corradoMR2

A+. It's a STANDOUT car in a bland segment (3-series being most bland). I bought my IS because of the exterior styling. And the blue paint just amplifies it further. It's a head turner, jaw-dropping piece of machinery. Co-workers and other office employees keep walking by it and stop to look.

Over the weekend, some guy was washing his car, saw mine coming slowly down the street, and he was still passing his mitt on the same spot over and over while staring at my car. A few more motions and the paint would have come off. Was so funny

SimTide985

Well of course he stared..

With your fancy blue color paint./

mso4

iTrader: (1)

Yes BMW is all about squinty eyes now. Still better than their new 4 series and X5's ugly flared nostrils though. Seriously this is the first time that I did not fall in love with BMW's new models, very disappointing. I love the Lexus' new aggressive spindle look. Modern and fresh.

Infiniti's new boss came from Audi. He successfully helped Audi rise to new heights and he intends to do the same with Infiniti. The name change is to help minimize confusions for future models (except to current owners haha). All cars will be called "Q" with multiples of 10 (Q50, Q60) and SUV will be QX. Similar to Audi's A4, A5, A6 etc

natnut

ditto. I happen to find the new IS beautiful.

natnut

Here's the full comparo by Road and Track :

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-revi...n-65-3-roa1013

Here are some of the numbers :

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-revi...65-3-roa1013-5

What leaps out to me is the turning circle of the IS compared to the other cars : 34.2 ft !!

Compared to the 38.7ft of the BMW 335i, the 37.7ft of the Cadillac ATS and the 36.0ft of the Infiniti Q50. That's easily 2 ft less than the next smallest turning circle!!

No wonder the IS feels so much more nimble and tossable than the other cars. AND it does so by still having the 3rd longest wheelbase and largest cargo capacity. Truly the Lexus engineers have waved some magic dust over the Lexus chassis.

SimTide985

Yep.

When I test drove the IS350, the lady sales person had me test out the car's sharp turning by making a U-turn and my eyes went wide with joy.

I love a small turning circle and this car has a turning circle even smaller and tighter than a Ford Mustang. It makes U-turns so damn fun and the car stays flat while you're whipping it around. Sometimes when I try to take U-turns in my G37, it feels like I'm trying to turn a boat around.

SimTide985

Yeah, I'm actually getting very bored with BMW's design. Don't get me wrong, the 2012+ updates are leaps and bounds better than what they looked like 3 years ago. The same with Audi. The A4 is the most boring car out of the bunch now. If it didn't have those trademark LED headlights, there wouldn't be a whole lot going for it from the outside. The 4-Series is looking really good thought and the A5 is still hanging in there and looking pretty good.

The ATS is very elegant and stylish. I like its stance from the front and front 3/4's. I like it a lot but looks almost too much like the old CTS---The Q50 is also filled with new great lines and good looks all around. It still has a few humps and bumps very reminiscent of the old G (I bet several people still might mistake it for a Lexus)

I like that the IS is a totally different animal--there is not a single car like it on the road right now. I don't know if I likes its exterior design better than the Q50 but at the same time, I don't think it's ugly by a long shot.

and since when is Predator not an awesome design? I thought everyone loved Predator! Those things are badass killing machines--and that's what the IS is going for.

LexFather

Thanks sir for the links. Its amazing too because the IS here does not offer the optional rear-steer option overseas, which would help even more. Shame we don't get it here.

This new chassis seems to be brilliant and glad to see a coupe will be based off it next.

ydooby

Thanks for the links. While the turning radius of the IS is impressively small it has nothing to do with the car's nimbleness (no one needs turning radius other than during tight U-turns and parking situations).

Looking at all the stats on that page, one thing that strikes me is how Infiniti has managed to push the age-old VQ ahead of the 2GR engine in terms of fuel economy. The VQ engine used to be a thirstier engine than the GR, but now the Q50S magically gets better fuel economy despite having larger wheels, higher output and one less gear? I know the difference is minimal and should be of little concern to those cross-shopping the two cars, but I'm still curious as to what Infiniti has done to the VQ to improve its fuel economy to the point that even with 8 gears the GR still lags behind now.

SimTide985

That's what you think!

ydooby

Nimbleness can be felt even when changing lanes. Tell me why you need a small turning radius to be nimble. It's usually down to steering ratio, chassis/body rigidity, suspension tuning and weight distribution, but not turning radius.

LexFather

On paper....It's as thirsty as ever, about to fill it up again today...

ydooby

But I suppose you aren't driving a 3IS along the same route to make an apple-to-apple comparison. I brought it up because the Q50S did manage to post slightly higher MPG than the IS in MT's test, whereas before the IS350 used to post consistently (slightly) better MPG than the G, so I think the change in order is still an interesting observation worth mentioning.

What has Infiniti done? That's a pretty significant jump for what are supposed to be carried-over engine and transmission in the Q, whereas the new IS got the benefit of an upgraded gearbox.

SimTide985

Don't hate on the turning radius

ydooby

Geez all I did was to point out the fact that nimbleness has nothing to do with turning radius, and now I'm hating? Of course a small turning radius is useful and preferrable! But it simply has nothing to do with a car's nimbleness.