I own an IS350 and each time I go to my dealer I "HOPE" to get an IS250 as a loaner. (an IS350 would be even better, but I know that is out of the question) But I always get an ES350 instead. I know the ES is faster than the 250, but driving an IS to begin with, I know I'd have more fun in an IS250 loaner vs an ES350 loaner.

One of the things I like about taking or benz to the dealer is that I get a C230 loaner. Only about as fast as the IS250 but more fun to drive than the ES I get at Lexus because of the handling aspect.

That said, I love my IS350 and I would never consider a 250 as a replacement. I enjoy the power, and contrary to a couple comments on here, I do not feel the chassis is overpowered at all. I drive through plenty of twisties around here and it always feel very stable and predictable. Obviously when you're drivng a car with 50% more power and torque you will have to adjust your driving style. You may not be able to stay flat on the throttle during a turn in the 350 that you may have been able to in a 250, but that is a driver, not a car issue. The car has the ability to take the turn just as fast, you just need to adjust the driving style.

A lot could depend on tire and road conditions as well, when I drove the 350 at ToL this year, that car was ALL over the place and required continuous steering input corrections when at WOT.

 

^ Good point... the ES is quite a bit quicker in a straight line than the IS250 but man can it not go around corners. I'd def. have my car over an ES.

But where is this thread going? 7 pages of arguing about something obvious. The 250 is slow, the 350 is fast; some stick to the 250 for money issues, some stick to it because it's fast enough for them. All there is to it.

 

For me AWD was the deciding factor--no regrets.

 

Here's something interesting I read today in the Jan, 2008 Car and Driver. The article was part of their test of the new IS F from Lexus. They said Lexus is outselling all luxury cars in the US by a huge volume this year (2007).

Here's the interesting part. The average age of a Lexus owner is 61 and 70 percent of all Lexus owners are retired. That might explain the sometimes very different opinions about their car.

 

For me, it was not about the money as I had enough to buy an IS350 (and my 250AWD was not much cheaper than the 350 anyway), it is not about the mileage as the 250 may get a few MPGs more than the 350, but I don't think it is a seriously significant difference, espically on a car this expensive in the first place.

Quite simply, it came down to the street where I live in Chicago is only 2 blocks long, so it is last to be cleared, and watching front wheel drive cars constanty get stuck on the street, I know a RWD car would not work, even with snow tires. Combine that with the 90 degree turn uphill to enter my garage, which the AWD even has a bit of trouble and you have the answer. If there were an IS350AWD, yes I would have chosen that model, but there is not so I had to make the decision to buy a car which I consider slow but adequate. Even though it is slow, the engine is still creamy smooth, the car is quiet when it needs to be and make nice sounds when pushed, the interior is frrst rate and the reliability / build quality is excellent. I HATE front wheel drive (wrong wheel drive, as I say), so all Acuras are out (minus the RL which is too big anyway). Did not care for the G35x at all and do not trust German cars after my last one blew itself up 2 times in less than 2 years (first the engine inhaled the turbo, then the transmission pumped all its fluid onto the street) and hearing many horror stories about others definatey kept me away. Nearly 2 years later, I still have no regrets.

 

Comparing the 250 to the 350 is apples and oranges, with a 100hp difference. The 250 has ordinary power and gets great mileage. That’s why they sell 2 to 1 over the 350. I just got out of a 08 250 AWD loaner that I had for a week. When you get out off a 350 and immediately drive a 250 it does feel slow, especially from the dig. Then after driving it for a while it becomes an ordinary car (power wise) that, again, gets great mileage. For the average person the 250 has enough power.

I did immediately noticed (on the 250 AWD) that the steering was much heavier and the engine's exhaust tone is louder at mid throttle. The trans was hunting sometimes and there was more road/rolling noise coming from the front wheels, into the interior. The 17" wheels/tires take the pot holes much better. I found that the more I drove the 250, I was thinking less about the power difference. The 250 is a really nice car!

Koz

 

I agree with you MJB_LEX, I just bought my IS250AWD last night and have no regrets. I had an IS300 and the car was terrible in any bad weather and with minimal snow, it could not get up a slight incline. I am lazy so I don't want to change wheels/tires each season either. I bought the AWD so my wife could drive it also without me having to worry about it and it gets pretty decent gas mileage. I also hate front wheel drive so I didn't consider an Acura TL. I liked the G35X but did not like the look of the exterior but loved the power. The sticker of my IS250AWD was close to the price of the IS350 so money was not an issue. When I first test drove the IS250AWD I was really disappointed in the power (especially compared to the G35X) but I got used to it being my commuter car and nothing else. If I want to drive a fast car, I will just take my Viper out. If not, I will be content and happy with my IS250.

 

There was a mouse walking through the jungle and he noticed an elephant stuck in the mud...the elephant said, " hey boss how about helping me out?"
so the mouse walked away , came back with a Lexus IS 350, hooked a rope to the elephant and towed him out of the mud...
Few days later the elephant is walking through the jungle and notices the mouse is now stuck in the same mud...the mouse says," Yo boss! Remember me? How about helping me out?"...So the elephant wips out his " Unit" lets it hang in the mud, the mouse craws up, and and out of the mud and on his way...
Moral of the story?...If you have a big "Unit", you don't need a IS 350...

 

I'm asian i NEED the is350

 

Both the IS350 and IS250 are luxurious, well made, stylish, fun to drive 4 door cars. The choice between the two (and all the options of awd, manual, etc) for all of us, was a relatively simple one I believe. We all bought what we wanted, and what we needed. For those living in the snow belt, awd was a necessary choice. For those with a lead foot (myself included), the choice was easy. For those that just wanted the car, and didn't care about the power, that choice was just as easy. All that matters in the end, is that we all got what we wanted. I for one am very glad that Lexus is around, making great cars for us to enjoy!

 

I couldn't agree more Turbo, very well made, fun to drive cars.
With enough options to keep all of us happy.
Isn't this what started the Pony car wars of the 60's?( Ford vs. Chevy )
Fun to drive autos with enough options to please the masses.
Boy did they lose site of that goal...

 

Yes they did, in a big way. Especially in the styling dept. However, I must say that the US auto makers are starting to wake up, and make some decent looking cars. As for reliability, that is up for debate, perhaps on another forum.

 

lol....

I have an '03 ES, and I'm considering upgrading to an '08 IS250..

I got the ES for the comfort and reliability for all the commuting, but I had wanted AWD before. The ES had just been so comfortable, and the Mark Levinson sounded so good that I made an exception.

One of the ER docs in the one hospital within our system is a big Lexus guy, and used to bust on me all the time for going with the ES over an IS. Time to right that wrong?

 

I got the IS250 for the AWD.

I also have a preference for handling rather than just straight line speed. The IS250 has reasonable strait line speed and it is one of the slower cars in it's class for strait line speed. But the IS250's handling beats the BMW 325 sedan, G35 AWD sedan, and tC. It's not hard for a car manufacturer to stick a big engine into a car and make it go fast in a straight line, but it's quite an art to make the car nimble. Good handling is what I consider fun. GS450h is faster than the IS350 in a straight line, but I doubt it's as fun to drive as a IS350/IS250. It's funny though, that Lexus's fastest car is a hybrid.

Road and Track's slalom mph...
IS250 AWD 64.5
G35 AWD 64.3
325xi 63.1
tC 64.0
http://www.roadandtrack.com/assets/d...data_panel.pdf
http://www.roadandtrack.com/assets/d...on_tc_data.pdf

Consumer Reports avoidance maneuverability mph...
IS250 55.5
G35 AWD 55.0
325i 55.0
tC TRD 51.0
tC 51.0
GS450h 51.0
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/c...comparison.htm
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/c...comparison.htm

Also interesting, is that the IS250 RWD MT with the X package can out handle a IS350 and 335i even though it's about 100hp less...http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpconta...8/pageNumber=1

 

What's so interesting about that? It's equipped with a package that is designed to handle better and that package has nothing to do with HP. Would would be interesting is if it DIDN'T handle better.