Monyx

SOLD

reduced $56k, lowest kms, MY12 int the best colour - recent Michelins, $1100 recent service incl new Brembo brake pads all round, 12 months rego, not a cent to spend! Stunning car, reluctant sale moving to Gold Coast so wife wants a convertible.

My experience is de-carboning doesn't come about from thrashing, but running consistently hot. I.e. no need to abuse your car just do a long trip in it - drove 3k kms return around Tassie in my wife's Jeep last year...I swear it had picked up like 15% performance we returned home.

Yep - how's the service history, new rubber, new pads, maintained it with no expense spared approach? i.e. at the last scheduled service mine at 38000kms it got done as 75000 in the book. Lexus advised there is in-tank fuel filter change where the parts alone cost $300+ labour. They said I could just get an interim service as I get it serviced annually, but they did recommend to change the part- so I did. Less fastiduous owners might go the cheap option every time ie. last year was simialr issue with brake fluid flush/change. I won't shy away from mine being a premium priced 2011 MY12 - it's got way less kms on than most MY10, I've not hardly seen another MY12+ Flame Blue advertised since I was looking in 2014 and I have meticulously maintained the car...but in the end it is worth what someone will pay, I just don;t believe I should compete witht the 100k kms examples and couple of grand gets you 2+ yrs running that I never did in it i.e. commuting everyday.

PM sent.

Cut & polish and Angelwax treatment by a local detailer in ACT. Photography @ Googong dam, NSW.

https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Lexus-IS-F-2011/SSE-AD-4978840/?Cr=5

Yeah, wife and I definitely want get some seat time in the 2LT GT MX5 while the Spider is fresh in our minds - plan to hit up Mazda dealer next weekend. I didn't care much for the $2k Monza upgrade exhaust noise - love burble & crackle, but otherwise it was a bit raspy and unrefined (we only heard Monza exhaust static on the lot). I like what I've heard on expensive euros with Remus mufflers over the years. Also need the less padded seats option (Recaro?) so I can fit in it with just a bit more room. Other than that I think Turini white sets off red accents nicely.

I went on a super drive day last year Syd -> Gosford and back. Ferrari F430 was sublime, Skyline GTR lived up to the hype in terms of acceleration. The almost affordable little Alfa Romeo 4C is a go-kart on steroids while the Lambo wasn't intimidating to drive in Sydney peak hour as I had expected and there was Lotus EvoraS which had few issues. Problem for me is this is car number 4 if you include the languishing project Datto ('72 1600 with 2lt turbo/5spd)...the 4C even 2nd are still almost at new prices of $100k on car sales!

I have to admit the passion of Alfa Romeo tempted me for a drive in their 375kW/600Nm 1585kg saloon, but the legacy of reliability and resale also hang over the marque for me too. They're $143,900 + ORC. I think they will be great buying in ~2 yrs coming off lease dipping well below $100k before the ISF did for the same age...the capped servicing & 150k kms warranty goes a way to allay my concerns. From some angles, particularly rear 3/4 view IS F and Guilia are very similarly looking - apart from the Lexus' 'greek nose' I really like my IF S shape, content that years after my IS F was released that from certain angles the latest Alfa looks similar. Our interiors have dated...but not the body in my view. I'd never make a motoring journo but onto the drive - I had a 30min loop around some b-roads (Sutton Rd near Queanbyan) then back along new strip of Majura Hwy is a great autobahn-like smooth bypass here in Canberra. Along the latter the QV disguises is speed even better than the ISF - wife and I really didn't feel were doing, well...way more than we should! Funny thing I never see IS F on the road in Canberra... saw a black and vermillion (red) on this one test drive. The (N)ormal in the DNA drive mode suspension-wise, felt very similar to my MY12 (D)ynamic hardens up the dampers even more for a harsher ride, but you can elect to push a button and soften the dampers but retain dynamic mode. The sports mode exhaust was unlocked all the time with after-market mod that can keep the bimodal flap open - that familiar bruuup bruuup when changing up like audi S3 etc. I cannot wait until I get the deep catback system for a V8 rumble on my IS F. The QV is very fast, motoring tests talk about some turbo lag, I didn't really notice, sitting behind a car @80km/h on a single lane road and going down 1-2 cogs to over-take, the turbo surge pick-up brings out the Whoop! Whoop! hoon in me when I really nail it - rocket ship more akin to my bike (Suzuki Hayabusa) and perhaps what I miss in the ISF. Of course an IS F fairly flies once it builds past its low-rpm torque deficit (well it feels that way I at least - I think IS F torque curve paints a better picture than how it drives?!) Guilia QV carbon-fibre bonnet & roof are reminders the IS F is carry too much extra weight...it's only 105kg more...IS F's 1690kg just sounds so heavy for small sedan but significantly, like most turbos, the QV's delivery of torque lower in the rev range and there's ultimately more of it - 600Nm all delivered from 2500-5000 rpm - nice! The rear factory diffuser/splitter is fantastic looking! Plenty of headroom - @6ft in the IS F I have to recline the seat slightly more than I normally would and for track days I have adopt an awkward slouch to fit helmet in! Brakes are sensational - a little sensitive to what I'm accustomed to. Wife was complaining I was making her sick, so no testing of ultimate handling - even though I really wasn't push around any corners. In a nutshell, like a new car I got in and drive way from the dealership (after a quick passenger familiarisation ride with sales) it felt foreign and bit plasticy interior, the fuel saver kept cutting the engine out (this can be switch off) and initial impressions were 'oh no, not for us' - but that of course is without any time in it and is prejudiced - but sometimes those first impressions can never be quite shaken - but not this time - toward the end of the drive I really liked the car - still hated the economy shut off, but every thing else hahah or maybe just that wave of torque was very appealing. The biggest concerns I have were the ones existing before I drove the car: resale and market perceptions about Alfa, reliability of the V6 with what is hear 35 20 PSI of boost running through it. For that reason I'd not swap over on lease for new one....but if, in a couple years I'm looking for change from my 'built like a tank" IS F, I could be in the market. I will be watching resale and reliability reports with interest. On the way out of the show-room we walked past a slightly retro-looking convertible, and seeing the Abarth badge on it thinking it will be pretty premium over the likes of MX5 - it was of course at this moment the penny dropped as I recall reading something about a pseudo joint venture between Fiat & Mazda resulting in the Abarth 124 Spider - MX5 chassis with different panels, 1.4 Turbo, slightly changed g/box, 17", Brembos, Bilsteins, uprated swaybars and all pretty much for the same money as MX5 2.0lt GT. We both were really surprised that the Abarth was priced competitively with Mazda - after buying our Jeep Wrangler at the same dealer recently we eyed off a Wrangler with shorty guards, wheel & tyre package and Rubicon bumpers on the showroom floor...and the drive-away price was crazy with the dealer-fitted extras on on it. Here was a Euro sports made in Japan! - the best of both worlds - I said to my wife, drive it you'll love it - I still remember the fun I had in I think was 2nd gen MX5 test circa '98 - of course it was a hair-dresser's car so I didn't buy despite how fun it was to drive - I was young and it was all about Kw and torque and nothin' else...hmm I'm older and wiser now but not much has changed hahahah! Long story short - we love the Spider so much (as long as you leave it in Sports mode), they're not common and I don't think will date in the looks dept like the current MX5 - we're thinking about one!

Definitive advice from Lexus Customer Assistance Centre received 10 May 2017: 1086 IS-Fs were sold on the Australian market, LCAC were unable to obtain annual sales sub-totals. More than I anticipated, but that was based old thread ref above and what I heard from a dealer once. Interestingly ever since I began looking around 2013-14 I noticed there are consistently 35-40 IS-Fs on carsales or ~3.5% of the total pool of cars in Australia.

Seems pretty authoritative post in 2011 put it around 100 to 120 sold per year which fits with Lexus' own description of the IS-F having been a volume limited model. So I figure maybe 500-600 in Australia? 10386-how-many-is-fs-in-australia

Still waiting, apparently none in the country when I ordered ETA was end of Oct but haven't heard anything. Rego expires mid Nov so starting to sweat on them.

They are OEM 2011 tyres w/31k kms up, already done 1x track day, but slides are induced, i.e. I'm going to 2nd in stead of 3rd and getting on the throttle early with intention of having bit of fun (but trying not to hit the infield going sideways and scratch $7k ea wheels!) Michelin from B-Jane Fyshwick.

v quick edit of couple of slides.

I have Potenzas, last night cold I set F 38psi R 36, today after a morning session the fronts were 45psi and R 42-43 HOT checked straight after some spirited laps. I asked a few others on the day and settled on Fr 40psi HOT and little less in rears. At the first sessions tyres seemed to go off and become slippery after 3 laps of pretty much at the adhesion limit - bleeding out a bit they seemed to last longer before going off. Although last time I seemed to suffer understeer, todays problem all day in ~15C sunny Goulburn was back end sliding around - flat out chasing '16 MX5, but made sense when owner told me they weigh 1000kg. I can't get full power down! Edit: of course I could've rounded up the mx-5 down the straights, just chose not stand on those expensive brembos to hard at the end of the straight too many times. Next time will aim for 36 HOT in rears see how that goes - obviously big factor here is Potenza vs my next set of tyres Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

setting my tyres pressures for tomorrow's day totally confused - last time I was at the track, 'expert' tutors said run 6-10psi over the manufacturers cold psi recommendation, consensus online seems to be that one should aim to be 2-4psi over the hot psi recommendation (which means take reduce by ~4psi cold). The last bit more fits with my experience in taking motorcycle street tyres on a track day - that is the street tyres work much harder than they are designed for, thus heat up a lot and without nitrogen - the psi goes up...check and manage through-out the day aiming for 2-4psi over standard hot pressures. Whew! is that it? Probably all moot...my OEM Bridgestones are on their last legs @ 30k kms so maybe nothing I do psi-wise will matter LOL. I've ordered a set of Michelin Pilot Super sports ($1500 fitted in Canberra) as I'll need them after tomorrow

Hiya, I have booked a spot at Wakefield Park (near Goulburn, NSW) for one of their 'Speed of the street' days for street cars, $145 +$25 day licence if you don't have one...I've done a couple of Circuit Club days before, but they're getting up to $280 a pop and with tyres, rego, insurance all due at end of month I'm going budget. They limit 15 cars on the track at once, no timing, it's a bit of pot luck as to how many turn up on the day, perhaps weekday will be relatively quiet.

I'm guessing virtually impossible to find a company for vehicle coverage for trackdays, if you did it wouldn't be cheap.

Thx for posting BLK ISF, the support comments say they don't support 2009+ cars yet and in response to Oz enquiry they wanted to see a photo of the OEM screen. I'll watching with interest and keen if there's an early bird special to suit MY12 ISF

Awesome collection to make a great video - I'm surprised you'd be in for all this for just 2x trackdays a year - but TBO I'm tempted too and I've done 1 day in the Lexus in nearly 3 years LOL. Like you have an old GoPro Hero2 but my Iphone6 or wife's S6 even does 4K recording are better. For the track timing to be accurate it needs good GPS reception - would the moonroof opening be large enough? IN the sense that the signal isn't blocked by the surrounding metal roof? Probably be fine.

Parked on a basketball court on sun arvo for some snaps.

Regarding widening the exiting pipe out of the primary cats - is this something that recommended before, say, changing the rest of the exhaust for an X-Force bolt-on system or does is just too much trouble to try and mate it up the Xforce flanges.

My service receipts say Lexus LGMO 10W-30, I asked whether it was repackaged and was told it was can't recall what brand Mobil1 sounds familiar but I note current products on their site don't show 10w-30 synthetic.