Lexus IS-F is a Big Lie !!!

[EJ25RUN]

Lexus IS-F racer actually a 2004 Opel Vectra DTM car?



From Autoblog

"Remember that luscious Lexus IS-F racer study that received its fair share of unrequited attention the Tokyo Auto Salon? According to AutoBild, it turns out the car isn't an IS-F racer at all -- well, at least not beyond the hood and fact that it has four doors. The German paper reports that the car is actually a Lexus reskin of a 2004 Opel Vectra DTM racer (above, top). Even the engine is from the Opel DTM car, and not a Toyota V8. This could explain why no one at the Lexus stand at the salon would say a word about the car.

So Lexus might get away with never claiming it was a Lexus... cough, cough... but it's a bit odd that they would let Winding Road get the idea that it's the pet project of the IS-F's chief engineer, designed to show the true potential of Lexus' hot sedan and "something of what a full race IS-F might just feel like." Perhaps what a full-race IS-F might look like. Unless Lexus really intends for a full-race IS-F to feel like a 4-year-old Opel."

What do you guys think... copy or cowincedence?

[BLK JDM]

I wouldn't think such a large company as Toyota would get into such a thing. Toyota has a such a rich and respected race heritage you'd think at worst use the Opel powerplant just as they used Yamaha motors in most of the race cars but developed the transmission, suspension and chassis components themselves. Oh well I guess it's all about the bottom dollar now. It's easier to use a well developed and tested setup than to start from scratch.

[ATK_Designs]

damn....

First they reviewed that the IS-F is a RICER (Fake exhaust tips + light), weak ass dynoe (only a lil bit better than the 350), and now this? And they want $56K + Ridiculous markups for these.


And now these?


what a let down.

[DieselNuts]

lol, thats funny. I guess it isnt such a big deal seeing as how the Crossfire=MB SLK, Solstice/sky redline=Vauxhaul

[Dietcoke]

sky redline = opel, not vauxhall. solstice doesnt have a euro counterpart with its skin. ALL of the kappas are built in the STATES, including the exports.

[man]

Toyota has a such a rich and respected race heritage

Toyota is hardly the marque that comes to mind when I hear "rich and respected race heritage."

[ironchef]

lol, thats funny. I guess it isnt such a big deal seeing as how the Crossfire=MB SLK, Solstice/sky redline=Vauxhaul

Solstice/sky/opel are all under the GM umbrella, so that makes sense. And I believe Vauxhall is in there too, unless they have just a platform sharing agreement.

[Mike Lowrey]

Toyota is hardly the marque that comes to mind when I hear "rich and respected race heritage."

Maybe for you, but I would say that the statement is accurate.

[AnthonyF]

I love the OPEL and think its a bad ass car, but damn, Lexus is becoming just like GM w/ the GTO. fukin posers.

[RutRoe]

I saw the IS-F's they had at SEMA running both on a Dyno and a little course...the actual car sounds great, looks great, and probably is awesome...just expensive.

The tranny shifted nicely though and sounded nice. It's just a lot of cash to spend on that car, IMO.

[DieselNuts]

sky redline = opel, not vauxhall. solstice doesnt have a euro counterpart with its skin. ALL of the kappas are built in the STATES, including the exports.

oh, my bad. Its basicly the same thing though.

Solstice/sky/opel are all under the GM umbrella, so that makes sense. And I believe Vauxhall is in there too, unless they have just a platform sharing agreement.

yes, you are correct on the Vauxhall statement.

I love the OPEL and think its a bad ass car, but damn, Lexus is becoming just like GM w/ the GTO. fukin posers.

The thing about GM with the GTO is that even as a Holden, It still used the Chevy LS1/2 engines. Now that I think about it, Vauxhall has a version of their own too.

[EJ25RUN]

Toyota is hardly the marque that comes to mind when I hear "rich and respected race heritage."

well you gotta consider some things there. Yes i recent years that statement is correct.

1. Toyota has an anual F1 budget of $700,000,000.00 (Yes im serious), and the best that comes out of it is their debut season.
2. You build a GT500 chassis Supra with a 4.3l V8 which is faster than a GT1 Maserati MC12, Stick an electric motor to give you 700hp+, beat some GT3 cars and call it revolutionary.
3. 1986-1999 all those years of trying to win Le mans 24 and the best they could do was 2 second place finishes!

but to go with that is their "rich and respected race heritage"

IMSA victories with Dan Gurney
WRC championships with the Celica
SuperGT Supra/Soarer championships
Supertouring Car wins with Corona
Cart/IRL in late 90's

There is good to go with the current sting of Unprecedented failure.

[AnthonyF]

I saw the IS-F's they had at SEMA running both on a Dyno and a little course...the actual car sounds great, looks great, and probably is awesome...just expensive.

The tranny shifted nicely though and sounded nice. It's just a lot of cash to spend on that car, IMO.

i did too. did sound pretty bad ass. didnt know u went. I love it there!

[DieselNuts]

well you gotta consider some things there. Yes i recent years that statement is correct.

1. Toyota has an anual F1 budget of $700,000,000.00 (Yes im serious), and the best that comes out of it is their debut season.
2. You build a GT500 chassis Supra with a 4.3l V8 which is faster than a GT1 Maserati MC12, Stick an electric motor to give you 700hp+, beat some GT3 cars and call it revolutionary.
3. 1986-1999 all those years of trying to win Le mans 24 and the best they could do was 2 second place finishes!

but to go with that is their "rich and respected race heritage"

IMSA victories with Dan Gurney
WRC championships with the Celica
SuperGT Supra/Soarer championships
Supertouring Car wins with Corona
Cart/IRL in late 90's

There is good to go with the current sting of Unprecedented failure.

not to mention their multiple baja 1000 wins with the tacos

[EJ25RUN]

not to mention their multiple baja 1000 wins with the tacos

ivan stewert and rod millins 13 year hold on the pikes peak record!

[1SICKLEX]

Well I DROVE the car....so please...stop the hate... you can see/read here
So I drove the Lexus IS-F at Moroso Motorsports last weekend....

as for this, if you know about motorsports, that is not unusual for a concept DTM racer....


I had a Austrian coworker read it and explained it to me.

Lexus wants to keep their options open for DTM. The earliest they can enter is 2010.Hence, they need a car "on-call" Apparently, this is more than a concept car.
Like Nascar, this thing is ready to go and compete. In Europe, they need to build a credible presence with their brand and without any 'racing' provenance, they will have a hard time
competing. I still can't figure why they are using the Open engine. It could be due to certifications, group-class, etc..

[EJ25RUN]

Well I DROVE the car....so please...stop the hate... you can see/read here
So I drove the Lexus IS-F at Moroso Motorsports last weekend....

as for this, if you know about motorsports, that is not unusual for a concept DTM racer....


I had a Austrian coworker read it and explained it to me.

Lexus wants to keep their options open for DTM. The earliest they can enter is 2010.Hence, they need a car "on-call" Apparently, this is more than a concept car.
Like Nascar, this thing is ready to go and compete. In Europe, they need to build a credible presence with their brand and without any 'racing' provenance, they will have a hard time
competing. I still can't figure why they are using the Open engine. It could be due to certifications, group-class, etc..

well one thing you need to remember is that in order to compete in DTM, the car must be a 4dr saloon with a DOHC 4.0L V8. Motor does NOT have to come in the production version. I say why not just de-stroke a 4.3l from SuperGt.

Now Sicklex, really you drive a toyota product and you have to believe that it shouldn't matter if you need a car "on call". Toyota is willing to Spend $700 million dollars on their F1 project, then there is Nascar, SuperGt, Off Road racing and all the other things they participate in.

What im trying to say is the worlds biggest auto manufacture can afford to design a car for DTM using this new IS platform without going to Opel. If you guys remember a few years back when opel even competed with the above mentioned car, that was a very poorly funded effort thanks to G.M. and Opel pulled out all together. Bottom line, this is a low move on Toyota's part and nothing can make it seem plausible. Period.

[1SICKLEX]

well one thing you need to remember is that in order to compete in DTM, the car must be a 4dr saloon with a DOHC 4.0L V8. Motor does NOT have to come in the production version. I say why not just de-stroke a 4.3l from SuperGt.

Now Sicklex, really you drive a toyota product and you have to believe that it shouldn't matter if you need a car "on call". Toyota is willing to Spend $700 million dollars on their F1 project, then there is Nascar, SuperGt, Off Road racing and all the other things they participate in.

What im trying to say is the worlds biggest auto manufacture can afford to design a car for DTM using this new IS platform without going to Opel. If you guys remember a few years back when opel even competed with the above mentioned car, that was a very poorly funded effort thanks to G.M. and Opel pulled out all together. Bottom line, this is a low move on Toyota's part and nothing can make it seem plausible. Period.

I agree 100% but its NOT like they are racing an OPEL IS-F. Its a CONCEPT car. They are showing that they might produce it. The OPEL already has running gear etc to have.

The IS-F is so new to Lexus, I don't think they have it all mapped out yet, thus this rushed concept.

And we both know Toyota in F1 SUCKS!! lol

[EJ25RUN]

I agree 100% but its NOT like they are racing an OPEL IS-F. Its a CONCEPT car. They are showing that they might produce it. The OPEL already has running gear etc to have.

The IS-F is so new to Lexus, I don't think they have it all mapped out yet, thus this rushed concept.

And we both know Toyota in F1 SUCKS!! lol

unlike the rest of the world, i believe success in f1 is the people in charge.

Jean Todt (Ferrari CEO) even from his days as a Nissan 240z rally codriver was a winner and Ron Dennis helped Prost, Senna, Hakkinen, Hamilton become what they are today. Thats why i think Honda is a team to watch in 08 cause of Ross Brawn.....He was with Michael from Benetton to Ferrari.....Remember that!

Toyota hasn't put someone in that role that fits the bill properly and invests in what needs funds. You gotta remember that 1/5 of Ferrari's F1 budget is just to pay Kimi and Felipe to come to work!

Back to the IS-F. Rushed concept... i ll totally agree with that because even before this story jumped covers, TAS people were saying no information whatsoever was given bout this car. I guess i can only look at it as a good advertisement for the street car. But from how i judge cars, you gotta go race and win.... (without just writing checks).

[1SICKLEX]

BTW, your title is still wrong. The IS-F racer might not be what you like but the IS-F is the real deal.

[green91]

I think your vendetta into bashing everything remotely Toyota related and motor sports is amusing

[EJ25RUN]

BTW, your title is still wrong. The IS-F racer might not be what you like but the IS-F is the real deal.

i should have wrote is-f DTM concept... i didnt realize till later on when i started reading the replies!

[green91]

You do realize toyota is a major owner of subaru right?

[EJ25RUN]

I think your vendetta into bashing everything remotely Toyota related and motor sports is amusing

ok i guess with the story of the Hybrid race win and this Is-f newsflash you might think i have a "Vendetta" but i dont.

Toyota has one of the most important racing histories of any manufactuer and they were the honored guest at last years goodwood festival of speed. Its really more of a coincidence that i wrote these articles and you just read both between the lines. If you read on the previous page i wrote about some of their greatest accomplishments and their are to many to list where the average IA reader will get bored. This exact story came this morning and i prolly would have posted it no matter who had done it so i think you miss understand this "vendetta" of mine. Makes me wanna write a toyota motorsports history EJ25RUN style.


Yes i know about the Toyota's share in Subaru.... I sell subarus so i kinda have to know that!

[Deke]

I wish we got Opels

[EJ25RUN]

I wish we got Opels

all it is is a german chevy

[DinanM3atl]

hahahahaahah

Toyota in Formula1 is a JOKE... They blow. Should put their money elsewhere. They go in reverse sometimes during the season.

[1SICKLEX]

hahahahaahah

Toyota in Formula1 is a JOKE... They blow. Should put their money elsewhere. They go in reverse sometimes during the season.

I agree but cough cough BMW Sauber is not much better!

[DinanM3atl]

ummmm

We got 2nd this last year... 3rd if you put McLaren back in there. Top 3 in manufacture is bad?

Pos Team Points
1 Ferrari 204
2 BMW 101
3 Renault 51
4 Williams-Toyota 33
5 Red Bull-Renault 24
6 Toyota 13
7 STR-Ferrari 8
8 Honda 6
9 Super Aguri-Honda 4
10 Spyker-Ferrari 1
- McLaren-Mercedes 0


Factory Toyota lost to a private team... BMW has almost 10x the points of Toyota. You only scored 9 more points than Super Best Friends...

[1SICKLEX]

Again, I know Toyota, we all know, they suck in F1. Hell Toyota has so. 101 is nice, but a far 2nd to Ferrari, who just has dominated the past 10 years.

[DinanM3atl]

Yes it is... But 101 for a 2nd year team piloting itself. Pretty good