isdsms

Go with the Accord coupe and load it up. Good acceleration, looks and price. You can't go wrong!

MatadorIS

I think the average Avalon driver is in their 60s. That may not match the people reading this board.

LexFather

Cars have come a long way. In this company, there are really no bad cars or "losers". They all have they're positives and negatives, today, there are more positives than ever.

In the end, my opinion, only the 3 car really come close to matching the combination of sport and luxury of the IS. Add top notch quality and dealer service and well, the IS more than makes a case for itself.

ABR

I have driven new Avalon. It is luxury cruise boat. Lots of goodies, powerful engine, smooth. Just don't try to make sharp corners while in it, it's the best on a straight line.

picus

Gas mileage is something I forgot about. Both the IS250 RWD and the TL are rated 20/29 - it's probably closer to 16/25 in real life. The G35 is rated 19/26, but I know for a fact it's more like 17/22. The power comes with a price, and that price is higher gas consumption. I normally get 600km religiously per tank, which is about 370 miles per tank. In a TL or IS with the same tank you can probably expect ~400 miles per tank. So no, the G35 gas mileage isn't terrible, but there is no question the IS/TL are better in that regard.

It sounds to me like the FWD of the TL bothers you on paper, but might not in real life. If that's the case the TL really sounds like a no brainer for you. I'd say the IS, but again - imo there is nothing sporty about the 250, and right now you're gauranteed to pay sticker, which is just too much for the car you're getting.

newbie35

I've got a g35 coupe and I love the car. It handles great, quick, RWD, and looks sexy. The gas mileage is only poor because I like to hear the purr of the exhaust when coming and going.

The IS is in another bracket and is a great car as well. Good gas mileage (IS250), great features, and looks to boot. Handles better than a TSX, better interior than the G, technical gadgets like the TL and more. Overall I think its a great car (aside from the high initial price).

XeroK00L

You're quoting the figures of the IS350, picus. The IS250 actually beats them all with a 24/32 rating.

picus

Don't worry, I'm not being sneaky.

I was quoting the MT IS250, which is 20/29. Lexus.com has the IS350 @ 21/28. I thought at some point someone mentioned manual transmission, but maybe I am wrong. You're right, the AT IS250 is 24/32.

Estimated fuel consumption: 24/32 mpg city/highway (RWD A/T) [5], 20/29 mpg city/highway (RWD M/T) [5], 22/28 mpg city/highway (AWD) [5]

Either way, they are all respectable for mpg, and better than the AT or MT G35.

TwiBlueG35

I love this thread. You really should have added 330i in your list, not that I recommend it but it is still sitting on the number one sports sedan seat. Now go back to the topic, I have not driven a IS350 or IS250 yet, so don't know anything about it. I just want to comment on what I could see when I went to the auto show. True, G35 has the worst interior among the three both design-wise and material-wise. As far as interior build-quality, I really don't see the difference between all these cars, very tight gap and doesn't rattle after three years(I am a 03 G35 sedan owner), as long as they don't rattle and fall apart, why do you care? So it left TL and IS only. Frankly, I like both design, and I like IS's gauges' design a bit more. However, I think TL looks more luxurious. And I hate the fact that IS has a foot parking brake in its IS350 instead of hand brake in TL or G35 6MT or 330i. My G35 has a foot brake because it is a automatics, and I am so jealous of those using hand parking brake. Exterior-wise I have the following opinions: If you like the boy-racer look more, IS and TL are better choices. But if you like not so aggressive and classier look, G35 sedan and 330i would be better choices. TL has the worst looking taillamps among all. I like G35's taillamps the most, then followed by IS's. TL seems a bit big to me, it has a similar size as BMW 5-series, it is a big turn off for me. IS and 3-series has the compact size, so it should helps a lot in handling. G35 is like a mid-size among these four, and the narrowest, so you might find it slim looking and not wide and low enough. If you look at the side proportions of these four, all four look very sporty, long front and short rear, high trunk and sloping down hood. So all four get high scores in this side-proportion department. TL and IS are relatively more angular and has more crease lines along the body, 3-series has the most concave and convex surfaces, and G35 is definiely the roundest one. Back to 2002 there wasn't the current IS, TL, or 3-series, so if you ask me to choose one more time which one I would choose, hmmmmm, a very tough question. The first one I would eliminate is TL, once you go to RWD, can't go back to FWD. If they all cost the same, I would eliminate G35, but the fact that IS350 is $6k and 330i is $8k more expensive than G35 sedan, when equipped with similar features, I probably would still pick G35 sedan. Unless you really can't get over the orange gauges(which I found the biggest failure in the interior design), it should satisfy most of your demands that you could find in a sports sedan. But if money is not an issue, then it is up to you to pick between the Bimmer and Lexus. I would pick IS because I always found 5-series better looking than the E90 3-series, so I don't want a second best looking among the BMW lineup. According to your case, you want a Japanese car, so 3-series go away. And for $35k, you really should get a Navi/HIDs-equipped G35 sedan instead of a bare-bone IS350(if you could find one). IS250 is also okay, so is 325i, but compared with G35, they are for sure much weaker. By "weaker" I don't mean they are really weak, definitely more than enough, but just wouldn't have that punch feeling make other cars eat dust feeling.

picus

I believe that regardless of the compact/midsized ratings, the cars are actually very close in terms of overall dimensions, which makes the IS's lack of interior room even more puzzling. I know its shorter, maybe that accounts for it. I'm not sure if this is true, but is it possible the ratings are based on interior space, rather than exterior? It just seems like the cars are close in terms of overall exterior space.

Let's take a look:

TL:

Length: 189.3
Width: 72.2
Height: 56.7
Wheelbase: 107.9
AT weight: 3580

IS250:

Length: 180.1
Width: 70.9
Height: 56.1
Wheelbase: 107.5
Weight: 3455

G35:

Length: 186.9
Width: 69.0
Height: 57.7
Wheelbase: 112.2
Weight: 3468

So ya the TL is the largest, the most significant measurment being it's length (3 inches more than G, 9 more than IS). Width is all very close, the G being the skinniest by a mere 1.9 inches. Height differences are all negiligible, too. Wheelbase on the TL and IS are almost indentical, which speaks well for the IS, since it's 9 inches shorter than the TL. The G's is the longest, which kind of makes sense. Weights are close too, the TL being about 100lbs more, which can probably be attributed to it's length. Oddly enough the G35 has the most interior volume (beating the TL by less than a cubic foot, the IS by a couple) and by far the largest trunk. Who knew?

(oh, and just as a comparision, the BMW is 178 inches long, and a whopping 79.3 inches wide, so shorter than all three of the above, but much wider - like the IS250, which is the shortest and widest of the three above, that helps contribute to their low, wide, aggressive stance. And I agree, it is a very attractive stance)

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Don't forget that the IS seats were made like a throne; pretty much the same dimensions of the GS. And trunk room is a good 13 cubic feet. To provide those two factors, you had to sacrifice what was in the middle, which is backseat room.

AM1

iTrader: (6)

i thought about the avalon as well, but like someone alredy said, im not old and i don't really want a car perceived to be an "old persons" car..........what i really wanted in the first place is a 2 door spoorty car....with the same guidelines.....however that really only leaves me with the accord coupe, solara, 350 z, g35, or long shot sc430. i hate the way the solara looks. the 350 has no back seat and useless trunk, so that goes off....so that really left me with the g35 coupe and accord coupe. i really would like to get something different then the accord since my gf just bought an accord exv6 4 door about 10 months ago.......so that left me with the g35, but again im still abit worried about like isaid before questionable interior quality and poor gas mileage....so then when the new IS came out i thought well i could setle for a 4door if the performance and other stuff was good. that's why i threw the TL back into the mix, cuz it has the power and features, true it's a four door, but that's ok....but then again the accord exv6 already has torque steer and really is not that sporty....it goes really fast in a straight line, but i really want a car that can handle good as well. a friend of mine told me to buy an WRX, but the wrx is too small for me to be driving it around everyday.....so once, again im still stuck. and someone asked why i didn;t include the BMW, well the parts are more expensive and bmw 's are not built as well as the other japanese cars.........and build quality is one of the top prioirties for me. damn honda if they had just made the TL RWD, then i would already have one in my driveway.

picus

No argument there. The front seats are throne-like. The shoulder and hip room is a little tight, and we all know about the headroom, but the seats are comfortable and there is a lot of leg room, which is nice. And yes, 13 cubic feet for a sedan trunk is decent.

ABR

Both Accord and Solara will be inexpensive to insure and easy to maintain. Economically that is your best bet. I would go for Toyota as it has a bit better reliability (from my experience).

neoprelude

You are very right, their isn't many true performance and luxury coupes produced anymore. Mainly just sport/luxury sedans that try to be a sports coupe with 2 extra doors... heh But the g35 coupe is about the only new luxury sports coupe i'd consider buying, it's just a luxurified 350z kinda like as the SC was to the supra. Heres a few other suggestions the new eclipse performs well and has a few luxury ammenities, the new tiburon isn't bad either come with power everything and digital climate control and such and be cheap to buy and cheap insurance so you could spend the extra money in mods and they come with a long warranty. (I know it's korean but hyundai is coming up a long way now adays...) Or the audi TT, even though audi isn't the greatest in reliability or if you'd consider a sedan the A4, just come suggestions I know you probably won't consider alot of them but just laying out alot of options for you. Hope that helps, good luck!