pumper

Hmmm... I don't think so. My last car was an E46 M3 with a manual transmission. Before that, I had an E36 M3. The E46 is, without a doubt, faster in a straight line than the IS350. (It's also faster through the twisty's, but that's not the discussion.) If your manual shifting friends don't know how to feather the clutch while "reving the crap out of it" at launch, they'll end up with significant axle hop and lose some time. Tell them they would be better off reving to about 2,800, then dump the clutch while mashing the gas. Be sure they have it in "sport" mode and tell them not to lift the gas pedal between shifts. Oh, and also tell them to lower their tire pressure to about 22 lbs.

An even better comparison would be an SMG equiped M3 using BMW's "launch control." You can't "screw up" that tranny either. The shifts on that car are *violent* and faster than the shifts on the IS. Add the fact that it is "direct drive", (i.e., no torque converter), and the M3 will beat the IS350 to 60 mph by about a full second. All the mag's have tested the M3 in the mid-4's, 0 to 60, and the IS in the mid-5's. BTW, because the M3 rev's to 8k, it will do 60 mph in 2nd gear, so there is only one shift involved.

Don't get me wrong, the IS350 is a fast car. But it can't beat a well-shifted M3 and it can't touch an SMG M3.

pumper

Jimmer350

Don't forget guys I said "in the real world". On a track, doing a timed 1/4 mile, reducing tire presurre, etc. different story. I consider the "real world" a stomp on the gas from a stop light or something like that during a commute. If the manual M isn't rev'd up and 'ready' to do a launch - we'll take them. Yeah, SMG will win everytime - much better system. Like I said I have many friends in my clubs that I've driven with for years. They know how to drive and I've been up against MANY of them. If they are TOTALLY prepared they will win - if not, or they make the slightest mistake, I take them. I don't have the mags in front of me but I don't put a lot of weight in those numbers. That's not the real world. But, because we're on it, I haven't (true, maybe haven't seen them all) seen a better 0-60 for the M then 4.7. That's from Car and Driver. The same mag also tested the IS350 and had it's 0-60 at 5.1. That's 0.4 seconds - really a drivers race. I believe the 1/4 mile numbers were even closer but not positive.

All I'm saying is for what the IS is it's a great car. In CAN dollars there's about a $30G difference between the two! I have been against (yes, also in my IS350) and driven M's on the track (2 mile road-course). Yes, they are faster but not as much as the mags (or people who've never tracked) think. For a luxury car that's way less money, the IS holds it's own quite well against I feel one of the best cars out there - the M.

Yuri

Can't we just change the Torque converter of the auto tranny like the subaru guys do? They outrun the manuals that way on the drag strip.

LexFather

There is a reason drag cars and the fastest 1/4 mile cars are autos......

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

yea when you have high hp numbers the automatic will give you consistant results on the track, high hp numbers is much harder to control in manual and will lead to more inconsistant times