AJT123

I mean I could be wrong. From 30-80ish the IS absolutely would annihilate my LS. Above that I honestly don't know- it would be much, much closer. If our IS350 is faster it's not by much at those speeds. Highway is where the LS was designed to shine with plenty of V8 reserve power, and don't forget the ridiculously low drag the LS430 has--those things come into play at high speeds.

Stroock639

well 30-80ish is all i really have to base what i said on lol, but i suppose yea once torque and low drag start to become more important than weight things could get interesting between the two

either way i'd love an IS 350, it's really one of the most perfect balances of performance, efficiency, style, build quality, and reliability i can think of while still being decently comfortable

AJT123

Right, I mean who knows who cares, I own both lol. The IS350 is the faster car bottom line, like I said though I'm not so sure at very high speeds. 85ish acceleration to the 131 limiter in the LS is very, very impressive---It feels like it has so much more left to go. I've seen videos of delimited 430s go all the way to 160 and I believe it. The hardware is there; it's the tires that can't handle the speed. It's stupid that all the 400s would do 150+ then they took that away.

I would highly recommend it. Ours is last gen (2011) but right when they updated the rims and added the LED DRLs, it looks great, beautiful car. Has aged well. It's not LS level, but the luxury and build quality are very impressive. The ***** and switches all have that buttery feel. The last thing anyone could legitimately say is that it's a Toyota....it's definitely a full "real" Lexus. (That gen IS was a shortened version/platform of the previous generation GS.) I will say that it's not terribly efficient, it hardly tops my LS in fuel economy. And it eats through tires. But I'll take that for a car that can run 0-60 in 4.9 seconds. It's small for my taste but that's subjective as I like large vehicles. It's plenty comfortable though once you get inside. We've had it for 4 years, bought with 81k it just turned over 100,000 and no issues other than replacing a headlight bulb. I fully think it will last 20 years like most Lexus cars can. We want to trade it on a GX eventually but hesitate sometimes because we feel it's sort of a "special" car. The 350 to 250 ratio had to be 30 to 1 back then. People try and race all the time (bc they assume it's a slow 250), it's comical.

Johnhav430

Agreed, driving one daily, and having known zero about them when I got the car over 2 years ago, it's really a set it and forget it type of engine. It doesn't even consume as much fuel as the EPA sticker in 2006 implied (16/23), as it get 19 and 28 highway. What is forgotten about it is the torque and smoothness (V6's today put out far more HP/TQ but in a much different manner). Two days ago I inadvertently punched it and saw the tack in the high 5000's, very smooth.

Aprilia

I like inline 6's and V8's. Not a fan of V6 or inline4's.

And oh yeah, I like the GS430. Not too powerful, just right. You can hold it WFO for a long time without going into "lose your license speed" in a heart beat.

Hell I tow with it and it does just fine!

AJT123

Not sure I agree with that, lol. GS430 is even faster than an LS and an LS can get you into trouble pretty quickly. If I have to make a fast move on the highway and am not worrying about slowing down, I'm past 100 pretty quickly without thinking about it by the time I look down. Nevertheless, it's a "just right" engine, I would agree with that part.

What do you tow with a GS430 btw? If you weren't aware, always drop it down a gear so you're not dragging a load in the highest gear, will reduce wear on your transmission, especially on a car that's not engineered for towing. I do that with my Yukon even when I'm towing the boat.

Fizzboy7

Loved the inline six in my friend's IS300. It was robust and sounded good. Was not real efficient though.

Got to send some love to my 2.5 V6. While not high on power, it has plenty of pep in every-day driving. It also gets great fuel mileage. I am averaging an even 30 mpg with 75% highway and 25% street driving. It's quiet and smooth as butter at all speeds. Still cannot detect engine is on at idle. Yes, we nearly all had carbon build-up issues, but Lexus took care of it quite nicely. Beyond that, it's been 100% reliable after 11 years of service. I've spent a lot of time with the new 2.0T and I don't see any big advantage over the old 2.5 V6.

My mom's newer RX has the 3.5 that everyone is talking about here. Sorry, I don't see what all the hype is. It is course and noisy. Good power, but my 2.5 is much more refined.

gengar

I don't see how this discussion doesn't begin and end with the 1UZ-FE. It was basically the first mainstream DOHC V8 and it was nevertheless absolutely bulletproof. Just to put it in perspective, it is still a popular choice for drag racing swaps.

Possible mentions of the 1LR-GUE just for ridiculousness or the 2GR-FSE for being technologically innovative (direct + port injection) and a class leader for so long. I'm not certain many others come close to these three.

AJT123

Word. 6 bolt mains-- if that's not over-engineering for an undertaxed engine for a luxury car, I don't know what is. I guess the icing on the cake is how they added more and more power to it over the years.

JDR76

I enjoyed that engine as well, in my 4Runner. Very smooth and, with over 300 lb-ft of torque at 3400 RPM, it had some nice pull.

Stroock639

it was after all based on a CART/IRL design, and possibly the only car engine i know to be FAA certified durable enough for light aircraft use

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...tential-17206/

mmarshall

Most, though not necessarily all, of light-aircraft and general-aviation engines are air-cooled, not liquid cooled, which explains why they are so noisy.

LeX2K

1MZ-FE has 6 bolt mains so it can't be horribly expensive to do. The 2JZ has 2 bolt mains and indestructible, go figure.

AJT123

UZ was literally a $500 million dollar engine, though. That's how much money went into the R&D.

LeX2K

That certainly seems like a huge amount of money I'd be curious how that compares to other roughly similar engines.