mrraider

How much does a small blower add to the weight? 9 pounds of boost would have bumped the torque up to GTI levels. Subaru has done forced induction before.

cino

iTrader: (1)

Not as much as 6 cylinder, I believe, but it will add more cost to the car. It will not be affordable anymore. Rumor has it that Subie STI will have more hp without force induction.

anthrax144

An F-Sport equipped IS250 is $42k, while a similarly equipped IS350 is $46k. I don't think $4k more is "much more expensive" when you're talking a +40 thousand dollar car already. Just to be fair I priced out a V6 Mustang with similar options and that came out to over $35k.

toy4two

The IS250 is a car you will grow into and apprecaite every day.

The BRZ you will grow out of and at that point appreciate it less everyday.


If you want a sports car, get one, I don't really consider the BRZ a satisfying sports car. The IS is a high quailty luxury auto and from the women I date, they love it and aspire to be with men that drive them. (No I don't own one I'm an Audi Turbo guy, manual transmissions only!)

tzu911

I've owned a FR-S for 9 months, and I do feel that I'm growing out of it just a bit. It's still a fun car to drive and a beautiful one to look at (except the back).

Mike@vossen, your wheels make the decision harder for the poor guy. Stop it

mrraider

During the years I drove an IS250, I only bagged one chick. Admittedly, she is my wife, so perhaps teh IS did it's job

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

the manual FRS/BRZ has lower gear ratios than the auto so it is faster but also makes less mpg

Bojangals

Update
Sorry for such a lag in response, buying cars is SO stressful, at least for me. And thanks for the bountiful feedback! I ended up buying a certified pre-owned IS350, 29,000 miles for $29,500 with sat nav, sound system, and backup cam (good deal?). It came down to being between a $27,100 IS250 w/out sat nav or backup cam w/25,000 miles and the IS350, I just thought the extra $ was worth the extra horse and technology gizmos.

Impressions
Postives

1.Speed/Acceleration - The only car I've ever owned was a 93 Integra, so driving a 300+ hp car is pretty mind blowing. I mean when I put my foot down it doesn't f#ck around, it GOES.
-Incident - Dodge Caravan going 5mph below the speed limit in front of me so I change lanes to pass. He slowly starts to passively aggressively speed up to block me from passing. Foot down 3/4th down on the peddle, 2 seconds later, Dodge Caravan 50+ yards behind flashing his brights in anger. FLAWLESS VICTORY Had I been in the FRS? I don't know...it probably could have won if I had red lined it in desperation? I don't know, sometimes when I'm in uncomfortable situations and not confident in an easy victory I don't give a 100% like I should, with the IS350 I rolled my eyes and fixed my hair while blowing doors off that boat.

2.Gadgetry/Audio- Wow, I blast dubstep like douche ricers blast ghetto hip hop, and oh how sweet the sound... Hey, I've had to listen to their Eminem and ghetto garbage my whole life, it's time people suffer to a new sound... I never owned a real stereo system before so wow, a fully functional blue tooth enabled package of awesomeness screaming away, gotta love it. Love the sat nav too. Backup Cam? I'll get to that...

Negatives

1.It's not a manual - I thought the paddle shifters would be an adequate substitute for a manual, I WAS WRONG. I don't really see much point in the paddle shifters anyways, I mean anytime I put my foot down the car seems to KNOW to instantly go insane on acceleration, so really what's the point of paddle shifters? I never use the paddle shifters anyways because of my concern for fuel efficiency, and when I actually NEED that instant acceleration I never have the time to stop and remember.

2.Driving a fast car slow vs Driving a slow car fast - Mixed feelings really. It's awesome to have the power to decimate the majority of cars on the road, but at the same time, I miss always flooring my manual 4banger, getting good off the line acceleration at every light, and never giving a flip about gas costs due to good fuel efficiency. Now I accelerate like a poofy haired grandma in a cadillac. So yeah, so much potential yet so little kinetic. Sad story bro. Would that favor the FRS in this case? Can you do jackrabbit starts in an FRS and still get decent mpgs?

3.Backup Cam - It's been over two weeks now and I still haven't gotten used to it. It seems to not really instill a very confident perspective to me, like if I depend on it when backing up, all of a sudden I look up and I'm uncomfortably close to other vehicles on my side. Just not the kind of confidence I expected from it, honestly I would have much preferred proximity sensors on the bumper and just turn my head when reversing.

Mixed Bag - Sometimes I feel cool and edgy being RELATIVELY young and owning this car (28) and getting an occasional wayward glance from a cute girl, other times I feel like a douche, I don't know. I'm actually a bit preppy so you'd think this would be right up my ally but at the same time I'm not the flashiest of sorts either. I haven't even told a lot of friends what car I bought unless they ask, I don't want jealousy cropping up. Meh, not a big deal either way, just kind of gives me moments of apprehension.

Final Impressions
Wow, if you read this far thank you, here's a cookie, you should be my unpaid psychologist and enlighten me to my buried childhood traumas I like the car, it's a bit of a floating couch with a monster lurking beneath the cushions. Honestly, I think if the Acura ILX 2.4 was priced around $26,000 ($30,000 wtf!?), or if the FRS had a touch more usable power/spaciousness/visibility either of those cars would have been more ME. Either way, I'm not remorseful in my purchase, you can't always get whatcha want, but the IS350 is 10x what I could ever need

LexFather

Congrats!! Thanks for the update and great pick up!

bagwell

congrats and nice review....don't feel like a douche.....its a Lexus not a BMW

...oh and better to have the HP and not use it much versus not having the HP and wishing for it

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

sounds like a great buy, congrats!

know what you mean about not as much fun driving a fast car slow. this made me lol...

see a lot of these in florida!

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Congrats on the IS350!

I loved that car when I owned it. I found it near-perfect for my needs, and it seems that it's near-perfect for you too.

Don't drive too speedily though.

piguy

That's because they're not paddle shifters, they're gear limiters. All you're doing is telling the car that it can't go higher than 3rd (4th/5th/etc) gear. So while you can somewhat mimic real paddle shifting by forcing it to down-shift, or by allowing it to up-shift (you can't force it to up-shift), it's going to be much slower than real paddle shifting.

It's really intended for mountain driving and other situations where you want to force a lower gear.

balMaster

Congrats. And nice review.

516IS

iTrader: (12)

I had fun reading this... Congrats on your purchase, great choice btw...