picus

You haven't been in one yet, Sick? I think you'll like it - tbh I was kind of "meh" about the IS350 until I drove one. Now I know why people choose it; it's a great car and does exactly what Lexus intended. It's not for me, but I sure wouldn't turn one down.

Just keep an open mind on the test drive, try to get past the blase interior.

picus

Just got my Nov C&D, no scanner here but some choice quotes from the coupe full review.

"If you missed out on the six-cylinder M3 and can't wait for the V8 powered M3, the attractively priced 335i offers enough performance to forget the M3. If we were spending our own money and had to buy one car, it would be hard to pick anything but the 335i."

In the counterpoints section one guy says "The 335i is the best car for sale in the world right now". Haha, that one even cracked me up, crazy C&D writers.

StockIS350

http://www.caranddriver.com/shortroa...35i-sedan.html


Wow 0-60 4.8 seconds, what do you guys think, handles great and now the new engine. mmmm, time to start with performance upgrades.

menech

handling upgrades sure...but performance? From the article: BMW 335: 13.5 seconds at 106 mph

stock IS350 are getting around that time or less: 13.47@103.50 at Capitol Tonight 9/22/06

the BMW trap speed is 3mph higher...will be interesting to see the real world time slips. Found a couple, but no scanned timeslip yet
http://www.dragtimes.com/BMW--335i-Drag-Racing.html

BMW did a great job with the 335, looking forward to seeing the modding scene for the car and how much they can get out of the engine

caymandive

iTrader: (2)

Yeah very impressive for sure. Must be getting some wheel spin looking at that trap speed and ET. I can see these cars smoking the IS350 pretty good with a few easy mods. Gotta love turbo's.

Lexy GS430

Wow i guess the is350 has more potential the i thought. Nice numbers for just in takes.

TorontoIS

To make things more of a fair comparison I think it would be interesting to see how fast a 6sp manual transmission IS 350 would be.

omgitsroy

iTrader: (1)

that's not a stock is350.. he has an intake on

krazykanuk

Its not as if they needed turbos to do it, thats just they way they decided to. Forget about the E46 M3? 333hp out of a NA I6. They didn't need turbos, just went that route. It makes for easy modding and no turbo lag thanks to twin turbos.

Ramon

Let's keep things real here. I know this is an IS forum and there is some bias, but a TYPICAL IS350 will NOT run a sub 13.5 second run.

Bean

iTrader: (1)

Judging by preliminary reports on various forums... it also smokes its own stock turbos and billows out huge clouds of blue smoke when it blows up After seeing more than several on a few forums grenade their motor; I have to resoundingly say: "no thanks"

Ramon

Let's keep things real here. I know this is an IS forum and there is some bias, but a TYPICAL IS350 will NOT run a sub 13.5 second run.

And to dominant1, that is an absurd argument. The IS does not have the turbo's and the 335i does, period. Not to mention there aren't even any turbo kits available.

conekiller

I'll keep my opinions about the looks of the 335 to myself because that's purely subjective - but from a performance perspective it will trounce the IS350. Multiple dyno runs have backed up the assertion that BMW sandbagged the power figures...significantly. Actual power figures are near 350hp and +300 lb/ft.

However I know one person who recently did a driving event that had several of them, and he said every single one of them shut down due to overheating...and that was just driving them 7/10ths - 8/10ths in average daytime temperatures. I can't imagine BMW releasing a car with such serious heat problems, but every one of them at the event shut down.

caymandive

iTrader: (2)

Is my IS350 not typical!? I still use the OEM air filter and air box, stock exhaust, full interier, etc. I only replaced the intake TUBE, so it's not even a true full intake system. I did dyno it and I noticed a few hp gain, but surely not enough to notice a difference at the drag strip.

AZ JB

iTrader: (1)

So BMW puts out a car with twins to compete with our cars.. good for them.

Ultimately, I trust Toyota/Lexus quality more. The interior and feel of a Lexus is much beyond that of a BMW. Opinion? Yes. With this being said I was soooooooooo close to buying a E46 M3 before purchasing my IS. The IS gives you luxury and power in one with the assurance of one of, if not the, best car manufacturer around. BMWs do NOT have the reliability record a Lexus does.

Opinions are a dime a dozen.. However there is more to a car then what is under the hood. The bigger picture speaks for itself, and Lexus wins hands down.