I'm driving an 05 IS300 as a loaner while my car is in the shop. It's the first time I drove one and it surprised the heck out of me. First, I heard people say how slow it was. It's not a speedster but it feels like it's got quite a bit of pep to me. I hit the pedal to pass a car and ended up looking back and wondering, where did all the cars go. What's it have, 215hp. I guess the small size of the car with less weight frees up the ponies. The handling is not bad either. Brakes are really good. They stop on command. The bad stuff.
I can't believe how uncomfortable this car is. Seats are hard and shoulder room is nil. I'm a big guy though. It may be okay for average sized people. I feel claustrophobic in there and my neck hurts. Seems like I had more room in the Nissan Sentra I had 20 years ago. There's also some hesitation when you initially press the accelerator. It's sort of annoying. I went to JM Lexus 4 years ago to buy an IS300. I can see it wouldn't have worked out. It's a car for little guys. No offense everyone. No harm intended. Just an observation. It's the same size as an E46 and C280...176 inches long. I am very comfortable in the both. No wonder the IS hasn't overtaken those cars. It's a shame cause it's a much better car.

 

Hey Reggie...better then one of those Mini Cooper's, right? that was hillarious at towers back in november, you looked like you were gonna roll one of them over for parking in our area!!...

dude, get a ride in Randy's TURBO IS, then you will quickly buy one and send it to Lance @ Toyomoto

 

I don't know...been in a Mini 3 times. Feels okay to me. Mini feels like a toy car though.
Yeah, I remember that guy. Didn't wanna give us space. Did he ever leave?

 

hey nice review man i agree with the seat part, comparing to the other two lexus i have, this car is definitely not comfortable. again its' comparison (this car is a lot more comfortable than some other cars i have had). the seats are very preformance oriented though, wanna glue you to the seat, and i think they did it well.

and yes, the handling of the car is amazingly good for a stock car i have to say, it's really good. braking is definitely there, though i think that's about the same on all the 01+ cars i have driven (ls430, gs430, sc430, is300)

 

what do you think of the new 350

 

I haven't driven one yet but I have sat in it about 5 times. I can only speak about the interior comparison.
I feel more comfortable in the 350 but it's still claustrophobic. Shoulder room is tight but leg room is sufficient. Seats are more comfortable but still have that performance feel to keep you from sliding all over. Quality of materials and switches is fine but compared to my SC feels more cheaply made. The new GS feels that way to me also. Before anyone gets a stick up their butt just compare the armrest padding to older lexus cars and tell me the new stuff feels as good. I think Infiniti caused this. They proved you could scrimp on interior quality and still sell a bunch of cars. Don't worry, I still think the interior is nice enough for a lexus. My biggest complaint is entry/exit space. I hit my head on the door opening the first 4 times I got in the car. The last time I finally instinctively craned my neck far enough to not bust my head. Alas, the 2IS is still too small for us big guys. I'm hoping a coupe is made and there will be more room inside.

 

nice review man thanks for posting