Orbie

Good article _DAG_ ....thanks for the post

LexusDaisy

""I think you're judgements are a little over inflated. The BMW 330i would actually finish 100 yards ahead of your ES300...not the IS.""

I think you are right, it's not 100 yards..... and I would not even bother to run my ES against any BMW.

Road and Track times the BMW 330 and IS300 at 14.7@96.3 and 15.4@90.5 respectively.. that's only 99 feet.

Car and Driver gives ETs of 14.3 for the BMW and 15.8 for the Lexus. Assuming the same terminal speed for the 330, that would amount to a 204 feet lead at the end of the quater mile.

My 100 yard estimate was way off, almost as far off as is the IS300's accelleration rate from that of the BMW 330. Just for fun, I found that my 16.2 ES300 would trail the faster of the BMWs by 268 feet, but it would hang closer to the slower IS300, loosing by only 60 feet.

For added perspective, consider that the new Camry Solara turnes a 15.0@94.1 Come on now, shouldn't the Lexus "sport" model be able to thrash any Camry, rather then trailing it by 50 to 100 feet at the end of the quater mile?

flipside909

You are forgetting that the new Solara is based on the Gen 5 MCV31 chassis and running on a newer 5spd auto and 3MZ-FE 3.3L V6 engine. Whereas the IS300's 2JZ-GE is essentially a straight across carryover from 2001 and a manual tranny straight from 02. Have you ever looked at it in that perspective? Think about it. As with any magazine tests...all magazines have big variations in timing and calculations. You can't just calculate distance of a car by it's trap speeds and times. That's not a real accurate measurement...just a calculated guess.

What's so fun about a FWD car anyways...the Camry will trail it in the twisties no matter how much HP it has. I should know, i've owned 2 Camry based vehicles in the past...with the most recent a 1999 5spd Solara SE V6 with suspension mods and even before that, an Avalon...both 1MZ-FE powered. My modded Solara can't out handle a stock IS300...and that's a true fact. Just because it's fast straight line doesn't mean it's fast on zig zags.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

to me it all depends on what part of teh car you like. heck if you want straight line, go for the acura tl, it's really fast on the straight, and with 6 speed you can even take over the 330ci no problem. however the handling sux. the handling of the is3 is good, but then the power on straight line is no fun at all. i think it's safe to say that if you want a FUN car to drive on both straight and curves, and if you can pay the money, the 330ci is the car to get for sure.

mmarshall

To answer the question if the IS is "underpowered" and if it is based on the Supra....the IS300's 3.0L straight-six is the SAME engine as the previous-generation non-turbo Supra. The HP and torque figures are pretty much the same....215 HP vs. 220. The same engine is also used in the former Lexus GS300 (now GS330) and also the former SC300. True, the old Supra DID have a 320 HP twin-turbo version of the same engine which has not yet to date been used on any Lexus product......at least in North America.
The current line of thinking at Lexus seems to be either a larger V6 or the 4.3L V8 ( IS430 ) for a future high-performance version.
Now, to your original question: WHY Lexus has not to date offered larger engines for the IS......that, of course, has to be answered by their marketing staff, but I can give you my opinion: Lexus probably didn't want to tie up too much money and production space in the plant with multiple engines until this car had a solid sales record on the market...and while it certainly is a much better car than the BMW 3-series quality-wise, it has not to date sold in large numbers....cetainly nowhere near the 3-series sales figures.
Frankly, I would rather see an AWD version for good winter traction than one with even more power and rear-drive only.

Tanin

I joined this forum when I was researching the LX 470 before purchasing for my wife and enjoyed this site and it’s members.

Although, I don't own an IS and have spent less than 20 miles behind the wheel of an automatic, I do have extended experience with the E46 3 series. I hope you don't mind my .02.

I just sold my '01 330i 5 speed Sports Package. I upgraded the sways, exhaust and intake but the rest of the car was OEM. I put more than 51k spirited miles on that car including numerous driving events and BMWCCA Track events. The car came with a 3yr/36k(free scheduled maintenance) mile warranty and the only issue I had was with my CD player. Other than that, the car performed flawlessly. To give you an idea of my driving style…… I went through 4 sets of tire on that car. Even after 51k miles my clutch, springs, shocks, rotors and pads were fine.

I recently took delivery of a ’04 330i 6 speed with the Performance Package. I don’t anticipate any issues with my car but BMW’s now have a 4 year / 50k mile B-B warranty with 100% free scheduled maintenance. If I didn’t insist on changing the oil myself every 2.5k miles and flushing and replacing the brake lines with Super Blue the car would cost me $ 0.

I’m not here to discuss the merits of either car but wanted to give my personal experience with the quality and cost of ownership of the E46.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

your comments are definitely welcome! we always need these good information here to make things objective so how do you like the handling and power of the car?

Tanin

As I mentioned, I love driving on the track. If I had the means and wife approval I would put a Lotus Elise in my garage as a 3rd weekend/track car. Unfortunately, until both of those criteria are filled I need to find the best compromise of power, refinement, handling, comfort, with 4 doors, RWD and a manual transmission. Up to this point the 3 series has filled that role well for me.

Monday through Friday my E46 serves its purpose with 4 doors, comfort and refinement………Open Track Days at Buttonwillow and regional BMWCCA events I attach my Schroth harnesses, tape up the headlights and leading edges and put on a helmet. It has enough hp to make the pass on the back straight; torque to pull me out of the turns; balanced enough to hold the best line and brakes that give me the ***** to hold the gas for 3 more seconds.

The PP package on my current 330 has some improvements over my last 330 SP in both handling, gearing, HP and Torque. I installed a full cat back Borla exhaust, CAI and will upgrade the sways this weekend but as with any enthusiast (BMW or Lexus) I could always use more of everything (except weight).

Whether you drive an IS300 or a 330……. you will always find cars that are quicker at a stop light…… If that’s the motivation we picked the wrong vehicles. However, I can’t tell you how much I love to throttle steer a 4 door sedan down an onramp and watch 98% of the cars on the road get smaller in my rear view mirror.

I’m sure we both can enjoy that feeling.

flipside909

I couldn't agree with you more.

mmarshall

It will be interesting to see if that bigger engine in the upcoming IS430 will make the car nose-heavy enough to affect handling or rear-wheel traction. And BMW for years had to use recirculating ball steering in their V8's (they used rack-and pinion in the sixes) because the racks couldn't take the extra nose weight. Wider tires will help compensate on the traction, but will eat up some horsepower from more rolling friction. But, obviously, all other things equal, it should improve 0-60 times.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

it's known already that the 430 engine can be considered the same weight as the i6 3L engine

Pokeham

That's correct, the V8 does not weigh more than the I6, as the V8 is all-aluminum while the 6 has an iron block. Therefore while the V8 is bigger, its components are lighter and the weights come out to approximately the same.

I can't wait for the IS430 to come out, if it ever does.

Lexopolis

Why bring back the Supra, just TT your IS!

The IS is coming in new form in the Fall of 05 as Denny states in Detroit ""We'll have a sedan, coupe and convertible, all-wheel drive and a couple of engine choices," Clements said." However, it is not an IS 430 even though he says "a couple of engine choices"

The IS 430 project car is complete and on the road but still going through some tuning tweeks. Check the Speed Channel on February 29th for the whole story.

SDuquette

Yeah, I heard it was going to be like 2.5 and 3.3l engines or something of the sort.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

more coverage on the is430?