Hotcracker

The true IS and only IS

Hi I am new to this forum
I have seen i lots of you guys getting the new IS350 & IS250. i have fallen in love with the is300 & is200 since 1998. as the new IS is coming out to america, it has been bugging me that lexus still call it "IS". as the name hence "IS" stands for "INLINE SIX" (street name)

LEXUS new engine is powerful, but also very profitable to the company since the cost to produce a V6 is a lot less than Inline engines.

now there is no direct competitor to BMW inline engine. Now where is lexus/toyota true inline?

will the inline engine ever come back? i certainly do not think it will ever come back toyota has become a company about profit in the last few years and not about direct competition, as they have cancelled the legedary MR2 (mid-engine rear drive), 4 wheel drive celica, Supra, and lasty the IS300.

now ask yourself is this what you want?

98-05 IS300 R.I.P to the people that still have a TRUE IS: Keep it and to the people that are thinking of an new IS: think again.

Thank you for reading

02 IS300 MSM

rominl

iTrader: (4)

the inline 6 won't come back. but that's due to the new, more strict, emission law passed in japan. not only toyota, but look at nissan, they have dropped all their old legendary i6 as well on the skyline. wonder why? same thing, the laws. that's why they were back to the drawing board to create new v6 that pushes out more power and has more potential.

yes i think the i6 is a very sweet engine, harder to make, smoother. however, the way i see it, if they can make a v6 now, cheaper, more power, better fuel consumption, etc... that's fine with me too. after all as a consumer, as long as it's better, i am fine

MSMLexIS

IS means inteligent sport not inline six i am a big fan of the original 99-2005 Lexus IS and toyota Altezza but i may trade mine in for a new IS its still a great car i just hink its lost some personality and some of its youthfulness.

teton

The Inline engine is gone for good. V engines has some packaging advantages and allow for hybrid power. I think there's no practical advantages for an inline engine anymore when you think of the overall big picture of where they are trying to take these automobiles. The best engine however is the horizental opposing type, i.e. boxer style. Those are smooth and space efficient.

-Teton

GeIS300

Interesting responses... Could you fill me in on why the I-6 is smoother and harder to make than the V-6?

I have noticed the smoothness of the 2JZ but it doesn't seem to rev as happy as the honda V-6s. I realize that there are other factors including engine mapping, flywheel and the like, but why the difference?

I guess I have a fetish for 3L six cylinder engines since all the vehicles in our household are derrivatives

Thanks in advance.

GeIS300

edit: fixed is300 engine code

05RollaXRS

Check out Lexus.com videos and the host tell that the IS stands for "Intelligent Sport".

It would have been purely silly of Lexus to name the IS after the engine characteristics. Besides, despite loving the 2JZ motor alot, it was a very heavy and outdated motor by today's standards having a cast iron block when all the motors today are built with light weight aluminum. It had also become very underpowered compared to the competition as well.

The only thing the new IS350 is lacking is a true 6 speed manual transmission. Unless Lexus brings it out, I will never seriously think of IS350 as a performance sedan.

teton

All else being equal.... I6 is smooth because it is 2 3 cylinder engines packaged together back to back on the same crank shaft. a 3 cylinder is not smooth because when 1 poston goes up, the other goes down, but what about the 3rd one??? having 2 3 cylinder engines packaged together on the same crank shaft balances out the odd piston in each of the 3 cylinders against each other and hence it is completely balanced, i.e. smooth.

The problem with I6 is that the crank shaft is very long. It is the exact same length as that of a V12 motor. This is why the IS300 has the engine partly into the dash/cabin portion of the chassis.

V6 is rev happy because it has a very short crankshaft, even shorter than a 4 cylinder motor. The short crankshaft means it has low resistence to changes in the engine speed.

Boxer is the same as the V except it is at 180 degrees, i.e. a 180 degree V motor. Each cylinder is balanced against the other one it is "boxing" against. I wish Toyota had a Boxer 8 cylinder motor. This way it can be used in hybrid cars and mounted low in the chassis. The car will handle very well and produce immense power.

flipside909

Hmm. In Japan, the Altezza runs the 3S-GE I-4 Motor. It sits almost identical toward the firewall of the chassis. Alot of the way the engine was mounted in the bay has to do with tranny location and weight distribution.

teton

Of course, when choosing where to put the engine you must be concerned with things like weight distribution which is directly effected by where you place the engine. If you have a very small engine you can choose to put it in the most optimal location. However when you have a large engine like the I6 your choices will be limited. What I mean is the I4 can go anywhere and in any orientation, i.e. horizental as in a front wheel drive car, or longitutudal as in a rear wheel drive car. When your engine is big you are limited to what kind of car you can build. For example you will never see a front wheel drive car with a I6 engine, such design is not possible unless you want a car that is 7 foot wide.

-Teton

GeIS300

Great discussions.

I do like the smoothness of the I-6 and the fat mid range power but the top end seems to be a little wheezy.
From a motorcycle perspective, I always loved the BMW RS setup with the opposing twin. Again, great midrange, tractable and smooth as silk.

Hopefully in the next few years, the BEAMS 3S motors will become more widely available in the US much like the SR20DET for the 240sx... I understand that the BEAMS engine can hold boost like a mother!

Thanks for sharing the knowledge!

GeIS300

teton

Speaking of motorcycle engines look at the Honda Valkyrie Rune. It has a 1.8 liter horizontally opposed six-cylinder motor. Because it is configured as a horizental, the engine is flat enough to be mounted low on the chassis of the bike and hence give it good stability. It is as smooth as they come and nearly as powerful as a car motor, all it needs is dual cam.

-Teton

B.Diddy

iTrader: (1)

You sounds pretty uneducated. thats like saying an MK4 supra isnt a TRUE supra? Seriously rethink your mediocre comments.. I am quite fond of my IS300, but I would not say its better than the IS350. technology moves with the times. thats like old guys areguing a 4bl carb is better than fuel injection.

iS30O

ohh.. so it stands for intelligent sport... nice

Hotcracker

no is not the same thing. a Supra will always be a supra. inline. and never said Carb is better. technology moves on and so does money and opinions.

b1ackhawk

The inline six was an old motor, maybe it could have been updated to keep up with tech, maybe not. I do, however, feel that the new IS lost alot of character. My first impression of the IS300(and still when i see one on the road) was "WOW". Thats nice. When i see the new IS250/350, i think "Mazda". It just doesnt have the finesse of the 300. Whats worse is lexus' failure to produce the top of the line 350 with all options, such as 6spd manual gearbox and AWD. Manual trans should be available on ALL cars with a sport persona, if not all cars period. When the 300 appeared, it just defined the image of Lexus and stood out, even among the BMW 3 series and Audi A4, the IS300 was striking. The 250/350 seems to blend into the crowd.