I am curious about the new 2016 IS3XX cars - it looks like the mileage is the same, displacement the same, engine the same (?) so what do they do to the car to reduce the HP by about 50? Seems strange that anyone would buy a 300 - do they want less HP and torque?

I wonder how hard it would be to reverse the "detuning" to get he IS300 up to 306 HP?
D

 

It is a weird move by Lexus as we were expecting increasing the HP by 50 to complete with the 3 series and Audi. However they went the opposite direction which seems only logical to me if the AWD component cannot handle the 306 hp engine output, so they will not compromise the reliability which is their biggest selling advantage over all brands.

 

Mine is an IS350 AWD - it seems to handle the output beautifully...And SNOW mode which I am using at the moment (35cms here this week) works amazingly well...

 

I'm sure their drivetrain can handle it. AFAIK Lexus usually uses pretty durable drivetrains. I can see it handling 350 HP. My guess is that they don't want to increase the 2GR-FSE power output because it may become less reliable in the long term, and their replacement engine isn't done development and/or testing yet. I think that the current models are kind of a segway into their new engine options, which will probably along the lines of a 2L turbo (200t) with ~240 HP and a 3L turbo (300t) with 350-370 HP.

 

some people would rather save the money i guess. but my philosophy is for the exact same MPG you might as well be happier with the car and get the best version of the car, which is the 350. theres simply no benefit.

 

I got a 2016 300 F-sport mainly because of cost. I needed my lease payment to be X and the 300 came in just under that. Its funny, when I went to get insurance for it my insurance tags say my car is a IS350, the broker told me that because the 300 is so new its not updated in their systems. This pretty much tells me that I'd be paying the same cost in insurance for a 350 had I gone that route.

As a side note, I came from a long line of Audi's with 2L turbos (my last 5 cars were Audi's with turbo's) and I gotta tell you I much prefer the feeling of this IS. Over the years Audi got better with turbo lag but even with my last car (2013 Audi A4) there was still a slight lag when you put your foot down. Over the years I got pretty good at predicting the turbo lag to foot-down ratio but in the beginning merging into traffic used to feel like a death trap, you'd put your foot down and a few moments later the car took off like a bat outta hell.

 

So how are the engines different exactly? Same size engine with ~50 HP difference? It wouldn't make sense for them to de-tune an engine and just sell it for less.

I feel like the 350 has something extra engine-wise. Anyone know for sure?

 

I would like to know.. when i opened up the engine bay, it does states the same engine code as the 350

 

It's exactly the same the only difference is the ECU.

 

The engines are identical if someone can get a true tune on the is ecu you could flash your way up to the is350.

 

Look at the dyno overlays. They're identical up to about 4,000rpms then the is300 literally flat lines and the 350 climbs another 50hp.

Completely BS from a company that is usually known for no-nonsense operation.

I think smart buyers should be able to buy and IS300 and a junkyard IS350 ECU and save about $10k. WTF Lexus?

 

I have an IS300 and I got it because the IS350 is 10K more up in Canada. I wanted the AWD but the IS200T is only RWD. I'm guessing they couldnt perfect the new engine to link up to AWD so the decided to the detuned route to keep that market segment of AWD and price point.

 

IS350 also has the Sport+ option that tightens up the suspension which the 300 lacks

 

Pointless if you plan on going with coils / air

 

fair enough I'm just talking stock but of course customizing the car will change the differences between the two.

but on that note I'm curious because I have a 350..is there some electric connections that stay unplugged if you swap different coils onto the car