my review of taste of luxury event...
11-07-05, 02:20 AM
#1
my review of taste of luxury event...
so this past weekend the taste of luxury event hit two cities at the same time, los angeles and san francisco.
i went to the one at alameda point on saturday. the whole week it had been cloudy and windy, but sat was such a nice day, perfect for a driving event -- or so i wished. seriously, i wasn't too impressed with the event this yr at all.... i didn't even bother to take pics...
from last yr's experience, we made sure we arrived before 9 to get in asap. but when i arrived, i was like wtf.... the parking was a big piece of dirt land..... compared to last yr where the parking area was bigger, smoother... anyway, registration went through pretty fast and we were in.
we skipped everything and went throught out to the driving course.... we drove the following cars in order: is250, is350, 330i, gs430, 530i, e500, ls430, rx400h. cars i didn't drive were the gs300 (it's ok), sc430 (got one in my garage already, and it had a long line), rx330 (i prefer a rx400h anyway), es330, gx470, and lx470 (the course was boring)
anyway, here's what i think of the cars. just for the record, i ALWAYS stayed in 2nd gear if possible. you don't need 5th gear, 2nd is fast and what you should use. and i also focus more on driving experience.
i went to the one at alameda point on saturday. the whole week it had been cloudy and windy, but sat was such a nice day, perfect for a driving event -- or so i wished. seriously, i wasn't too impressed with the event this yr at all.... i didn't even bother to take pics...
from last yr's experience, we made sure we arrived before 9 to get in asap. but when i arrived, i was like wtf.... the parking was a big piece of dirt land..... compared to last yr where the parking area was bigger, smoother... anyway, registration went through pretty fast and we were in.
we skipped everything and went throught out to the driving course.... we drove the following cars in order: is250, is350, 330i, gs430, 530i, e500, ls430, rx400h. cars i didn't drive were the gs300 (it's ok), sc430 (got one in my garage already, and it had a long line), rx330 (i prefer a rx400h anyway), es330, gx470, and lx470 (the course was boring)
anyway, here's what i think of the cars. just for the record, i ALWAYS stayed in 2nd gear if possible. you don't need 5th gear, 2nd is fast and what you should use. and i also focus more on driving experience.
11-07-05, 02:21 AM
#2
is250:
the car is ok... and i mean it, just ok.... accel is normal, i guess about the same as the old is300, not really impressive. the handling is pretty nice, very floaty still though, but it bites the corner pretty well still. the throttle response of the car is weak, delay is bad out of corner and i was in 2nd gear already.
and worst of all, braking was extremely bad.... it's just ridiculous. i did a hard accel to about 40mph and i slammed on the brakes, and god the car didn't even stop hard. the car just kept on going and going. could be the tires or the brakes fading after all the hard driving (barely at 9:30am), but regardless it was just bad. and the mushy braking feel was nothing i expected too.
is350:
DAMN was that car quick. i just slightly tapped the gas and the car was urging to run already. it was incredible. the car accelerate much much faster than the is250 and even my gs400 and sc430 stock. it's just fast! not like m3 but it definitely pulls very hard.
moreover, the throttle is VERY responsive, whenver you tap the gas, the power kicks in hard, i love it. that's awesome from just a v6 engine i have to say.
might be due to the power, the handling of the car acrtually got worse, it seems like the car was harder to control than the is250. body roll was bad, i was thrown inside the car a lot. steering was just as loose as the is250, and i was expecting some tighter steering. i could be wrong but i think the steering on my is300 was tighter than this?
and just like is250, what the hell is wrong with the brakes... i noticed that the is350 got similar brake setup as the new gs430, but the braking is still bad.... mushy feeling, and it just didn't stop fast enough. ok, i have to admit, i have bbk on both my gs400 and sc430, but imho that's how i can know what's good and what's bad. and imho i just couldn't find as much confidence in the brakes on the is350
330i:
you know, i just have to give my thumb up to this car. if i want to have fun driving a car, i really wouldn't look anywhere else. the steering is hella tight and precise, and it's super responsive.
handling is awesome on the car, flat on corners, no body roll at all, and you could feel the whole car is solid. and most of all, braking is good. very hard and instant feeling on the brakes, and braking was very confident.
but the car is very loud too (well, engine roar might be good to hear, but not when it's doing it all the time), the seats are very hard and stiff, the leather quality is way off, basically you just don't imagine that it's a high end car.
gs430:
for a car of this size (big), i was actually pretty happy with it! accel was hard and fast, steering was a bit on the loose side but pretty precise. throttle response is in between the is250 and the is350 imho, but more towards the is350 side.
maybe someone can explain to me, but the braking on the gs430 actually felt better than the is350. maybe coz' the car wasn't driven as hard so brake fade wasn't as bad. but if that's the case it still didn't make any sense. it was barely 10am (1 hr after event started) and the brakes on the is250 and is350 were fading already??
in terms of handling, i felt that the gs430 has a bit less roll than the is350, but i was pretty sure i couldn't go as fast in the gs430. but overall i was pretty pleased with what the car could do for its size and weight. i actually think it's better than my gs400 stock, far better.
530i:
well, first of all, the car was slower, that's for sure. but typical bmw, the handling of the car was superior. on corners and such the car was just flat and it was begging for more speed.
steering was actually not as tight as the 330i, but still very responsive. in fact, being right after the gs430, i found myself turning the steering wheel way too fast on the 530i.
braking was ok on the car, i would say it's about the same as the gs430 actually, not as hard as the 330i. and also one thing, driving the 530i i felt like driving a small car. the turning was so smooth it's like you are driving a go kart instead. it's amazing how bmw could do to the handling.
e500:
comparing to the gs430, i don't think the e500 accel much faster, if at all. i wasn't too happy with the handling myself. i still remember on serveral corners i turned, the car leaned, body rolled, and the car didnt' turn fast enough. pretty bad if you ask me. so handling was much worse than gs430.
and the throttle was funny too. every time i punched the car, i actually heard a "boom" sound from the drivetrain, and then the car choked. even my wife asked about it. i guess the tranny isn't as smooth as it could be?
oh and braking on the e500 was pretty bad too imho. it doesn't have the kind of mushy feel as that on the gs430, but the stopping distance was long.
lastly, the e class feels so BIG. it seemed to hard to turn the car precisely and smoothly. it's like the complete opposite of the 530i. seriously i wonder if i drive the e class on the street, can i do a parallel park without hitting the car in the back?
ls430:
well it's one of my dream cars so why not, especially when i was able to catch up with the es330 towards the end of the course? the new ls430 with 6 speed tranny really accel much harder and faster, and the throttle response is such an improvement.
the braking was close to the gs430 i drove. steering was very loose of course, driving fast was indeed a bit scary since you could jiggle the steering wheel and the car didnt' react. tons of body rolls on the car when donig hard corner, but surprisingly, with the size of the car, it wasn't really that hard to drive at all.
rx400h:
straight out, disappointed.... the car is supposed to be a lot faster than the rx330. well, yes it's faster, but maybe since the cars i drove that day were all very fast, the rx400h just didn't impress me at all. i was expecting more and harder accel on the rx400h.
braking on the rx400h was surprisingly good though, which i like coz' a lot of suv tends to have bad brakes imho. handling is decent on the car as an suv too.
the car is ok... and i mean it, just ok.... accel is normal, i guess about the same as the old is300, not really impressive. the handling is pretty nice, very floaty still though, but it bites the corner pretty well still. the throttle response of the car is weak, delay is bad out of corner and i was in 2nd gear already.
and worst of all, braking was extremely bad.... it's just ridiculous. i did a hard accel to about 40mph and i slammed on the brakes, and god the car didn't even stop hard. the car just kept on going and going. could be the tires or the brakes fading after all the hard driving (barely at 9:30am), but regardless it was just bad. and the mushy braking feel was nothing i expected too.
is350:
DAMN was that car quick. i just slightly tapped the gas and the car was urging to run already. it was incredible. the car accelerate much much faster than the is250 and even my gs400 and sc430 stock. it's just fast! not like m3 but it definitely pulls very hard.
moreover, the throttle is VERY responsive, whenver you tap the gas, the power kicks in hard, i love it. that's awesome from just a v6 engine i have to say.
might be due to the power, the handling of the car acrtually got worse, it seems like the car was harder to control than the is250. body roll was bad, i was thrown inside the car a lot. steering was just as loose as the is250, and i was expecting some tighter steering. i could be wrong but i think the steering on my is300 was tighter than this?
and just like is250, what the hell is wrong with the brakes... i noticed that the is350 got similar brake setup as the new gs430, but the braking is still bad.... mushy feeling, and it just didn't stop fast enough. ok, i have to admit, i have bbk on both my gs400 and sc430, but imho that's how i can know what's good and what's bad. and imho i just couldn't find as much confidence in the brakes on the is350
330i:
you know, i just have to give my thumb up to this car. if i want to have fun driving a car, i really wouldn't look anywhere else. the steering is hella tight and precise, and it's super responsive.
handling is awesome on the car, flat on corners, no body roll at all, and you could feel the whole car is solid. and most of all, braking is good. very hard and instant feeling on the brakes, and braking was very confident.
but the car is very loud too (well, engine roar might be good to hear, but not when it's doing it all the time), the seats are very hard and stiff, the leather quality is way off, basically you just don't imagine that it's a high end car.
gs430:
for a car of this size (big), i was actually pretty happy with it! accel was hard and fast, steering was a bit on the loose side but pretty precise. throttle response is in between the is250 and the is350 imho, but more towards the is350 side.
maybe someone can explain to me, but the braking on the gs430 actually felt better than the is350. maybe coz' the car wasn't driven as hard so brake fade wasn't as bad. but if that's the case it still didn't make any sense. it was barely 10am (1 hr after event started) and the brakes on the is250 and is350 were fading already??
in terms of handling, i felt that the gs430 has a bit less roll than the is350, but i was pretty sure i couldn't go as fast in the gs430. but overall i was pretty pleased with what the car could do for its size and weight. i actually think it's better than my gs400 stock, far better.
530i:
well, first of all, the car was slower, that's for sure. but typical bmw, the handling of the car was superior. on corners and such the car was just flat and it was begging for more speed.
steering was actually not as tight as the 330i, but still very responsive. in fact, being right after the gs430, i found myself turning the steering wheel way too fast on the 530i.
braking was ok on the car, i would say it's about the same as the gs430 actually, not as hard as the 330i. and also one thing, driving the 530i i felt like driving a small car. the turning was so smooth it's like you are driving a go kart instead. it's amazing how bmw could do to the handling.
e500:
comparing to the gs430, i don't think the e500 accel much faster, if at all. i wasn't too happy with the handling myself. i still remember on serveral corners i turned, the car leaned, body rolled, and the car didnt' turn fast enough. pretty bad if you ask me. so handling was much worse than gs430.
and the throttle was funny too. every time i punched the car, i actually heard a "boom" sound from the drivetrain, and then the car choked. even my wife asked about it. i guess the tranny isn't as smooth as it could be?
oh and braking on the e500 was pretty bad too imho. it doesn't have the kind of mushy feel as that on the gs430, but the stopping distance was long.
lastly, the e class feels so BIG. it seemed to hard to turn the car precisely and smoothly. it's like the complete opposite of the 530i. seriously i wonder if i drive the e class on the street, can i do a parallel park without hitting the car in the back?
ls430:
well it's one of my dream cars so why not, especially when i was able to catch up with the es330 towards the end of the course? the new ls430 with 6 speed tranny really accel much harder and faster, and the throttle response is such an improvement.
the braking was close to the gs430 i drove. steering was very loose of course, driving fast was indeed a bit scary since you could jiggle the steering wheel and the car didnt' react. tons of body rolls on the car when donig hard corner, but surprisingly, with the size of the car, it wasn't really that hard to drive at all.
rx400h:
straight out, disappointed.... the car is supposed to be a lot faster than the rx330. well, yes it's faster, but maybe since the cars i drove that day were all very fast, the rx400h just didn't impress me at all. i was expecting more and harder accel on the rx400h.
braking on the rx400h was surprisingly good though, which i like coz' a lot of suv tends to have bad brakes imho. handling is decent on the car as an suv too.
11-07-05, 02:21 AM
#3
so that's my driving experience. around lunch time we went inside and read all the setup, sat in the gs and is separately to look at the designs and talked about the differente features, and of course we ate stuff around too. the food wasn't as good and as much as the yr before but not a big deal. to be frank why care that much about the food when this is supposed to be a driving experience? to me it's a great complimentary treats from lexus already. sometimes i think it's better than last yr when you see all the people fighting for food and seats around the building.
they also did a great job of having some pro drivers racing down the courses and did some good comparisons of the cars. and they broadcast those live to everyone inside the lounge so it was relly good. the interior decorations of the lounge was much nicer than last yr, the couches and seats were very comfortable, i love it. too bad it was a bit crouded though.
the registration desk was very good too imho. this yr they had a much better way to distinguish drivers and passengers, much easier and safer than before. specialists were all very helpful, and you could see that lexus really put a lot of money and effort into making this event complete.
they also did a great job of having some pro drivers racing down the courses and did some good comparisons of the cars. and they broadcast those live to everyone inside the lounge so it was relly good. the interior decorations of the lounge was much nicer than last yr, the couches and seats were very comfortable, i love it. too bad it was a bit crouded though.
the registration desk was very good too imho. this yr they had a much better way to distinguish drivers and passengers, much easier and safer than before. specialists were all very helpful, and you could see that lexus really put a lot of money and effort into making this event complete.
11-07-05, 02:21 AM
#4
anyway, here are some complaints (either against lexus, this event, people) i have after this event....
1) someone PLEASE explain to me why people have to adjust their rear view mirrors?? can you save that damn 10 seconds, since you are not going to look into that thing at all? some people don't think
2) from day ONE, they said it's "taste of luxury performance edition", and at the event i also heard them saying about "IS and GS race tracks". moreover, they had demos where pro drives races the lexus and bimmers together. now with that PERFORMANCE in mind, why the hell would they highly restrict GOOD people in driving hard? they had the rule of not hitting any cone or they kick you out. i am good with that, it's fair. but one guy drove very hard on the gs430, flying through the whole track, came back in one pice and no cone hit. he was warned for driving too aggressively. wtf is up with that? so the guy was wrong for being too smart?
3) again, this is a performace driving event right? i was in my gs430 lining up. the guy stuck his head in, looked at my dash and said "oh, please turn off the traction control". i went wtf?! whatever, i turned it off. and then he looked at my stick and said "please put that in D" (i had that on sport mode shifted down to 2). now i was pissed. do i need you teach me how to drive? so as soon as he said i could do, i gunned it, and just put the sport shift back on and put it back in 2nd. i mean, come on, wake up dude.
4) now either lexus invited way too many people this time (compared to last yrs) or people drove way too slow. the lines were ridiculous. i was there at 9, FIRST groupe, and i spent 15 mins for is350, 20 mins for 330i, 15 mins for 530i, and a whopping 35 mins for the e500. they only had 2 330i, e500, and 530i, so you can do the math. by the time i left at around 1:30, there was easily 40 people in line for is350, 40 people for 530i, gs430, e500 each, 30 people for sc430... good luck guys, i feel for you...
5) if lexus want us to really test the gx and lx, get the real course back. not what we had this time... it was a waste of time to drive those cars in 3 or 4 turns and come back... those people can do at dealerships... i was about to show my parents on what the gx and lx do on dirt lands, slops, awd, etc.... i didn't even bother to waste my time that day anymore... go figure....
6) i can probably think of couple of reasons, but it's just lame that lexus couldn't get the e350 and the 550i for the drive.... the 325 i can understand, coz' the 330i is already like in between the is250 and is350. but the new e350 is supposed to be faster than the e320, people want to know that comparison with the gs300 and 530i. same with the 550i, which i read is a big jump from 545i. if lexus wants people to have a fair comparison between all competitors, do it right.
1) someone PLEASE explain to me why people have to adjust their rear view mirrors?? can you save that damn 10 seconds, since you are not going to look into that thing at all? some people don't think
2) from day ONE, they said it's "taste of luxury performance edition", and at the event i also heard them saying about "IS and GS race tracks". moreover, they had demos where pro drives races the lexus and bimmers together. now with that PERFORMANCE in mind, why the hell would they highly restrict GOOD people in driving hard? they had the rule of not hitting any cone or they kick you out. i am good with that, it's fair. but one guy drove very hard on the gs430, flying through the whole track, came back in one pice and no cone hit. he was warned for driving too aggressively. wtf is up with that? so the guy was wrong for being too smart?
3) again, this is a performace driving event right? i was in my gs430 lining up. the guy stuck his head in, looked at my dash and said "oh, please turn off the traction control". i went wtf?! whatever, i turned it off. and then he looked at my stick and said "please put that in D" (i had that on sport mode shifted down to 2). now i was pissed. do i need you teach me how to drive? so as soon as he said i could do, i gunned it, and just put the sport shift back on and put it back in 2nd. i mean, come on, wake up dude.
4) now either lexus invited way too many people this time (compared to last yrs) or people drove way too slow. the lines were ridiculous. i was there at 9, FIRST groupe, and i spent 15 mins for is350, 20 mins for 330i, 15 mins for 530i, and a whopping 35 mins for the e500. they only had 2 330i, e500, and 530i, so you can do the math. by the time i left at around 1:30, there was easily 40 people in line for is350, 40 people for 530i, gs430, e500 each, 30 people for sc430... good luck guys, i feel for you...
5) if lexus want us to really test the gx and lx, get the real course back. not what we had this time... it was a waste of time to drive those cars in 3 or 4 turns and come back... those people can do at dealerships... i was about to show my parents on what the gx and lx do on dirt lands, slops, awd, etc.... i didn't even bother to waste my time that day anymore... go figure....
6) i can probably think of couple of reasons, but it's just lame that lexus couldn't get the e350 and the 550i for the drive.... the 325 i can understand, coz' the 330i is already like in between the is250 and is350. but the new e350 is supposed to be faster than the e320, people want to know that comparison with the gs300 and 530i. same with the 550i, which i read is a big jump from 545i. if lexus wants people to have a fair comparison between all competitors, do it right.
11-07-05, 02:22 AM
#5
so here you go the event for this yr. in general you hardly see me being so critical on comments, but it was how disappointment i was. lexus has every single chance and capability to make this event a successful one, they did it last yr imho. this yr was clearly a step back from last yr, just from the driving portion of the event.
in terms of cars? the new IS are nice, i would say they are finally lexus cars (unlike the old is300). however, the is250 is really a bit disappointment. the is350 is much better, it has its good but overall the car isn't close to as impressive as what i expected, in fact i probably will still hand the trophy to the 330i on driving. overall i will still choose the is350 of course.
the gs430 is quite a better than that i last drove it, it's far better than the e500, but with the 550i loading up the bimmer lots now, we are all crying for gs460 to come next yr. by comparison i think the gs460 can be a good competition to the 550i actually, if lexus does a bit more than just a new engine. and especially when i was looking at the prices of the gs300, 530i, gs430, e500, i think lexus is at a very good position to compete in full force.
until next yr.....
in terms of cars? the new IS are nice, i would say they are finally lexus cars (unlike the old is300). however, the is250 is really a bit disappointment. the is350 is much better, it has its good but overall the car isn't close to as impressive as what i expected, in fact i probably will still hand the trophy to the 330i on driving. overall i will still choose the is350 of course.
the gs430 is quite a better than that i last drove it, it's far better than the e500, but with the 550i loading up the bimmer lots now, we are all crying for gs460 to come next yr. by comparison i think the gs460 can be a good competition to the 550i actually, if lexus does a bit more than just a new engine. and especially when i was looking at the prices of the gs300, 530i, gs430, e500, i think lexus is at a very good position to compete in full force.
until next yr.....
11-07-05, 02:22 AM
#6
oh yeah, and one final thing at the event that i want to mention.
so i was the first in line (finally) for the e500. now usually when a car go, you hear some tires chirping, but somehow i didn't hear anything. then i saw this gs300 slowly roll off... and i mean it, ROLL... i will give it 20mph at most..... SLOW
my wife looked in that direction too. and basically i was like "holy cow... what's wrong with that driver, he/she is an idiot? does he/she know how to drive, wtf is he/she doing man, that's not even 20mph on straight....." well, soon after everyone under that tent was dead silently and everyone was laughing and cursing at the driver.....
trust me, that car probably took over 3 mins to finish the course.... the keeper didnt' even let the second car go until the SLOW car get past mid point.... well, a mistake. the second car caught up. wait, sorry, even the 3rd car caught up.... oh no, even the 4th car managed to catch up with the pack before the SLOW car got back......
and the driver held up the WHOLE pack of cars for the whole course, we are talking about 2 e500, 2 530i, 4 gs430 and 3 gs300. 11 cars just for her, what a scene.
with me cursing like hell already, the SLOW car stopped right in front of me.... this girl slowly opened her door and a guy stepped out of the passenger side... a volunteer walked up to her and said something, well go figure what it could be.....
i started to clapped my hands, followed by my wife.... well afterall, we are happy finally it's over.... suddenly the guy turned to me and started going "what the fxxk is your problem, she's driving slow so what? cant' she? what do you want? what the fxxk is your problem?"
i thoguht about asking him why he knew me clapping hands was for them unless he's "used to" that, but i figured i was better. he continued to curse more, and i started walking up to my e500. everyone was dead silent already looking at us, and i just slowly turned my head and said "i have no problem, YOU are the problem" and continued my way....
amazing isn't it? he actually dared to challenge me what the problem was? well i guess if he figured the problem, he wouldn't have let her drive in the beginning? or better that, he should have told her that it was in fact a driving course, not a parking course -- no wonder why she couldn't find the parking....
pathetic... especially when you got so many people cursing you....
so i was the first in line (finally) for the e500. now usually when a car go, you hear some tires chirping, but somehow i didn't hear anything. then i saw this gs300 slowly roll off... and i mean it, ROLL... i will give it 20mph at most..... SLOW
my wife looked in that direction too. and basically i was like "holy cow... what's wrong with that driver, he/she is an idiot? does he/she know how to drive, wtf is he/she doing man, that's not even 20mph on straight....." well, soon after everyone under that tent was dead silently and everyone was laughing and cursing at the driver.....
trust me, that car probably took over 3 mins to finish the course.... the keeper didnt' even let the second car go until the SLOW car get past mid point.... well, a mistake. the second car caught up. wait, sorry, even the 3rd car caught up.... oh no, even the 4th car managed to catch up with the pack before the SLOW car got back......
and the driver held up the WHOLE pack of cars for the whole course, we are talking about 2 e500, 2 530i, 4 gs430 and 3 gs300. 11 cars just for her, what a scene.
with me cursing like hell already, the SLOW car stopped right in front of me.... this girl slowly opened her door and a guy stepped out of the passenger side... a volunteer walked up to her and said something, well go figure what it could be.....
i started to clapped my hands, followed by my wife.... well afterall, we are happy finally it's over.... suddenly the guy turned to me and started going "what the fxxk is your problem, she's driving slow so what? cant' she? what do you want? what the fxxk is your problem?"
i thoguht about asking him why he knew me clapping hands was for them unless he's "used to" that, but i figured i was better. he continued to curse more, and i started walking up to my e500. everyone was dead silent already looking at us, and i just slowly turned my head and said "i have no problem, YOU are the problem" and continued my way....
amazing isn't it? he actually dared to challenge me what the problem was? well i guess if he figured the problem, he wouldn't have let her drive in the beginning? or better that, he should have told her that it was in fact a driving course, not a parking course -- no wonder why she couldn't find the parking....
pathetic... especially when you got so many people cursing you....
11-07-05, 04:36 AM
#7
Lexus Connoisseur
Originally Posted by rominl
seriously, i wasn't too impressed with the event this yr at all.... i didn't even bother to take pics...
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11-07-05, 04:37 AM
#8
Lexus Connoisseur
Now I know rominl's secret to high post count. Start a new post with every paragraph or sentence. lol 
11-07-05, 06:13 AM
#10
Lexus Test Driver
Join Date: Jan 2004
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i signed up for it and totally forgot about it. they send me an email like 2 weeks ago or so but i forgot about it. o well, next year.
great review rominl! it's great to see your honest opinion on the IS350 and 330i. so your choice would be 330i?
great review rominl! it's great to see your honest opinion on the IS350 and 330i. so your choice would be 330i?
11-07-05, 07:37 AM
#11
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Great reviews and stories. 
flip - about the multiple posts, I thought it was cool actually because imagine if all that was on in post!
Henry - I haven't driven the IS yet but I trust completely your review, and I agree on all the rest.
This past weekend a Lexus of Orlando sales guy gave me a full demo of the latest Lexus nav system in the IS at our meet here and lemme tell you it's really impressive and just about instant! Sweet. He also said a 'sports package' is coming out for the IS in about 2 months. Maybe that will tighten up the handling some more. About the brakes - seems to be just the Lexus feel (soft, progressive) - the performance is there, but just a totally different feel than our bbks.
flip - about the multiple posts, I thought it was cool actually because imagine if all that was on in post!
Henry - I haven't driven the IS yet but I trust completely your review, and I agree on all the rest.
This past weekend a Lexus of Orlando sales guy gave me a full demo of the latest Lexus nav system in the IS at our meet here and lemme tell you it's really impressive and just about instant! Sweet. He also said a 'sports package' is coming out for the IS in about 2 months. Maybe that will tighten up the handling some more. About the brakes - seems to be just the Lexus feel (soft, progressive) - the performance is there, but just a totally different feel than our bbks.
11-07-05, 10:02 AM
#12
Originally Posted by bitkahuna
Great reviews and stories.
flip - about the multiple posts, I thought it was cool actually because imagine if all that was on in post!
Henry - I haven't driven the IS yet but I trust completely your review, and I agree on all the rest.
This past weekend a Lexus of Orlando sales guy gave me a full demo of the latest Lexus nav system in the IS at our meet here and lemme tell you it's really impressive and just about instant! Sweet. He also said a 'sports package' is coming out for the IS in about 2 months. Maybe that will tighten up the handling some more. About the brakes - seems to be just the Lexus feel (soft, progressive) - the performance is there, but just a totally different feel than our bbks.
flip - about the multiple posts, I thought it was cool actually because imagine if all that was on in post!
Henry - I haven't driven the IS yet but I trust completely your review, and I agree on all the rest.
This past weekend a Lexus of Orlando sales guy gave me a full demo of the latest Lexus nav system in the IS at our meet here and lemme tell you it's really impressive and just about instant! Sweet. He also said a 'sports package' is coming out for the IS in about 2 months. Maybe that will tighten up the handling some more. About the brakes - seems to be just the Lexus feel (soft, progressive) - the performance is there, but just a totally different feel than our bbks.
thanks for reminding, paul. one thing i definitely like to add is my reviews were mostly on the driving. seriously if you throw in other major factors i care about in a car (interior, built quality, comfort, features, seats, prices, etc....) more than likely i would still choose the lexus (either it's the IS or GS) over competitors, that's almost a no brainer.
but maybe it's the hype people put up about the new IS, or what's on the paper, etc... that got me too excited and set my expectations way too high. thus making the whole driving experience worse?
and good heads up on the braking too. just like our 2gs braking, the feeling is bad but the actual number was good. however, same with handling, to me what's on paper is one thing (braking distance, skid pad, etc...), and what the drivers/passengers feel is another. they should feel confident and comfortable to push the cars at those limits. the lexus could very well handle corners just as good as the bimmer, but with the kind of body roll, not sure if i want to do it often...
Originally Posted by flipside909
I highly agree...for the Dodger Stadium event as well. I'll go to the El Toro one next weekend and see if it's any better (i doubt it).
Originally Posted by DC52E55
i signed up for it and totally forgot about it. they send me an email like 2 weeks ago or so but i forgot about it. o well, next year.
great review rominl! it's great to see your honest opinion on the IS350 and 330i. so your choice would be 330i?
great review rominl! it's great to see your honest opinion on the IS350 and 330i. so your choice would be 330i?
11-07-05, 10:14 AM
#13
Pole Position
add another person to the disappointed list.
my number one gripe with everything, was it was advertised as a performance edition. Ffor me being an avid tracker, i thought a full course setup was going to be placed. Sadly, each of the test drives I did lastes at best maybe 1 min 30 seconds or so?! By the end of the event, I just mossied around the course, since I could make a more real world subjective assessment.
best car there - IS350 no doubt. Acceleration was fantastic. Handling above average, although a bit loose. It was easily the vehicle I would to do a more comprehensive assessment on, but the lines were too long.
my number one gripe with everything, was it was advertised as a performance edition. Ffor me being an avid tracker, i thought a full course setup was going to be placed. Sadly, each of the test drives I did lastes at best maybe 1 min 30 seconds or so?! By the end of the event, I just mossied around the course, since I could make a more real world subjective assessment.
best car there - IS350 no doubt. Acceleration was fantastic. Handling above average, although a bit loose. It was easily the vehicle I would to do a more comprehensive assessment on, but the lines were too long.
11-07-05, 10:25 AM
#14
Lexus Diva
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In addition to people adjusting their rear view mirrors and driving too slow on the track, I was annoyed by all the babies/toddlers with CAR SEATS. Parents brought whole families and were putting car seats into the backs of these cars. Hire a babysitter for the afternoon for crying out loud and take the car seat to the dealer to see if it fits.
11-07-05, 10:34 AM
#15
Originally Posted by AsianGirl007
In addition to people adjusting their rear view mirrors and driving too slow on the track, I was annoyed by all the babies/toddlers with CAR SEATS. Parents brought whole families and were putting car seats into the backs of these cars. Hire a babysitter for the afternoon for crying out loud and take the car seat to the dealer to see if it fits.
and if they wanna fit the car seats, damn there are tons of display cars around man....