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Here is a slightly comprehensive review, its a bit long because I'm going to serve an english hand-in.
Today(30/03/06) I woke up happy because of the fact that I was going do test drive the new Lexus IS. I was so excited that I couldn’t even concentrate during class at school. Anyways I arrived at the dealer at around 14:00 and outside the dealer where a couple a IS cars lined up along side each other. I quickly parked my car on a customer parking space and walked quickly to a Black IS 250. Although I had spotted the IS on the roads before, this was really the first time I was able to calmly rest my critical eyes on this Japanese piece of engineering.
The exterior is very modern anno year 2005/2006 with an edgy design and flame surfacing. Looking at it I could quickly conclude that Lexus has spent quite a bit of time designing the car. The design cue is a mix of Cadillac STS and BMW 3 series rather than being a Toyota Camry look-a-like. Although design is very subjective the car is by no means ugly and I liked what I saw.
After examining the exterior of the car I stepped inside the dealer and grabbed the key to a black IS 250 from the dealer. Since keyless-go is a standard feature it was just a matter of putting the key in one of my pocket, stepping inside the car and pressing the “start engine button”. Another very convenient feature the car had was electric powered seats which meant that I didn’t have to “waste” any muscle power on pulling levers and turning gears. Luxury cars are about convenience and comfort and those small features are just what make a car luxury orientated.
When I entered the car my eyes quickly turned to the big, grey and dominant centre console and around it were a dark interior. My first impression was “well this looks quite good”, beside the grey centre console which had a slightly cheap feeling, the rest of the car felt pretty solid and well put together. I have to point out that the interior of the car looks best in beige with wood panels just like another black IS inside the dealer’s showroom. Although the quality feel isn’t on a par with the Audi A4 it would probably please most buyers. Before I had test drove the car I had heard some rather negative comments about the backseats and I wanted to know what that was all about so I checked it out. Just like I had heard the backseat was cramped. I was sitting in the left seat and my left arm was rather squashed between my body and the door. Looking to the right I saw that the middle seat was rather small and that the backseat seem very unsuitable for three grown ups. On the other hand the car is meant to transport 4 people comfortably and one should therefore not be too bothered if they can’t squeeze three Mike Tysons in the backseats. When it comes to headroom I was approximately 1-2 cm from being able to nudge the roof with my scalp and it’s not like I’m to tall. As a matter of fact I’m 182cm tall and if you are 185cm or taller you probably don’t want to spend more than 5 minutes in that backseat. Due to the rather limited headroom I think that Japanese people have been used as benchmark when designing and constructing the car. Therefore I don’t think that this car shouldn’t be choice number one if you have very tall friends, unless you want them to fight with swords like King Arthur and Sir. Lancelot over who is going to sit comfortably is the more specious front passenger seat.
As mentioned earlier the car I test drove was a IS 250 but to be more precise this was an IS 250 sports which sets you back an additional 5 000 euro on top of the price of a standard IS 250 which is priced at 29 390 euro. The IS 250 distinguishes itself with its sport suspension, aluminium pedals and sport upholstery. When fired up the IS seemingly quite, which indicates that it is a more or of a luxury car rather than a young boy racer. Flooring the throttle to the floor the car will take off giving a dove engine sound which can be explained as a screaming Tasmanian devil with its mouth covered with a pillow. The ride was very smooth but quite firm thanks to the sport suspension making me able to controllably steer the car in the direction I wanted. I don’t have a lot of experience with manual gearboxes and can therefore not comment on the 6 speed gear box sitting in the car I drove, though I have to say that it had rather short strokes. Since I was in a hurry I wasn’t able push the car to its limits and drive it on curvy country roads but I am very pleased with the impression I got from driving it for 30 minutes.
The Lexus IS is a very complete and solid car and competent car which measures up to it’s German equivalents. Besides a small backseat the car is significantly pricy. The starting price for this entry car is very high and after adding a few options one does quickly exceed the 30 000 euro figure. Some of the options such as 17 inch rims, multimedia package and sunroof can only be combined with the Executive and Sports versions of the car. Those two versions cost 34 790 and 33 550 euros respectively and adding a few options to those will take you near the 40 000 euro mark. What Lexus needs to do is to offer 1.8 and 2.0 engines for the people who wants to own an IS but are not necessarily read to sling out a near 30 000 euro for one. Although the car is relatively expensive it does come with many standard features compared with Mercedes and Bimmers which often come standard with nothing but a steering wheel, a basic audio system and the new-car-smell. Other than that the IS left a great taste in my mouth and not even once did the brands mother company Toyota cross my mind. The German giants should be worried because Lexus has, with the IS officially entered the battle for European customers.
Today(30/03/06) I woke up happy because of the fact that I was going do test drive the new Lexus IS. I was so excited that I couldn’t even concentrate during class at school. Anyways I arrived at the dealer at around 14:00 and outside the dealer where a couple a IS cars lined up along side each other. I quickly parked my car on a customer parking space and walked quickly to a Black IS 250. Although I had spotted the IS on the roads before, this was really the first time I was able to calmly rest my critical eyes on this Japanese piece of engineering.
The exterior is very modern anno year 2005/2006 with an edgy design and flame surfacing. Looking at it I could quickly conclude that Lexus has spent quite a bit of time designing the car. The design cue is a mix of Cadillac STS and BMW 3 series rather than being a Toyota Camry look-a-like. Although design is very subjective the car is by no means ugly and I liked what I saw.
After examining the exterior of the car I stepped inside the dealer and grabbed the key to a black IS 250 from the dealer. Since keyless-go is a standard feature it was just a matter of putting the key in one of my pocket, stepping inside the car and pressing the “start engine button”. Another very convenient feature the car had was electric powered seats which meant that I didn’t have to “waste” any muscle power on pulling levers and turning gears. Luxury cars are about convenience and comfort and those small features are just what make a car luxury orientated.
When I entered the car my eyes quickly turned to the big, grey and dominant centre console and around it were a dark interior. My first impression was “well this looks quite good”, beside the grey centre console which had a slightly cheap feeling, the rest of the car felt pretty solid and well put together. I have to point out that the interior of the car looks best in beige with wood panels just like another black IS inside the dealer’s showroom. Although the quality feel isn’t on a par with the Audi A4 it would probably please most buyers. Before I had test drove the car I had heard some rather negative comments about the backseats and I wanted to know what that was all about so I checked it out. Just like I had heard the backseat was cramped. I was sitting in the left seat and my left arm was rather squashed between my body and the door. Looking to the right I saw that the middle seat was rather small and that the backseat seem very unsuitable for three grown ups. On the other hand the car is meant to transport 4 people comfortably and one should therefore not be too bothered if they can’t squeeze three Mike Tysons in the backseats. When it comes to headroom I was approximately 1-2 cm from being able to nudge the roof with my scalp and it’s not like I’m to tall. As a matter of fact I’m 182cm tall and if you are 185cm or taller you probably don’t want to spend more than 5 minutes in that backseat. Due to the rather limited headroom I think that Japanese people have been used as benchmark when designing and constructing the car. Therefore I don’t think that this car shouldn’t be choice number one if you have very tall friends, unless you want them to fight with swords like King Arthur and Sir. Lancelot over who is going to sit comfortably is the more specious front passenger seat.
As mentioned earlier the car I test drove was a IS 250 but to be more precise this was an IS 250 sports which sets you back an additional 5 000 euro on top of the price of a standard IS 250 which is priced at 29 390 euro. The IS 250 distinguishes itself with its sport suspension, aluminium pedals and sport upholstery. When fired up the IS seemingly quite, which indicates that it is a more or of a luxury car rather than a young boy racer. Flooring the throttle to the floor the car will take off giving a dove engine sound which can be explained as a screaming Tasmanian devil with its mouth covered with a pillow. The ride was very smooth but quite firm thanks to the sport suspension making me able to controllably steer the car in the direction I wanted. I don’t have a lot of experience with manual gearboxes and can therefore not comment on the 6 speed gear box sitting in the car I drove, though I have to say that it had rather short strokes. Since I was in a hurry I wasn’t able push the car to its limits and drive it on curvy country roads but I am very pleased with the impression I got from driving it for 30 minutes.
The Lexus IS is a very complete and solid car and competent car which measures up to it’s German equivalents. Besides a small backseat the car is significantly pricy. The starting price for this entry car is very high and after adding a few options one does quickly exceed the 30 000 euro figure. Some of the options such as 17 inch rims, multimedia package and sunroof can only be combined with the Executive and Sports versions of the car. Those two versions cost 34 790 and 33 550 euros respectively and adding a few options to those will take you near the 40 000 euro mark. What Lexus needs to do is to offer 1.8 and 2.0 engines for the people who wants to own an IS but are not necessarily read to sling out a near 30 000 euro for one. Although the car is relatively expensive it does come with many standard features compared with Mercedes and Bimmers which often come standard with nothing but a steering wheel, a basic audio system and the new-car-smell. Other than that the IS left a great taste in my mouth and not even once did the brands mother company Toyota cross my mind. The German giants should be worried because Lexus has, with the IS officially entered the battle for European customers.
