When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
^^^ great post! Thanks for sharing. I think i've driven some of those roads (used to live in atlanta) and i've done the dragon a few times (crazy!). The dragon imo is too many turns in such a short distance, but it's something every car enthusiast should experience at least once! I drove it a couple of times and was a passenger in a porsche gt3 one time (a great experience!).
This afternoon, pretty much on a whim, I decided that the few remaining hours before dinner time could very well be spent driving. I took the IS on a famous route in Georgia, through the Chattahoochee National Forest, known as the Suches Loop. This route roughly goes from Dahlonega up through Suches and then over to Vogel State Park before heading back south towards Dahlonega again. In reality, I actually did the reverse - I headed east out of Dahlonega rather than north.
I can see why this is a well-known route for bikers - the turns and the views are fantastic. This is every bit as enjoyable as the MO-76 highway or the snaking back roads around the Ozarks, and certainly has some tighter turns. As you can probably tell from the map above, there are quite a few turns in excess of 90 degrees, and a couple genuine hairpins (with "15 MPH" speed signs to boot). Also, it's beautiful up there in the summer.
The route I took, being reverse, started with a gradual climb, full of a mix of sweeping turns and tighter bends, with plenty of elevation changes to boot. The turns were aggressively banked in places, which helped me to feel safe when cornering quickly. Then, I turned onto the Wolf Pen Gap Road, which is known for being extremely tight - both in terms of its width and the size of its turns. Finally, the trip down from the hills was a bit more relaxed, partially thanks to traffic, but also thanks to the turns growing somewhat in radius. Still, even the most tame portion of this drive would have been worth the trip.
The IS feels fantastic on roads like these. The handling is great. I am actually thankful that there's some degree of body roll, as it helped me gauge whether I was pushing too hard or not. Really, the only frustration with these roads was down to accelerating. Some of the turns were so tight, I'd be in a dead zone where first gear seemed like overkill, but second gear had no grunt. Natural aspiration combined with some elevation will surely have that effect. However, it was not so bad, as the next turn was there before I knew it. Additionally, the roads were imperfect in places, but the IS really glides over them with no problems. It never got upset or bouncy over broken pavement; this suspension setup is something I feel Lexus really does right with the IS.
I encountered a few groups of bikers and, curiously, a red Ferrari 488 (yes... not a 458, I mean the slightly newer 488!) that was going the opposite direction, but little else other than pickup trucks and CR-Vs. Passing a white Silverado on the uphill, northbound section of US-19 was a bit hairy. The guy was using both of the lanes to make turns, so when a third lane opened up, I only hoped he was aware of my intent to pass. Luckily, it went without incident!
While the IS is a nice car out here, I can tell the car was at its limit sometimes. That's not because I was intentionally trying to find it - these roads are actually demanding to drive. There are a lot of turns that are tighter than they appear, which I caught on to after a while. But, before that, there were a few times I expected to hear some tire squeal. Somehow, I did not... Credit Bridgestone, I guess? The tires were a pleasant surprise, especially compared to the ones Lexus used to fit to the IS before the refresh.
Anyway, I'd have to recommend this road if you, for instance, can't make the drive to Tail of the Dragon. I haven't been there, but... from what I understand, this is as close to the Dragon as it gets in the state of Georgia. From what I have experienced, this is the tightest, twistiest, and most varied "driving road" I have been on yet!
Nice write up and story. Never knew such a place existed in Georgia. My sister lives there. Your Lexus looks really good BTW.
Nice write up and story. Never knew such a place existed in Georgia. My sister lives there. Your Lexus looks really good BTW.
Thank you! Yes, indeed I didn't know either. I only got curious when my wife and I started talking about visiting Helen, which is a very German town nearby where these roads are. I am sure the trip to Helen will be equally eventful.
Originally Posted by bitkahuna
^^^ great post! Thanks for sharing. I think i've driven some of those roads (used to live in atlanta) and i've done the dragon a few times (crazy!). The dragon imo is too many turns in such a short distance, but it's something every car enthusiast should experience at least once! I drove it a couple of times and was a passenger in a porsche gt3 one time (a great experience!).
Too many turns in a short distance... that really does sound a lot like the Hog Pen Gap Rd! I'll have to do it at least once, I agree. If your driver was actually using the GT3's abilities, that must have been a heck of a ride.
I placed it in the 3IS forums, since I figured many potential 3IS shoppers would, of course, also look to the 3-series as an alternative. They really are pretty similar in terms of price and performance, on paper, but dude... Completely different in terms of personality. Both are equally daily-drivable, but I think that, if you want a specific type of driving experience, maybe my thread can help narrow it down.
It's not often I say "I'm bored. I think I'll spend the next three hours just tooling around on mountain roads." However, today, once again, I found myself doing that. I decided to take the IS back up through the Suches Loop, starting from its namesake town of Suches this time.
Setting out, I had forgotten that Highway 60 is pretty curvy even before the Wolf Pen Gap Road portion of the drive starts. It makes me curious to see how far the twisty bits of Highway 60 go, and to where. Google Maps may ruin some of the mystery, but a part of me wants to just wing it and see how far I can go. Nonetheless, I hang a right at Suches and continue on the prescribed route. Not long after, I stopped to take the photos you see below, since I thought this rocky wall was very cool looking.
I sometimes hear of fellow owners of cars like this IS 350 saying that they participate in this type of activity, and that this is what the cars "were made for". Or, perhaps the more common phrasing is "drive it like it's meant to be driven". For a while, I had genuinely forgotten how at-home the IS felt last time I brought it up to the hills, and I reframed the IS as a sort of grand-tourer in my mind. I have access to what I'd describe as middling roads nearby my home, so I don't really get to play with the car enough. I had adapted to a more relaxed style of driving, occasionally using the upper registers of the tachometer but not registering many G's on the G-meter. Today, I made up for some lost time.
I had to make effort to pay attention to the roads, however, with the distraction of some lovely green scenery. We've only just entered the season of fall, and the trees still wear green leaves. At these elevations, one can get a sweet view of the surrounding mountains, too. Apart from that, the occasional "cool car" or group of bikers also distracts the eye. If I'm going to maintain a quick pace around these roads, I need to actually focus. Those yellow "25 MPH" diamond-shaped signs are no joke. There are some legitimately tight turns here.
Maybe those guys who say these cars are meant to be driven here are right, in a way. The IS gets me there in comfort and, dare I say, style. I loved letting the music play through the Mark Levinson system and kept it on as long as I had cell phone reception - deciding to keep it off for those portions so that I could better pay attention to the road, anyway. Once there, it does the business of driving quickly with no drama - I detected the scent of warm tire rubber before that of brake pads. I maxed out the G-force gauge through multiple turns, with only a whisper of tire scrub on the 15-MPH hairpins. Those are just too fun to not take quickly.
Overall, I daresay I had a blast. I just did this on a whim once again to clear my mind. I've got this week off as I just left my former job and start a new one on Monday. There are lots of things to process, and this little trip let me forget about all that stuff for a while. However, I want to go on a proper group drive with the Lexus club here one day. It seems like they always end up going on days when I'm out of town, alas.
Speaking of which, I've been going to a lot of local Lexus meets in the IS. It's been a ton of fun to meet other Lexus enthusiasts. Back in Kansas City, we didn't have much of a Lexus scene. Even here in the Atlanta area, the Lexus folks are outnumbered and spread out, but the fact remains that there's some actual organization around getting us together, which I love. And for whatever reason, the Lexus crew is more diverse than I would have imagined, with some fresh-out-of-high-school and some with kids of their own. It's pretty nice.
So what about the Bimmer?
Well, it's still over there having an amazing paint color (which is slightly dirty in the above photo) and being great at doing a lot of things. In the photo above, it's at my parents' place in south Georgia, as we took the 330i on a four-hour-plus drive down to visit for Labor Day. What a great car it is! My wife and I just love it. It's to the point where my wife is considering simply buying it after the lease period is up, rather than getting into something new. It's pretty early to be thinking about that, but then again, I can see why - it's such a fun car to drive while being reasonably comfortable and efficient. Though, I'd say the Lexus looks better... But hey, her car gets the most compliments from strangers due to that awesome blue paint.
This concludes my completely random, not-associated-with-any-milestone update.
love it, thanks for sharing. having lived in atlanta for years, i'm certainly familiar with those roads... they're incredible. and of course the insane tail of the dragon is that much further north.
and i know what you mean about taking a drive to clear your head. today i had to do a boring drive (almost all rifle straight and flat roads) to a client in my suv got home, gf says she forgot to get an ingredient for something she was cooking. i said i'll get it! fired up the LC500 and had a blast going there and back. it wasn't north georgia but we do have some nice curvy roads around here.
IS definitely looks better than the Bimmer. The Bimmer looks like a boring sedan and the Lexus just looks more sporty and aggressive.
Congrats on the new job! Probably exciting for you. I left my old job at the beginning of summer and took a month off between jobs. Probably the last time I will be able to do it.
At a little over 5,000 miles, my wife and I opted to go ahead and take the BMW in. For one thing, we thought it would be a good idea to change the oil. Even though BMW recommends 10,000-mile oil change cycles, this is a boosted engine that gets into the boost quite easily - well, at least in our hands. Secondly, we had a recall to address with the passenger's seat belt. Finally, the hands-free operation of the trunk seemed to have stopped working, so we wanted that investigated.
I got a 228i Gran Coupe as a courtesy car. It was a decently-equipped model, with the digital gauges and a heads up display - even a heated steering wheel.
I'd have to say, after driving this 228i, which is a front-wheel-drive, transverse-engine car, it feels a bit un-BMW in terms of its ride and its drivetrain. However, the integration of familiar BMW components like the gauges and infotainment remind me that it is a BMW. I'd say the level of quietness and ride quality was very similar to my departed 2020 GLI - no bad thing, necessarily, but for a BMW, perhaps a little bad. The car feels peppy and nimble, though, and it seems like it'd be a great city runabout. However, when I think BMW, I think grand-touring, rear-wheel-drive, sophisticated cars, which brings us back to the 330i.
It turns out that the controller responsible for opening the trunk hands-free was malfunctioning, so we had to order a replacement part. Sadly, it was on back-order and wouldn't be shipped until mid-December. It's not as if the hands-free trunk operation was a necessity, thankfully - more that it was fun to use and show off. Anyway, otherwise, it was a clean bill of health for the 330i.
My overall thoughts on this car haven't changed a lot - though, owning it has painted my IS 350 is somewhat of a harsher light. The BMW is honestly a little better to drive if all I want to do is pop over to the grocery store. The Lexus can be a bit dull in those kinds of situations, since it is tuned to be a lot more relaxed overall than the very eager Bimmer - slower steering, progressive throttle and brake pedals, and conservative transmission programming will do that. While the BMW seems a bit more boring on initial appearances compared with the Lexus, it's a hoot to drive fast and feels surprisingly sporty. I am glad we chose an M-Sport-equipped model, too. I've since learned that the base-model 330i has a different steering rack from the M-Sport models which is reportedly much slower to react, not to mention softer suspension. While the BMW's ride can be a bit firm for some roads, I think it adds to the sense that the car is agile.
All in all, this thing is fantastic, and I totally see why my wife wants to stick with this car or at least BMW for the time being. She seems to like it even more than I do.
Looks like you got your cars just on time, right before the prices started to skyrocket.
There's a guy in our local crew who paid the same for his IS350 as I did - but my car has Mark Levinson and not his. That alone let me know we lucked out.
The Lexus can be a bit dull in those kinds of situations, since it is tuned to be a lot more relaxed overall than the very eager Bimmer - slower steering, progressive throttle and brake pedals, and conservative transmission programming will do that.
Which car would you rather drive if you were gonna go from NY to LA and back?
Which car would you rather drive if you were gonna go from NY to LA and back?
Hmm, that is a tough one! I might have to go Lexus just for the reliability and the slightly smoother ride. Though the BMW is a little quieter on the highway and gets better mileage... So ask me again later and I may say something different.
Hmm, that is a tough one! I might have to go Lexus just for the reliability and the slightly smoother ride. Though the BMW is a little quieter on the highway and gets better mileage... So ask me again later and I may say something different.
Interesting. mmmm That smoother ride is nice...but the chassis is much older.. This would be a good long drive test...
Interesting. mmmm That smoother ride is nice...but the chassis is much older.. This would be a good long drive test...
I'd probably be done finding excuses to drive somewhere for a while after that.
But I think the BMW feels like it has the sportier ride of the two cars, which is a good thing. The Lexus is just as capable in the turns as the BMW but is also just a little bit more lazy on turn-in. Not to say it's a lazy car in its handling, but the BMW definitely feels a touch sharper. If we had bought the performance tire and wheel option on the BMW, it'd probably outrun the Lexus in the twisties, but alas, we have the all-season run-flats. I think the ride may also improve with non-run-flat tires, which could even things out between the two cars in terms of ride.
I will say, however, I also prefer the seats and seating position in the Lexus. I feel like I sink down into the car rather than moving sideways into it. It has a bit more of a low-slung feel which helps make me feel like I'm driving something that can handle.
07-25-21, 09:21 PM
got home, gf says she forgot to get an ingredient for something she was cooking. i said i'll get it! fired up the LC500 and had a blast going there and back. 
