Drove the 350 for the first time!
12-22-11, 08:51 PM
#1
Driver
Thread Starter
Drove the 350 for the first time!
So yea, I have owned the car for almost a month and I put my first 10 miles on it driving home from Tampa International airport. For those of you who dont know my story, my wife fell in love with the 06 IS350 that I saw on craigslist and go had her check out JUST to see if she liked the body style bc I wanted to get one for MYSELF when I finished my overseas tour with the Marine Corps. Needless to elaborate, I owned the car a little over a week later. And it would have been sooner had the international money transfer taken so long. haha. I bought the car after doing lots of research (and thats how i came to find CL), discussions and reviews of almost every post on CL and negotiations with the owner. I ended up getting a great deal on the car (16k to the owner) only paying 17.5k after tax, tag, title, and a little bonus for my wife since she did all the leg work for me. I cant thank the entire CL community enough for all the feedback to my questions and the wonderful threads put together by yall. Im sure I will have many more questions this week as I havent even played around with many features. After 23 hours of travel time and not sleeping for over 36, I had to take a little nap after getting home. But I will say I am VERY inpressed with the power and the sound of the car. It handles great, rides smooth, and feels like I am driving pure sport luxury. Im really looking forward to getting up in the morning and putting some miles on it driving around checking out Harley's for myself. But after driving the car for 3 weeks, I think I might have to pry the key fob from my wifes hands, haha! More questions and LOTS of pics to come in the next few days fellas. Hope everyone has a great holiday season! 
12-22-11, 10:43 PM
#7
Lexus Fanatic
One thing about the 350, you have to be careful around speed traps, the car is built so well you dont feel the speed, at a stoplight try go only half throttle you will notice very quickly that you're alone and everyone else is way behind 
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12-22-11, 11:22 PM
#9
Of course, there are some individuals who enjoy this feeling. Some people take it to the next level and prefer to keep the car in ECT Power, even during stop and go traffic.
To the OP, here is how you disable traction control for your 2006 IS350 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMN-WEWM5IE
You have to do this "pedal dance" every time you turn the car on if you want to drive without traction control.
12-23-11, 12:29 AM
#10
Driver
Thread Starter
I actually think the power of the IS350 (1st gear) is more of a burden than an asset during stop and go traffic. I prefer to use snow mode if I'm stuck in stop-and-go. The constant surging from 0 makes me feel nauseous after a while.
Of course, there are some individuals who enjoy this feeling. Some people take it to the next level and prefer to keep the car in ECT Power, even during stop and go traffic.
To the OP, here is how you disable traction control for your 2006 IS350 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMN-WEWM5IE
You have to do this "pedal dance" every time you turn the car on if you want to drive without traction control.
Of course, there are some individuals who enjoy this feeling. Some people take it to the next level and prefer to keep the car in ECT Power, even during stop and go traffic.
To the OP, here is how you disable traction control for your 2006 IS350 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMN-WEWM5IE
You have to do this "pedal dance" every time you turn the car on if you want to drive without traction control.
12-23-11, 12:38 AM
#11
The pedal dance is needed to fully disable traction control for the duration of your drive.
But honestly, I just mentioned this as a "for your information" type of deal. I don't recommend routinely driving with traction control off (especially in rainy weather). Trac off is necessary to get optimal acceleration from 0 (traction control can sometimes bog the car down during WOT), but again, for daily driving purposes it's not really necessary.
There isn't a single "daily driving" situation where you'll ever actually need to get from 0 to 60 in under 5 seconds.
If you ever take your car to the track, though, you'll definitely want to turn traction control off. That's mainly why I mentioned it.
When I first got my IS350, I drove around with traction control off on occasion (in dry situations), and I got myself into trouble a couple of times. I spun out trying to take a simple left turn (at no more than 20 MPH) at a protected light in dry conditions.
12-23-11, 12:43 AM
#12
Or, I suppose having trac off will allow you to pull shenanigans like this -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXXBjckITF8
Be safe with it, though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXXBjckITF8
Be safe with it, though.
...
12-23-11, 01:02 AM
#14
Oh, and since you're new to the IS350, here's some data (acceleration profiles)/reviews for you to check out-
IS350 acceleration:
Road and Track -
http://www.roadandtrack.com/content/...S-350_data.pdf
Full R&T review: http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/co...7-lexus-is-350
Car and Driver: http://www.caranddriver.com/features...s-is350-page-8
Edmunds Insideline IS350 vs 335i (heavily biased towards german cars, and even they had nice things to say about the IS350): http://www.insideline.com/bmw/3-seri...us-is-350.html
IS350 acceleration:
Road and Track -
http://www.roadandtrack.com/content/...S-350_data.pdf
Full R&T review: http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/co...7-lexus-is-350
Car and Driver: http://www.caranddriver.com/features...s-is350-page-8
Edmunds Insideline IS350 vs 335i (heavily biased towards german cars, and even they had nice things to say about the IS350): http://www.insideline.com/bmw/3-seri...us-is-350.html
12-23-11, 04:53 AM
#15
Driver
Thread Starter
thanx for all the info syzygy! awesome links to keep me entertained and glued to the computer screen on my first day of vacation...my wife is gonna love you. lol. but in all seriousness, thanks to all, especially you man...