That's a lot more torque compare to our IS350......

 

It's definitely more luxurious than the IS. For example, one option it has or maybe it's standard is the led lights running along the door and the cabin is full of leather especially the mid console, whereas the IS has a huge black plastic mid console...... that easily scratches along with an increase attraction to dusts. Also when both cars light up, you can tell the C Class is a higher class car whereas the IS has nothing awesome about it besides the hate it or like it spindle grill and the nike swoosh headlight. Also the rear end is where the downside comes in. Those headlights could be done way better, the second generation IS models from 2009-2013 had way better tail lights.

I personally think the Europeans are better designers than the Japanese, which is probably why Europe is a top designer's continent. The reasons I like about my Lexus IS350 F Sport is how it handles well and the reliability of having a car made and ship from Japan. I honestly think Lexus can increase their sales by having better designs for their cars I like how the S4 looks too Lexus holds their value from reliability reputation that is pretty much it. Not to mention the Mercedes logo glows and lights up when you turn on your headlights, why didn't Lexus do that!

 

It's no doubt a subjective thing, and while I agree that the 2009+ improvements to the taillights on the 2IS did add a lot to the car (dramatic difference actually), I thought they screwed it up from 2011 on once they started putting LEDs directly under (touching) the headlights. It looks like the car is tearing up to cry.

On the other hand, with regard to styling I think the 3IS is a fantastic looking car from every angle (and it is extremely rare for me to say that about any car, because most cars have at least one exterior design aspect I don't like). I actually had an early positive reaction to the spindle grill, whereas many people seemed to reject bolder design ideas at first and slowly warm up to them over time. The more I look at this car the better it gets.

I wish I could say the same for Audis, but their design philosophy seems to be geared toward accountants (lol). I think some of the new Benz models look great with the aggressive front end, but those droopy-eye tail lights on the C400 make it look kind of like a Maxima from 14 years ago from the back. BMW seems to be avoiding doing anything too objectionable with their designs, and in almost all cases I can never find anything glaringly ugly about them, the problem is that they seem to struggle to find ways to maintain their signature grill and other classic features while innovating exterior design features at the same time. Year after year their cars end up look much like the decade before.

I have not been in the interior of a C400 but it wouldn't surprise me if they are very nice as you say. I would say the same thing about Audi -- generally nice interiors, if only they could design both inside and out. That said I don't see anything wrong with the 3IS interior, I think it's quite slick and competitive with anything else in it's class. I would like to see more scratch-resistant materials from Lexus. The 2015 apparently replace some of the silver colored trim with piano black which sounds like a recipe for more scratches to me.

 

A few of us confirmed the engine going in the IS quite sometime ago. This is very old news to speculate lol.

FYI, Lexus had a small turbo diesel in Europe...

FYI the specs for the NX are released, 235hp, 258lbs torque
MPG is 22/28 for a 24 rating.

 

Man, for the same gas mileage I think I'd rather forego the 30 HP in favor of a cooler, quieter, less complex V6 with a more linear torque curve (the current 2.5L) and less engine vibration.

 

To be fair the Lexus turbo hasn't been sampled yet. It should prove to be a gem like it's forbearing powertrains while providing modern specs to aline with both government and social views. Lexus has been working on this for some time not to mention the larger FI mills coming. The next generation of Lexus should prove to be nothing short of spectacular

 

I just hope that this turbo 4 packs some punch like the 328i which is underrated. When my 535i was in the shop I swear the loaner 328i I had was just as fast as a E90 335i .

 

I feel the same way.

 

I have had a C and CLK MB and loved both of them. The down side to me is the cost of ownership as the cars got older was CRAZY. This is my third Lexus but the first two I had a short time. I usually keep my cars several years because of the very low mileage I drive, about 2000 miles per year. I am hoping the cost of future ownership of the IS 350 will be better than the MBs. Time will tell.

Aloha,
Larry

 

I think as always, Lexus will do a fantastic job and very possibly best the competition with their turbo offerings. The problem is that they need to defy physics (good luck with that) and do the unimaginable, not just best the competition. The turbo versions from their competitors are already getting a reality check in the media (maybe this is one reason BMW made only a partial commitment to it in the low-end 3 series?).

Turbos have been around for a very long time, and those who have been around a long time begin to recognize a pattern over a period of many decades:

"Oh, this _________ (fill in the blank with technology name) is not like the _________ (same name) of yesteryear, modern versions are much better at _______________ "(fill in the blank with whatever marketing has deemed will sell new technology).

It doesn't matter what the technology is, the only thing required to sell it is a new marketing spin.
Luckily, regulated metrics like MPG ratings help introduce some level of honesty into the equation. Some will choose to ignore the very facts that were designed to help them and go their own way in the pursuit of another 10% or so HP. Thankfully for the marketing team, there are enough car buyers out there that are still easy pickings. Unfortunately for the customer it's not always in their best interest. I'd like to think Lexus customers are smart enough to understand the technology behind turbocharging and why there's nothing Lexus can do to make it a magic bullet for more horsepower with no tradeoffs. They are simply making sure they are not perceived as falling behind their competition. The turbo trend faded before, and it will again.

 

You may have dove a little far into that one lol. Point was Lexus is well off and will continue to improve upon its success. Lexus could have rushed and debuted this technology earlier, but the right choices were made.

Naysayers beware !

 

All of this BS about turbos being a gimmick needs to stop. Maybe it is lack of knowledge or misconception, but it just isn't true. Maximum horsepower derived from maximum boost has very little to do with overall efficiency at low-loads. It has more to do with proper cam profiles, turbo sizes, engine displacement, combustion chamber designs, Direct Injection and obviously proper tuning. For instance, my other car is an 820hp 2005 EVO VIII that gets 27mpg on the highway with gigantic cams and a fairly large turbo (out of a 2.0L engine). If the engineers want good highway MPG and great power out of a small power plant (or even a larger power plant), it is fairly easy these days and is the future, like it or not. It's the only way to have the best of both worlds, in most situations. The only thing really stopping them is flawed public perception from misconception.

The science behind internal combustion engines and forced-induction isn't going to change just because you don't understand it. Sorry.

Give me a smaller turbo-charged engine over a larger naturally-aspirated engine anyday.

 

Your opinion is what it is, and I understand why some folks want turbos for HP reasons (the very fact that you own an 820HP car tells me exactly which category you are in), but your own perceptions of the benefits of turbos can never change the fact that the real world mpg folks are getting in the new turbos from BMW, Audi and such are proving disappointing. Scientific explanations of how things work will never trump actual results.

I'm not saying turbos are the wrong choice for everyone, they are just not the best choice if your priority is on gas mileage.

 

Two things.

1. Turbo or no turbo, your gas mileage will always suffer badly in the city with a internal combustion engine, unless you have a hybrid or some other non-traditional technology. When you look at city ratings, almost all modern internal combustion engines get roughly the same effeciency. Some are a little better than others due to some advances like being able to shut the engine off at a stop light....etc. The differentiator is highway effeciency as this is where you start to see large swings in true engine effeciency.

2. If you keep your foot out of the gas when you do accelerate, especially in the city, you will get better gas mileage. Just because the power is there, doesn't mean you alway have to use it or even a portion of it. Power will always require fuel, regardless. The more power you ask of an engine, the more fuel it will need to provide it. Most people with turbo-charged cars are slightly addicted to the instant torque and thus usually have terrible gas mileage or do not understand that a
Turbo-changed car should be driven differently than a N/A car.