RKSTRAT

I rarely drive another vehicle. I just had a rental, a Hyundai Elantra.
At only140hp it had plenty of zip at the low end. Felt pretty light.
Going back to my IS300, it feels like a tank. I'll stick with the IS, though :-).
The only other car I drive occasionally is our 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport.

Flash5

Yeah an Elantra is a whole 500+ lbs lighter lol

evident

I spent a year driving a jdm 2003 Nissan skyline 350gt coupe, or an Infiniti g35 as it's known here in the U.S.. It's a surprisingly big vehicle although the inside was cramped, the vq engine put out roughly the same amount of power as the 2gr and performance is on par. Lots of fit and finish issues , it surprisingly holds up very well performance wise on the highways compared to the is. The 5at was the weak link in my opinion. Turning radius was also absolutely terrible for a rwd sport oriented coupe. It was like a bus. That car was truly ahead of its time and I'd love to get one stateside as a beater.

RKSTRAT

I owned Infiniti a G35x and a G37x. Lots of power, of course.
They are in a similar class as the IS, luxury sport sedan.
I hadn't had much experience with "everyday" front wheel drive
sedans like the Elantra.

EZZ

I had that same car for 11 years. I also modified with a plenum spacer which added ~15hp. The IS350 is way faster than the G35 and handles better to boot. The 2gr dynos about 35-40hp more stock so its not a surprise. The G37 is on par with the IS350 though (if not a little quicker) but that thing is rough (engine, suspension, overall NVH). The G35's other issue was that the rear end had snap oversteer near its limits which is quite unnerving. The Jatco tranny on the G35/G37 were good for its time but pretty bad compared to the trannies today.

TonyN

iTrader: (1)

I owed 37 cars, the is is a tank now. It heavy and acceleration will suffer because of it, however, it is the reason it feels planted, same reason why the heavier GS and higher feels plush. Lighter cars feels faster because there is less weight to push, same reason why the Miata are fun to drive.

m1919

Used to daily my family's 2006 Corolla.

Going back to that car, the torque steer is hilarious. It's actually an entertaining car to drive having been away from it for the last 4 months. Extremely peppy car just because it's so much lighter than the IS.

Love my RWD IS200T though, can't go back to exclusively FWD as a daily.

AtomicAWD

Stand by for incoming "Lexus isn't even in the same league as German cars"...

unioncorps

Having my '04 Corolla as my daily driver, I keep surprising myself when I accelerate on the highway in my IS350 F-Sport. Where I have to basically floor the gas pedal on the Corolla to get accelerate quickly, I just take off in the IS with ease.

ABGLexus

My other car is a 2014 Camry. Things I wish my 2019 lexus IS 300 had. Sunglasses holder, coin holder, and like a random cubby in the middle to store miscellaneous items.

HOMER350

One notable difference with my IS350 compared to other cars I'm familiar with is it's predictability..most of the time. I know right where I'm at on the road and what to expect cornering.
I feel more confident coming around a bend at 110mph in the IS than I do at 75mph in a straight line in my '14 Sentra SR. I see the trees blowing in the air than I know I'm gonna get pushed around in that car.

However the other day a had some unexpected understeer and the Lexus CT behind me actually cornered faster than me lol! It was a 25 mph speed limit 90* corner though and im sure those cars are more nimble anyways.

I was thinking the other day too that hours driving my friends 3IS 250 felt like it handled possibly better. I think maybe its because I can take a 270 deg on ramp WOT the whole time...just feels like it grips better but I think it's just relative to engine power. It felt almost impossible to corner too fast (within reason of course).

Don't get the impression I drive like that all the time..but it's when I push the car that I get notable differences.

jay90011

iTrader: (23)

I Drive my 2017 Rx350 Fsport AWD on the weekends and can say the transmission on that car is way better than the one on my 2014 IS350 Fsport. The padel shifters on the RX shift gears on demand compared to my IS which feels like a 1 to 2 second delay when in drive and manual mode.

Also on the hwy maybe it's just me but the passing power of RX is much better than the IS. The RX holds the rpm's higher when cruising above 60+ while the IS tends to stay in a higher gear at all times leaving the rpms really low. this causes the gas pedal to travel further to pick up speed faster.

EZZ

If you have both cars in a Sport mode, I bet the IS350 will feel faster. Also, most of the IS horsepower is in the upper bands so you have to wring out the engine to utilize its full potential.

m1919

My 2017 IS200T has the 8-speed and it seems to shift pretty quickly for a transmission that's tuned toward fuel economy more than speed. Sport is almost instant gear changes.

The shift programming needs a total redo, from what I've seen driving in manual mode both in normal and sport. Normal is just way too geared toward fuel economy, favors running in as high a gear as possible, so pickup when I need it sucks and I have to downshift manually. Sport mode seems to have this same tendency as well, but to a lesser extent. I've noticed fuel economy gains by shifting manually in city driving, was able to get about 100km additional range. The only downside is manual shifting in heavy traffic sucks ***.

I think their approach to shift programming actually hurts fuel economy because I'm taking longer to get up to speed in normal vs sport, and shifting manually in either mode I feel that I get up to speed much quicker.

jay90011

iTrader: (23)

Yea Sport+ on both cars the IS is much better especially in the corners where it stays planted on the road. I know several people have said that the transmission lag is gone in 2018+ models. I just wish it would have started in year 2014. Also 12.3 inch display on the RX makes the IS display look like the old pioneer double din displays from 20 years back.

I also agree with most that a 500lb difference makes the car feel faster off the line. I currently have UX250h while my IS in service and very surprised on how nimble the car is compared to the IS. Weight does make a big difference on the initial feel of a car.