TED_FR

In France, the IS300 comes only fully loaded as a PACK LUXE version. That is what is expected here from a Lexus. Even fully loaded, the IS is much cheaper that a BMW 330 with half equipments.

The only choice we have is to get the DVD NAV system that is taken by most of the owners. (€ 2960 = $ 3850). It comes with a 6 CD audio system that is of quite poor quality compared with the one (which is outstanding) I have in my Landcruiser.

That is the strategy choice of Toyota/Lexus here. My LandCruiser VXE is more expensive than the base Mercedes ML. However, if you add all equipments already included in the VXE pack to the base ML, then the Mercedes gets much more expensive.

In one hand you get the all included Toyota approach, on the other hand, you get a eight pages list of very quite expensive optional equipments for the Benz.
Which one is the best way is up to the client.

Rockville

The Autoweek article from yesterday credited the IS body as designed in France. The SC430 was designed in Belgium. We use German Bader leather in the SC430. Leonardo Fioravanti designed the exotic LFA after a career including 14 Ferraris. Is this a trend for the future?

TED_FR

According to the SC430 brochure (page 24), the SC body has been designed by the "Lexus European Development & Design center" located in the south of France in Sophia Antipolis business area next to Nice on the franch riviera.

That's a general trend I fully support. Japanese car manufacturers are very good at building reliable cars, but have hard time designing nice looking and exciting cars. Keep in mind that most of the famous car designers come from Italy (except Cris Bangle! who is famous as well but for different reasons)

jrock65

"bose in acuras, infiniti, and some other brands, they are joke."

I don't like Bose in general (the one in the G35 is not that good), but I totally disagree with this statement. Have you heard the Bose system in the RL and the M? I have, and I finally got to hear the Levinson in the GS, and the three are pretty much equally GREAT.

flipside909

I'm a semi-audiophile and can tell the difference in richness/clarity of the Mark Levinson of the GS compared to any Bose system in a vehicle. Even the Nakamichi systems in previous Lexus vehicles were far more advanced than their Bose counterparts.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

in fact, i do. they are not very bad (compared to the one on the g35 or the one in the tl), and i think they are better than the stock gs audio. but compared to the ml audio on the lexus lineup (ls, sc, and gs are what i have heard so far), it's simply no comparison. that's not only me, i have already talked to couple of people (some of them are in fact infiniti/acura owners for that matter) and they agree as well

jrock65

Not surprising you guys feel this way this being a Lexus forum. The ML is not superior to the systems in the RL and M. I am a semi-audiophile as well. And the few people who have all three systems feel the same way I do. Again, I'm not talking about the Bose in the G35, which is not too good.

BTW, the stock system in the GS is really poor, IMO, worse than the stock 6 or 8 speaker system in the M..

rominl

iTrader: (4)

amazing, did you even read my post, especially where i said couple other guys tried as well and they are acura/infiniti owners? i thought by that statement i made it clear that if YOU think i am biased against lexus (which is a fault statement already by all means), i got other more objective data.

flipside909

The few people you probably consulted were from another forum right?

jrock65

So do these people own the RL and M? Even if they do, it doesn't really prove anything. One of closest friends just got the 2006 GS, and he feels that the Levinson and the Bose 5.1 in the M are pretty much equal.

Please point me to your "objective" data that says that the GS Levinson is "objectively" better than the Bose in the RL and the M.

jrock65

See above post. A couple are people that I've tested the cars with. One of them bought a 2006 GS. Yes, the others are people in other forums. Not many people have heard all three systems.

BTW, typo on my part. I meant to say "have heard", not "have". If someone has all three cars, then that person is cuckoo.

I'm not denying that the ML is the GS is a great system. But being a semi-audiophile and having heard all three systems, both with regular CD and DVD-audio, I would not say that it is better than the 5.1 systems in the M and the RL. Obviously, you two disagree.

Gojirra99

Ha, I haven't brought my cd's to test them on either the GS or the M for my test drives, I 'm more concerned about other features & the drive, the sound system is unlikely to be the deciding factor for me in these cars, though I definitely want something significantly better than the one in my G35c for a sedan in this class.

actham

I had the Nakamichi system in my 2000 GS4 and truly loved it. The Blose in my G35c is so embarrassing that I almost always turn it off when I have others in the car! Totally disgusting. I'll opt for the ML system, which I think is a decent value considering you get the voice activated NAV and backup camera along with it. BTW...I recently test drove a M45 with the new 5.1 and thought it was a bit weak on the low end but the imaging was outstanding. Infiniti has a great demo disc for it...does Lexus have something similar? I haven't heard the new ML in the GS but I hope to soon.

maz

Here's the site where i heard about the ml system. He calls it "overkill". http://cars.about.com/od/lexus/fr/ch_06lexGS430.htm

Thanks for the welcomes. I joined in april '04 and posted a year later.

Gojirra99

Well, I think it's just pure speculation that IS350 will only be sold loaded at this point, so I think you probably can opt out of the ML with the navigation if you want. I haven't compared the standard sound system with the ML for the new GS, but I know the ML in the previous GS is definately better than the standard Nagamachi & is well worth the price & not an overkill at all. And as pointed out, the $4K difference is the Nav & the ML upgrade, so it's not that bad at all.