The IS200 or Toyota Altezza sold in Japan and Europe uses a 2 liter 4 cylinder. It sells pretty well overseas unlike the slow selling U.S. IS300. One version has a high reving 4 cylinder puting out 200hp-210hp with a 6 speed I believe and another is less powerful. I don't believe Toyota has a 6 cylinder as small as 2 liters but I may be wrong. I think the Mitsubishi FTO is the only recent Japanese car to use a 6 cylinder as small as 2 liters.

 

IS200 in japan is 4 cylinder and IS200 for europe is 6 cylinder motor.

 

Umm, ok... Go read: "The Lexus Story"

Toyota began laying the ground for Lexus in 1983, years before any Acuras were available.

Not to mention the $1 BILLION commitment.

 

Thank you, Udel is way off with some of his comments. I didn't even respond b/c its damn repetative at this point.

 

Wow i'm late on this. Goes to show you people will make up things without look up the facts first, especially if they have a hidden agenda signing up here.

 

Yes you are wrong, the IS200's engine is the 1G-FE, 2.0L I-6 160hp @ 6,200 rpm 200 ft/lb torque @ 4,400 rpm available in 4spd auto or 6spd manual.



http://autoweb.drive.com.au/cms/A_687/article.html

 

Yes, the IS 200 in Europe is a small output 6 cylinder. Lexus has never offered a 4-cylinder car, that is what Toyota is for, i.e Echo, Corolla, Rav-4, base Camry, etc etc.

Good pic, I have never seen the actual engine. The IS 200/300 is loved in Europe and always in the top 3 in quality results. They would like to see all Lexus drive like the IS in Europe.

 

Strange that this much smaller 2-liter would offer almost as much torque (200 ft.-lbs.) as the much larger U.S.-spec 3.0L (218 ft.-lbs.) Both, in Lexus-spec, are normally aspirated and non-turbo. It just reinforces, to some extent, my earlier feeling that Lexus should have offered the 2.0 in the U.S. market. The 3.0, while an amazingly smooth and durable engine, is a gas hog by 6-cylinder standards...not helped, of course, by the IS300's short ratios in the first 4 gears, with only a tall 5th to compensate. The 2.0, it looks like, would give almost the same torque along with better mileage. Yes, I understand the "image" factor with a Lexus 4-cylinder or small 6 ( that has been discussed at CL before ), but it's hard to argue with the numbers here.

 

I finally found time to resize and upload those pics of the Acura 1.7 EL's that i saw a few months ago. Here's a 1.7 EL w/BC plates that I spotted down the street from BlustoneIS' house in Buena Park, CA on 6/29/05:




By coincidence, I see that 1.7 EL I first talked about with Cali plates the day after on 6/30/05. This was on my commute to work in the morning on the 91 Fwy in Corona, CA:



About a month later...I see that same damn 1.7 EL w/CA plates early in my commute in Riverside approaching the 91 Fwy on 7/25/05 LOL...and this time I finally catch it in a lane next to a US Spec Honda Civic!!!

 

Imagine a Corolla with basically Lexus badges. Wow., thank goodness they have some sense. How can u have a car BELOW the already low RSX?

 

 

These low end cars with luxury plates are definitely sell-outs, but they make sense from a sales point of view. The EL has always sold disturbingly well in Canada, the TSX sells well here too. The reason is that most people who buy these cars (all of them perhaps) just want something with an upmarket nameplate and really don't care what car it is on - even if it's an A that replaces the H on a Civic... As long as the car is not completely awful, people will be happy owning these. They can say that they own an Acura, and they can have a decent vehicle - and pretend that the badges do more than just give them phoney snob status... Lexus surely could sell a lot of "CS220's" (Potential Corolla Lexus name).

Remember the Cadillac Cimarron? Now that was HOT! Wow - that car is the perfect example of low-end luxury branding gone horribly wrong.

 

... Hey guys, while we're all yapping about how Lexus "would never do this awful low-end badging"... How do we defend the old ES250??

 

it was an experiment, id pimp one out.

 

We don't. The ES is still a glorified Camry V6 (highly glorified). At least the ES250 wasn't a compact sedan.