doug_999

I would agree - well not necessarily about the all hope, I mean the right deal might....

Seriously, the new GS if beautiful and has by far the nicest interior of the bunch. But I'm a summer tire/snow tire sort of guy who has a POS Nextel phone that doesn't have bluetooth. I do however have an iPOD and I hear the M45 has an external audio connector - now that is cool.

LexFather

Dangit, I missed the rest of this over the weekend

I just wanted to add, I don't see any I-drive type of anything in a Lexus in the near future. I was reading an article behind the new IS and they stated Lexus (where is the mag??) wants touchscreen NAV/Controls as they believe its more harmonious (They had a Japanese word for it).

Fact; Lexus tests all hues of leather and plastics and woods to make the human brain feel at ease. This includes color, grain, design etc.

spwolf

Lexus will keep touchscreens forever. They might be more expensive, but there is an huge pay off in driver satisfaction. Few younger kids might like ***** better but by far average age buyer would preffer simplicity of clicking on the screen.

Is the Lexus only company left with touchscreens?

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

No, Acura still uses touch screen. I'm pretty sure some Honda cars do as well. Doesn't Infiniti also use touch screen? I believe they do as well.

XeroK00L

Well...not anymore...at least not in their latest offerings.

RL:


M35/45:

LexFather

Well, Lexus is bucking the industry trend of copying BMWs I-drive. And Lexus is reknown for ease of controls and ergonomics, so I think they are making the right decision by staying away from the ****. The Acura TL, btw, has touch screen and is a joy to use, the RL is voice. Honda is pretty well known for simple ergonomics so I was surprised at the RL not having touch like the TL.

Even the Audi A6 now has a form of I-drive. I don't like the **** in ANY car, its borderline ridiculous to me. Lexus prefers to keep the buttons but hid them on the GS.

One thing I like about BMWs and Lexus (and most Benz) you can move from sedan to coupe to SUV and everything feels familiar in the family. I don't like it when brands have so different designs in each of their cars. For people brand loyal, keep it simple for them.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

I know the RL uses a form of their own joy stick along with a very good voice command system. I was talking about all the other cars like teh TL/ MDX, I think even the TSX and such. I think Acura decided to go with a joy stick and voice in the RL since they feel voice commands are better. However, since they have both units going maybe they will decide if touch screen or voice works better and stick with one or the other. I guess voice and touch woud be nice though.

Rockville

BMW is still reeling from the complexity issue of the I-Drive. It probably started as an exercise in simplicity and just kept growing and dividing until it was 730 permutations of choice. One of my new Finance Mgrs. has driven his 7 Series for 2 and 1/2 years and he said he hasn't got a clue how to work it! He can't wait to get rid of it when his lease is up. That being said I think it is a beautiful large Sedan to behold especially in Black. I am one of the three people that actually like the Bangle Butt look. Go figure....

AJL0365

did yall know that the RL has paddle shifters? never knew that

GS3rdwow

yes i knew that...its pretty stupid though - i think it looks tacky behind the wheel. A t least the old GS had it ON the steering wheel, but now its awesome on the actual transmission shifter.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Yes those Ferrari's with paddle shifters behind the wheel are so stupid.

saabfan

Acura probably went with a **** because the screen is too far away to touch. On the one hand, you lose the intuitiveness of a touch screen, on the other, you gain ease-of-viewing and greater safety while driving.

doug_999

I agree with this - I would also suspect that the initial thought of the iDrive was to probably allow the driver to do things without having to look at the screen (unfortunately it didn't quite work out that way). The fact is, if you can do something without having to look down, you have the best of both worlds. Even touch screens like the one in my GS430 cause too much distraction. Nothing beats a button that does't move or change.

LexFather

The Next IS will have paddle shifters, they are inspiried from F-1.

Taken from March "CAR" about the IS (and relates to Lexus) . Japanese principle of "wa" (harmony) uses clear touch screen controls, not a complex "idrive".

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

To be honest, I like the idea of clutchless manual tranmissions with paddle shifters. I'm a big F1 fan. I grew up driving manual cars for 17 years but I like SMG type transmissions. It is a good comrpomise of the manual and automatic. That said, I undersatind the IS250 will get the MMT/SMT, but the IS350 will still get a torque convertor automatic. In this case this puts a big damper on the paddle shifter in the IS350. I really hope Lexus puts the MMT/SMT transmission on the IS350 as well.