Lexus preparing IS-F Evolution

Lexus took aim at the performance sedans from Germany with the IS-F, and it seemed to do well on the first attempt. The IS-F is selling well, especially in its home market of Japan, so Lexus is allowing its engineers to spread their muscle again with a car rumored to be called the IS-F Evolution.

When it comes to high-performance special editions, Lexus may take a page from the ultimate Japanese express ride, the Nissan GT-R. When Nissan made the SpecV version of the car, it didn’t touch the engine. Instead the car got lighter and better handling. For the IS-F Evolution, Lexus is rumored to leave the 5.0-liter 416 hp V8 alone, and just focus of replacing as much as possible with carbon (fiber). This includes carbon fiber bumpers and center console as well as carbon ceramic brakes. All the replacement parts should slim down the hod-rod IS-F by 308 lbs, which is about an eight percent weight savings.

Also just like the GT-R SpecV, Lexus is going for statosphric pricing for this special edition. 7Tune is estimating the price close to $200,000 (yen was converted to dollars). With the huge sticker price, and limited numbers (there are only 500 IS-F made per year), we don’t expect too many of these examples to make it off the island of Japan.