Mekanik@abufaris.com

IT’S the home to the first Japanese GP in 1976 but after a tragic accident a year later, Fuji Speedway stopped holding GP races.

That was until last year — an absence of three decades — that the Japanese GP is back at the speedway.

Take a stroll around Fuji Speedway, now owned by Toyota after extensive refurbishment.

The pit buildings and main grandstand strike an uncanny resemblance to our own Sepang International Circuit (SIC).

Of course, the giveaways are that the advertisements are in Japanese and the snow-capped Mount Fuji is just over the horizon.

With a 4.5km track that has a long straight and 16 turns, some of them rather tricky, suffice to say that this speedway is an ideal location to test the mettle of any performance car.

Well, we managed to get on the race track behind the wheel of the Lexus IS F, the muscled version of Lexus IS series of luxury four-door sports sedans.

While local enthusiasts are well acquainted with the IS 250 variant, sporting a 2.5-litre V6 engine, the IS F is just much brawnier, tipping the scales with a 5.0-litre V8 block.

Although it was not fully explained what the letter “F” in IS F stood for, the entire Lexus project started out some 20 years ago cloaked in secrecy and codenamed F1 or Flagship One.

At that time, the aim was to develop a large flagship sedan that matched the best continental offerings in luxury, ride and performance.

This resulted in the creation of the first Lexus — the LS 400.

Now, that “F” sits alongside the IS F’s moniker to indicate a flagship status and something to elbow BMW’s M or Mercedes-Benz’s AMG cars.

The IS F cabin (right) looks the part of a luxurious high performance car.

Incidentally, the “F” logo on the IS F badge is said to be inspired by the shape of its home circuit, Fuji Speedway’s Turn One.

Although similar to the standard IS variants, the IS F cuts a more aggressive stance with its low-slung appearance, larger bonnet bulge to hold in the bigger engine and oversized custom-designed BBS 19-inch wheels.

Both upper and lower grilles get a wire mesh pattern with a much bigger grille area for better cooling.

That’s not all.

The rearward facing portions of the front wheel arches are fitted with air vents to dissipate heat build-up.

A trunk spoiler, four exhaust pipes and a prominently-sized “F” logo adorn the rear.

Inside, the dark dashboard fascia is similar to those in the regular IS.

The sporty touches extend to front seats with side bolsters to keep you in tucked in, a speedometer calibrated to 300kph (up from the IS 250’s 260kph) and rubber-studded aluminium pedals.

Essentially, the IS F’s engine is a LS 460 limousine’s 4.6-litre V8 block with 380bhp that has been tweaked and transformed by Yamaha into a 416bhp race-tuned state.

It features new technologies that are exclusive to this engine, among them a dual air intake system, engine oil coolers for high-speed performance and a cylinder head scavenge oil pump that forces oil back into the sump pan for lubrication even at cornering manoeuvres in excess of one G.

While most muscle cars emit a low rumble at idle, the IS F’s exhaust note was near silent in the polished fashion of its LS or GS siblings.

The engine shown above is from an LS 460 limousine that has been uprated to a race-tuned state.

Taking off from the pit lane in a leisurely drive on our first lap, the IS F is quiet with silky smooth gear changes, courtesy of an eight-speed automatic transmission.

It was only in the following lap that we were told to max out the IS F to get acquainted with its alter ego — a fiery sports car in a luxury sedan body.

The media drive was made possible by local Toyota and Lexus vehicle distributor UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd.

Rev the IS F’s block over 3,600rpm and a secondary intake opens up to unleash a wild side with the exhaust note giving out a true-blue V8 throaty roar.

Put your foot down the pedal further and the IS F will respond immediately without sounding strained.

A neck-snapping sprint from 0-100kph can be clocked in 4.8 seconds with a top speed electronically governed to 270kph.

With upgraded sports suspension and a communicative steering, entering sharp corners at tyre-screeching speeds does not seem to unsettle the IS F’s handling.

Of course, the IS F still has a gamut of electronics stability systems and a limited-slip rear differential to help keep you on track.

A beeping sound alerts you the moment the VDIM (Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management) has kicked in, reminding you that the car has taken over control.

All-round large Brembo brakes work perfectly for fade-free and linear braking.

The paddle shifter was astonishingly fast and Lexus claims it can execute upshifts in 100 milliseconds.

Gear changes in spirited driving are accompanied by thumping clutch lock-up sensations, something that enhances the realism of performance driving.

Much of the IS F’s development was carried out at race circuits around the world including Germany’s Nurburgring Nordschleife, Circuit Paul Ricard in France, the Higashi-Fuji Technical Centre in Japan and of course the Fuji Speedway.

The IS F was born out of Toyota’s Lexus Development Centre chief engineer Yukihiko Yaguchi’s dream of creating a luxury sports sedan that could stand up to the Continental team.

While the norm was for the product planning division to tell engineers what sort of car to develop, Yaguchi, a maverick Toyota engineer, was able to convince the division of the soundness of his IS F concept.

Yaguchi has worked in Toyota for 30 years and is a car enthusiast.

Although the project was approved, it did not get enough resources and budget, leading Yaguchi to set up his own “Skunk Works” team filled with hand-picked engineers who volunteered to take part in their spare time.

Even with a lean force of between 100 and 300 people in the IS F team, compared with 1,500 to 2,000 people on a typical Lexus project, Yaguchi managed to pull it off.

At present, only 500 to 600 units of the IS F are produced monthly of which two-thirds are the right-hand drive version.

“We have a high demand for the IS F in Japan and must try to satisfy local demand first,” said Yaguchi who looks the part of a veteran rock star.

The IS F goes for 8mil yen (RM271,000) in the Land of the Rising Sun.

There are plans to offer the variant in the Asean region but this has yet to be confirmed.

But if this happens, expect the M and AMG drivers here to grudgingly make room for a new running partner.