BlueSander

Hi all,
I'm in the market but probably won't get the car anytime soon. I'm currently looking at the 250AWD or the 525/530xi. Both are great cars but the BMW is probably 5k-6k extra. I love the Lexus for being small, sporty looking and a comfort ride, however, there are 2 things i'm concerned with:
1. How good is the AWD system from Lexus? I know this is probably the first generation where Lexus introduce AWD to the IS and GS, but doing research online (specially Ebay) out of 9 250 AWD I found, 4 was involved in head-on collision. Can anyone explain this?
2. How is the ride at high speed? Like I said somewhere up here before, I drove the GS350 AWD and at high speed, it's floaty (can't compare to the 02 A4 i got). I'm expect the IS to be very floaty (probably a bit less than the GS for being heavy and smaller in size).

1989Lexus

is250 to bmw 5 series xi?.... two different classes and rides. You cant explain head on collisions because of the awd systems,who knows how those accidents happend. Maybe they were all teenangers driving? just an example.

What do you mean the GS was floaty? and youre expecting the is to be floaty? If youre looking for a rice rocket feel, i think youre looking at the wrong cars.


btw what part of CT are you from?

mikez

I dont know about you or what car you have driven, but floaty to me was my old integra going above 80... man that was a scary rush... specially when I was younger and I kept pushing it towards a 100 haha.

The IS AWD feels a lot more planted to me, when I get off work if I'm in rush I take the freeway and I usually blast down the fast lane around 80's or so, and once it was 3am in the morning and I was in rush to get home to sleep from some girl's party and the car felt amazingly planted and confident even at 120.

I would say as long as the road is smooth, the car feels very confident at high speeds... as long as there isnt any cross winds or groove filled roads.

But now all I do is local and never go over the speed limit, I dont know what happened to me

passnu2

iTrader: (33)

The IS will have a similar ride to the BMW IMO. The GS is the car to compare in that class but I do agree that the GS is more floaty in its ride. Not that its bad but if you are looking for a sport ride they just dont compare.

You can put springs or coilovers on the GS or IS to fit your style and taste of ride! That is what I have done coming from BMW and similar cars in the past. Both are great cars. Many will say you will be in the shop all the time with the BMW but that was never the case for me??

May I ask why you are so stuck on AWD? I live in the midwest also and with a good set of snow tires on either or the RWD BMW or Lexus you will be just fine! I have done it for years with and with out snow tires. IMO the BMW is much better in the snow then the IS for it being RWD.

Good Luck in your purchase decision! Stop back and post pics of either car you choose!

Torii

I dont think the 250 awd is anything close to floaty at speeds around 100mph. very confident ride imo. and the awd was awesome for the 2 alaskan winters i drove it. of course I had blizzak snow tires on, but the awd performed very well and the only negative I could think of is that stopping and turning on ice. of course no drive system I know does well on ice, let alone stopping and turning.

I like the fact that lexus gives you snow mode/economy, etc

BMW does not and when I test drove the 325xi I was not impressed at all with their awd version...the test drive was with all season tires...but still was not impressed

BlueSander

I'm from West Hartford, CT. I get a bit over 16k miles every year, but that's a lot of long drives putting together. I have heard people talk about having RWD with winter tires on is just as good as as AWD but I don't want to risk it since my girlfriend will sharing my ride with me this coming winter.

The reason why I have the IS and 530xi side by side is because they both fit part of what my "perfect car" should be. The 530xi is big enough for family travel while the IS will be more like a daily commute. Both of them do it very well with reasonable mpg. I'm leaning toward the IS a lot by now due to its options. I can get almost every options and still have some cash left instead of spending all on a barely optioned 530xi.
Wondering if Lexus is gonna put AWD in IS350 anytime soon. That's gonna be the beast for the people up North like me lol

Oh yeah, just wanna add a little note on why i'm saying the GS is a bit floaty. I have a 02 Audi A4 and that's one heavy car. It's roughly 200lbs less than the GS except it's like a Corolla size --> very stable at almost any speed. On another hand, the GS is heavy but huge. Imagine if you're driving at 70-80s and get strong side wind like we do a lot in New England! I did raced against the GS350 and after we got a bit over 100 (for a few second) my friend had to ease out the gas pedal because his car was way too floaty. He said it was like his front wheels are no longer touching the ground. Anyhow, Audi has been the one of the best out there with their AWD system, I can't expect too much from Lexus or BMW, however, I'm getting much better options + aggressive look from those two than in an Audi:lol

passnu2

iTrader: (33)

Audi is great. I traded in 05 1/2 S4 for my IS350! Great cars they make IMO. I just got tired of the amount of gas with the V8!!! Dont think you will see IS350 AWD.

I am surprised you dont like the new look and direction of Audi. I am a big fan of all they have going on! Personally I would like to end up in the RS4 when I am done with the IS. Of course gas prices will be a huge factor in that

BlueSander

haha I didn't expect to see an Audi fan here I like the new S5 a lot. It's just way too much for the budget at this time. I'm getting the IS for the next 5 years until I finish up with grad school then I will be getting the S5 - hopefully - these 5 years will be easy going without making appointment for checkup that those random weird things my A4 got

rdgdawg

Floaty??? Not even at 110+.... as for AWD I've spoken to 3 FORMER A4 drivers here in WI who feel MUCH better driving IS250 AWD....

Brian231

I have to say that my AWD exceeding my expectations especially with this winters snowfall in the Chicagoland area. I enjoy the car more with my lighter rims and upgraded tires. I have never had any traction issues whatsoever and love that. I am more impressed with the car daily. I just need to be more careful with what roads I choose to drive on. To answer some members questions about floaty feel within the suspension components, I have not experienced this. IMO, the car is very tight in the corners and react very responsive. Also, the Lexus does not have a heavy feel with the AWD like most cars. The car is a Godsend in very fowl weather.

nabbun

I haven't used the AWD in adverse weather yet but it should be better than BMW's and Merc B's.

Evil Teo

iTrader: (13)

I don't have any problems with my AWD since I first got it. Great price, good options and the only complaint i have and I sure u will see this with other cars as well is the dam paint chips easily. So if you are gettin any car I recommend gettin it clear bra or aerotect or paint protection. I live in NJ so I do use the AWD snow traction option on the car, it works very well to me and I don't have snow tires on. The reason for those head on collision is because some people just can't drive.