Not the Lexus your grandpa drove…

Given its very obvious sporting credentials, it seems odd that it’s taken so long for the Lexus IS F to make it onto the grid of a professional racing series. Sure, there was the IS F Racing Concept that was shown off at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, but that was merely a demonstration vehicle that never got to prove itself in competition. However, as of yesterday that’s all changed, as the IS F finally had its baptism of fire at the SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT Series race at Mid-Ohio on Sunday.

Technically, the V8 Lexus campaigned by DRC Motorsports at Mid-Ohio isn’t really an IS F but rather a converted IS 350 chassis bought from Team Lexus. We’re not entirely sure whether the racer’s 4.7-litre engine is based on the IS F’s 5-litre 2UR-GSE V8, nor are we certain that it’s a Toyota/Lexus motor at all, however with over 510bhp it’s certainly got a bit more mumbo than the road-going IS-F.

Unfortunately, 510hp wasn’t enough for the so-called “IS GTF” on race day, with driver Jeff Altenburg only managing to place 24th out of a field of 30. Altenburg’s best lap was also the slowest of all the cars entered, which suggests that the IS GTF still has some way to go in terms of a nailing down a competitive setup.

Oh well, at least it looks cool.

[Source: my.IS Forum, SCCA]
[Images: Various]

GT300 IS350 = Awesome

There I was, kicking myself for getting all excited over the automotive anti-climax that was the Team Gazoo IS250. Then I remembered a post I saw on Ben Schaffer’s blog and I realised that all along there was already a PROPER Lexus racing sedan doing the rounds in Super GT and boy, does it look mental.

If the two cars were human, the Team Gazoo car would be the kind of guy you could trust to clean the pool while the wife was home. The Team Takeuchi IS350, on the other hand, looks like something that wouldn’t think twice about kicking your head in and stealing your phone. The wild (and wide) body of Team Takeuchi’s GT300 entrant is like something from Germany’s DTM touring car series and it looks a hell of a lot more purposeful than the IS-F Racing Concept Lexus showed off earlier this year. As for the Team Gazoo IS250, it ain’t got a patch on the sheer bad-assedness of this machine.

Here’s some stats on it:

The engine is a Formula-Nippon derived RV8J 3-litre V8, which produces 300 metric horsepower (as per Super GT regulations, GT300 cars may produce a maximum of 300PS. GT500 cars – as you’d guess – are permitted 500PS). The motor pushes all 300Nm of its torque through a a 6-speed sequential manual and just like the road-going car, only the rear wheels are driven. The whole lot weighs just 1200kg, a saving of 370kg over the regular IS.

The Team Takeuchi Green Tec Kumho IS350 has yet to score any points in this season of Super GT, but honestly I couldn’t care less. I just wanna look at it. In fact, I’m disappointed there’s no coverage of Super GT on Australian TV, as the GT300 category is quite diverse, with everything from Ferraris to Toyotas competing. The closely-monitored parity system also ensures the races are fairly close too, which makes it far more interesting to watch than some of the more predictable racing series, like Formula One. Sigh.

[Source: SuperGT.net]
[Images courtesy of The Real JDM, JDMego and SuperGT.net]

Mystery Lexus Spotted At Nurburgring

This mysterious Lexus was spotted blasting around the Nurburgring yesterday, prompting a flurry of speculation on what it actually is. Although it has a curiously bulging bonnet, It’s certainly not an IS-F – the rest of the bodyparts are the same as those found on an ordinary IS250, and if you watch the video after the fold you’ll notice the aural absence of the IS-F’s throaty V8.

Instead it sounds quieter, more like a V6. It could still be naturally-aspirated, but it even seems too quiet for that. My money’s on either a turbocharger or a hybrid system being strapped to the IS250’s 4GR-FE, or even the 2GR-FE of the IS350. A hybrid system is the more likely candidate though, as Lexus and parent company Toyota have made no secret of their intent to extend their range of hybrid vehicles – currently the IS and the SC are the only cars in the Lexus stable to go without the fuel-saving and torque-multiplying system.

The body too thows up its fair share of mysteries. While the body is standard IS fare, the white-into-blue paintwork definitely isn’t, and neither is that pro-spec Recaro bucket and that full roll cage. Is it a demonstrator vehicle, a drivetrain hack or a prototype race car? We’ve got no idea, but we’ll be keeping a close eye out for any further developments.

UPDATE: Mystery Solved!

Well, it seems we were both right and wrong about this car. Yes, it was a race car, no it’s not a hybrid. In fact, it’s not even anything special. What you see before you is nothing more than an IS250 in racing trim. The car is TME/Team Gazoo’s entrant in the ADAC endurance racing series and it competes in the SP5 category for cars with engine capacities between 2 and 2.5 litres. Don’t let the fancy paintwork and rollcage fool you though: this car isn’t really all that fast. In fact the fastest lap it recorded was just under 10:58, which is a fairly average time for the Nordschliefe.

What we really want to know is why was it camo’d up last week when it was doing practice runs? My guess is that Team Gazoo just wanted to fuck around with all those poor spy photographers and bloggers. Bastards.

Full story and more pictures are over at Jalopnik.

[Source: Bridge To Gantry]
[Images and video courtesy of Bridge To Gantry, KGP Photography]

Lexus Releases F-Sport Parts For The IS

The automotive aftermarket Mecca that is the SEMA show was held in the gaudiness capital Las Vegas just recently, and there was plenty to keep Japanese car fans happy. We reported earlier that 5 Axis Designs were bringing a modified IS-F to the party, but that turned out to be just another show car with a fancy bodykit. No need to fret though, as it turned out that Lexus themselves has all your IS performance needs covered.

Lexus released their F-Sport performance parts lineup at SEMA, with the F-Sport package focussing on handling improvements rather than power increases.
All the typical bolt-ons are there: Sway bars, springs, shock absorbers, brakes, clutches, low-restriction air-intakes and exhausts help you get more out of your IS 250/350, but most interesting was the full carbon-ceramic brake kit for the IS-F that was also on display. It looks like a serious piece of kit, however given past experience with other carbon-ceramic brakes it’ll probably be of more use to track enthusiasts than Sunday-drivers.

All of the parts have been developed with the co-operation of TRD, so you can be assured that these parts are designed to go the distance. There’s also a few cosmetic upgrades available too, such as a sportier bodykit, 19-inch rims, spoiler and a carbon-fibre engine cover, all of which can be seen at The Passionate Pursuit’s gallery.

[Source: The Passionate Pursuit]
[Photo courtesy of Lexus]

Lexus Linuep Revealed: LF-A = LF-1

According to a report in Automotive News, what we’ve been calling the LF-A will actually be released as the LF-1 early-to-mid next year. The new name is apparently an homage to Toyota’s involvement in Formula 1 and the release date is said to coincide with Toyota’s 70th birthday celebrations. According to AN, The LF-1 will definitely feature a 500hp V10 coupled to an all-wheel-drive drivetrain.

As for other cars in the Lexus stable, the IS range will be expanded with the addition of a folding hardtop coupe, while the SC will undergo a major cosmetic redesign (thank god) as well as a powerplant change to a 4.6-litre V8. For details of what’s in store for Lexus’ less sporting models, visit eGMCarTech (Automotive News requires a subscription).

[Source: Automotive News, via eGMCarTech]
[Photo courtesy of Lexus]