First Day Driving Impressions - IS250 AWD w/nav
03-03-06, 09:17 PM
#1
Pole Position
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First Day Driving Impressions - IS250 AWD w/nav
Last night I picked up my new Black Onyx IS250 AWD, cashmere interior, NAV option and XM dealer installed radio.
It was raining a bit and hovering near the freezing mark--a good night to have the AWD, I thought. Before leaving the dealership, our sales person went over some basic functions of the nav system, plus some tips on the keyless entry system. The keyless entry is cool because if you open the passenger side door all four doors open. Open the driver side door and all the other doors remain locked (I wish there was a way to have both doors open on the driver side).
He also showed how the back up camera works. Visibility out the rear window of the IS250 is very limited, so the backup camera is surprisingly helpful when you are backing up. The Nav system is very feature rich and will take a while to learn. It has a large, high resolution screen; you have a choice of how you select a destination (address, point of interest, point on a map), and these points can be easily entered into memory. The nav system is fast, calculating a route in seconds. Even more impressive is that it calculates three routes, which gives the user much more control.
Driving Impressions
No doubt the interior lets you know immediately that you are in a Lexus. Every aspect of the interior design is upscale: the switch functions click quietly, unlike the trademark broken chicken wing turn signals so many domestic cars still have. The interior plastics are soft and elegant, and the lumincent gauges alone are enough to make you want to buy this car. The base stereo is phenomenal and it's nice to have the integrated XM. Coming from the Delphi Sky Fi II, there are some disadvantages, however. With the XM dealer install you get fewer preset options, and you have to scroll through each station one by one-also, I have not been able to figure how to get artist and song information to display--hopefully there is a way.
I also tried the bluetooth setup--mainly a trial and error process. Nice feature once you figure out how to make it work.
As we left the dealership it reminded me of my test drive--the car is very quiet, and power is more than adequate. The transmission shifts smoothly and the sweet exhaust note becomes more pronounced as you rev past 4000 rpm (hey, we had to try the paddle shifters). The steering is very quick and for electric steering, there is plenty of road feel transmitted to the driver. When taking turns the car cornered flat, with just a touch more body roll than the bmw 3, but the car still feels like it's on rails. The brakes work well but are a bit touchy--I think I may need a few days to adjust. On smooth roads with occasional bumps, the Lexus IS has a great ride. But on bumpy or rough roads, the ride can be a bit jittery--I'll have to drive my son' s 3 series to compare again. No doubt about it, the car has a firm suspension--coming from a more softly sprung SUV--it's a different experience--but with the IS you can lane change or take curves much faster.
The next day I took the car on my 35 mile back road route to work--mostly two lane twisty roads in Delaware county PA. What a blast. I had to keep remembering that I was in the break-in period and could not push the car too hard. The steering response is so quick and the handling so good, that was taking turns 15-20 mph faster than with my suv.
Summary comments: Awesome interior, quiet, great handling car, sporty suspension works great except on very bumpy roads. Do I like my new IS? I'm still beaming. Life is good. For me, after twenty five years of driving cheap cars--the Lexus provides constant reinforcement it is truly one of the best car manufacturers in the world. On a more subtle level, owning this car allows you to enjoy your success. You feel that you've earned it and that you deserve nothing less. I'm hooked.
It was raining a bit and hovering near the freezing mark--a good night to have the AWD, I thought. Before leaving the dealership, our sales person went over some basic functions of the nav system, plus some tips on the keyless entry system. The keyless entry is cool because if you open the passenger side door all four doors open. Open the driver side door and all the other doors remain locked (I wish there was a way to have both doors open on the driver side).
He also showed how the back up camera works. Visibility out the rear window of the IS250 is very limited, so the backup camera is surprisingly helpful when you are backing up. The Nav system is very feature rich and will take a while to learn. It has a large, high resolution screen; you have a choice of how you select a destination (address, point of interest, point on a map), and these points can be easily entered into memory. The nav system is fast, calculating a route in seconds. Even more impressive is that it calculates three routes, which gives the user much more control.
Driving Impressions
No doubt the interior lets you know immediately that you are in a Lexus. Every aspect of the interior design is upscale: the switch functions click quietly, unlike the trademark broken chicken wing turn signals so many domestic cars still have. The interior plastics are soft and elegant, and the lumincent gauges alone are enough to make you want to buy this car. The base stereo is phenomenal and it's nice to have the integrated XM. Coming from the Delphi Sky Fi II, there are some disadvantages, however. With the XM dealer install you get fewer preset options, and you have to scroll through each station one by one-also, I have not been able to figure how to get artist and song information to display--hopefully there is a way.
I also tried the bluetooth setup--mainly a trial and error process. Nice feature once you figure out how to make it work.
As we left the dealership it reminded me of my test drive--the car is very quiet, and power is more than adequate. The transmission shifts smoothly and the sweet exhaust note becomes more pronounced as you rev past 4000 rpm (hey, we had to try the paddle shifters). The steering is very quick and for electric steering, there is plenty of road feel transmitted to the driver. When taking turns the car cornered flat, with just a touch more body roll than the bmw 3, but the car still feels like it's on rails. The brakes work well but are a bit touchy--I think I may need a few days to adjust. On smooth roads with occasional bumps, the Lexus IS has a great ride. But on bumpy or rough roads, the ride can be a bit jittery--I'll have to drive my son' s 3 series to compare again. No doubt about it, the car has a firm suspension--coming from a more softly sprung SUV--it's a different experience--but with the IS you can lane change or take curves much faster.
The next day I took the car on my 35 mile back road route to work--mostly two lane twisty roads in Delaware county PA. What a blast. I had to keep remembering that I was in the break-in period and could not push the car too hard. The steering response is so quick and the handling so good, that was taking turns 15-20 mph faster than with my suv.
Summary comments: Awesome interior, quiet, great handling car, sporty suspension works great except on very bumpy roads. Do I like my new IS? I'm still beaming. Life is good. For me, after twenty five years of driving cheap cars--the Lexus provides constant reinforcement it is truly one of the best car manufacturers in the world. On a more subtle level, owning this car allows you to enjoy your success. You feel that you've earned it and that you deserve nothing less. I'm hooked.
03-04-06, 12:55 AM
#3
Super Moderator
Originally Posted by PhilipMSPT
Congratulations on your new car!
By the way, you can open all the doors with the driver door handle touch. It just needs to be set by the service department for Personalized Settings.
By the way, you can open all the doors with the driver door handle touch. It just needs to be set by the service department for Personalized Settings.
03-04-06, 06:24 AM
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Originally Posted by Bichon
You can open all the doors with the driver door handle touch, and you don't need to see the service department. You make the switch using the key fob by pressing two buttons simultaneously. The instructions are in the owners manual.
03-04-06, 06:34 AM
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Originally Posted by lifeisgood
Summary comments: Awesome interior, quiet, great handling car, sporty suspension works great except on very bumpy roads. Do I like my new IS? I'm still beaming. Life is good. For me, after twenty five years of driving cheap cars--the Lexus provides constant reinforcement it is truly one of the best car manufacturers in the world. On a more subtle level, owning this car allows you to enjoy your success. You feel that you've earned it and that you deserve nothing less. I'm hooked.
James
IS350 Tungsten Pearl, Nav w/Mark Levinson + XM Radio
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03-04-06, 12:25 PM
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Originally Posted by ChrisM910
how do you do it, i havent seen that in the manual
take a look at section 1-2, page 6 of your manual
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