Thinking Of Purchasing Is350

[porsche986]

Hello All,

I am thinking of trading in my 2004 RX330 for a new IS350. I have always been a BMW lover, but i am going to have to disagree with Car and Driver's assessment in that I believe this to be car that tops the BMW. I test drove one the other day and the handling was similar to my Porsche Boxster in that it would hunker down in the corners. The one I drove had the Sports package so that might have been part of it. However, the ride did feel not as smooth (again most likely due to the sport suspension) as the Bimmer and the steering also feels not as connected. I haven't tried the SMG on the BMW, but the one on the Lexus felt a little sluggish when shifting. In all, I loved the layout of the Lexus' interior and especially the feaures that are offered that aren't available on the BMW or many others in the same class. Oh, and the engine, what more can be said.

With all that beeing said, I was wondering about the package options. It seems that the Sports package is the only one with the sports tuned suspension. Does anyone else know the details of the Sports package? How about the luxury package? What are the differences? What are people preferences and experiences?

Where can I find pictures of the wheel options? How about pictures of other people new IS'? I would love to see some different colors. Somehow, the ones on the Lexus website almost look "artificial".

I also saw that there could be additional options coming in the Spring, such as a rear spoiler, HKS exhaust and the Mark Levinson sound system. Does anyone have any details on this? Is it worth the wait?

Thanks for all who contribute!

Sincerely,

~K

[jolly]

Hello All,

  I am thinking of trading in my 2004 RX330 for a new IS350. I have always been a BMW lover, but i am going to have to disagree with Car and Driver's assessment in that I believe this to be car that tops the BMW. I test drove one the other day and the handling was similar to my Porsche Boxster in that it would hunker down in the corners. The one I drove had the Sports package so that might have been part of it. However, the ride did feel not as smooth (again most likely due to the sport suspension) as the Bimmer and the steering also feels not as connected. I haven't tried the SMG on the BMW, but the one on the Lexus felt a little sluggish when shifting. In all, I loved the layout of the Lexus' interior and especially the feaures that are offered that aren't available on the BMW or many others in the same class. Oh, and the engine, what more can be said.

  With all that beeing said, I was wondering about the package options. It seems that the Sports package is the only one with the sports tuned suspension. Does anyone else know the details of the Sports package? How about the luxury package? What are the differences? What are people preferences and experiences?

  Where can I find pictures of the wheel options? How about pictures of other people new IS'? I would love to see some different colors. Somehow, the ones on the Lexus website almost look "artificial".

  I also saw that there could be additional options coming in the Spring, such as a rear spoiler, HKS exhaust and the Mark Levinson sound system. Does anyone have any details on this? Is it worth the wait?

Thanks for all who contribute!

Sincerely,

~K

←

Check out http://my.is.

There's a lot more traffic on that site, and answers to your questions.

[bartkat]

There's also a new IS dedicated site with several IS 350 owners here:

http://www.is350forums.com/index.php?