The Lexus IS-F Has HOW Much Power?

2014 Lexus IS-F.

418 horsepower.

Zero to 60 in 4.2 seconds.

I had to look it up, but here are the cars that the 2014 Lexus IS-F is just as quick as from zero to 60:

How The 2014 Lexus IS-F Might Be A BMW-Killer

2014 Lexus IS-F.

418 horsepower.  371 pounds per foot of torque. 8-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. Zero to 60 in 4.2 seconds.

It's a Lexus sedan.

I'll give that a minute to sink in.  You'll be excused for being surprised, because Lexus still has this image out there of being pure luxury vehicles...Toyotas swaddled in leather and wood, all noise, vibration and harshness hunted down and eliminated until the driving experience is one of riding on a perfectly silent wave of whipped cream.

And it's not true.  Not for the most part, anyway and not in recent years.  Regular TireKicker readers have seen our reviews of F-Sport models from Lexus (GS 350, RX 350, IS 350, LS 460), which usually involve suspension upgrades and in one rather unfortunate case reviewed by the Phoenix bureau recently (CT 200) simply is a trim package.

But if you want the whole F-Sport experience, apart from the $300,000-plus LFA supercar, you need to get behind the wheel of the IS-F sedan.

New Car Review: 2013 Lexus IS-F

It's year-end clearance time!  Gotta move out the '13s and make room for the new 2014 models!
Those of you who've bought a few cars know that, in fact, you can do well by being patient, not needing the latest and grabbing the last remaining of last year's models.

Good case in point, the Lexus IS-F.  In a matter of weeks, as I write this, the photos and words here will be obsolete as an all new 2014 Lexus IS-F comes to market.  But in the meantime, there exists a very, very compelling '13 IS-F and you might be able to score one and save a few bucks.

What is an IS-F?  Well, it's the serious performance variant of Lexus' sportiest model (save the LFA supercar), and if you've read our recent review of the IS 350C retractable hardtop you know we're duly impressed by the goodness of the basic package.