Lexus IS 350 and IS 250

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  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    LF-C and some photo shop.

     

    If that's the new IS (I kinda doubt it), pass.
  • lexusguylexusguy Member Posts: 6,419
    So far its only been bad CG drawings. Nobody even has a picture of a covered up tester yet.
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    True, LG, true.

     

    Thank goodness, says I! ;-)

     

    I remember whan we were all speculating on the GS, and some tuner retouches ended up on Lextasy or Club Lex or some'ers, and they ended up being much more appealing than the real deal!

     

    The web is a great tool. So is a circular saw. If you've ever seen what can happen with a circular saw in the worng hands...

     

    :-)
  • is3ooguyis3ooguy Member Posts: 68
    15 days to go! To bad Lexus/Toyota is as good at keeping secrets as they are at building cars.....
  • lexusguylexusguy Member Posts: 6,419
    Heheh. You said it. Toyota has been playing the IS closer to its chest than even Honda typically does, which is saying something.
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    Speaking of Honda, did you catch the next Si?

     

    Not bad at all for a [yawn] Honda...
  • lexusguylexusguy Member Posts: 6,419
    The new coupe right? Yeah it looks nice, but Im not sure that it will be enough. The civic just doesnt have the street cred that it used to, and for whatever reason, Honda repeatedly denies us their hottest versions of cars like the Civic, TSX, and RSX, and gives us "almost as good" versions instead.
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 267,911
    Most of the "tuner" crowd still fixes up the old Civic... I think Honda could get right back into it, if the new one has the right stuff to back up the look...

     

    But, I think the whole Civic line has to change.. not just the SI..

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  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    Agreed, but I like the overall appearance. Besides, the real rep for the Civic and Integra didn't really come from Honda, but rather the tuners themselves.

     

    Tuners, or "rodders" as my gen called them, have always predicted or shaped the future. That's one of the reasons all the remarks about the rear lenses of the IS make me giggle. If the next gen doesn't end up with them, it'll be because we're moving on to the next hip thing. That'll either be color-keyed "covers" with circular holes for the lights, or (more likely now) LED configs.

     

    Funny how nobody ever seemed to have a problem with the lenses on the RX300, which predated the Altezza, or the current RX330.

     

    I don't really care much for the clear myself, but whatever the tuners did yesterday will end up mainstream tomorrow, and that's a fact!

     

    I mention it also because I happened to notice that the hood on the Si (in the pic at least) appears to be carbon fiber! Wave of the future...

     

    ;-)
  • is3ooguyis3ooguy Member Posts: 68
    12 days! ...this is going to be BIG!
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    Well, Lordy, let's hope so!
  • deweydewey Member Posts: 5,251
    "12 days! ...this is going to be BIG!"

    Hopefully it wont be too BIG! Small is beautiful!
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    Well spoken. Well spoken indeed!
    I stand corrected.
    ;-)
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    Well, according to IS300.net, who don't often speculate without ammo, this may well be our next IS:
    image

    I need more angles to make a call, but right off the bat: why does that butt-ugly ES schnozz keep showing up?

    T minus 12 and counting...
  • lexusguylexusguy Member Posts: 6,419
    Nope, believe it or not thats actually LS4xx. I'm surpised this IS enthusiast site would be fooled that easy. Just glancing at the nose clearly shows a more swoopy, taught evolution of the LS cues.
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    Is it really? The scale is certainly hard to judge in that pic, then.

    OK, sigh of relief here.

    I'm surprised. I haven't known them to be wrong before.

    What is it with grilles these days? To me they're getting uglier by the day out there.
  • is3ooguyis3ooguy Member Posts: 68
    11 days... think they will bring back yellow as a colour option?
  • chris65amgchris65amg Member Posts: 372
    I don't know.... part of me loves yellow cars, but people look silly driving them! But hey, that's what tinted windows are for.

    Grilles are getting weirder because auto manufacturers have seen how the grillework on the 300 and Escalade has sold them so many, and now everyone wants a good lookin' grille, even if it really looks like a pekingese.

    I like that ugly butt ES schnozz, but I'm weird. Definitely not appropriate for a sporty car, though. Not long till Geneva!
  • jchan2jchan2 Member Posts: 4,956
    Will the IS get any bigger?
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    The color I'd like to see them offer again is that burnt orange from 2001. There's one around here that I see from time to time and it's just a great color (for me that is). Of the current crop, the Bluestone metallic is rather nice, if a little blah.

    Jchan: from the Articles of Speculation (care of Clements and Co.) we're looking at a 5" stretch in wheelbase (but little change in LOA) and a near 5" bloat in width. But we shall see...
  • lexusguylexusguy Member Posts: 6,419
    Definitely. 3 series is up in size, and I would expect redisgned C and A4 to gain some size as well. Lexus also has to deal with Infiniti and Acura, both of which are bigger cars. Keeping it the same would not be a smart move.
  • jchan2jchan2 Member Posts: 4,956
    is about IS300 sized, right?
  • boomsamaboomsama Member Posts: 362
    So I hear the IS will be unveiled at Geneve March 1st?
  • is3ooguyis3ooguy Member Posts: 68
    March 1st it is my friend =)
    8 days and counting...
  • rsr742002rsr742002 Member Posts: 64
    http://autospies.com/article/index.asp?articleId=3395&categoryId=- 1
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 267,911
    That article is dated 9/30/04?

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  • lexusguylexusguy Member Posts: 6,419
    Thats not it. Those are very early "the IS might be something like" CGI drawings that have been around for months.
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    Yeah, I don't think so.

    Autospies. 'Nuff sed. Whatever Autospies publish on March 2nd will probably be wrong too!

    Tee hee. :-)
  • nippononlynippononly Member Posts: 12,555
    "What is it with grilles these days"

    Compared to what Audi is busy doing to all its cars right now, how could Lexus really go wrong?!

    To me, the only really bad looking Lexus is the SC430, which I am hoping they will fix very soon. The current IS is the best of the lot, and I AM afraid they will do more of the "smeary" look of the rest of the line for the new IS.

    2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)

  • rsr742002rsr742002 Member Posts: 64
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    I'm not at all happy with the Audi grilles either, Nippon, but at least they have the fairly glowing history of Auto Union upon which to base it (not that it helps with the eyes, though). Plus, when you get the other 96% of the car so right, a little rhino-forgiveness is in order!

    I agree on the SC430, but I think it has company in the ES. I can't stand the way the ES looks, but frankly, part of it may have to with how it feels to drive one. It's not exactly a good experience.

    I hope they get this one right. After the GS, I'm just not going to get the hopes up too high.
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    Check out the teaser graphic on
    http://www.lexus-europe.com
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 267,911
    I know that isn't much to go on.. But, it isn't looking too good....

    Hopefully, the details will improve it..

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  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    Kinda swoopy, ain't it? I know some others were jazzed by the LF-C, but it left me pretty cold. More of the usual Japanese techno-funk, IMO.
  • alpha01alpha01 Member Posts: 4,747
    "I agree on the SC430, but I think it has company in the ES. I can't stand the way the ES looks, but frankly, part of it may have to with how it feels to drive one. It's not exactly a good experience."

    The ES may not be a great enthusiast drive, but the majority of its owners, I'm sure they are just fine with the way it drives.

    ~alpha
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    Oh, I know you're right Alpha. That's obvious, as it's the Lexus best-seller sedan.

    But applying any ES mentality to the next IS? Big mistake. Huge.

    Having had to endure it as a loaner, for me it is supremely unsatisfying to drive. But the look itself has been regarded industry-wide as the litmus test for Lexus's service/reliability approach to the lux and near lux market: that something that ungainly sells as well as it does is the very proof the pudding requires!
    ;-)
  • lexusguylexusguy Member Posts: 6,419
    I know what you mean. The RX300 registers about a 1 out of 10 on the fun-to-drive o' meter. The ES is a -3. I've test driven lots and lots of cars. I have only ever ended one early, and it was the ES. The car is literally an appliance.
  • oacoac Member Posts: 1,594
    image
  • drfilldrfill Member Posts: 2,484
    Vaunted LF-S concept!

    But the LF-S was a big car, between the GS and LS in length, kind of in Acura TL territory.

    Pretty sure the IS won't get near that big.

    I dig the rear end anyway.

    DrFill
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    "Pretty sure the IS won't get near that big..."

    You're sure, eh? ;-)

    LG: best-selling toaster-oven ever! I think the success of the ES is pretty much why Lexus needed the IS in the lineup, and needed it to be the anti-Lexus at that. With all those former Buick drivers entering the fold, the median age was going up like the Montgolfier brothers over Versailles...

    Just kidding. Well, sort of.
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    Doesn't that tail remind anyone else of a cross between a TL and and Integra?

    Just me eh?
  • oacoac Member Posts: 1,594
    wale_:

    I'd like your thoughts on that IS in yellow. Do you think it looks like a winner or need more work ?

    BTW, my local Lex dealer told me there will be an IS v8. I don't believe it tho'. The rumor mill however states the IS350 (RWD) will put down 315bhp on the 3.5L motor. Won't that be sweet for such a light car ?
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 267,911
    From the looks of the teaser on the website, the yellow one looks pretty close, but probably with the ugly grill of the blue one..

    Not terrible, but it doesn't make me lust after one...

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  • lexusguylexusguy Member Posts: 6,419
    I think the lights look like FX45.
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    On the yellow: Just from these pics (not the greatest way to evaluate) it looks too long to me. From behind, it has a very TL feel, mixed with some Mazda and, as I said some, Integra. The front looks very Honda to me, I don't care much for the angry cat's eyes headlamp array, and the grille is IMO too small and shows no aggression; it needs more "mouth". It doesn't look like a sport sedan. I'd say it's certainly clean and finished, but very conservative. It really is much along the lines of the GS. It's very "careful".

    But it's so hard to tell from just a couple of shots that may not even be the real deal. It does bear remarkable resemblence to the teaser on the Lexus-Europe site...
  • oacoac Member Posts: 1,594
    From the CL crowd, one guy was shown the actual IS in a small gathering of Lex dealers. He claimed that the yellow is *close* but the rear of the actual IS may be a little wider than in the pic. I dunno tho'.
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    Tailights:
    image
    '92 Integra

    image
    FX

    Your call. Either way, it's not particularly engaging or original. Certainly not bad, but they need a car with a look that says what it intends, IMO, and incites you to want to drive it, so to speak.
  • lexusguylexusguy Member Posts: 6,419
    I dont see the resemblance with Integra. That car has generic early '90s Asian horizontal bars, you'll find them on the Lexus SC and many other Japanese models from that era. The FX seems a lot closer.
  • wale_bate1wale_bate1 Member Posts: 1,982
    OK! Cool.

    Another thought on the above photos: I like the front valance on the blue "LS420" more than what I see on the yellow. For me, if that opening array were enlarged slightly, and the grille itself erased, I'd be impressed. It'd have an aggressive look, but one that runs directly counter to the in-your-face-grille idiom that's hit the marketplace (Chrysler, Dodge, Audi, VW, etc.).

    Just thinkin' here...
  • oacoac Member Posts: 1,594
    Anyone seen/heard this pre-announcement to dealers about the next IS ? Well here it is:

    Models
    IS350 RWD
    IS250 RWD
    IS250 RWD, 6 speed Manual
    IS250 AWD, 6 Speed sequential shift Auto.

    Std features
    Smart Access
    Optitron Instrument Cluster
    Power Tilt/Telescopic Wheel
    Audio, Bluetooth, Voice Activation and Display Controls on Steering Wheel
    10-Way power seats with memory for driver and passenger
    Wood and Metal trim interior
    Dual Zone Auto Climate Control
    Mini Plug accessory Connector (iPOD, anyone ?)
    Illuminated Scuff Plates on door sills
    AM/FM/CD, 13-speaker audio system

    Options
    Ventilated Seats
    Touch Screen-Voice Activated Nav
    Mark Levinson
    Adaptive Cruise Control
    Park Assist
    Rain sensing Wipers with Headlamp washers
    Power rear sunshade
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