UK police replace Imprezas with Lexus IS-F cruisers

[newsuba]

UK cops playing catch-up.

Wonder what the crims will counter with ?

New Jag XFR ?

A fast Audi, BMW or Mercedes ?

8)

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/27/uk-police-replace-imprezas-with-lexus-is-f-cruisers/

[DRFVDR]

Fark that is sweet,I must admit toyota have got it sorted with these and the altezza range,My stepson(catsoup) just brought an altezza ghita with the 3 litre straight 6 in it and it is a honey of a car

[newsuba]

Altezza/IS250 etc are Ok for Jappas but still a world behind an Audi A4/ BMW 3-series/Mercedes C-class.

;D

[BC5RA]

 newsuba said:

Altezza/IS250 etc are Ok for Jappas but still a world behind an Audi A4/ BMW 3-series/Mercedes C-class.

;D

What do you think of the IS-F?

[Guest]

 newsuba said:

Altezza/IS250 etc are Ok for Jappas but still a world behind an Audi A4/ BMW 3-series/Mercedes C-class.

;D

Yes but they are also half the price to buy and fix (which happens no where near as much as any of the three listed above)

The 3 series is the most booring car ever (not including M3 of course its amaizing but should be for the price)

With the Altezza/IS250 you know you could thrash the snot out of it after a perp with no worries about it crapping itself unlike any of the other three, everytime people do test drives (eg top gear, fith gear) on especialy BMW's they are spitting errors and faults at the drivers like crazy so the IS250 would make a much better choice IMO

[newsuba]

 BC5RA']

[quote name='newsuba said:

Altezza/IS250 etc are Ok for Jappas but still a world behind an Audi A4/ BMW 3-series/Mercedes C-class.

;D

/quote]

What do you think of the IS-F?

Crap.

Nice engine, stupid gearbox, ugly, cheap 'n nasty interior.

Not great value for money either.

ISF $145k, M3 sedan $152k

A friend over the pond was looking at one, bought an M3 sedan instead.

A Lexus may be cheaper to buy and run but they are appliances for people who really don't care about cars.

Well made and reliable but an appliance all the same.

A 3-series (E46, E90) may not be as reliable but they are much more stylish and betere designed plus much more satisfying to drive.

[Scoobydoo]

I guess to some people, the people who don't really care about cars.. reliability is more important

[DRFVDR]

Guess New suba is a bmw,audi,merc fanboy then,

I have experiance with 2 of those 3

I worked for BMW in england a few years ago and we always had little issues

My mum won a Merc SLK280 in lotto a few years back and that has been back to the dealer 5 times with little silly things

[johndoe1003]

isf is mean, driven a couple. definitely come along way from what lexus used to be. it IS competition for the bmw m3, imo m3 slightly better, but only just. its a bit of a toss up really. theyve sold quite a few already

[newsuba]

Fanboy only if they provide a better driving experience.

There are plenty of crap current and past Audi/BMW/Mercs.

Toyota/Lexus aren't perfect either, they get regular recalls to fix problems too.

;D

Mercedes SLK is the highest ranked 2009 JD Power Compact Premium Sporty Car

[BC5RA]

I don't think the IS-F can really compared, the M3 has true racing roots and pedigree.

The IS-F is a late take on the M3 philosophy, and a gaudy one at that.

The next M3 will be a Twin Turbocharged inline 6, bound to stir up the purists.

[johndoe1003]

lexus has the lowest faults in the world as far as im aware

[Simon C]

Since no-one has yet asked the question, why on earth do the police need IS-F's? Something cheaper would do the job just fine.

[Guest dynofiend]

The article says they are only buying one, and it was chosen after extensive testing with other vehicles, presumably some of which were cheaper, and the Lexus did a better job. Usually the Impreza (which this will replace) was used as a covert vehicle by a specific team of a small number of officers which were targetting the high number of car jackings/thefts of high value, high performance vehicles, which tend to go from stolen, to never found again, in about half an hour, at very high speed. Hence the need for something that can keep up, and do it regularly whilst full of electronic gizmos and cameras. I wouldnt let the livery fool you, that was probably the test vehicle. Id imagine the 'real' one would be covert, and they aint gonna post up pics of that one

Also, police vehicles are not just chosen based on initial purchase price. They consider the servicing and maintenance costs, mpg, safety specs, flexibility of the engine (ie does it need to be thrashed to get it moving), wear and tear on the car, ease of fitting police electrics and ability to run them, boot space, even the potential resale value of the car!

You might have seen some of the UK forces use silver cars with the police livery underneath, or even as ive seen, red and blue ones. This colour choice was specifically to offer better resale values when the cars were eventually de commissioned and sold to taxi drivers

Anyway, the Italian police have TWO Gallardos. Slightly harder to justify those dont you think?

[sooby]

 DRFVDR']

Guess New suba is a bmw,audi,merc fanboy then,

No, he's more of just an anti-everything elite-ist.

[quote name='dynofiend said:

The article says they are only buying one....

thanks, that was an interesting read

[newsuba]

 BC5RA said:

I don't think the IS-F can really compared, the M3 has true racing roots and pedigree.

The IS-F is a late take on the M3 philosophy, and a gaudy one at that.

The next M3 will be a Twin Turbocharged inline 6, bound to stir up the purists.

Dunno, the purists were shocked when BMW turfed out the fantastic S54 3.2L straight six and stuck a V8 in there.

The original M-philiosophy (adopted by Honda for their Type R cars) was NA with power through lots of revs.

Future emissions and fuel economy restrictions have put the kibosh on that.

The latest X5M and X6M are a taste of M cars to come; medium sized (4.4L), turbocharged V8s.

Yep, I'm an elite-ist, I hate everything crap.

;D

[Jammasta]

 johndoe1003 said:

isf is mean, driven a couple. definitely come along way from what lexus used to be. it IS competition for the bmw m3, imo m3 slightly better, but only just. its a bit of a toss up really. theyve sold quite a few already

Under what circumstances have you "driven a couple" to have made a good assesment of them.

[Swindog]

 DRFVDR said:

Fark that is sweet,I must admit toyota have got it sorted with these and the altezza range,My stepson(catsoup) just brought an altezza ghita with the 3 litre straight 6 in it and it is a honey of a car

Those Ghitas are choice aye!

Does it have the massive front brakes and factory option upgrade seats in it?

You know BMW are mixing things up? Cos the Jappas come out with value for money bang for buck. How does a company like BMW get into that type of vehicle and make it appealing to someone other than Dr Jones or retired grandad? Put in a turbo and make it look phat.

[BC5RA]

^^^You had best just talk about Japanese Riceburners,

 newsuba said:

Dunno, the purists were shocked when BMW turfed out the fantastic S54 3.2L straight six and stuck a V8 in there.

The original M-philiosophy (adopted by Honda for their Type R cars) was NA with power through lots of revs.

Future emissions and fuel economy restrictions have put the kibosh on that.

The latest X5M and X6M are a taste of M cars to come; medium sized (4.4L), turbocharged V8s.

Yep, I'm an elite-ist, I hate everything crap.

;D

M division would have had a hard time extracting anymore reliable meaningful power without a big increase in capacity which would have robbed it of it's rev ceiling.

It all went south after the E30 M3 now thats a sweet M car.

[Swindog]

 BC5RA']

^^^You had best just talk about Japanese Riceburners,

[quote name='newsuba said:

Dunno, the purists were shocked when BMW turfed out the fantastic S54 3.2L straight six and stuck a V8 in there.

The original M-philiosophy (adopted by Honda for their Type R cars) was NA with power through lots of revs.

Future emissions and fuel economy restrictions have put the kibosh on that.

The latest X5M and X6M are a taste of M cars to come; medium sized (4.4L), turbocharged V8s.

Yep, I'm an elite-ist, I hate everything crap.

;D

/quote]

M division would have had a hard time extracting anymore reliable meaningful power without a big increase in capacity which would have robbed it of it's rev ceiling.

It all went south after the E30 M3 now thats a sweet M car.

Like this ?

http://www.bmwclub.org.nz/market-place/507.html $80k.

[Guest]

 Swindog']

^^^You had best just talk about Japanese Riceburners,

[quote name='newsuba said:

Dunno, the purists were shocked when BMW turfed out the fantastic S54 3.2L straight six and stuck a V8 in there.

The original M-philiosophy (adopted by Honda for their Type R cars) was NA with power through lots of revs.

Future emissions and fuel economy restrictions have put the kibosh on that.

The latest X5M and X6M are a taste of M cars to come; medium sized (4.4L), turbocharged V8s.

Yep, I'm an elite-ist, I hate everything crap.

;D

/quote]

M division would have had a hard time extracting anymore reliable meaningful power without a big increase in capacity which would have robbed it of it's rev ceiling.

It all went south after the E30 M3 now thats a sweet M car.

Like this ?

http://www.bmwclub.org.nz/market-place/507.html $80k.

Wow thats an ugly car, went south after the E30? gosh you have an interesting definition for south lol

[Swindog]

South meaning north of invercargill...now thats ugly.

[johndoe1003]

 TURTLE']

[quote name='johndoe1003 said:

isf is mean, driven a couple. definitely come along way from what lexus used to be. it IS competition for the bmw m3, imo m3 slightly better, but only just. its a bit of a toss up really. theyve sold quite a few already

/quote]

Under what circumstances have you "driven a couple" to have made a good assesment of them.

lets see...there was one parked in my driveway last night, my dad has one as his drive car pretty often and ive taken them for a spin when he brings them home.

[newsuba]

 Swindog said:

Like this ?

http://www.bmwclub.org.nz/market-place/507.html $80k.

That's the last version of the E30 M3.

Many M3 cognoscenti reckon the original 87 2.3L was the best.

In the past few months there have also been a couple of 04 E46 M3 CSL's priced at $80k-ish.

[BC5RA]

Yes, thats the one certainly would prefer the 2.3.

How old are you camrhodes?