wordplay: Greg Bloom
I breathed a sigh of relief and one of despair when I learned of this most recent press preview to Las Vegas. At first I was like, “Woo hoo… Lexus preview! Vegas again, baby!” I read further and realized we’d be staying off the strip and 30 minutes away… but AT THE RITZ in Lake Las Vegas. “Ok… I’m torn,” I thought. My buddy, Justen Crews, VIP host at Body English, and our friend Eric, both from Denver, were attending a grand opening VIP event at the new Penthouse Club the night I arrived (Sweet! Big pimpin’ in Vegas again!). But when my chauffeured, chromed-out Escalade rolled up to the Ritz with its waterfalls and Five-Star everything from lawn to polished copper accents to pressed doorman and valet get-ups to the background “sounds of nature” spa music playing everywhere I walked, I almost immediately forgot about rippin’ it up on the strip with my boys. I longed for the signature terrycloth robe and slippers I would rock in between cocktail hours, 4-Star meals and cruising Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam in the new IS F, my favorite non-convertible Lexus to date. This was going to be a different trip to Vegas for sure. Posh!
The Ritz is set with its own little village of shops, cafés and a casino on Lake Las Vegas, an upscale country club community complete with a golf course and a gem of an Italian Restaurant overlooking the putting green and 18th hole. A cocktail reception in the main lobby followed by dinner at Mira Lago… and back to the room for a food coma I went. A large breakfast buffet set my fellow journalists and I straight before we paired up and raced toward the rainbow of brand spankin’ IS F’s adjacent to the fountain in the main drive. What a sight that was… then to hear the engines starting one at a time, then rumbling in unison. No, this isn’t your typical luxury sedan from Japan’s smoothest manufacturer. The IS F is a hybrid of its predecessor IS 350 and a Mustang on steroids!
With a top speed of 170 mph recorded during manufacturers tests, this 5.0 liter 416 HP V8 “land-rocket” will go 0-60 in 4.6 seconds. You can probably wave bye-bye to its average 16 mpg in the city and 23 on the highway if you plan to prove its girth every time you put your right foot down. I personally didn’t get her going quite that fast. The fuzz was all over the place that day. Go figure. Also aiding and abetting in the absurd velocity of the IS F are the 4-Barrel Overhead Cam design and an 8-Speed Automatic with Sport Direct Shift paddles behind the steering wheel at your fingertips. Many say it is more efficient to shift without a clutch, but your motor-heads and classic car fanatics will swear by the clutch and stick till the end of days. It’s like having someone feed you with a slingshot instead of enjoying each perfect mouthful delivered by your own fork. Another fun feature is the 371 ft lbs of torque, so that when you punch it off the line, you can hardly pull your head forward off of the headrest. It’s a rush that gives you goose bumps.
While Lexus and its critics will put the IS F on a pedestal, labeling her its special edition model, as Mercedes has its AMG and BMW has its M series, you can still pull away in this thing for under $60k fully loaded! This is likely the most car for the value you’ve ever seen or will see for a long time to come.
Lexus.com
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