llamaboiz

trade the c5 for 63 split window coupe? or a 66 vert with L-78/M-22 options or a 90's ZR-1? *sorry im a xchevy guy... and ford guy... and still a toyota guy*

BUT if you don't do any of those 3 options, then get the 350 but just remember~ its not a sport sedan with luxury but a entry lvl luxury car with sportiness, then you wont be disappointed *add coils and a rear swaybar then its whole different ballgame*

IS-SV

IS350 will be plenty quick for use on the street in urban environment, plus more comfy, quieter, economic, reliable too.

IS-SV

The extra / accidental zero makes it real amazing.

Initial_K

iTrader: (2)

Fixed! I'm planning pushing my car to 150K miles as well or until the 3rd Generation IS comes out.

dsadsauser

You will love it. I guess you have to ask yourself how serious your need for speed is. If it can be controlled, you will have one of the best running cars in the world. No other car can match its performance, luxury and reliability. I sold my Subaru STI (which had 370 AWHP) and the IS350 is plenty fast. Not as fast, but the difference isn't dramatic at all. Pull the trigger, thank me later.

ColtM4A3

I went from a Mustang GT to an IS350. Thus far the IS has been a more enjoyable car in every way except one...exhilaration. Nothing quite like the roar of a V8 and going down the road sideways. I'm at a point in my life where the trade off was worth it (although I still do miss it). IMHO you need to ask yourself is the trade off worth it to you?

dsadsauser

Was your mustang stock?

IS250chino

iTrader: (7)

DONT DO IT. dont get me wrong the IS350 is nice but a vet is still a vet. i had 3 mustang Gt and still want a 93. there is not a thing like a V8 slow or fast lol

Initial B

iTrader: (2)

since you already have an LS....why an IS? Go for an SC430 and add coilovers, wheels, exhaust. Or maybe a couple turbos, too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC3t3PcNspo

SoDiezl350

iTrader: (2)

I'm sorry to hear your vette is unrealiable. I'm actually looking at LT1 & LS1 vettes as a track toy with the hope that they can be reliable enough to not break the bank and still kick some butt on the track. Should I stay away from these cars?

The way I describe the IS350 to ppl is that it's very well executed. I came from a Subaru Legacy before and while that car attempted to compete in the entry level luxury market, this car just dominates it.

I would say this car looks/feels a lot more expensive than it really is. The seats are simply the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in and the attention to detail is very high in all regards. Whether its the 7.1 channel surround sound DVD system, the adaptive headlights, the cooled seats, the slick gauge cluster, the perfectly matched gear ratio, this car is a complete package.

With that being said it still feels numb compared to a real sports car(even with mods) and you can't really do anything to it to make it significantly faster. With mods it handles quite well it just doesn't inspire confidence like some other cars.

vipergts

Thanks very much everyone! I test drove an IS350 today and here is what I thought:

- Build quality , features , finish , etc (million times better than the vette, DUH).

- Very smooth ride - kind of lke my LS430.

What I was suprised by was lack of responsivness and acceleration. The car I tested was at a carmax and had 30K miles on it. Tried turning off AC and put her into sports mode but it just felt a little slow. At times I had to check to see if I could be driving an IS250. NOt bad though, overall I would give everything else besided responsivness and acceleration a perfect 10. I may have had a lemon, but compared to my unmodded auto C5 it seemed a lot slower when in fact I was expecting it to be be just as quick - the c5 is a 1998 (0-60 about 5.5). So I am going to go drive another one and will hopefully have more luck. Thanks again everyone!

SoDiezl350

iTrader: (2)

The car should not feel slow and unresponsive. Before I got used to PWR mode I found it too sensitive(responsive). Regardless of what mode, when pushed, the car should throw you back and accelerate very quickly up to about 100mph.

Not trying to downplay the C5 because I know it's fast but I think that in a straight line the IS350 will beat it consistently. Also it's not one of those cars that feels slow but is actually fast as the low gearing makes gives great acceleration (60 in under 5).

syzygy

What you're referring to is a very common and irritating issue with the IS350. Actually, there are two potential issues going on here.

#1 - The traction control in the IS350 is extremely intrusive. Traction control completely bogs the car down during 1st gear where the IS350 should shine the most and in general will make the car feel extremely sluggish.

If you were driving with traction control on, there's your problem right there.

Let me give you a few numbers. Edmunds tested the IS350 (2006) with traction control on many years back. What did they get? 0 to 60 in 6.1 seconds. That's pretty sluggish.

In 2010, Edmunds tested another IS350, only this time they turned traction control off. The result? They found nearly a full second improvement in acceleration, 0 to 60 came in at 5.2 seconds with traction control off.

Almost a full second improvement by turning traction control off? That's massive, and it's a testament to how intrusive the system is in this car.

That's not even the entire story - with the IS350, you can technically turn off traction control regardless of the model year. However, it's far easier to turn traction control off if you have a 2007+ model.

With the 2006 IS350, you can turn traction control off, but it requires an elaborate "pedal dance" which is described by the following video -


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMN-W...layer_embedded

Most 2006 IS350 owners don't see to be too phased by this, some argue that they've mastered the "dance" sufficiently to the point where they can turn it off quickly and efficiently at a stoplight if full acceleration is necessary.


#2 issue - The IS350 utilizes a sort of "intelligent" transmission that allegedly monitors your throttle inputs and modulates throttle sensitivity and response accordingly.

In other words, if you drive like a snail all the time, the throttle will not be as responsive on partial throttle application, which in turn can give you the illusion of sluggishness.

That's not even the entire story. If the car is driven like a slug for long enough time, then in some cases if you mash the accelerator to go WOT from a roll, the car won't put you into the lowest gear for optimal acceleration. Sometimes, it will actually put you into the next highest gear.

For example, if you are cruising along at 45 MPH and you mash the accelerator, for the car to provide optimal acceleration, it should put you into 2nd gear. If the car is driven like a snail for long enough, the "intelligent" transmission will, for some time, put you into 3rd gear instead. I find this to be phenomenally irritating, and there is a temporary fix for this, but it's cumbersome and I shouldn't have to do this - the temporary fix involves periodically unplugging the battery from the car for 5 min., thereby "resetting" the data gathered by the ECU. Throttle sensitivity will start off high again (in ECT normal), and most importantly, the car will put you into the correct gear during acceleration from a roll.


#1 is a major issue. If you're driving with traction control enabled, you're driving with a severe handicap.

#2 is a more minor issue during acceleration from a dig. If you decide to go WOT from a dig, then whatever data the intelligent transmission has gathered will be irrelevant. Assuming you have traction control turned off, you're going to achieve optimal acceleration. It is, however, sometimes an issue for acceleration from a roll. I've tested this out extensively (mostly during roll acceleration from ~45 MPH).

In general, during partial throttle, #2 can give you the illusion that the car is slower and more sluggish than it actually is.

Truthfully, the IS350 is 0 to 60 in 4.9 and quarter in mid 13s (13.5 flat, is about the average). During terrific conditions (low temperature, favorable density altitude) you can get as low as 13.2 bone stock.

Depending on traction/weather, you might get as high as 13.9. It's fair to say that the range of 1/4 mile times is between 13.2 to 13.9, and in general, that range is likely higher than that of you C5 vette.

Bottom line is this - If you want to really explore the potential of the IS350 you need to turn traction control off. For 2007+ models, this is achieved by pressing and holding the traction control button for 5 seconds (until the appropriate light comes on and stays on on the dash)

For 2006, you'll need to perform that "pedal dance" described in the aforementioned video.

Try that out, and see if you can arrange a solo test (no passenger) and let us know how that goes.


When you are test driving, set the display to show what gear you are in. This brings me to another issue, the IS350's "intelligent" transmission is very quick to place you into higher gears in an effort to save gas.

The situation where this is most annoying and noticeable is if you are at a stop waiting to take a 90 degree turn onto a road. Often times, during your turn, the car will prematurely shift you from 1st gear into 2nd gear.

Then, if you only gradually depress the pedal to go WOT, it's very likely that you will end up accelerating through 2nd gear instead of 1st gear.

If, after the turn, you stomp on the pedal as fast as possible, most likely the car will shift you from 2nd gear into 1st gear and you will accelerate in the appropriate gear (at least), although even in this case, I still find the fact that the IS350 puts me into 2nd gear (when I don't want it) to be rather annoying.

I could blather on and on in great detail about the performance in this car, but I'll spare you for now .

To begin - let us know if you had tested the IS350 with traction control on or off. If traction control was on (this is the default, by the way), then that explains why you found the car to be sluggish (the car is relatively sluggish from a dig with traction control on)

If traction control was off during your test and you still found the car to be sluggish, then #2 could be an issue if you were doing mostly partial throttle applications during your test run.

If you found the car to be sluggish with traction control off going WOT from a dig, I would be be extremely surprised, because while the IS350 isn't a race car or full fledged sports car by any stretch of the imagination, one thing it does well - damn well - is accelerating forcefully from 0 to about 50 MPH. Acceleration, in general, is "strong" up to 100 MPH, but 0 to about 50 should never feel sluggish with traction control off, especially compared to a regular C5 vette (not the Z06 version).

dsadsauser

Did you have a passenger? If so that will suck the power out of the IS 350 (sort of). It's not real torquey as dealing with weight is somewhat a weakness.

syzygy

Quick disclaimer - I hope I didn't scare you away from getting an IS350. When new people are looking to purchase the car, I tend to err on the side of being a harsher critic than usual because I find that to be more useful.

I'm not much of a muscle car/sports car guy, I've never owned one. I have owned a BMW 335i coupe though - though this car is in the same class as the IS350.

Nevertheless, the IS350 will likely be one of the best cars I will ever have the pleasure of owning, mostly because it does a lot of things extremely well.