BT5150

I'm currently looking for a 2nd gen IS and have been trolling this forum taking in lots of good info. I especially have to give props to the buyers guide sticky's, lots and lots of great info in there! I do have a couple of questions though that I wanted to ask the members about.

I'm wondering what the real world gas mileage is that people get with their 250's and 350's. Obviously, its going to be better with the 250 but I'm wondering how much better? What kind of actual mileage are people getting? I have a van that I normally drive for my business, so the IS will be mainly my car for night time or days that I know for sure I won't need to haul anything around, which aren't too often, I'm and landlord and I buy and rehab houses, so most days I need the van. (which, like most vans gets pretty bad gas mileage!) I'm 40 years old, so I'm MOSTLY through with my fast driving days, so the extra 100 or so horsepower isn't that big of a deal to me, but I have to admit it would be kind of fun once in a while! How much extra would I be paying for gas with the 350?

My other question is the AWD option-I'm interested in hearing what people in the northern part of the country (or Canada of course!) think about their AWD or rear wheel drive IS in the snow? I'm in the Milwaukee area, so we usually get a fair amount of snow in the winters, although the last two haven't been too bad. How does the rear drive IS handle in snow? My van has AWD and is AWESOME in the snow, 12+ inches of snow is no problem at all for the van, so if we got a blizzard, I'd just take the van. I'd prefer a rear drive model, I'm sure the mileage is better, there's less stuff to break and I just like the way rear drive handles over AWD, but I'd be interested in hearing from anyone in the north with a rear drive IS, am I nuts for considering a rear drive car?

Thanks!

laobo979

iTrader: (5)

Difference in mpg isn't much of a deal. I can get 32 average highway and 24 around town. Get the rwd 350 since you already have an awd van. I run my 350 year round. But good snow tires and a great driver is only way you'll get threw the winters.

jgbackes

iTrader: (2)

Or just move to California

BT5150

Yes, good tires are far more important in snow than most people realize. I'd generally take a RWD car with good snow tires over an AWD car with bad tires any day. That sounds like some very good mileage for a 300+ horsepower car, too!

I'd honestly LOVE to move to CA, especially SoCal. I've spent a lot of time around LA and San Diego and I like those areas better than any other part of the whole US. Once I can afford it, I just might move there!

tex2670

I have an 07 250 AWD. I get mostly 20-21 mpg; most of my driving is city driving. Snow performance will vary based on the tires. I don't have snows, but the OEM Dunlops were not good in the snow; the Michelin Pilot Sport AS Plus were better, but wore pretty early. I now have Michelin Primacy MXM4 per Costco warranty replacement, but we didn't get any snow last winter, so I can't opine on how the perform.

But--if you are regularly get deep snow, this may not be the right car for you. Ground clearance is low, so even if you have the right tires for snow, you may not be able to get far if the snow is deep.