2011 Lexus IS F Car News and Review

Mid-course corrections are a usual occurrence when speaking around high-flying commercial aircraft and oceangoing freighters – the two are often pushed off track by errant winds and powerful currents. But when it comes to automobiles, a mid-course rectification can be a sign that something was wrong the moment a new model was unveiled.

The Lexus IS F was introduced at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show. The compact, high-performance sports sedan was a fresh Japanese option to the Audi RS4, BMW M3, Cadillac CTS-V and Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. Yet, despite a full suite of performance enhancements that lifted it above and well beyond the standard IS, the 416-horsepower rear-wheel-drive sedan arrived lacking the refinement and performance to properly struggle its competition.

Lexus reviewed the situation, noted it was not on the proper path and made a series of corrections this past year. The 2011 IS-F four-door boasts a host of improvements, the two inside and out, promising a smoother ride, better handling, improved ergonomics and a freshened exterior. So is the Lexus IS F firmly back on track?