Edmunds: First Drive: 2006 Lexus IS 350

[NFS4]

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=106455

I'd hit it!!!

 

[CombatChuk]

No manual on the 350? Only on the 250, that's whack!

 

[Scouzer]

they always leave out the manual at first for some reason

 

[SilentZero]

Saw one on the road today, not bad for a lexus.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Yum. I think that might be my next car in a few years. Wonder what the pricing is on that guy. Just a lil disappointed the IS250 only makes 204hp? That's pathetic in this day and age - Acura pushes out that much power from the K24 in the TSX.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Yum. I think that might be my next car in a few years. Wonder what the pricing is on that guy. Just a lil disappointed the IS250 only makes 204hp? That's pathetic in this day and age - Acura pushes out that much power from the K24 in the TSX.

Yeah, but how much torque does that K24 churn?

 

[blahblah99]

What's with this gay manumatic transmission crap?

Gimme a real six-speed manual on that 350 and I'd take it.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: blahblah99
What's with this gay manumatic transmission crap?

Gimme a real six-speed manual on that 350 and I'd take it.

It'll probably come next year

 

[Fenixgoon]

since when were those car reviewers certified chemistry/physics majors? structural heft of beryllium? wtf...

 

[Random Variable]

Is the 3.5-liter engine the same engine that is in the Avalon?

 

[SouthPaW1227]

Not nearly the "Street appeal" as the last one. I like it, but it doesn't deserve the "IS" badge.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Random Variable
Is the 3.5-liter engine the same engine that is in the Avalon?

Same engine with some "work" done to it

Originally posted by: SouthPaW1227
Not nearly the "Street appeal" as the last one. I like it, but it doesn't deserve the "IS" badge.

Why not? The IS was just a Japanese market Toyota with a Lexus badge on it. Doesn't make it special. The new IS is a Lexus through and through (meaning that it and the GS as well as every Lexus to come after will be designed from the onset as being Lexus models instead of Japanese market Toyotas).

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: Random Variable
Is the 3.5-liter engine the same engine that is in the Avalon?

Same engine with some "work" done to it

Originally posted by: SouthPaW1227
Not nearly the "Street appeal" as the last one. I like it, but it doesn't deserve the "IS" badge.

Why not? The IS was just a Japanese market Toyota with a Lexus badge on it. Doesn't make it special. The new IS is a Lexus through and through (meaning that it and the GS as well as every Lexus to come after will be designed from the onset as being Lexus models instead of Japanese market Toyotas).

The IS was an Altezza. It didn't have a Toyota Logo. It had it's own Altezza logo

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: isekii

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: Random Variable
Is the 3.5-liter engine the same engine that is in the Avalon?

Same engine with some "work" done to it

Originally posted by: SouthPaW1227
Not nearly the "Street appeal" as the last one. I like it, but it doesn't deserve the "IS" badge.

Why not? The IS was just a Japanese market Toyota with a Lexus badge on it. Doesn't make it special. The new IS is a Lexus through and through (meaning that it and the GS as well as every Lexus to come after will be designed from the onset as being Lexus models instead of Japanese market Toyotas).

The IS was an Altezza. It didn't have a Toyota Logo. It had it's own Altezza logo

It was still a Toyota I get so confused with Toyota's Japanese line. The Crowns and the Royals and all the other sub brands they have

 

[brigden]

I much preferred the old model.

 

[James3shin]

is250 with AWD please....in ALL black

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: James3shin
is250 with AWD please....in ALL black

204 HP + AWD + even more weight + slushbox = I'll pass

 

[SouthPaW1227]

Oh c'mon. The IS 300 was a street as it gets. The factory altezza's and all. The thing was a pure bred street racer, as much as a Lexus could be.

This new thing rips off the Nissan body (Maxima, Altima) terribly bad, escp. the backend. Not nearly the "streety" car the IS 300 was.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Meh. Looks great inside and out but seems to be a real snooze job. The new 3 will do circles around it.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Yum. I think that might be my next car in a few years. Wonder what the pricing is on that guy. Just a lil disappointed the IS250 only makes 204hp? That's pathetic in this day and age - Acura pushes out that much power from the K24 in the TSX.

Yeah, but how much torque does that K24 churn?

The TSX was up first and it laid down a pretty solid pass of 169.9 hp and backed it up within 1 horsepower on a subsequent run. Torque was 152.2 lbs-ft. Once again, Honda underrates a K-series, although in this case not nearly as bad as they did with the K24 Accords. We estimate the real flywheel output of this engine to be somewhere in the vicinity of 210 hp and 175-180 lbs-ft. Check out how flat the torque curve is as well despite using a single runner intake manifold

source

Honda has lately been fibbing numbers on their engine outputs. In real world, the TSX probably puts to the ground, about the same torque as an IS250. This notion of "no torque" hondas is dated.

Both variants of the K24 are underrated and undertuned. Honda is hiding even more power in these engines with conservative tuning. K24A2 benefits up to 25 hp in areas of the power curve from only breathing bolt ons and retuned ECU.

K24A2 technical

 

[mchammer187]

it does not look good in red thats for sure

actually all of those colors at emunds are horrible

i thought it looked nice in silver

 

[James3shin]

wow is it really just 204 for the 250? thats a bit discouraging...

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Yum. I think that might be my next car in a few years. Wonder what the pricing is on that guy. Just a lil disappointed the IS250 only makes 204hp? That's pathetic in this day and age - Acura pushes out that much power from the K24 in the TSX.

Yeah, but how much torque does that K24 churn?

The TSX was up first and it laid down a pretty solid pass of 169.9 hp and backed it up within 1 horsepower on a subsequent run. Torque was 152.2 lbs-ft. Once again, Honda underrates a K-series, although in this case not nearly as bad as they did with the K24 Accords. We estimate the real flywheel output of this engine to be somewhere in the vicinity of 210 hp and 175-180 lbs-ft. Check out how flat the torque curve is as well despite using a single runner intake manifold

source

Honda has lately been fibbing numbers on their engine outputs. In real world, the TSX probably puts to the ground, about the same torque as an IS250. This notion of "no torque" hondas is dated.

Both variants of the K24 are underrated and undertuned. Honda is hiding even more power in these engines with conservative tuning. K24A2 benefits up to 25 hp in areas of the power curve from only breathing bolt ons and retuned ECU.

K24A2 technical

^ There we go. It's a 4 cylinder to boot, compared to a 6 in the IS250. Seriously, they couldn't have come up with something better? The 230hp 6 from the Camry at least?

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Yum. I think that might be my next car in a few years. Wonder what the pricing is on that guy. Just a lil disappointed the IS250 only makes 204hp? That's pathetic in this day and age - Acura pushes out that much power from the K24 in the TSX.

Yeah, but how much torque does that K24 churn?

The TSX was up first and it laid down a pretty solid pass of 169.9 hp and backed it up within 1 horsepower on a subsequent run. Torque was 152.2 lbs-ft. Once again, Honda underrates a K-series, although in this case not nearly as bad as they did with the K24 Accords. We estimate the real flywheel output of this engine to be somewhere in the vicinity of 210 hp and 175-180 lbs-ft. Check out how flat the torque curve is as well despite using a single runner intake manifold

source

Honda has lately been fibbing numbers on their engine outputs. In real world, the TSX probably puts to the ground, about the same torque as an IS250. This notion of "no torque" hondas is dated.

Both variants of the K24 are underrated and undertuned. Honda is hiding even more power in these engines with conservative tuning. K24A2 benefits up to 25 hp in areas of the power curve from only breathing bolt ons and retuned ECU.

K24A2 technical

^ There we go. It's a 4 cylinder to boot, compared to a 6 in the IS250. Seriously, they couldn't have come up with something better? The 230hp 6 from the Camry at least?

The 3.3 in the Camry is getting replaced by the new 3.0 liter V6 and 3.5 liter V6 engines with the '07 models AFAIK. That engine has been around for a LONG time (early 90's I think when it was still a 3.0 liter unit). I personally don't understand why Lexus just didn't put the new 3.0 liter V6 from the GS300 in the base IS. Especially with the IS350 have a 50+ HP advantage.

I guess there just wouldn't have been enough of a performance differential for them to justify the price differential.

That being said, the IS250 will probably get dropped and replaced with the IS300 at the same time the GS430 gets dropped and replaced with the GS460. By then, Lexus will probably have the hybrid IS400h?? and IS460 to spice things up along with the IS coupe/convertible

 

[Koenigsegg]

Glad they got rid of those silly clear tail lights.