Lexus IS430 is coming.. 360 hp..
Don't shoot the messenger...
http://www.autoweek.com/search/searc...94597&record=1

 

It'll happen...

Lexus doesn't tease and Auotweek's word is golden.
This IS430 though will be better suited to combat the G35 & M45 sedans from Infiniti, not the STi, as based on price, value, luxury and obviously power. Other potential victims might include the 3 Series as well as the S4.

I'll bet the price comes in at $37-39K, and they'sell every one they can make.

- Janq

 

My price is 'base'.
With options (NAv, etc.) aka as dealers will order them, surely $40K+ will be the final price.

- Janq

 

With 360 hp from 4.3 V8 M3 will be the victim.... I can see CTS-V and IS430 running laps around M3..
Prices of gas better drop though...

 

Not necessarily AMD...

Just as in boxing how the guy with the bigger/biggest fist isn't guaranteed to win the fight, the auto with the biggest displacement and/or HP & Tq figures isn't necessarily going to be the fastest either in a striaght line or a curved one.

Further, to write off BMW much less their 'Ultimate Driving Machine' M3 to a Lexus and worst a Caddilac is just abit much more than even I can swallow. And I have a catfish piehole with a gullet the size of the Lincoln Tunnel!

Without going into speculation toward the future M3 series, Lexus & Caddilac would have to do a lot of amazing engineering (and quite possibly make a side deal with the Devil...as Audi recently did) to unseat the M3 as 'King of the Road & Track'. Now Cadillac has a lead in such an effort as they have the Z06 as a DNA donor which for all intents & purposes is the Great White shark of the highways, to the M3's Orca 'Killer Whale', the only animal that will attack and can succesfully take down the fearsome Great White in its own environment.
I won't get into Vipers & Cobras as they are entirely different species not to mention there is anti-venon available for them both in the very rare once in a blue moon chance you might come across one of these nocturnal hunters.

For Lexus to beef up it's porpoise of an IS300 to such a state of tune that it too could hang in the leagues of the M3 and Z06 on the streets & track in production dress would be a truly incredible feat of engineering.
The M3 & Z06 are too big a fish for the IS300 IMHO, as the now languishing GS series, a Hammerhead shark in its own right, is a more logical platform basis for an expeditionary effort.

Pack your wet suit, boat shoes, a good pair of binoculars and be sure to bring a depth finder too. As there are many fish in the sea, soon there will be several more large predators in a relatively small automotive pool.
The results of which could be very entertaining to observe from the gang plank of the SS Minnow. Plan to bring a really big net though as these fish won't come out of the water without a fight, and they don't take American Express...

- Janq

"...I can do two things for ya. I can tell you the facts that I know, and then I can give you my speculations." - Violent J of 'I.C.P.' as said to Howard Stern regarding 'Slim Anus' aka Eminem

 

Actually Autoweek said, IS430 will be tuned for drivability..
I think it is gonna be a nice tight compliant ride... Probably give up M3 some handling abilities, but close to it or faster on straights..
M3 torque numbers r LOW, 4.3 V8 will be High on Torque (see sc430, LS430, GS430).. Plus IS engine will be tuned for more power...
I just wish it wouldnt look the way it looks now..

 

don't forget that a V8 will make the IS more front-end heavy. While the M3 has an in-line 6...two less cylinder. One of the main criteria - Power-to-wieght ratio - will really tell how the car handles.

To note the original of this tread, the IS430 will not be competing with the STI....different intition of creation. Automobile magazine had an article comparing the WRX with the M5, and said that the WRX was able to keep up...I don't remember the specifics of the article, but do remember the conclusion.

 

Comparison of the Lexus IS anything to the STi is a fools folly.
That would be like comparing mom's PB&J 'jam sandwich' to a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich. Both are good but you just can't and shouldn't do it. I'll leave it to you to decide who's what and what's what.

The WRX was in fact sucessfully compared to the E39 M5 first by Automobile in 2001 and again last year by C&D. It of course came in second when compared only on performance but that placement was all things being relative based on price by the skin of the M5's teeth. People seem to have fogotten that the WRX in its own right is by no means a slouch of any sort and IMHO a much more important and class leading vehicle than any generation M5.
This being said by a _huge_ BMW & M5 fan who for various reasons never really cared for the Impreza line prior to the US WRX debut.

The STi is better & quicker though not faster than the E39 M5. Now of course one cannot compare an STi to the M5's luxury interior but if those items are not primarilly important to you, as they weren't for me, then the STi is the hands down best value and most reasonably priced as equipped between the two.
Now the RS6, saw my first one last Saturday in Leesburg, VA, is the kingfish of the road sedans and comparison to the STi may seem more natural...though I personally wouldn't deign to go as far.

- Janq

 

WRX and M5 were named best Sports sedans of 2002..