Is it me or does the car lack some low end power? Just purchased a 350awd coming from a 2012 Camry SE v6 and I feel like I have to really push it to move. I drive the car in Sport mode which does help but does the car need to be "broken" in? I love the ride and it does move if I floor it but I feel that with 306 horses the car should just take off without having to do so.

 

it depends on how the engine is calibrated and its internal workings are setup. for example, the 335i gets its full torque at just around 1200-1500 rmps, where as the most torque on the IS is somewhere around mid 5,000.

to me what i just don't understand is how is the german car, 335i, able to get as good hp, and even more torque, yet still get better gas mileage than a japanese engine (the IS). i just don't get it.. but maybe the trick is on them.. maybe after 50k miles, they'll have mechanical problems where as our cars will cruise to 250,000 miles + with little to minor problems.

 

Thanks and yea makes sense. I'm hoping it'll get more responsive as the engine breaks in.

 

It's pretty soft under 4k, which is odd since most lower or similary powered 3.5 V6's in family sedans don't seem to suffer as much from this even if overall they are slower.

 

Novice question but does it have to do with fuel-injected V6 engines vs the naturally aspirated in the Lexus?

I came from a 545 which has a nice torque range. The 350 will suffer in comparison of course but it does seem a little weaker in the low end range than I thought.

Still, I think of this car this way: it's not the last word in power or handling but it's still good. Combine that with great looks, a great interior compared to BMW (IMO), Lexus quality, and it's very hard to beat as a a complete package. This is a car I hope to give to my son in 8 years after putting 250k miles on it. And I feel much more confident that I could at a much lower cost than I could its German rivals.

 

I think you're confusing fuel injected with forced induction.

But I came from a naturally aspirated 306 hp 3.5V6 with a 5 speed auto in an AWD sedan and it was much more responsive. Some of that is merely throttle/transmission calibration (and some see that as negative too), but the car did have more grunt in the 2500-4000 range. I've also driven a few naturally aspirated V6's in this class. Even the slower ones seemed more linear. I don't find sport mode sharpens the throttle response of **** points all that much.

 

Yep - I was, thanks for clarifying.

 

response is a lot better in the 8 spd RWD when I compare it to my 06 IS350 6spd