More to life than just resale value and reliability. For me, an IS350 is just too boring to drive. I don't want to be running around in an NA V6 when I could drive a turbocharged V6 or I6 from Genesis or BMW.

If you drove the 3.3t V6 from Hyundai or the 3 liter B58 I6 from BMW, you'd have a hard time driving something with a 2GR. Just too boring and anemic. We have nice mountain roads around here that are fun to go carve up in a hot RWD car. An IS350 running out of breath at 5,000 RPM the whole way is not my idea of a good time.

 

Yikes, man. You make it sound like the IS 350 is a dog to drive, when that is definitely not the case. I drove mine up in the mountains quite often and enjoyed it - even managed to keep up with IS Fs on occassion. And, for what it's worth, I'd rather have the 2GR than the four-cylinder in the base G70, even if it has a lot less torque. It just drives a lot smoother and more naturally, which, to me, is just as important as power.

The 3.3T is a completely different story. It's a great engine, and for similar money as an IS 350, it's almost a no-brainer. But, still, an I6 from BMW in a sedan like this is going to either be A) used or B) more expensive than an IS 350.

I don't disagree with the notion of the newer engines being more powerful and responsive, but also, you have to admit that a naturally-aspirated engine has some advantages.

 

You have valid points, on the hand my brother lost two Hyundai’s because of their poor engines and traded it in for a German MB who also blew the engine..and I have a good friend who had her KIA lose her engine from the lack of an low oil light, KIa did put in a new engine for her.. I don’t really have much of an interest in turbos.

 

Oh yeah, it rides at least a little better than my car on the non run-flats. The 19s on this have thicker sidewalls. The one I drove the other day on 19s even aired at 42 PSI rode great

 

The 2GR is perfectly fine, until you try any other contemporary V6/I6 at least. Viewed in a vacuum it's a smooth engine and the best of it's era but that era was back in 2007

 

I'm with you. I had 2 3 IS cars. The 250 was very nice, but slow. The 350 was really a pleasure. I only didn't buy it off lease because the numbers didn't make sense. I really have nothing negative to say about it. It was a beautiful car and I miss it sometimes.

 

Our IS350 sounded like a vacuum when you hammered it. I hardly drove that car...bleh.

The Toyota 2GR is potent but not really refined.

 

I actually like the 19" wheel styling better than the multi-spoke 20's. Perfect for me would be 5 spoke wheels but in 20" sizes but you can't have it all I guess.

 

Here in SoCal, it always happens. I disagree with a subsequent comment here that it cannot be helped. It seems to happen because most people don’t plan ahead and are even surprised when their exit or turn comes up on a route they probably know very well. Paying attention and planning ahead would alleviate it significantly in my opinion, but I doubt that it’s practical to do that. I get cut off all the time and probably it’s because I don’t tailgate. If there’s tons of room behind me, I still get cut off anyway. People are generally not courteous.

It used to bother me. Now, I just accept it. I don’t extend the finger anymore. If I choose to express my displeasure, there is a German gesture which is just waving your hand in front of your face with no digit extended. It doesn’t change anything but I am probably less likely to get shot if I do that.

Tailgating does bother me, but it’s also just something I expect. I will get rear ended at some point. It’s just a matter of time. It’s usually SUVers who tailgate. At some point, the combination of a heavy vehicle with a lousy driver has a bad end result.

 

around here. It’s pointless to speed. There are so many slow downs. Traffic is really bad. Just brutal. I just started to go the speed limit in the right lane and sometimes in the middle because it is a gonna stop and really slow down a few miles up the road.

 

Then you can also forget about the police pulling you over. I also don't speed excessively (enough to get a legit ticket).

 

or construction

 

Police and speed-cameras usually won't bother you unless you are around 10 or more MPH over the posted limit.

 

Walked away deals over $250 and $500 apart. Guess I didn’t want them that bad.

 

Ain't that the truth. I loved my 08 IS350 but when I got my 15 GS350 and it had the same engine and transmission (6 speed in the AWD) it felt its age. The GS's extra weight didn't help it either