Goldark

Well, when I first saw it - I thought it's no longer sporty / young looking - it's more 'mature' - after a while it turned into a 'baby GS'

I was right.

When I was leaving the release party here in Chicago I decided to take a picture. At that point, the Lexus rep asked me if I wanted get in. He gave me the smartkey - which I think is a kick *** feature, and in I went.

I love the seats. Much better than the 1st gen IS. I tapped the START button twice - without having my foot on the brake, and the steering wheel tilted down, and the gauges came to life. I played with the NAV as well as the climate controls for a bit, then I asked if I could get 'her' started.

I put my foot on the brake and tapped the START button again. The engine came to life, and the gauges reset (sort of what a Pontiac does). I don't know if it was just that car, or me, but the car sounded louder than a 'normal' Lexus. I let it idle for a few more minutes and asked the rep if I could revv it up a little bit, since I was interested in the exhaust note.

VROOM VROOOM VROOOM



I was now sitting with a nice little grin on my face. I can't wait until Oct 16th when I'll get to drive this car, but from so far - I like it. Even though it's more 'grown up'.


A side note, the rep did say that a manual is coming - but in about two years. He also said that the car has about 330 horses, and that the 300 HP rating is arbitrary. They will market the car as the fastest sedan in it's class.

After I was done, I turned the car off and asked him about pricing. He did say that they will have 2 trims of the car - one being in the very high 30s and the other in the low/mid 40s.

jlin101

I wonder if the 330 hp the rep referred to was by the old SAE standard, or did he mean that Lexus intentionally underrated the power, as ALL Japanese cars used to have no more than "276 hp." I also noticed that 2006 LS now has only 278 hp, and SC has 288 hp, but GS430 still has 300hp, based on the new SAE standard. Acura TL and RL also got a lower hp rating.

Gojirra99

It's very questionable the new GS430 's 300 hp is rated under the new SAE since ithe new model came out early this year, I certainly hope not, if it is, then I would expect it to perform better than it is now . . .

Goldark

They said the IS was rated with the new SAE standards

spwolf

I am pretty sure it is rated under new sae - 204x1.2=244.8. 2.5 and 3.0l engines are twins with exception to displacement.

jlin101

The rumored 330 hp sounds fishy to me. Nissan's 3.5L V6 has less than 300 hp in the 350Z and G35. Honda, which was able to ring 240hp out of S2000's 2 L, only gets 290 hp in the RL. Even with direct fuel injection, I don't think Toyota could squeeze 10% more out of the same displacement, without resorting to some other high-tech, and expensive, trickery like BMW's M3.

Gojirra99

In the end, it's the real world performance that matters more than the hp/torque ratings . . .

spwolf

what is fishy? Its here... Its called technology, 5 years ago, 200-220hp was the norm... VQ is being constantly upgraded as well, just few years back it was 260hp under old sae....

jlin101

I understand that technology gets constantly updated/upgraded. All I am saying is that in general, if you examine what each Japanese auto maker (or the German ones, for that matter) has to offer each year, it would almost seem that they have a consortium to share technologies/features. It is unusual for one manufacturer to be able to achieve or offer something that none of the other companies could.

IS JOE

have you done any research about direct injection? or are you speaking from speculation?

If you haven't you should do a little research, its a very interesting technology, with a lot of benefits.

Toyota's not alone either. Audi has had a lot of success with their FSI direct injection system in the Le mans races.

TheRupp

What amazes me is the fact that it's 306 hp, 0-60 in sub-6, and it gets 21 in the city. That's where I'm amazed with Direct Injection

MSMLexIS

The new IS uses a different direct injection system it can do both direct and indirect which is why the horsepower is so high and it still gets good gas mileage.

spwolf

its called leadership :-). Technology wise, Toyota is way up there and they have been using direct injection engines in their vehicle for a long time now (lot longer than Audi). HSD did not invent itself :-).

TRDFantasy

Direct Injection alone gives a 10% boost in power and fuel economy.

Also, to answer your question, yes, Toyota did use some "trickery" like BMW did in the S54 engine.

For starters, the IS350 has Dual VVT-i, so variable valve timing on both intake and exhaust, just like BMW's Double Vanos system. Also, like the S54 engine, the 2GR-FSE in the IS350 has a variable air intake manifold. There is also other trickery used which I don't really remember.

And then of course is the D4-S inejction system, with both direct and port fuel injectors. 6 injectors in total.

This leads to an engine with class leading power, emissions, near-top fuel economy , and unrivaled refinement.

jlin101

Even with all the techno wizardry, BMW gets 255 hp out of 3L (85 hp/liter), which is roughly 300 hp in a 3.5L (I know I-6 is not directly comparable to a V-6, but...). 330 hp out of 3.5L would work out to 94 hp/L. Does Toyota know some secrets that BMW, MB, and all the other Japanese auto makers don't? As good as Toyota is, Honda has usually been the technology leader in Japanese car makers, with their deep involvement in racing. Believe me, I WOULD love for this claim to be true, as I am interested in buying an IS350 myself. I suppose as someone said earlier, it's the real world performance that counts, not the claimed or rumored hp rating (those are only good for bragging rights or debates at forums such as this).