Greetings, I have no question that IS 350 is a high performance vehicle and I know there can be variability among magazine tests, but I am curious if 0-60 in 5.3 sec is only capable in perfect weather (cooler, dryer). The reason I ask is Road and Track tested 6 sec - granted this guys always report slow 0-60's. I belive recent Motor Trend confirmed the 5.3 sec...

 

Whether or not it's cold or hot, the IS is fast. Not racing fast, but definately fast enough to pass all the slow people you need to on the road. Fast on curves/bends is another issue though...

 

I think that 5.3 is absolutely attainable and may still be a little conservative. I think that 5.1 -5.2 is more like it and should not require perfect weather either. If you try to floor it with the traction control on it will cut the gas and your 0-60 would suck. I don't think Road and Track would make that mistake, but who knows. If you deactivate the vdim the acceleration is pretty impressive.

 

Why is fast in the twisties another issue? I don't know why people get their panties in a bunch about this. Yes, if you track your car on a regular basis, I'm sure the 3-series is more enjoyable than the IS. But who the hell buys either of those cars to go to the track regularly? Nobody, that's who. You do what I did any buy something cheap and fun that you don't care about wadding up.

I've been driving since I was 16, and I've owned everything from POS Nissan Sentras that broke camshafts (and still got me home on two cylinders) to Mazda Miatas. I was able to get all of them around corners faster than 99.9% of the other people I encountered on the road. I don't expect the Lexus to be any different.

 

Car and Driver applies a correction factor based to normalize their results to a standard temperature.so cars tested on hot days are not penalized.

Judging by some of the drag strip time slips posted here, Car and Driver's results seem reasonable.

 

test drive one around your area then you will know

 

What was the 0-60 per car and driver?

 

I too hate the fact that people make such a big deal about this. People are on the roads with other people 99% of the time in "normal" driving and traffic conditions.

But for enthusiasts that like to test and risk the limits of their cars, legally and illegally, on public roads and test tracks, they'll find that intrusive electronic systems does damper steering. I, for one, would rather have it for safety over performance; but this debate has been beaten to death on other threads...

 

Bichon,
I always see the picture of your "buddy" posted below your name. We have 2 female Bichons that are sisters from the same litter and are about 8 years old. Aren't they great! Like having 2 three year old children in the house again...pet one the other one gets jealous...give them each a toy and they want the one the other has!!! LOL!

Is yours a male? Looks like it? He / she's pretty...got a great face and he's cut correctly!

 

Gotta love magazing racing.

Best way to see performance of a car and how fast it really is is by seeing actual results from the 1/4 mile. And apparantly most IS350's seem to be running mid to high 13 second passes, which equals mid 5 second 0-60 with the weight to power ratio.

Kinda off topic, but my friend with an 03 EVO like my old one just got launch control programmed into his ECU. Even with a bone stock EVO they are launching crazy now for some insane 60 footers. Here is a video of an EVO with the launch control on his MR.

http://www.streetracing-syndicate.co...nchControl.WMV

 

Nice. Now you know why WRC rally engines get rebuilt between events

 

Lol yeah, but i'm sure there is more to it than that. I think the biggest wear is going to be on the clutch and i'm sure that feeling during a launch is addicting so I'm sure the clutch companies are smiling over this new popular mod. But hey you know how it is. You have to pay to play.

 

What is that crazy machine-gun sound from the exhaust before he launches?

 

Anti-lag. It's used on turbocharged race cars to keep the boost up while the car isn't under load. Part of launch control also alters the engine firing order, so that gives you some whacky sounds as well.

 

They timed it at 5.1. They brake torque when launching the car, so their numbers are always a few tenths higher than tester that don't.