Well, first off the car had a price tag of about $45K. Which is a bit more than I want to spend but regardless, I wanted to drive it. The proximity key is pretty cool and convenient, not having to grab the key from your pocket or what have you. I'm sure we have all seen the videos of the sweet gage cluster check before start up but once again, very nice. After talking about some of the different features (and there is a lot) we got her warmed up and headed for the road.

I first left the car is "D" untill we hit the main road heading towards the interstate. I started playing with the paddles after a bit and I must say, it's still an auto at heart. On a hard pull, which it does do well, you have to hit the paddle about 500-600 rpms before you actually want it to shift. In the first three gears I tapped the rev limiter. On the plus side the shifts are smooth and graceful. The power is bold, and pretty much on tap from 2500rpms up. Coming off of a light with no power braking, 60MPH comes pretty quick with no tire spin what so ever, if the computer was helping out it did it very smoothly and I had no idea it was doing so.

On the highway it had great turn at higher speeds (80MPH) and went anywhere you pointed it with little effort. The ride of coarse was smooth yet controlled. The heated and cooled seats made it even more comfortable.

In the end, it's a great car but for $10K less, I think I'll get a G35 Coupe with a 6MT. The G Coupe doesn’t feel any slower (thought he Sedan got smoked in C&D), the actual manual is much more fun. The G Coupe’s shifter is a little more well placed for use, though with the IS being an auto with paddle isn’t a big deal, just something I noticed. Eitherway it's a great addition to the Lexus community and I'm looking forward to seeing what will be in store for them in the future.

 

I would love to be able to drive the IS350 and G35 Sedan side by side just to see how much of a difference there really is. Considering the G35 is technically supposed to be the IS' competitor, it'd be interesting to see if the IS really justifies that $10K premium.

 

10k less??? the g35 fully loaded with nav i thought it's about 40k?

 

Well $10K is probably a less much, I just looked at a 06' for $38k, I think it was fully loaded, I had nav and a ton of other stuff including the aero kit, no auto, that may be more. I honestly didn't even look at an Auto.

 

i priced it with most of the options, that would be similar to a fully loaded IS350 it would be ~40k, but it still didn't have the same equipment as a fully loaded IS350

but if the G35 is more you, then it is the car for you

 

i haven't checked on the pricing of the 06 g35c yet, but when i did it back in 04, fully loaded one was about 40k. forgot what options were there already though, coz' i basically just added eveyrthing

 

Oh don't get me wrong, the IS has many more options and is a great car, I just don't think I need alot if them, the back up camera. Neat, but not needed.

Some people like that and this is their car. Plain and simple.

 

the way you worded it, it sounded to me you said that a G35 Coupe for 35k is a better deal than a fully loaded 45k IS350

 

The proxy key has been standard on the LS for a while now. It's a nifty gadget. No matter how nice they make the IS I'm personally not spending 45k on a mid sized car that's can't run with an ///M

 

OK but you can't get an M for 45K either.

 

I guess my point was for me, key word - me, it is a better deal. Just because I don't want/need the extras. I just want a gorgous car that can kick some butt on the road, and do it with some style.

And I have poor grammar so I probably worded it poorly

 

really sweet car. Cant wait to test it out.

 

Guys...whats the price difference between the IS350 loaded and a base GS300???

 

I love the Is350 alot, but yeah lexus has to make the price more in tune with the competion like the g35 that is selling like hotcakes.

 

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Seems like theyre still LIGHT years behind when it comes to manumatics no? For a paddle shifter type car that is.. plain unnaceptable. if i were in the market for a new car, This and the vdim feature would make me skip it entirely at least till those issues are resolved.

If they insist on not putting a manual offering they should at least have a tranny that is no less then Audi's TTs automatics.