LexFather

I'll scan later. For thost that don't know, I give 110% recommendation to subscribe to this small magazine. Think EVO, but wrtten for us, by us. Pics are incredible and they are just HONEST with the feedback.
It seems it really was a 3 way comparison, as they felt the G35 was way behind the pack, and it was the 3 vs C vs IS.
With the IS, they said it could have placed 2nd or 1st but DUMBASS LEXUS SENT THEM A @()#()$ IS 350 WITHOUT THE SPORT KIT OR 18" WHEELS. LEXUS WHAT IN THE HELL WERE U THINKING?!?! THERE IS NO MARGIN FOR IGNORANT MOVES LIKE THIS. Lexus did the SAME CRAP in Car and Driver once, sending them an IS 300 with 16" wheels and in another comparison, sending them a GS 430 with 16" wheels.

LEXUS U BLEW IT.

The C350 did the 0-60 sprint in 6.1, the 330, 6.2. The IS 5.3 and the G35 5.9.

One thing I disagreed with, they went to this "soul" crap, and that is why the C-class was 2nd. The 330 is still the best of both worlds, still the king. Clearly understandable.


They were honest, they loved the IS, but damn Lexus for sending them the car with the 17s, WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING?!?!


SCI, never tests SUVs, pickups and poser sports sedans (like Altimas, etc). Only true sports and sporty cars and sedans. I love the mag, been a subscriber for years.


SCANS TO COME!!!

BTW, its the issue with the orange Lotus Exige on the color, try Barnes and Nobles.

Badman Forever

i would've let them use my base 350 w/ 18's if i were there. oh well. i ran my own tests and it far exceeded my expectations. : )

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

I would agree, Lexus has a long ways to go in dealing with the periodicals. GM is known for sending in their strongest examples for comparos along with other makes. Lexus just sends whatever they have available without any further thought. It's as if they care less what the mags say about their cars as long as the sales are there.

Tony1

nice to see more and more reports of the IS350 getting 0-60 times in the low 5 second range,
i was skeptical at first, now i'm begining to believe it.

Kermee

iTrader: (1)

Funny that Lexus sent an IS 350 with the same sized wheels as my IS 250 AWD... LOL.

I didn' t even know a GS 430 could come with 16" wheels... Wow.

Cheers,
Kermee

eg6turbo

kinda OT but dotn you guys think all magazines should re-do their testing on the is350 with the vdim off??...numbers would be more dramatic in the handling and accelation times...

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

No, I personally do not think it is a good idea. As an enthusiast that visits these boards I appreciate the information on how to turn it off if I wanted to, but since it is not a user defeatable function as Lexus intended it to be, it should not be done for main stream car evaluation. There are many little tricks on other cars that can be done to enhance their performance as well, but save those tricks for the tuners and enthusiast.

Langdell

Maybe it was actually a clever ploy by the Lexus execs to cool off demand for the car while production catches up. I am psyched to be getting an IS350 and glad it's a popular car, but it's a little ridiculous that I may have to wait 3-4 months to get one configured how I want given that the model has officially been on sale since October. And it's not like the options I want are all that exotic. (I'm being told that my demanding the highly touted ML audio is the big hold-up.) Whatever a magazine might say about the car, my own take is I want one. The unreasonable wait is the only thing that might drive me to visit the local BMW or M-B dealer.

Threxx

I can see the sport suspension option making a noticable difference but the 17in vs 18in wheels... do you really think that'd make that much of a difference? I know they look nicer, but in terms of performance I'd bet the difference is marginal and whatever improvement it makes to road 'feel' and grip it'd hurt ride quality accordingly...

The 3rd gen doesn't have 16s available... 17s standard, 18s optional, same as the new IS. But the 2nd gen did have 16s standard, 17s optional.

That's one heck of a conspiracy theory. lol

mcfly

The 18 wheel option will make a HUGE difference. Not because the wheels are bigger, but because the tires fitted to those rims are low profile, Z rated summer tires. Meaning they resist rolling over more, offer better road feel, and ultimately provide more grip.

The stock tires on the 17" wheels are all-seasons... much less grip compared with the Z rated summer tires (in the dry obviously).

eg6turbo

werd^^^

we get the somewhat decent dunlop super maxx tires...

Agni88

the reason lexus doesnt send out cars w/ sport pkgs to these kinds of reviews is because you have to remember that Lexus's emphasis is on Luxury, and their cars will be no match for the bimmers. So if they send a car with sports pkg it wont be nearly as good as the other ones are and if they send one w/o atleast lexus could say "well it doesnt have sp pkg" they know their cars wont be as sporty even with SP PKG so they do their best to not make them look bad and make the reviewers have sympathy. ie: the IS looks agressive ans sporty, but its not nearly as sporty as the other cars.

diablo1

Wow, for you to know such a thing, you must be a pretty high up enployee at Lexus. Are you? I didn't think so. I am calling BS on any claim that Lexus intentionally sends out cars that aren't the best they could be.

I'm much more inclined to believe that they have a lax attitude, and just send out whatever car they have available. Especially for a relatively obscure magazine such as this one (not one of the major high-circulation car rags).

mcfly

Bingo. Car rags typically will call up a vendor, request a car, and deal with whatever they get sent.

eg6turbo

then why would lexus put 306 hp in a lux car ( highest in its class ) or 4 piston calipers and have a whole event across the nation, that shouted performance luxury!!...they are trying to get away from your mind set...