350Dave

Want "Classy" - the LS is the ultimate. I prefer my '07 350 to my '03 300 because the ergonomics are better, and the blacked out dash minimizes the glare of the sun in the cabin.

<VENOM>

glad I made you laugh the the 03 ES was driven hard respectively, the only way to get it to shift was constant foot to the floor driving especially on the highway, at times it could best be described as a heavy SUV that can not accelerate faster then the up coming cars in the left lane so I'd have to let several pass before jumping in the passing lane.

The ES350 is great and my love it/hate it attidude is subjective but I don't feel it's necessary to share my complex reason for why

other then that I'll wait to see if the 3.5 makes it way into a 300/330 down the road, that to me would be the ultimate sleeper, Im also still not sure what the actual direct competition for this car is and it would be interesting to know how the next Acura TL will effect ES350 sales with the supposed 300hp/AWD

kingofire

This is a good thread for me. My father owns a 2007 ES350 and I own a 2006 ES330. As for the interior, the only thing that is superior on the 07 ES350 is the high resolution navigation. Other than that I would prefer everything on my 06 ES330. Just looking at the shifter gate on both cars you can tell the higher quality in the 06 ES.
This said, I would still take the 2007 ES interior because it looks more modern and its all about whats in right now. The 2006 ES interior is richer looking but is also dated. Who wants yesterday's prom queen.

PsychDoc

WHAT!!!??? SURELY, YOU JEST?

amf1932

I also agree that the ES350 is quieter than my 2003 ES. In fact, it's quieter than the '04, '05, and '06 ES's I've driven, and definitely quieter than the GS350 that I drive on occasion.

kingofire

IMO, on highway the ES350 is quieter hands down but city driving the ES330 is quieter.

PsychDoc

Someone needs to have their hearing checked. The ES300/330 may have been a lot of things....underpowered, horrible tranny delay uppermost among them but one thing it was certainly a champ at was isolation from road and engine noise. By comparison, the ES350 is a mack truck. Both in city and highway driving. The suspension on the 350 is superb and just a welcome bit tighter than the 300/330 but the engine...oh the engine....LOUD, LOUD, LOUD.

amf1932

Too bad your car's engine sounds LOUD, LOUD, LOUD.......mine doesn't!
It's quiet as a mouse......and I'm comparing that to my former car, an '03 ES300.

LexBob2

I had an '03 Avalon XLS with the same 3.0 engine as the ES300. It was nice and quiet and the 4 speed trans was responsive and always in the right gear for the situation. It was rated at 210 hp using the old guidelines (probably 200 hp with the new ones). For the possible slight increase in engine noise, I'll take the additional 62-72 hp and higher gas mileage of the ES350 any day.

FWIW the handling of the new ES is night and day better than the XLS. No sports sedan, but much more buttoned down and responsive.

Nextourer

The 210 3.0 litre engines were rated 194hp under the new SAE. THe 225/235hp 3.3 litre ones were rated at 210hp.

350Dave

I no longer think wood=class. The 350 is king!

AlexusAnja

In terms of non-wood material, especially around the overhead map lights and cup holder, the ES350 is much better. Less plasticy look and feel. Where the 350 is lacking to the 330 is the usage of wood. I personally don't like wood in a car, never really understood how wood is luxury, but with that said, if you're going to put wood, put it right and put enough. The lack of the wood across the passenger side dash is just plan "cheapo." There is too much dash material on the passenger's side. There should be minimum of a wood bar going across.

Even with the lack of better plastic materials in the 330, I would still prefer the 330 because of the better wood layout.

codex57

This bothers me to no end. We wanted a black interior b/c it's easier to keep clean. However, it's just too boring. It DESPARATELY needs a strip of wood across the passenger area like the 330. Prolly only costs Lexus a couple of dollars but it would do a world of difference.

It doesn't matter how nice the plastics are. With such a barren space in the passenger area, it looks cheap.