CHIS350

Just got back from the Chicago event:

I was sooo disappointed by the 750i, I was almost heart broken. I honestly thought the steering was loose, and it handled worst out of the 3 lux cruisers. I LOVED the feel of the S550 (it was what I was expecting from BMW!) but HATED the interior. Too many buttons all over the place (not as bad as BMW though). And the LS460...WOW. Best interior, and while the feel and handling were not as good as the MB, it was better than the BMW and way better than I expected. Plus the torquey takeoff was the best of the 3. As far as interior goes, the LS is miles ahead of the other 2.

toneman

Thanks for the detailed review on the SF event! I was there too but no way would I be able to draw up a review about my visit even as detailed as yours...

Re: adjusting the side/rearview mirrors--LOL!!!! Funny you mention that...I might have been imagining it but I coulda swore I heard the track monitors telling folks waiting in line that there was no need to adjust any of the mirrors since it's not as if you needed to change lanes or anything like that while out on the course. Guess some people still don't know any better...

For you under-21 folks planning to attend the Lexus event but bummed about the 21-and over age limit for driving--not that I condone the following, but FWIW the track monitors weren't really inspecting the wristbands for tampering. For those of you wondering about what I'm talking about--if you're 21 or older, they put the wristband on your left wrist; under-21 and/or not planning to drive, the right wrist. Like I said--they weren't inspecting the wristbands very closely, so if you're under 21 and you really want to drive...

I offer that because IMHO--and I'm sure just about everyone here will agree with me on this--it sucks that Lexus won't let those who are legally licensed to drive but are under 21 be allowed to test drive at the event.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

sorry I wouldnt let anyone near 16-18 years old go alone, in a high priced/power vehicle , on a track with other drivers, event would not be fun and organized with inexperienced drivers around

MSMLexIS

Im going this weekend ill take pics and write a review on sunday.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yes they accounced it, but either a lot of them didn't understand english or they have bad ears.....

and legally licensed below 21 doesn't mean much to me. so why people under 21 pays higher insurance, same reason. they aer immatured in general and statistically they are more dangerous on the road (including me back then)

spwolf

thank you rominl... great info!

MSMLexIS

Only like two more days cant wait. Ill be there the whole day so i should have alot to report on ill eat both the breakfast and lunch and ill even try the spa this year.

encore888

Hope you have a good time...I'd recommend going in with moderate expectations, so as to be better prepared for the long lines, etc.

Have fun! I am looking forward to November...

BTW thanx for keeping this thread going, its fun to hear all the reports and other info. The Taste of Lexus concept is a fantastic one that I hope Lexus keeps doing each year.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

lol, i guess i had very low expectations then, that's why i'd rather wake up super early and get there by 9am i hate waiting in line

MSMLexIS

Ill be there at nine and the first thing im doing is signing up for the spa then getting breakfast and driving the GS450h, ES350 and the LS460. Then after that aas long as i at least get to drive the new sc430 and the BMW and benz i dont care how long it takes then ill go and get lunch.

XeroK00L

I was so disappointed at the "driving" event that I've been reluctant to even write about it until now, 5 days later.

Me and my wife arrived at Alameda at 10:00am on Saturday. Waited in line for 20 minutes before reaching the registration desk. The breakfast was awesome, so much better than the last year's and also better than Audi's Streets of Tomorrow's. Had a bit of everything and got reeaaallly full. As free food events go it certainly hit the mark. But that's where my praise ends.

I brought my own test CD (an ultra-high quality CD with mixes of lots of audio effects and music of many genres) in hope to experience the legendary 19-speaker ML system in the LS460L, and guess what, they don't even allow powering on the only LS460L on display!! The ES350 and GS450h were powered on but I didn't go there to see those cars. Without power there's no way to test the LS's audio system and to experience the shiatsu in the back. What a real shame. Last year they had a then-new GS430 on display just for demo'ing the new-gen ML system. Why not this year!?

OK, enough indoor activities. At 11:15am I got out of the tent and lined up for the GS450h. Got to drive the car at 12:35pm!!! WTF is with the 1 hour and 20 minutes of wait!? My wife (who isn't into cars) was fuming mad. The car drove great with awesome acceleration (throttle hesitation detected though) and flat cornering at the 1st turn, but then I caught up the car in the front (must be driven by some granny ) and there my fun ended. So much for the 1h20m-wait. So we had a "little" lunch afterwards. Pretty good food again. Gotta love it as a free food event. Chatted with the LS460L rep about the lack of passenger memory seat, illuminated scuff plates and black interior with black wood options, and he admitted that he couldn't understand the decisions not to offer them either but said if enough people demand them Lexus may offer them in the future.

Then at 2:00pm we got in the line for the LS460 test drive. Got to drive the dang car at 3:45pm!! 1 hour and 45 minutes of wait. No kidding. We wasted 1:45 of our lives just standing in the line and only to enjoy another catching-up-the-granny-in-the-front drive. Yeah, the acceleration was again awesome and the stopping power was very good, unlike what some media reported. But I only got to make 2 turns before I caught up the unbelievably slowly driven car (a 750i IIRC) in the front. Well and that was it for my wife and she could take the boring waits no more. We headed home.

I wrote some pretty nasty complaints about the long waits in the feedback form. Reading the comments above, I'm very disappointed that they splitted up the test car fleet in half after the LA event. Only 3 LS460, 2 750i's and 2 S550's for test drive. WTF were they thinking!? Hopefully they'll listen to our feedbacks and offer more test cars in the future events. I'm sad that I didn't even get to drive the 750i and S550 for comparison. Guess I'll have to go without my wife next time.

MSMLexIS

Hopefully lines arent that long when i get there. All im going to say.

Incendiary

If they're long, I'm outtie. Time is too precious to waste standing around for hours, no matter how good the food or cars.

MSMLexIS

Youre right btw what day are you signed up for ill be there saturday at 9am.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

sorry to hear that man. i guess that's why getting there early is the key. anythig afterwards is just disaster. it took me maybe 3 mins to register, and i didn't have any drink or food until i finished driving all the cars.

i agree it was a completely mistake on lexus side to split up the cars, at least not for places like norcal