ddvette9

Just broke 2,000 miles on my 250 f sport and wanted to post a little review on the engine. Two most recent cars were a Nissan 370Z and a scion frs so while not the fastest cars on the road, the 370z can get up and go And it was modded so I understand speed a little bit and have driven tons of cars in my life that were "fast".

This 2.5 engine has taken an absolute beating on this forum and on various reviews all over the Internet. I personally happen to disagree with them all and here are the reasons.

1. For having such low hp and tq numbers on paper, this car just flat out feels a lot quicker than the specs. I live in a big city and if I can catch a downshift at the right time and gear the car just flat out pulls for a few seconds. It does lose some ***** as soon as it changes gears after the initial downshift but for the first few seconds of acceleration it's pretty pleasing for low specs. Not to mention I'm usually off the throttle once getting up to speed so not really concerning when it loses its *****.

2. Being that the car isn't super fast, it allows one to absolutely beat up the transmission and rip to redline without getting into too much trouble. Kind of like the frs, this transmission can be beaten and flogged daily and you aren't breaking the speed limit too bad in the first few gears. There is something to be said for a car that you can wind up and not get into too much trouble, it's just flat out fun.

3. In normal driving modes, the tranny is silky smooth, I mean very very smooth.

Yes it's not the 350, yes the specs and times are very poor on paper. Yes other cars in the segment have more power. But a part of me is falling in love with this scrappy little engine. It's smooth, it likes to be ripped on once in a while and the initial pull from a downshift is very very acceptable for 200hp and 185 tq.

Would I love a 350 or Something faster, of course. Who wouldn't?

But for me, who has a decent history with sports cars, this car has not really disappointed. Too many reviews unecessarily trash it. I happen to think its scrappy, reliable and pretty fun.

Hope you enjoyed my thoughts and I hope some others feel the same way. The 250 is not an ugly step child, it's just a little brother who tried hard to fit in and does a pretty good job if you drive with an open mind.

kinglexus99

I agree with everything you say here...and I have a 350. I love the 250 engine though and prefer the 6 speed tranny over the 8 (for sure).

dizlex

I went with the IS350, but before this I had a BMW 323i that had the same power/weight as the IS250, I thought it was spunky-enough around town, and decent for ramping-up to around 80 MPH or so. It did lack for passing power at highway speeds, though.

To your point about having fun at slower speeds, though, torquier motors, that don't have to be zoomed to high RPM's to "go", are best. The IS350 could use more torque down low, too, as we all know.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

the gearing on the 3IS 250 is more aggressive, it is not bad actually when in Sport mode when I had one as a loaner. Now the 2IS 250 that was a dog.

Jbreezie

Thanks, I feel a little bit better now with my IS250. I keep on wanting to trade it in later for the 350 but maybe I shouldn't!

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

250 feels a lot better than last gen but the mpg difference is barely anything like 2-3 mpg. But you can crack better deals on 250s over the 350 and get larger discounts

A2BLexus

The 250 isn't a speed demon but its got very usable HP. The sound channeled in the cabin is very nice.

EJ255t

I had the 250 for a loaner car and it picks up quick, now if only my 350 was 6 gears...!!!

link13

I appreciate the review and agree with it. For me, the 250 made sense because I drive 5 miles to work and 5 miles home on surface streets. I don't have occasion to get above 50 mph during the commute, so the extra 100 hp would not be of much use. I really do like the car. I am coming from a 220 hp I6 in a 4 speed '94 GS300, so the IS definitely feels more lively and is a lot more fun.

Imprezario

208 hp and about 8 sec 0-100 km/h are more than enough for my daily city driving, and 10-11 l/100 km is an acceptable consumption. IS350 is a space ship compared to IS250, but see no reason to burn extra gasoline in the dead traffic for fast but rare accelerations up to about 80 km/h - the speed detectors are everywhere in the city and on the highways. So IS250 is a nice city car - comfortable, good looking, not so but fast enough for me )

EZZ

My minivan does 0-60 in about 7.8 seconds and that seems plenty fast for daily use. The extra power in the 350 also comes with extra stupid moments for me as i tend to abuse it too much

BTW, i feel that most people think the IS is a slow sedan as most of the cars are 250s and driven very sedately...makes the IS350 quite a sleeper as you blow past that unsuspecting 328

Imprezario

The 328 is not a worthy opponent ) Unlike 335 ))

Behind the wheel of IS250 You can try to bite just 320

EZZ

The new 328 is pretty quick but even that is more expensive than an IS350 F-Sport comparatively equipped. My buddy just got a new 335 and it was $58k! How is a 350 even in the same category. It's like comparing an Acura ILX to a 350 F-Sport in terms of price.

scarboy693

Yea.. Price wise the IS350 is a bargain.. I had an F30 328i prior to my IS and I had the Sport Line with Tech pack, lighting, premium, and cold weather and it was more expensive MSRP wise and didn't even have premium audio or a backup camera (or hell even an ALARM) like the IS does.

Kinda surprising how well priced the IS is really because I think the interior and quality are a notch above the 328 and I've had my IS a year now and had the 328 a year too before I got slammed into

webra

If the 3is 250 and the 2is 250 share the same diff, even if the ratio is not the same, you can consider a gear swap. The toyobaru86/FRS uses the same diff as the 2Is and Cusco or someone makes a gearset kit that will really liven things up. I went from a 3.64 to a 4.1 on another car and it made quite a difference, and the fuel economy went up, not down.