Do Not Sell My Personal Information Jump to content


Test Drove The Is300


George
 Share

Recommended Posts

I don't know how many that have IS200 here at the forum, who have had a chance to drive big brother, the IS300 ?

If you haven't yet you really should.

A friend of mine at work got his car stolen and was offered the IS300 by the insurance company as the legal bits were sorted out. So naturally I had to beg for a drive.

Having lived with the IS200 for 3 years so I knew exactly how to compare these two relatives.

First of all, climbing in, the full leather trim felt more fitting of this car. I had the alcantara-leather in my IS200 which was not bad either. Of course this view is a personal one.

The sports steering wheel felt thicker than in my IS200. I did also have the bi color sports wheel in my 200. I don't know if Lexus beefed it up a bit. This being a 2003 model and IS300 ?

The navigation system, something I always lacked in my IS200, was fun and really lends stress-free driving. Also adds to the luxurious aura. Too bad it didn't have a touch screen though.

Starting the baby up I immediately notice a deeper note. Of course the extra litre displacement would do that.

The engine was cold so the steptronic-automatic gearbox wouldn't go below 3rd gear. No problem to get rolling though. We're talking 215 bhp. Try that in an ordinary IS200 without getting shivers from the engine or revving like crazy.

The gas pedal response and feel was alert like in the IS200. It even felt a touch more sensitive, maybe because a quick nudge gives access to an additional 60 bhp over the IS200?

The IS300 is also better insulated than my IS200. There was hardly any pavement or other noise from the outside.

After about 5 minutes the engine was warmed up. It was late Sunday evening, which meant almost no traffic in this part of town. I gunned it :yahoo::yahoo: and was sucked forward by the sheer power of the super smooth 3 liter engine. There was much more power here than in the IS200. Really worlds apart. I was flying ! Pressed back in my seat I reached illegal speeds faster than an eyes blink. :whistling:

The IS200 is an excellent car but the IS300 was simply superb. Lucky I don't have one because I would have no trouble losing my driving license. :devil:

Any other experinces with the IS300 ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Actually at my 150000km service I got an IS300 for a day, and though it actually had only 36000 km under its belt, it seemed less well put together than my own. Not quieter (small creaks), and less rev-happy, steering was a tad less direct compared to mine (could be tyres). These were small differences, mind you. Of course I could feel the extra oomph, but the auto-box didn't make it the monster I was hoping for. When revving out my own IS200 I'd be close to keeping up. Well, the high-mileage ones do tend to run faster than the newer ones I'm told....

It did have some extra's my own IS doesn't have, like the HID lights and full leather...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

in terms of value for money would an IS300 with 80BHP Noz Kit (=295bhp at the flywheel) not be the best modders conversion for an IS??

you'd have auto/manual(steptronic) box. near 300bhp, lighter than a GS, and all the handling modds you already have access to!

sounds to me like if and IS300 could have a £1k Noz kit fitted (ie, with prog controller) it would out blast any IS 200 that we know of! might well do my GS two! :crybaby:

yeah, on second thoughts.... bad idea! :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel the IS300 would be quicker than the kompressor IS200 due to its stronger engine and same weight (the IS300 engine is bigger but is all aluminum).

IS200 kompressor: 205 bhp, 245 Nm.

IS300: 215 bhp, 288 Nm.

The auto gearbox will handicap the IS300 some though.

Is there any official test comparison? One should put a kompressor IS200 next to an IS300 and do a dragster run. It would be a close call.

The US verion 5 speed manual IS300 would best the kompressor IS200 though.

In top speed it is for sure as the IS300 is geared for a top speed of 245 km /h and the IS for 235 km /h where the IS200 tops out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


You are wrong about the weight. The IS300 is much heavier than the IS200, approx. 150 kg.

Mostly because of its engine.

In addition, the IS300 is tuned for comfort rather than sporty/racy. Toyota Japan is promoting the Altezza or the Altezza with turbo charger (third-party option) for sporty/racy.

But yes, the stock IS300 has much more power than the stock IS200, so the stock IS300 is much faster.

However, compared to a Compressor-charged IS200 or a Turbocharged Altezza, the IS300 will likely lose the acceleration race. But, not with a lot, and the IS300 driver can do this without any sweat, while the others need to do some smart shifting.

The best thing of getting an IS300 is that everything is covered by the Factory :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BTW the top IS/200-300 speeds are :

IS200-215km/h

220-225 speedo reading, the rev limiter will cut out the power at 225

(this is from a 2000/IS200 manual)

IS300-228km/h

240 speedo reading, maybe a bit more but that's the best I had

(this is form a 2001/IS300 Sport X with E-shift)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

However, compared to a Compressor-charged IS200 or a Turbocharged Altezza, the IS300 will likely lose the acceleration race. But, not with a lot, and the IS300 driver can do this without any sweat, while the others need to do some smart shifting.

Turbo charge the IS300 though and no 200 is ever going to beat that. 500bhp out of that engine is no problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From www.lexus.com , www.lexus.co.uk (official figures):

Lexus IS200 - 6 speed:

Acceleration: 0-62 mph, 9,5 sec

Top speed: 134 mph (214,4 km/h)

Curb weight: 1455 kg

Lexus IS200- compressor-6 speed:

Acceleration: 0-62 mph, 7,3 sec (TTE official)

Top speed: 140,6 mph (225 km/h) - rev limited

Curb weight: 1455 kg + weight of compressor system

IS300- E shift:

Accecleration: 0-60 mph, 7.3 sec

Top speed: 143.7 mph (229 km/h)

Curb weight: 1500-1580 kg

IS300- 5 speed:

0-60 mph, 6.8 sec

Top speed: 143.7 mph

Curb weight: 1477 kg

Conclusions:

1. The IS200 compressor will be beaten in acceleration and top speed by the IS300 - 5 speed as the curb weight will be very similar but the IS300 engine is more powerful than that of the IS200 compressor.

2. The IS300, regardless of gearbox ,will beat the IS200 / IS200 compressor in top speed due to gear ratios.

3. You are right the IS300 - E shift does weigh 100 - 150 kg more than the IS200 compressor. That approximates to 15 - 20 bhp if they had the same weight as 300 kg corresponds to 50 bhp according to physical motion theory. So if they weighed in equal this would mean 220-225 bhp for the compressor and 215 bhp for the IS300 (very marginal) difference.

Plus the IS300 E shift has to channel it's power through a auto gearbox which means a greater loss of power due to greater internal inertia. The IS300 - 5 speed is not handicaped by this.

So it will be close, in the end it will depend how well you can handle the stick, clutch and accelerator in the IS200 compressor if you will beat the IS300 automatic.

On small slip and the IS300 will come out ahead (like jdmparts guru says).

It is time for a match up lads ! Who is up for it ? Lets step outside and settle it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw the figures where it says 0-60, 7.3 sec (US site) and 0-62 in 8,2 sec (UK site) for the IS300 E-shift.

Trouble is it does not sound credible that going that extra 2 mpg (3,2 km/h) would take nearly 1 second extra ! More like 0,3 sec extra would seem credible.

Wonder how they produced those figures ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites


From www.lexus.com , www.lexus.co.uk (official figures):

Lexus IS200 - 6 speed:

Acceleration: 0-62 mph, 9,5 sec

Top speed: 134 mph (214,4 km/h)

Curb weight: 1455 kg

Lexus IS200- compressor-6 speed:

Acceleration: 0-62 mph, 7,3 sec (TTE official)

Top speed: 140,6 mph (225 km/h) - rev limited

Curb weight: 1455 kg + weight of compressor system

IS300- E shift:

Accecleration: 0-60 mph, 7.3 sec

Top speed: 143.7 mph (229 km/h)

Curb weight: 1500-1580 kg

IS300- 5 speed:

0-60 mph, 6.8 sec

Top speed: 143.7 mph

Curb weight: 1477 kg

Conclusions:

1. The IS200 compressor will be beaten in acceleration and top speed by the IS300 - 5 speed as the curb weight will be very similar but the IS300 engine is more powerful than that of the IS200 compressor.

2. The IS300, regardless of gearbox ,will beat the IS200 / IS200 compressor in top speed due to gear ratios.

3. You are right the IS300 - E shift does weigh 100 - 150 kg more than the IS200 compressor. That approximates to 15 - 20 bhp if they had the same weight as 300 kg corresponds to 50 bhp according to physical motion theory. So if they weighed in equal this would mean 220-225 bhp for the compressor and 215 bhp for the IS300 (very marginal) difference.

Plus the IS300 E shift has to channel it's power through a auto gearbox which means a greater loss of power due to greater internal inertia. The IS300 - 5 speed is not handicaped by this.

So it will be close, in the end it will depend how well you can handle the stick, clutch and accelerator in the IS200 compressor if you will beat the IS300 automatic.

On small slip and the IS300 will come out ahead (like jdmparts guru says).

It is time for a match up lads ! Who is up for it ? Lets step outside and settle it.

Altezza RS200 is200 is300

Power (bhp) 210 153 211

0-60 (secs) 7.2 9.5 8.2

Maximum Speed (mph) 140+ 127 143

Fuel economy (mpg) 29 29.1 26.2

Kerb weight (kg) 1330 1380 1500

Lets not forget the Altezza which most people seem to steer clear of because its an import... these stas surely make you think twice.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw the figures where it says 0-60, 7.3 sec (US site) and 0-62 in 8,2 sec (UK site) for the IS300 E-shift.

Trouble is it does not sound credible that going that extra 2 mpg (3,2 km/h) would take nearly 1 second extra ! More like 0,3 sec extra would seem credible.

Wonder how they produced those figures ?

I think the engines produce a little more power and maybe the final drive gearing is lower on the US models?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well they do product more power - 4 bhp and 6 ft-lb torque. The specs are on the US web site. That doesn't seem enough to account for the 0.6 seconds different between them so there must be something else.

Although I believe the European IS300 is faster than the spec.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The weight figures of the IS200 are 1355kg in my registration papers and the NL website, 1455kg seems to be a typo. It is definitely a lot lighter than the IS300 (1475kg Dutch Spec). This will be on the front wheels, and may result in a more front-loaded handling. I think the Altezza has the track advantage here.

I also noticed the IS200 spec has a figure of 114kW, this equals 155hp (like in other spec papers, multiply by 1.36), not 153 like it says in the same UK spec... So it seems a bit sloppy...

EDIT: My boo boo! :duh: I just read you guys actually have different (non-metric) horsepowers than the rest of the world! So bhp is not hp. bhp= 0.746 kW; hp (ps) = 0.736 kW. So 114kw=155hp=153bhp

I'm not even going into the SAE hp the Americans use, it's a different measurement method without substacting external loads of waterpump, alternator etc...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share



×
×
  • Create New...