We had time to drive the IS F on winding two-lane roads in the foothills outside Monterey, California. We followed that with track time and a battery of specific tests at the legendary Laguna Seca road racing circuit. To test performance in the wet, we drove the IS F through a wet slalom, wet acceleration and braking, and on a wet 100-foot skid pad circle.

On the road, the Lexus IS F is pleasingly quick, precise and responsive. The car emits a low growl and feels good on winding roads that invite bursts of throttle, a brief tap of the brake and a smooth glide through the next apex. The transmission, left in full Auto mode, always seemed to know what our intentions were, holding on to gears longer when we stayed into the throttle. It's an easy car to drive at seven-tenths, with a satisfying degree of control.

Around town, the exhaust offers a unique burble. While it can be heard in the cabin, it is not tiresome. But then at full throttle, the sound builds quickly. At about 3600 rpm, a secondary intake opens and an unbridled performance scream begins to intensify, sharpening further and further as rpm increase. It's a sound we associate more with high-performance motorcycles or open-wheel race cars, and the last thing we ever expected from a Lexus. This staged range of tuned sounds provides a good part of the visceral appeal of the IS F. It's as if Lexus turned its expertise at sound reduction upside down, toward sound engineering, with the goal of generating the right sounds to connect with a driver's hidden, compulsive moods.

Pushed hard on a racing circuit, the IS F lives up to the ideals of a professional driver. It's a car with enormous grip, a car capable of connecting on an emotional level with the most demanding driver.

We were given ample opportunity to get in over our head, hitting speeds over 100 mph on twisty Laguna Seca tarmac. Driving instructors from Skip Barber were on hand to make sure we saw what the limits of the car really were, and demonstrated the advantages of the paddle shift system. The paddle shift setup makes lightning-quick, crisp shifts, enabled by throttle blips to automatically match engine rpm when downshifting. The sound is so intoxicating, and the shifting so quick, that we sometimes got lost in the eight-gear sequence, one or two gears away from where we wanted to be. So it might take more than one afternoon of spirited driving to master the paddle shifter, but we can vouch that the potential is there.

We're not experts on that particular course, and only average high-performance drivers, but as the day wore on we noticed our straightaway times getting faster and faster, finally topping 105 mph. We worked on ever-shorter braking distances, but never got to the limit of adhesion, or even close. Bottom line, we could see that there was more handling, more braking, and more power in the car than some of us would have the nerve to use.

The car's weight shifts are subtle under hard braking or full throttle. A double A-arm suspension is used to maintain a stable contact patch, and materials such as high strength steel and forged aluminum are used to keep unsprung weight to an absolute minimum. Even the thicker, stiffer stabilizer bars are hollow to save weight. Combined with a spring rate 90-percent stiffer than that of the IS 350, and anti nose-dive geometry, the F shows remarkably little nose-dive or body roll when subjected to higher G-forces.

We drove mostly with the Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management system on. VDIM is packaged as a safety system, but also functions as a performance-enhancing system; on the race track it corrects mistakes entering corners without slowing the car more than absolutely necessary. VDIM combines traction control with braking control, using input from the steering, transmission position, and throttle. In many cases, intervention by VDIM is nearly imperceptible to the driver except for a warning beep from the dash. The system adds a forgiving layer of protection, and flatters the average driver.

Tipping the hat to hard-core performance enthusiasts, Lexus design engineers arranged for VDIM to be switchable. A driver can select a Sport setting that tells VDIM to permit faster steering, higher shift points and quicker throttle response. This might be considered the drift setting, because it permits a fair degree of wheelspin. And finally, if a driver really wants a pure, tossable, rear-wheel-drive experience, the system can be switched off entirely. So if big, smoky burnouts are your thing, or if fishtailing around the parking lot is your idea of fun, have at it. In our case, the VDIM system helped us smooth out our braking and throttle inputs and kept us glued to the ground. We're sure we entered corners harder, and left faster, with it on. So if it were up to us, we'd never turn it off.

Y-rated tires, developed specifically for the IS F, roll reasonably quietly, but are clearly designed with cornering in mind as part of a stiff wheel/tire combination. They are staggered, of two different sizes, front and rear, mounted on 10-spoke forged aluminum wheels. The front tires are 40-series, and the rear tires 35-series, so a flat or damaged tire will require a specific replacement. Two different tire brands, Bridgestone Potenza and Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, are in use on the IS F (though not on the same car), but both will have been manufactured to the same specification. The spare is a temporary tire suitable only for short distances.

The IS F is both straight-line fast, and around-corners fast and its brakes are a big part of both types of performance. At Laguna Seca, bleeding off speed coming into tight turns began at the top of the brake pedal, where there is a progressive feeling and a sense that there is always more stopping power available. When very hard stops are called for, the pedal becomes very firm well before the ABS kicks in.

The brakes themselves are drilled Brembo rotors on all four corners, with three pairs of pistons at the front, each set having a different piston diameter. Front discs are over 14 inches in diameter. The rear discs, only slightly smaller, use two piston calipers.

One revealing moment came when we tested handling on a tight series of cones. The slalom course was 50 yards long with seven cones, dripping wet with puddles. With VDIM totally disabled, we ran the course in about 4 seconds; with VDIM engaged, we were nearly a full second faster with no sliding around.

We also made some aggressive 0-60-0 acceleration-and-braking runs, on wet pavement, where we deliberately invoked the ABS. With the VDIM traction control on, the car does not spin or even wobble much upon braking, but the launch is smoother and the car attains speed quicker. With VDIM switched off, the ABS still keeps the car straight during slippery panic stops. We can attest to the fact that, at full brake, the reverse-G effect is intense enough to leave the average driver light-headed.