Is This Some Kind of Sick Joke?

[Tekknikal]

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I had to beat Duttyman to the punch on this one because I have an issue with this. <!--more-->

As Duttyman posted before, Lexus built some production level IS-Fs in Japan and flew them over to the US for demo &amp; evaluation. They invited Lexus enthusiasts from ClubLexus to join them on the track for test rides. Good for Lexus, right? How very nice of them.

Then they bring out a dyno, and strap an IS-Fs up on it. Wow, we're all going to get to know how powerful the IS-F is right? Pages and pages of discussion, arguments, and speculation on the internet can all be put to bed, right?

Wrong.

Lexus ran the dynos for all to see, then took the IS-F down, and hid the engine output data. Fully well knowing how much discussion there is regarding the IS-Fs engine power and how important it is to Lexus fans, Lexus brings everyone a computer screen away from the answer to their biggest question...only to hide the screen. So, we still don't know. It feels like it was all just a tease... Why did they bother? We saw it on the track, so we know what it sounds like and even what it can move like.

Am I the only one who thinks this is some kind of sick joke?

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[freddie_vi]

them man playing .....:wtf: but dose it realy surprise you?

[Duttyman]

Dman- I'm really devided on this one. Part of me can respect the hype/marketing potential here on 2 grounds- men ALWAYS wants that which he cannot have and leaks like this keep the conversation going( like we are talking now)- could really fule the fire- so good pr from that perspective. But on the flip side what if something is not right? So I gotta throw it back Tekk or Freddie- Historically, when are "official" Dyno numbers available for new releases. By that I mean, is it normal for Manufactures to put their production units on Dyno's and adverstise the output b4 selling begins? Any examples of that will also be useful..

[Tekknikal]

thats the thing. i respect marketing hype and all that, but when has ANY manufacturer EVER put their car (much less pre production) on a dyno for public viewing? More over, has ANY manufacturer EVER quoted wheel horsepower? Not as far as I know. Some manufacturers under-rate their cars to various degrees (R34 GT-R, 335i spring to mind) .... but again, they do NOT give out WHP data. obviously they do know this is the metric tuners go by..... so to put it on a dyno is acknowledging what matters to the enthusiasts. we could care less what it says on an engine dyno.

in addition, lexus tends to wait till the last minute (ie cars are at the dealer already) to release specs (ie CRANK hp) and pricing. but getting back to the dyno, i dont think ive ever seen a pre-production car on a dyno for the public to see. imo the hype machine would have worked better had they released the numbers because then it would have showed lexus was serious and that this was war. it would have shown that lexus knows exactly what matters to enthusiasts and they're so confident in what they're doing that they'll tip their cards early- for all to see- and in real deal numbers, not in market speak. (crank hp)

but putting it on a dyno and then not showing anything...ugh... its like a girl who is only trying to tease...

in my book, lexus is walking a fine line with this move. like a skilled tease that constantly crosses over the line, they can no longer claim any degree of ignorance. however, if its marketing hype they want that's what they're going to get but it will not bode well for them if their fans arent left satisfied.

regarding the test rides they gave out, coming from an is350 the is-f will feel fast. +100hp is nothing to laugh at. this is a new arena for lexus though, and it seems that lexus is abandoning their old strategies of pricing for value to gain sales... so we may see a $60k IS-F and $130k LF-A. That's a lot of money and a bold, new strategy for Lexus. For die-hard Lexus fans it won't matter. But I think the company expects more: remember they killed off all their coupes because they didnt believe the coupe market was large enough. I'd hate for them to not sell as many IS-F's as they could have and then blamed the market for not wanting the car, when in reality it was the obvious result of these marketing decisions.

Either way we'll see. I'm still skeptical that lexus will really price these cars that high. So I'm hoping this is as crazy as it gets and they manage to walk the line ok. But, coming out and measuring whp like this is something someone should tell their marketing team about. It's not a good idea unless you really have something to show. The last thing you want to do is be accused of doing things for show and not being able to deliver. And people are paying attention. I don't think too many people doubt the M3's ability to deliver. Nor the C63. Nor the Vette. Nor even the GT-R... but the F cars are new. Prior to stuff like this, enthusiasts hadn't been paying attention. now they are... but this can easily be a bad thing.

[Duttyman]

I have my concerns as well- still not too doomsdayish but definately not feelin the warm and fuzy I got from the Club Lexus adventure. That said- when Street Seen goes to Japan- can we expect the scoop? I mean who knows what you might uncover that gets lost in translation otherwise- No pun intended.

[Tekknikal]

no sooner do i post that than we have new news about the lf-a, which confirms my suspicions derived from lexus's recent actions with the is-f.

I have my concerns as well- still not too doomsdayish but definately not feelin the warm and fuzy I got from the Club Lexus adventure. That said- when Street Seen goes to Japan- can we expect the scoop? I mean who knows what you might uncover that gets lost in translation otherwise- No pun intended.

funny you ask. a little birdie dropped off a note talking about an impossible mission, should i choose to accept... to get to the bottom of all of this.. and that a trip would be required..then the message self destructed :shhh: