Yah same here.

But this met all my criteria

Awesome to drive hard
Awesome for highway cruise
Awesome for bumper to bumper traffic
Awesome interior
Awesome reliability
Bazillion spiffy features
Good warranty
Only power mods are i/h/e. this is +++++
It also made my ----- wet.

 

Ok first off, 64K is nowhere near 9K under invoice. Maybe sticker if you bought all the expensive stuff like the really expensive stereo.
But overall a decent price.
It's a great car. The engine is awesome and the new suspension makes it the equal of the M3 and the extra 76lbs of torque make it punchier than the M3 in the midrange. Not as much of a top end screamer though.
I almost bought one but hated the wheels

 

Check out the 2012 wheels. They are awesome factory wheels.

Regsrding price, before tax abd tags i paid

59k


The car also has

$5000 of options: nav package, park assist, and clear bra

It was $64k "out the door"

With IHE it should put down around 400 to the wheel.

I will race your m3. Start line is our own house, race is to each others house. 3500 miles. GO!

 

As much as I'd love to see the two of you go at it Top Gear style, it's not really a fair contest. You will obviously win, as kaisersoze will be stopping every 10 or 15 miles to get laid.

 

oh, you'll be joining him on his journey?

 

min, you made the right decision.

 

Unfortunately, my M3 does little to excite my wife.
I was thinking that I would win merely because I won't be modifying my M3 in any way so it will actually run. Fae's Lexus will never leave his driveway after he opens the hood.
How much does the ISF weigh? as (stock for stock)it should be a close race.

 

Ha ha ha

I am seriously thinking about paying someone to install my IHE. I mean, it is braindead work but
but
but

I do have a sense of self awareness. I may even have the dealer install it. Blech


OK here are specs

IS-F
Base Price $61,300
Drivetrain Rear Wheel Drive
Curb Weight (lbs) 3780
City (MPG) 16
Hwy (MPG) 23
Horsepower 416@6600
Torque (lb-ft) 371@5200
Wheelbase 107.5
Length (in.) 183.5
Width (in.) 71.5
Height (in.) 55.7

M3
Base Price $60,100
Drivetrain Rear Wheel Drive
Curb Weight (lbs) 3704
City (MPG) 14
Hwy (MPG) 20
Horsepower 414@8300
Torque (lb-ft) 295@3900
Wheelbase 108.7
Length (in.) 181.8
Width (in.) 71.0
Height (in.) 55.8

All the reviews say that in stock form, the two cars turn extremely close track times. The IS-F had a major suspension change in 2011. Before that, reportedly, the m3 was better.

 

Surprisingly close specs. The torque difference offsets the weight difference.

 

From Jerry Sandusky's estate sale.

 

3800 lbs! What a pig.

 

13.1 @ 110 it still gets up and goes for how heavy it is though. Definitley not "fast" by todays standards though.

 

Both have automatic ish transmissions too. Binmer does have a true daul clutch sequential thingy tho. Sexus has a regular automaic. The flappy paddles work perfectly for upshift. Downshift takes about as long as a regular manual shift. Sexus also has eight gears. For normal driving on the street i ended up using the first four gears then shiftig to eigth. Kinda like six speed miata.

Regarding handling, Any car i can drive off the lot comfortably drift well in the first 5 minutes is a winner. I am not gods own driver so a car with a good suspension makes me nice and confident and comfortable.

Cars on this short list:

Miata
Rx7
Isf
Bimmer 1 series

 

If you don't mind an automatic, the IS-F is a very nice car. If I was involved in more stop-and-go and valued the auto, it would have been on my short list to test drive as I know of several car guys whose opinions I value that own them as daily drivers.

For me, I am fortunate that I rarely if ever am involved in that sort of traffic and I put very few miles on my cars so I was able to opt for the 3-pedal gearbox. The M3s should trap about 112 MPH. I imagine a drag race would come down to driver skill.

 

Yeah the updated ISF is a winner. The old suspension and lack of mechanical LSD sucked. the new suspension is great and every bit as good as an M3.

 

Does the ISF have any sort of launch control?

 

Curious-- since you built your subie.

I need to rebuild my forester motor. How much power do you think i can reliably go for? I am thinking 350ish tops. I do not want another ALLOFIT

 

You asked me this 100 times. Did you already forget?

 

Hmm, my credit card built my STI not me.
Without reading more of your posts about your Forester, I will assume stock block. I'd say 320-330 is pretty safe 350 will be ok for a while or maybe forever-again the most important factor(like always) being a decent tune. Pistons are weak point. with how you drive 5 speed transmission is too.
Just get an 16g/18g/20g injectors, downpipe/exhaust and call it a day, Then enjoy the torquey goodness!

 

he's running a 16g and drives like an a-hole, so I'm willing to bet a good beer that he will or already has blown it up. Just like his 1st one that he managed to blow up.

For us that have some mechanical empathy, 350 actually lasts for a long time. I've been at 320 for a year and 270 for about 6 months now still running like a champ.

The fxt 4.44 fd trans actually takes a LOT more abuse than the previous wrx glass boxes