mcfly

New R&T has a shootout of 7 AWD sedans. The IS250, given some of the company it was keeping in the review and its rather anemic engine, but in a good showing and finished 4th. R&T even disabled VDIM for the autocross

I confess, if I had to have an AWD sedan, the 250 wouldn't be on my list, because DAMN the Audi is hot. And you can get all the performance of the Legacy Spec-B for a good bit less in the non-Spec B Legacy... of course, it's ugly, but that's a Subaru trademark. Anyway, good article. Enjoy.

The finishing order was:
7)Volvo S40 T5 AWD
6)Infiniti G35x
5)Mazda Mazdaspeed6
4)Lexus IS250 AWD
3)BMW 325xi
2)Subaru Legacy 2.5GT Spec B
1) Audi A4 2.0T Quattro

Gojirra99

The IS250 has VDIM ??? That's news to me

It's the VSC for the IS250 . . .

LexFather

Wow, the IS does very well, shows HP IS NOT EVERYTHING to the ******** out there
Sad the turbo and top model Volvo and Mazda finished so poorly. THe G35 needs a revamp FAST.

Kudso to Audi and the Subie!!!

mkaresh

No one's been liking the MazdaSpeed6. They delayed it to do some tweaking. Looks like they should have delayed it more. I took one for a brief test drive the other day, but need more seat time to render a verdict myself.

I've always been a big fan of the Subaru. I don't like Audis nearly as much as most people. They always feel nose-heavy to me, and I'd like a more agile feel.

I drove the IS 250 with a manual. Sounds like this engine works better with the automatic.

mcfly

The consensus from the rags is that the manual on the 250 isn't the best, either in feel or in terms of gear ratios, and that the auto is the way to go (don't shoot the messenger, I haven't driven a 250).


As for the Mazdaspeed 6, from the R&T article it sounds like Mazda has wrung everything they can out of that chassis... Mazda even admitted that they couldn't fit larger wheels/rubber because there's no room without rubbing various bits of suspension.

spwolf

hahaha, you are right... isnt it ridicilous? they spent so much time with the car, and dont even know the base fact that 10,000 members here know - IS250 has vsc only...

i am glad they found vdim so annoying :-). lol.

mcfly

I think it's safe to say that, while they're using the wrong acronym, the end result in the slolom/autocross is more or less the same... you have to turn it off, whatever IT is, to go fast.

spwolf

there is an huge difference in systems - vsc is old school, slower system that reacts violently. VDIM is more subtle and faster to react. The fact that larger part of the all articles is about VDIM, it is interesting to know that they have absolutly no clue what they are talking about.

mcfly

Good grief... I just realized that the stock rubber the IS gets on the 17 inch wheels are Bridgestone RE92's... undoubtedly one of the crappiest tires ever made. They came on my WRX as standard equipment as well, and are without question the worst tires I've ever had the misfortune to have on a car (although they are actually decent in the snow on the WRX).

Now I'm convinced the 250 would have trounced at least the BMW in both the autocross and the slalom if it had decent rubber on it.

lexusls430

I didnt think the is250awd did 0-60 in the 7s, am i wrong?

mcfly

I think they quoted 7.9. Although R&T seems to have numbers on the slow end of the spectrum in general. They only managed to hit 6s to 60 in a 350, which is even worse than Lexus's own conservative number.

LexFather

http://forums.nasioc.com/forum...29826

yaro1

I thought they had overall kind words about the IS in comparison to other magazines.

It really is a shame that there is no IS 350awd. That would be the car that I want. However, I recognize that it might eat into sales of the GS 350awd.

Gojirra99

They have 330xi & C350 4matic & I don't think they're worried about them eating into sales of E350 4matic & 530xi, I think IS350 AWD is a good idea.

Bichon

There is no such thing as the GS350 AWD. It's a GS300, and it only has 245 horsepower and a 0-60 just shy of 7 seconds, which isn't much quicker than the IS250 AWD. Lexus doesn't make a seriously quick AWD car. Offer an IS460AWD with the option of a manual transmission, and I'll be back at my Lexus dealer tommorow, checkbook in hand.