spwolf

hm, but you can turn it off... lol. I want many things regulated. Actually, I would make ESP/VSC/VDIM an requirement that can be turned off ONLY when not on public road.
Lots of people die because some punk decided to play with the car...

In fact, I dont see it much different than banning smoking in public places.

But thats really not what Lexus is doing. You can turn off the system if you wish, sure it is a bit more complicated, but if you are actually on the track, racing, then doing some small procedure will not be that hard.

Funniest thing is that 1/4 mil is the fastest when VDIM is on...

tjp

Autoweek has a comparison of the IS350 and the 330i.
As other auto magazines have done they really come down on Lexus's VDIM. In the slalom test especially they descripe the IS as "...crawling around through the cones like a flopping drunk on the sidewalk".
They mention about doing the pedal dance to disable VDIM, but that it comes back on once the car exceds 30mph. Hence the inability to do a meaningfull slalom test. So, again the IS gets slammed in the media when the testers drive the car at its extreme limits. How often do normal drivers really do this? I have found the VDIM to be perfectly acceptable (so far, anyway).

They state that they got a 0-60 of 5.4sec. (6.14 for the 330i)

Of course they don't mention the interior ergonomics or looks. I was considering a new 330i, but this is where the IS was much better than the BMW.



http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl...THISWEEKSISSUE

Ramon

Hmm... My vdimm stays off when I do the pedal trick until I turn the car off.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

stone age

y2ks2k

VDIM is a huge nanny on the car. Excellent to have for normal driving bar none... but mine kicks on when I do rapid lanes changes or accelerate hard in a corner. You HAVE to turn it off for track performance period. On the road its excellent safety, on the track its a huge detriment.

Im going to start calling Bull sheet on a lot of the reviews out there. I enjoy the perf in my IS350 as much as my Sti and they weren't saying the Sti handled like that.

All and all the review was not bad though. They clearly note that they ran the slolum with the Tracktion controll and it screwed up things.

They also clearly note that it pretty much lost because it didnt come in manual. Its funny becaseu 85% of 330i's are sold with auto also.

y2ks2k

^^ Yup, they were pressing the off botton that turns back on at 30mph. Its very interesting how car reviewers cant figure this out. Makes me wonder if they really try to figure it out...

Tony1

"The real tragedy here is that the reason the Lexus doesn’t clean the BMW’s digital clock is simply because its darn electronics cannot be shut off without going all Norman Bates."

So if Vdim was completely disabled the IS350 would be the better car?

The author clearly professes his bias when he says "the fact that lexus is
faster in a straight line means nothing".. To who? So a slower car that
handles better always wins? I dont know what region hes from , but
i dont have many twisting canyons in my area..and even if i did, id
want the vdim not letting me fly off one, since 99% of us here are not
professional drivers..

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

no ones testing the limits of the cars capabilities in everyday driving doing slalom testing, emergency lane changing, etc so even if the lexus cant do as good as the BMW youre not gonna notice squat driving normally. Both cars suspension and handling is far ahead of what you regularly need in daily driving

personally i drove both the IS350 and BMW 330 at Taste of Lexus, both autos, 330 felt slower heavier, didnt seem as nimble in the turns as the lexus, 330 steering was too heavy to do quick turns to the other direction, not to mention the straight line was nowhere as nice as the IS, not to mention i felt 20 years older staring at the soulless interior of a 330, refer to pics above. I drove the IS350 3x and the BMW 330 once for obvious reasons

Gojirra99

I am beginning to suspect that one of the main reason Lexus didn't offer an off switch for the VDIM on the IS350 is because they have observed that the car mags had demonstrated in the past an inherent bias for the 3 series' driving feel & will rank them as # 1 based on that nomatter what. So they want the lack of an off switch for the VDIM as an out in these comparisons when the Lexus doesn't win, so we can all say that the Lexus didn't win because the electronics nannies hampers the car from reaching it's full potential, that the 3 series didn't really beat the "real unhamperd" IS350 . Just a thought

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

I think the main reason VDIM can't be turned off is because companies like Toyota/Lexus DO consult with insurance companies before releasing vehicles and maybe they concluded insurance would be higher if it could be turned off, potentially hurting sales.

tjp

I agree with bitkahuna. I think Lexus is trying very hard to make a "safe" car. Consider all the state of the art air pillows/curtains, including the one for your knees. I mean, they don't even allow you to turn off the DRL's.

Like someone mentioned in an earlier post, 99% of the drivers are not professional (including myself) and will benefit from VDIM and will seldom drive the car at it's extreme limits.

bagwell

gee I wonder how many manual transmission 330's BMW sells....? I've never even seen one!!! (M3 is a different story and a different car).

the back of the 3 series looks terrible now....as does the interior....plain blah.

Gojirra99

Are insurance rates for the 3 series & the other competitors where you can turn off their electronic nannies significantly higher in general than the IS350 then ?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

haha conspiracy theory huh?

i sorta agree with bit. my theory is that without the vdim, the car just has too much power to every day joe to handle, and they don't want everyone to fish tail their cars with the power. i "strongly" believe that the power on the car really out-do the car, menaing the suspension can't handle. so that's why they don't put a switch -- they don't want you do sue them

spwolf

why should car reviewers do their job? interesting point.