guys think>

 

Well, I'd take the M3 all day over the IS-F, and I'd also go with the manual, but thats just me.

 

The IS-F is a great effort from Lexus. I dont recall it beating any of the offerings from Germany though.

I would rather have the performance benchmark even though I'll hardly ever explore its limits.

The M3 is number 1 in its class...just buy whatever you like the best man. Its your benjamins.

 

Drive them both, I personally like th M3 a lot but the IS-F is something special also.

 

Both are great cars with slightly different accents. Personally, between the test drives I've had, I prefer the M3's dynamics and manual shifter is big for me in a performance car. You're going to pay a premium in price over the Lexus. But for those that have to ask, maybe the IS-F is the right choice.

 

Did you drive either one??????????????????????????????????????????????

I suspect your answer will be found in the drive. Though, I think the IS-F (from photos) looks awful with the big, blunt snout, goofy strakes on the side, and lame exhausts. I wouldn't buy one on looks alone, but if you can deal with the appearance, just buy whichever feels better to you.

 

Oh, and I'd probably actually get an '08 Z-51 C6 and 4-cyl. wagon (hopefully an '09 Saturn Aura with 6-spd. auto if they make one).

 

Buy the one YOU like. I understand asking this question to get input you may have not considered but really, who gives a shit what the magazines or internet forum "experts" think?

 

I saw a black IS-F today in downtown Minneapolis. Gunmetal rims...just fricking badass. I saw it coming towards me and it instantly stood out from the crowd and caught my eye - by the time I figured out what I was looking at, it was on its way past me - but it DEFINITELY looks better in person than it does in the pics. And black is totally the way to go.

To me, it seems like the ISF might be a better car to a lot of people. For example...let's say you want to DD it and an auto would be nice. You could have the ISF or you could roll the dice on the DCT (unproven reliability). If you like to keep your cars a long time (ie out of warranty), you could have the lexus rep for reliability, or you could go w/ BMW reliability. If you never drive the cars 10/10, either will do the trick performance-wise. If your money is valuable to you, the ISF might be a better choice. If you want something that not everyone is rocking on your block, again the ISF might be better.
There are a lot of reasons to choose that car over the M3; it just depends on if any of them are important to you.

 

IS-F