returning my leased 2016 200t Fsport in december (if not sooner with a deal on a new one). i'll be buying the next one. only issues were the boost regulator and front brake pads (that i happened to do today with 19k on them). tire wear has been great too.

 

Well, a tune from rr racing bring it up to 300+ hp. Not enough? Get the super charger kit form rr racing. I don't really care about luxury features @@. Memory seats, well it's nice to have if you have multiple driver. IS stands for individual sedan? So having no memory seat doesn't matter much to me. I do regret buying the 250 over the 350, so I bought the rr racing tune to improve it. But the rest was really good. At least you have a 300 man just tune it and be happy. I had German cars, only lease though their repair bill is nightmare. And yes Lexus should improve their interior. No more plastic button.

 

I think a lot of the "hate" comes from owners who have other, sportier cars. And, I don't think it's necessarily hate either. If you think the IS is a bona fide sports car, then you might be disappointed. However, if you think it's an alternative to a BMW 3-series, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Set your expectations.

The tire wear is unfortunate, but not unheard of for cars that put an emphasis on handling, especially BMWs, which have used a similar strategy to what the IS does with regard to its compliant lower control arm bushings. I will say, ever since switching to my BFGoodrich G-Force Comp-2 A/S, I've checked my tire tread depth twice over the 10,000 miles I've put on them, and they are wearing evenly now - no excessive inner wear like last time. That probably thanks in part to the fact that I'm running toe-in of 0.05 in front as well. The service advisor thought that might help, and it seems he was right.

 

I am super curious about the BFGoodrich G-Force tires. How is the road noise compared to the Bridgestone Turenzas? Also, did you see an overall handling improvement?

I like your suggestion about the .05 toe-in. I was planning to swap my LCA bushings for the RCF LCAs and have the alignment set slightly less aggressive to match my driving style of highway and the occasional spirited backroad.

In a pinch, I installed Kenda Vezda UHPs and don't care for the ride quality very much. They are quite, handle well, super cheap, and I have over 10,000 miles on them with no noticeable wear at all. However, the ride is terrible and even the slightest change in road surface can make the ride go from pleasant to nearly intolerable.

 

Last I checked, IS stands for intelligent sports, not individual sedan.

 

Haven't heard of those Kenda Vezda tires before, so not sure how they'd compare. Well the BFGoodrich Comp-2s are great for performance, but I think they're slightly less comfortable and slightly louder than the Turanzas. Over some surfaces the Turanzas were pretty noisy, but the Comp-2s aren't so bad on those surfaces - it's a weird mixed-bag . Overall they are not a super-hardcore tire and are fine to daily-drive, but they have really nice turn-in compared to those Turanzas, and even compared with the DWS06, I feel the Comp-2's have a little stiffer sidewall, and if you look at the tread pattern there's just more tire on the ground. I'd recommend them if you want performance more than comfort, but something like that Continental DWS06 would be better for comfort while still giving you decent performance.

 

Haha must be my mistake, dealer told me that, should not take their words for it.

 

I think per Lexus "IS" stands for "Innovative Sedan" if I'm not mistaken

 

I've seen that, on the Lexus FAQ page. Intelligent Sport is the official name, at least in Australia and the UK.

https://blog.lexus.co.uk/lexus-model...ngs-explained/

Per this comment thread: https://blog.lexus.co.uk/lexus-model...#comment-67481

It seems the problem is that "sedans" are not "sedans" in the UK. However, maybe in the US, Innovative Sedan is the official name? It's just not my cup of tea - Intelligent Sport sounds better.

 

It is definitely Intelligent Sports, but I like the sound of Intelligent Sedan best haha.

 

Haha... you're right I did see that in the Lexus FAQ so thought that was the meaning. Not like it really matters, but I find it interesting how there's not really a single source of what the abbreviations actually mean as truly indicated by the manufacturer (ie. I haven't found a blog for the US). I've also seen "Intelligent Sports" too, which I agree sounds better Thanks!

 

Always meant to look into this.

So is it Intelligent Sports or Innovative Sports.

Both stated above.

 

Oops. Follow the link...
Intelligent Sports.

But on the LS, GS, and ES....S=Sedan. Hmm.

 

A few days late to this party, but thought I'd chime in anyway.
I haven't driven the IS 300, so I can't compare it to my experience.
A couple of years ago, after I gave away my old ES 300, I was faced with getting another car for winter driving (the previous year I had sort of fooled the wife when she was asking me to replace the ES, as it was getting long in the tooth (yet still very drive-able), and she wanted a newer reliable car in the garage. Well she said get a 'newer car', so I went out and bought a Jaguar XK convertible, not a winter car, but loads of fun to drive!).
She really wanted me to get another Lexus, or Toyota, or Honda (she's always driven Japanese cars, and was hooked on their reliability. Me, always American, until I married her and bought that ES, and drove for 15 years).
Nothing caught my eye when cruising the car lots, until I saw the IS.
It was an IS 250 AWD, in the right color combination, so I took it for a test drive.
Man, was I underwhelmed. The thing was straining so hard to get up to highway speed, I thought it would implode. My old ES would whoop it.
Tried the 200t engine, another solid disappointment. When I push the 'go pedal', I expect a car to go, and not complain about it.

The dealer got in a used 2014 IS 350 AWD, with the right color and packages (by this time I had researched the IS models, and determined that the car had to have the Navigation, Luxury, and Winter packages, and the seats must be real leather, not that fake Nulux stuff. The options I wanted ruled out the F Sport, as it didn't offer as many).
Took it for a test drive, and it ticked all the boxes, just enough comfort and power.

Showed it to the wife, and she said "Not another red car!" (every car I've owned has been some shade of red).
The local dealer wanted more than what I thought it was worth, so over a period of several weeks I held out and watched the price come down on the web. As winter was approaching, the wife finally said "Ok, get whatever you want", but that dealer was still high, so I found an identically optioned car on the web ($2K less than my offer to the local dealer), bought it, and had it shipped to me. Two weeks later the local dealer calls and says "Ok, I meet your offered price". What a joy it was to tell him I'd already purchased the same car for even less!

Regrets on buying my IS? Nope, not a one. I knew from the CarFax that the previous owner had front tire issues, and had gotten replacements under warranty from Michelin, twice! This forum informed me of the LCA bushing issue, so I installed FIGS LCA's before replacing the front tires (which were driving me nuts from the cupping/feathering on the inside edges).

P.S. The wife often comments now "That's a really nice looking car".

 

How many miles and years have you had the FIGs bushings? Any squeaking yet from the poly bushings?