$60K ? Come on, who are they kidding? The IS350 is what $40K, $45K really decked out, I just don't see the IS buyer plunking down another $15K even to get the V8. For $60K there are a lot of other cars out there. I like the IS, heck my wife likes the IS and if we needed yet an extra car we'd certainly consider one but they don't make the 350 in AWD which seems a bit odd and there's simply no way we'd pony up that amount to get what amounts to a big motor stuffed in a small mid size car.
I do think it is more of a competitor to the M3 or maybe the 335i or something like that as opposed to the Cayman, I guess they didn't feel like throwing the gauntlet down at the 911 so they decided to try and pick on the Cayman.
Unless they radically altered the suspension on the IS there is no way it will keep up with the Cayman on the track, it is simply too soft and the car is too heavy.
For $45k, maybe $50K I think they'd have something, but I think $60k is going to be too much of a stretch for the younger performance enthusiast crowd that they are supposedly trying to reach with this car.