sirkfc

I am a 350 owner and I originally scoffed at the notion of a 250, but after having my 350 for a while, I really appreciated the IS car in general. So now I recommend the 250 to friends that are considering the car in that price range. I tell them G35 if HP at around the 35K range is a must.

I do wish they made more distinguishing cues between the 250 and 350 though, just to give us an ego boost for having paid a premium. Different wheels? Trim pieces? Special colors? silver vs black light housings ala BMW? Something besides a 3 instead of a 2 on the rear badge. But that's the best part about the 250. You get a lot of the same car as the 350, and that's probably why the HP difference has to be so big... any higher HP on the 250 and the price premium on the 350 starts going away.

CodyLexus

I would also like to chime in on the subject. Everyone definitley has their own reasons for choosing the car they did. I did test drive both, 250 and 350, and coming from a '00 Honda Accord, the 250 was more than capable. The 350 is FAST, but at 5-6k more wasn't justifiable. I took that money and got some rims and a drop to personalize my 250. Something I wouldn't be able to afford if I bought the 350. Yes the EVO and STI is around the same price range as the 250, but I wanted luxury.

IronPhoenX

The IS250 AWD costs about the same as a IS350. I would agree with putting more distinguishable features on the IS350 from the IS250, if they were really that different. The only major differences are the engines. Performance-wise, the IS350 is just faster in a strait-away than the IS250. Both the IS250 and IS350 have the same lateral acceleration of 0.84g. Hardly enough to justify that they're significantly different cars. Lexus didn't do much to make the IS350 perform more than the IS250, except for strait-line speed. The IS350 is a IS250 with an optional bigger engine.

BMW on the other hand made the 325xi/328xi with a lateral acceleration of 0.87g and the 335i with 0.90g. And the 335i blows away the 325xi/328xi in handling speed and strait line speed. Those are big differences. They did make the 335i more distinguishable from the other 3 series by having a dual exhaust, but really, there should have been more.

Really, in order to justify making cars more distinguishable within it's model line, there needs to be a big difference. Look at how different the Mitsubishi Lancer is compared to the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

It's all about marketing. Lexus stuck a bigger engine in the IS350 to keep buyers from going to the 335i, in hopes that reliability and refinement would overcome performance.

IS_Mine

[QUOTE=IronPhoenX;2476694]The IS250 AWD costs about the same as a IS350. I would agree with putting more distinguishable features on the IS350 from the IS250, if they were really that different. The only major differences are the engines. Performance-wise, the IS350 is just faster in a strait-away than the IS250. Both the IS250 and IS350 have the same lateral acceleration of 0.84g. Hardly enough to justify that they're significantly different cars. Lexus didn't do much to make the IS350 perform more than the IS250, except for strait-line speed.

BMW on the other hand made the 325xi/328xi with a lateral acceleration of 0.87g and the 335i with 0.90g. And the 335i blows away the 325xi/328xi in handling speed and strait line speed. Those are big differences. They did make the 335i more distinguishable from the other 3 series by having a dual exhaust, but really, there should have been more.

Really, in order to justify making cars more distinguishable within it's model line, there needs to be a big difference. Look at how different the Mitsubishi Lancer is compared to the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

It's all about marketing. Lexus stuck a bigger engine in the IS350 to keep buyers from going to the 335i, in hopes that reliability and refinement would overcome performance.
[QUOTE]


Lets face it! People who bought the IS250 were looking at maybe getting better gas mileage, didn't mind the fact it wasn't as powerful as the IS350, and maybe wanted a manual for their DD. And maybe it was within their price range, some people would rather spend the money on an entry luxory car rather than a high end camry/accord/or whatever else. The IS350 is an entry level luxory car as well.

I don't mind the fact that the IS250 and IS350 look the same. The majority of car enthusiasts out there will know the difference by the badge and by looking at the brakes on both cars. Notice how I said car enthusiasts.

I like the fact that people think I have an IS250 till I get them in that lateral pull.

sirkfc

There's plenty more, as you may or may not know. Like the chrome trim around the side, the silver headlight housing, the chrome rings around the speedo, different wheel styles, body colored trunk handle on the old model, etc.. Stuff that really costs nothing to BMW, but receive a perception premium price from some consumers. I know people who bought 330's instead of 325i because it was too easy to tell they bought the "cheap" BMW from the lack of chrome around the windows... they seemed to care more about that than the performance. Of course BMW then screws up the logic by making the "shadowline trim" part of the sports pkg on the 5 and 7... But they still kept the distinction for the 3.

If Lexus had done that (as they do with the whole wood steering wheel logic), price would be an even lesser issue with consumers. I bet some people would be really willing to swallow the 4-6K difference if their investment showed on the outside...

Gtidan

Just returned from our bi-weekly drive to San Diego and back (189 miles). My question is this. Is going 75/85 mph in a IS350 different than in my IS250? Nope, didn't think so but what is different is seeing 31.5 mpg on the computer. Now that puts a smile on my face every time. Sure you can out drag me all day long but that's not my goal in life and I could care less. I'm way over that stuff.
So what's the point? The point is you bought an IS350 enjoy it and we IS250 owners will do the same.
Remember they both say Lexus on the trunk....

Evitzee

Enough of this 'extra mpg' reasoning for the IS 250. That's just a smoke screen argument. The avg city/hwy mpg on the 350 is 24.5 mpg and on the 250 it is 28 mpg. These are probably reasonable average mpg's as I get about 24.5 mpg on my 350. If the avg mileage is 12,000 mi per year, and premium fuel costs $3.00 a gallon we are talking 61 gallons extra a year. That's $185 per year in added fuel. I hardly think any sane person buying a Lexus IS is going to buy the 250 engine solely to save less than $200 bucks a year. If money is that tight you shouldn't be considering a +$30k automobile. There can be different reasons for someone buying a 250 over a 350 (mainly cost and insurance), but saying an important reason is mileage doesn't make a lot of sense when you look at the facts. In the end there is room for both 250's and 350's, let's just let it go at that and let's all enjoy the cars.

Jblaze2

Looks like someone skipped over a few of the posts in this thread.

Ramon

It all depends on the buyer... Case in point, I went car shopping with a girlfriend of mine (shopping for her) we went to the Lexus dealer to look at some 250's. I let her drive my 350 to the dealer.

After she test drove the 250, she said that both cars felt the same to her... Why? She hasn't the slightest idea about power or torque and is not looking to go fast. All she wants is to look cute in a nice car that will take her where she needs to go, in style.

If you even have to THINK about "will this car have enough power" then you should get the 350.

Evitzee

Guilty as charged. After reading the first two pages it was so boring I skipped to the end. I'll do better next time.

caudlek

LOL, ya me too,,,,, lets face it the whole MPG debate on the 250/350 is due in a large part to how incredible the 3.5L engine is ,,,,, logic suggests it should show much worse gas mileage than it does.

Honestly, when I first saw the MPG numbers in the IS brochure I assumed it was a typo!!!

KC

Sexi_Lexi

I spent the last half hour reading ALL 5 pages of this thread, post for post and 90% of the replies have been arguments over mpg and which car is better (250 vs. 350). I find it funny that only about 10% of the replies pertained to the original question of whether the 250 is underpowered or not.

Jeez people, everyone needs to just relax and enjoy your IS, 250 or 350!

sirkfc

I think after this many pages and a couple of days, the discussion is allowed to drift a little. Those that had an opinion on the power already chimed in...

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Not a chance. AWD can't make up for being 745 lbs heavier (BTW, that's a full 25 percent more mass!) My tC after mods has a 6% faster entry and mid-corner speed than my Supra on Tein HAs and Pilot MXX3s or S-03s. And my Supra (a hardtop weighing 3415 lbs on a certified scale) was tested by a number of magazines at 0.98g on the skidpad (if magazine racing actually means anything). So, no, I don't care how many tires are driven, it isn't possible to make a 3657 lb car faster around a turn than a 2915 lb car unless you compromise the 2915 lb car somehow.

The IS250 would perform admirably if it weighed in at 3000 lbs. It doesn't. It is a typical Toyota: at the worst end of the class for weight.

Using factory numbers and not taking into account the greater driveline losses inherent in AWD:

Scion tC = 18.10 lbs/hp
IS250 AWD = 17.84 lbs/hp

I'd call that pretty darned close to even. The tC is at a 1.5% disadvantage before considering the other 4% driveline loss from AWD. Nope. Don't see how that won't be a driver's race.

Pnuge88

iTrader: (1)

haha people are going off topic with this thread.. but anyways maybe the car isnt too underpowered..(But still could use some boost lol :P) but im thinking now that the throttle response time is just very slow.. it would take a VERYY slow second to kick in and actually move when i floor it over after some fool cuts me off.. lol