Johnny Mo

What I'm hearing about the soon to be released IS is that the 250 will be available as AWD and the 350 will be the ONLY Lexus model offered with a manual (6speed) transmission. No AWD for the 350. Additionally, the IS will be available with every option that the current LS carries. Will post more when I know more.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

umm j ust like the gs huh, only the lower model has awd. but having 6 speed on the 350 is a good move

and damn, every options in the LS will be avaible on the IS? it's probably a good news, but probably a dumb one too if you ask me..... i mean, who cares about having a fridge in the IS?

XeroK00L

An entry-luxury, sport-oriented IS with every option that the current LS, an all-out luxury flagship, carries??? Even the new GS isn't close.

No offense but you'd better check the mental stability of whomever you heard this from.

Gojirra99

Rear seat massage, mini-frige & air suspension too ?

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

highly unlikly. esp for the price range.

pbm317

I will wait for further confirmation on the manual with the IS350, as this will be the deal breaker for me on the car. I really want the stick.

Can't wailt til March 1st to see the official pics.

I also highly doubt "every LS option" being on the IS. I'd guess it means more like Mark Levinson, Navigation, Heated/Cooled Seats (They could go for heated rear seats, but I don't think even the new GS has that), Rain Sensing Wipers, Active Headlamps, SmartKey, and MAYBE the Pre-Collision.

mmarshall

Johnny may have a point, guys....most of the differences between the current IS and LS are in engine and transmission size and standard equipment, not options.
He's also talking about the CURRENT LS430, not the next one. Of course, that also means the next LS will have to have AWD like the next IS.
To my knowledge the only real current differences are the Ultra-Luxury package and Lexus-Link, a Lexus version of GM's On-Star. Only time will tell if he is correct.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

one more difference, the price tag -- 30k to 70k

Johnny Mo

direct from a Lexus Factory Rep when he was at Lexus of Manhattan last week, with the new GS. I asked about the GS coming in manual tran - and he said no the only manual will be the IS350 and it's gonna be hot....then he gave me the rest of the scoop as well.

Faraaz23

I think it would be very smart of Lexus to stuff the new IS with options like blue tooth, ventilated seats, etc.... Lexus is having the hardest time breaking into the small sport sedan market, I mean just look at the IS300 sales numbers for the last couple years compared to the 3-series or even G35. If they truly want to be competitive they need to go all out.

rheiy

If lexus can stay north of 300hp with the is350 with low 5 sec time to 60, they will kick butt on the 3-series and g35. If lexus can do that, I'll be trading in the 2000 es300

XeroK00L

Yes, "all out" but only for as far as a luxury-sport sedan is concerned. An IS will ALL options on the current LS added will weigh so much, there'll be nothing sporty about it anymore.

It would've been more believeable if he said the next ES gets what the current LS carries, and the next IS gets what the new GS has to offer.

Lexus has made it clear that they aren't gonna make their cars to be all things to all people. The IS will be a baby GS, and the ES will be a baby LS, each catering to a distictively different demographic.

flipside909

This is somewhat old news already. We heard this info back when Lexus & Team Lexus invited ClubLexus for a 3rd time to California Speedway for the Lexus Grand Am Cup Weekend. We were briefed by Lexus HQ Marketing Rep and Chuck Goldsboro about the new IS back in October 2004 and this info was reinforced in December 2004 from the Lexus of Glendale preview.

https://www.clublexus.com/index.php/...iew/2474/1/10/

actham

When the lease on my 2000 GS400 ended, I jumped ship to a G35 coupe 6MT. I'm really more of a sport coupe sort of guy (thought I did love the GS) and fell for the G pretty hard. It is a great car performance wise...but does have some short comings. My biggest gripe is the stereo...a Mark Lev system would definitely be an IS350 option I would go for. Another big gripe is the amount of engine noise in the cabin. I hope the next IS will offer equal or better performance than my G and be a Lexus...meaning a high quality interior and a noise level maybe half way between the G and my old GS. The 6MT is a must, though. And I'll be waiting for the coupe/convertible. Actually, I hope they do a stand alone coupe...I fear the retractable hardtop will be too many dollars.

STIG

is350 with 6 speed stick is really appealing to me i could care less about mini fridge, massage, air suspension, laser guided cruise control blah blah blah and so on... just IS350 6 speed RWD is good enough for me.