Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of the most commonly used metaphorical devices implemented by the automotive rags to describe a car with polarizing attributes that don’t really mesh together. At the risk of falling into the ruts of “journalism”, I’m going to use it anyways to describe the new Lexus IS-F. The Land of the Rising Sun’s answer to the Teutonic uber-sedan wars brings to the table a 5.0L V8 with a 6800rpm redline and an 8-speed automatic transmission that is complete overkill considering the impressive width of the powerband. The F’s engine and transmission are actually borrowed from the much more composed LS460, but here the engine has been bored out for an extra 400cc of displacement. Compared to the current segment leader, the BMW M3, the IS-F makes more power. This is to be expected when the F has an entire litre more displacement (the M3 has a 4.0L V8). So how many horsepower did Lexus and Yamaha (who helped to tune the engine) extract from the larger sump? Follow the link to find out.
