I am SO with you on the steering feel!

 

No, the steering is definitely lightweight but IMO the jury's out on whether that's a bad thing or not. Altogether the car still feels balanced. When I get it out on the autocross track we'll see how much of a difference it makes (compared to RC F which has a lot heavier steering). The lightness may not matter much. Ultimately what's important is that the car can turn on a dime and go exactly where you want to put it.

 

In my opinion, the weight of the wheel vs what the tires/road/chassis are communicating up THROUGH the wheel are two different things.

I hit the gym four days a week and run errands on Saturdays. I probably shouldn’t say this publicly, but every day this car is out, it’ll kiss 100mph+. I know exactly what it’s doing and I feel super confident as a result.

 

For me, the steering feel could use a huge improvement. Yes, it’s accurate enough, but the steering wheel itself feels rather dead in your hands, too close to feeling like your piloting an arcade game. Little to no tactile feedback of bumps in the road, tires starting to lose grip, etc. Older Porsches were rarely the fastest but the feedback from their steering, and precision ratchetness of their shifters, were second to none, which made them a unique joy of to drive (well, excluding the 2011-2013 models).

It’s kinda sad that my old GX’s hydraulic rack has much better steering feel than the IS’s EPS (albeit nowhere near as accurate).

 

Not sure if the IS 500 has the very same steering as the 350, but I will say, after driving the wife's 330i, I appreciate the IS's steering. That car has a weirdly quick steering rack that sometimes feels heavy and other times light. It doesn't feel anywhere near as precise as our ISes do. I got used to it, but I always feel a little more confident placing the IS on the road.

 

Ya, BMWs used to have legendary steering feel. But since about 2007 they went from one of the best to one of the worst. The IS’s is far far better.

I know a lot of people don’t care about steering feel, but it’s a huge benefit that guys like me never knew we wanted until we were spoiled by a car that had it. Just allows one more sense into the driving enjoyment party. 11 years ago Porsche got it wrong when they put EPS on the 991, but they’ve since calibrated things to make it world class again. Wish other manufacturers would follow suit.

 

Here's a new video. Moderator edit: removed offensive question.

 

I think the steering is fine. It's not Miata level good, but it's much better than a lot of cars out there. For a GT car, I'm happy with it.

 

Replace "washer fluid" with "steering":

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/e4aa63b...a-df357e66233e

 

Moderator edit: cleaned up response to iffy content.

And yes, she absolutely loves the car, but didn’t watch all 20 minutes to get her thoughts on the particulars.

Just to kick a dead horse, agreed, the steering is fine. It could definitely be much better though. Just an opportunity missed for those of us who appreciate, however unreasonably, such things. Much like an adjustable exhaust - the car would be that much more enjoyable if it had it, but not being present doesn’t ruin the car. Easy enough to change an exhaust, no idea how to reprogram an EPS.

 

I wonder if changing bushings and wheels/tires would have much of an effect... I seem to remember the first time I drove a 2015 IS 350 it had heavy steering thanks to its tires being almost-bald summer tires. I also think my 2021 has heavier steering than my 2016 IS 300 had, but it's hard to say for sure. Feel wise, yeah it could be better.

 

I only notice this in normal mode, in eco or sport it doesn't seem to have the delay in acceleration. Anyone else have the same experience?

 

I just enjoyed the video with no audio - I was at least 10 minutes in before I even noticed the IS (lol)

 

While filming a Falcon 9 rolling by my 'office', I happened to catch a familiar car in the parking lot....I say it counts as a video LOL

 

You were impressed by your IS500? You are spot on to feel so!