gilly

What would you say you get as far as gas mileage on road trips vs. city driving?

Thanks for all the responses guys. If you did end up choosing the AWD, could you give some feedback on your reasoning for it? i.e. conditions, piece of mind, wet weather driving etc.

ajmtbm

we have occasional snow here and I got the AWD for peace of mind. when it snows, I don't really worry because I have AWD. I find it handles very well in the snow. you may give up 1-2 MPG with AWD but outside of that there's no reason not to get AWD. Plus with AWD you get front and rear tites the same and rotatable, which is nice as well.

fredw1

I miss the MT, since I'd driven one for decades until I got my IS a few months ago. The AWD has been useful on several occasions when we've had snow. Having an AT makes for kind of mindless driving, which is both good and bad. Overall, I'd buy the AWD again.

I'm getting 20 mpg in mixed driving, but only at 1500 miles. Others say it gets better with time.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I get around 23-24. But that's without trying. I've had 26-27 on pure highway driving.

ajmtbm

during the summer i get 24-25 mixed city and highway
winter this drops to 23-24, maybe a bit less.

if i do a lot of highway, i get up to 29 or 30.

i calculated and found the car shows MPG about 3% higher than reality on average

sahara78

I have an 08 250 6MT RWD and my wife has the 09 250 AWD. I drive the RWD and AWD daily and my take is that the RWD has the sportier handling and it has that little extra kick when accelerating. Also the larger rear tires in the RWD looks a little more aggressive IMO. BUT since my 6MT is a base model, the AWD is much more luxurious and has more features.

dangy

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to Club Lexus. RWD FTW!! haha I'm saying that cause I have a rwd and not awd

love67

iTrader: (6)

there is!!!! SOON!!!..BCR made it already...and should be out in summer or sooner
...hmm..AWD....i can say it's slow...also very bad mileage..i only have 230-260 per tank!!!(every time)......and for performance.. i don't know because i never drive a IS250 RWD before...so i can't tell..

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

About the AWD being slow. It does feel slow but you can compensate for that with the Power Button, makes it more peppy. Also, I clocked the 0-60 with my Ipod and it came out to 7-7.5 sec, even though Lexus state that it's 8.6

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

The power button doesn't add any actual power.

It changes transmission behavior in certain gears, it's mainly valuable for part and on/off throttle driving

If you're flooring it from a dead stop the car will get the best acceleration with ECT-Power turned -off-

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I knew that. I didn't actually say it makes it faster, just feels more responsive which can compensate for the loss of speed.

IS-SV

If you live in snow country and don't have a thrasher winter 4wd car/truck, then the AWD is the way to go.

DoHwan

I'd go AWD as well. In oregon? I mean don't you guys get to go snowboarding all year round? the heck? wut a dream come true. You already have M3 so speed and all the fixing up crap can go there. Use the 250AWD for SNOWBOARDING!!!!!!! hahaah .. just my opinion once again.

crazybuggy

awd safer for snow, 350 faster... a lot faster....

gilly

Why can't you run a staggered setup on the AWD platform? I assume with the right offset wheels you could still get that wide aggressive look with the AWD.