The 250 is not slow or sluggish. It has adequate power and drives very well. If you are going to put priority on having more punch when you hit the throttle, perhaps you should consider something else if price is going to be an issue. But for what you get, the IS 250 really is a great buy. Rolling in a Lexus really is an experience unto itself.

I drove the IS 350 first and knew I wanted it. But since there is a nice price on the 250, the conservative in me forced me to drive it before I bought the 350 on my next visit to the dealer. I just wanted that extra kick and was willing to pay for it.

 

any car that is marketed as a "sports sedan" that can be out run but V6's camrys, accords, avalons, and altimas is relatively slow. god forbid I think the rav4 v6 even outruns the is250...

 

It may be relatively slow in that sense but I would rather be driving a lexus than a camry, accord, avalon, altima or Rav4.

 

+1 YEA BABY YEA!

 

Since when does the term "sports sedan" refer to how much horsepower a car has or how fast it can accelerate. I mean I know it has something to do with the mix but there is ALOT more to making a good sports sedan than just being able to accelerate fast.

 

I have a friend with a v6 Altima and another with a v6 Camry adn have timed a v6 Accord myself and none of these cars have beat my 250 from 0-60...but then again I didn't buy this car for power, which by the way is more than adequate for 99% of the drivers on the road.

 

if there was such a thing as an ES250, and the same question was posed, my answer would have been "the car has more than adequate power for its market niche."

The IS series is marketed as a "sports sedan," a HUGE part of that equation is straightline acceleration. Of course other factors play a part, BUT...

I previously owned a V6 altima and have driven a friends IS250, I have no doubt that the altima would lay waste to any IS250. My STOCK altima routinely ran mid and occasionally low 14's at the track...

 

I disagree. The "sports" in sports sedan better describes how much you'll have to lift for that next turn. BMW have sold underpowered cars for many years with great success because the drivers were able to corner at speeds the competition could not match without aftermarket support. It is a recent phenomenon that BMW have made cars with big horsepower.

I did not buy the 250 because I did not want to pay twice the money for the luxury features my Scion tC didn't have with all the performance the tC does have. It just didn't work for me. Also, I was very impressed with the 2GR-FSE and its ability to make power with surprising fuel economy. Certainly quite a bit better than my Supra has ever been able to deliver with similar stock power capabilities.

The 250 isn't slow like a base Civic or a base Corolla, but it isn't alarmingly faster either. That said, the base 250 will drive around a corner much better than most of the competition despite all the hoopla about numb feeling and all the other garbage that has little to do with driving the car quickly. It's not a difficult car to drive quickly either. So, IMHO, they've hit the mark for the person who isn't as concerned about being first across an intersection and who wants the luxury features not available in an Accord, Camry, Altima class vehicle. Certainly the sales numbers agree with this assessment.

 

isn't that altima 3.5 litres in v6

 

I drove my IS 250 auto between Rostock (northen Germany) and Wienna (Austria) on Autobahn this summer. The IS 250 is definitely not underpowered.
Cruise speeds about 110-130 mph is really no problem at all. Of course, you cant keep up with stronger petrol MB and BMW:s, but a huge majority of BMW, Audi and MB:s are four cyl diesels or petrols with about 130-170 hp. The IS 250 is definitely faster than 70% of the European car fleet. Most common cars are like VW 1,6 ( 100 hp) or Audi 1,9 TDI quattro ( 140 hp diesel) or maybe Ford Focus 1,8 .

 

I agree, great post.

 

Your 250 will not beat any of those cars whether it's 0-60, 40-60 or the quarter mile. I don't know how you're "timing" it but it ain't accurate.

 

Your answer is a simple yes

 

how do you know it's not.. have your raced 'em also ?

 

is250 will beat one car for sure stock to stock I have run with several of them, IS300