Tailpipe

Rsarin, Don't get me wrong, comfort wasn't the main reason for choosing a Lexus; more important were engineering integrity, dynamic ability and build quality. Comfort was an unexpected by-product. I just didn't expect a car that was so capable on the road to offer such a great ride. My previous M3 rode better on 18 inch alloys than 19 inch ones, but even so pot holes and bumps could really unsettle it. What destroyed my relationship with it was that on a long journey from France, the traction control failed. It was wet and the car became terrifying to drive. This was the last straw after a series of problems. During the course of three years ownership the engine broke, twice. The electrics failed three times. And the interior trim started to fall off after just two years - BMW apparently had changed to a new type of interior glue because it was cheaper. This was a false economy in my book, because they lost a loyal customer. You just don't expect these sorts of things to go wrong in a £43K car. I think my real reason for the shift to Lexus is that electronics are becoming an increasingly central part of car manufacture. While the engineering challenge still requires manufacturers to get the basic dynamic qualities of a vehicle right (weight distribution, ride, handling steering, balance, braking and quality), every German car I've owned has had electronic gremlins. Not so with Japanese cars. The Japanese really get electronics. If they can engineer incredibly complex electro-mechanical systems to function perfectly, year after year, then producing a firebreathing M3 challenger should pose little problem. Lexus can't afford to screw-up in producing an M3 challenger - although, however good it is, all of the motoring pundits will say it is inferior - so Lexus will over-engineer the IS-F and LF-A cars. They'll be fast, safe, comfortable and reliable while the quality will be shame Porsche, let alone Bentley and Aston-Martin. (I don't like Porsches. Three friends have had fatal crashes in them. The engine is in the worst possible position. Drive one on a sandy beach (a la Clarkson) next to a front mid-engine car and you'll see the difference. But they are well made)

As someone who sold an E46 M3 to buy a Lexus IS250 SEL, I have to say that I am delighted. Given that the IS250 despite its many merits has only 209 bhp, the IS-F cannot arrive soon enough. I don't want to knock the IS250, however. It is the best car I've ever owned. I just drove from London to Bologna in 15 hours straight in the Lexus. The journey actually took 2 hours less than my best ever time in the M3, not because it was faster, but because the SATNAV is absolutely brilliant and selecting alternative routes when you hit a blockage. (I told it to avoid motorways for 50 miles and regained lost time after an accident on A26 in France.) More to the point, I arrived feeling less tired. The Lexus is seriously comfortable. Of course, the penalty you pay for a less harsh ride is handling that is less planted. You can't fling an IS around the way you can a 3-Series, and especially an M3, but as a day-to-day driver I'm afraid I prefer the IS. You feel spoilt every time you get in the thing. The Lexus also has one other advantage, people let you out at busy junctions. I never realised how much BMW drivers are universally hated until I bought a Lexus. If the IS350 were available in the Uk, I would have bought one instead of my 250. Sadly it isn't. I've spoken to my Lexus dealer and he says that the IS-F will be coming to the UK in 2008, although he doesn't know exactly when. I've heard that the next M3 will cost between £45 and£50K, so am expecting an IS-F price of £40K-£45K. I think Lexus can afford to charge a bit more for a V8 than BMW charged for its 6-cylinder in-line motor in the last M3, but with a new 350 bhp Audi S4 only a year behind it, which is likely to cost £40K-£45K, the IS-F cannot be too expensive. As soon as i know what it'll cost, my order goes in. The only thing not to like about the IS-F is its ricey styling. The side sills and slits behind front wheels look like after-market add-ons, not like a truly integrated design. The interior is also way too bling. Thankfully a black version will also be available. The only real problem with the IS-F is the LF-A. This is just so darned sexy, I think I'll have to mortgage my soul to get one instead. Whatever I get next, it won't be an E90 M3. Why on earth would I buy a car that is engineered around the lowest possible manufacturing cost rather than a pursuit of quality?

As someone who has conducted a number of strategy projects for car manufactuers, i know for sure that they read these forums and take feedback very seriously. A good example of Lexus listening comes from the my.Is forum in the USA - it is one of the largest boards anywhere. The 2007 IS 350 will have a traction control switch off as the result of feedback. There is also talk of a manual version of the car - again the result of universal feedback. Lexus UK has hopefully listened to people on this forum who have requested a Lexus M3 competitor - rumour has it that it will arrive next year. Whether it does or doesn't I am a Lexus owner because Lexus listens better than any of the established German marques, not throught what it says but through what it does - Lexus cars speak louder than any corporate PR hogwash.

Guys, Do you know if you're getting 2007 spec cars or 2006? 2007 spec went into production 1st August. My Canterbury blue 56er 250 SEL with beige leather, sun roof and MM arrives on 13th. Massively looking forward to it. Ordered it in April.

The 2007 model year version of the IS goes into production in August, according to US Lexus websites. I wonder what will change on the car or whether new colours will be offered for UK bound versions. If anyone knows, do share the info... Thanks.

As someone about to take delivery of an IS, this thread makes me nervous. How exactly do you do a hill start in a Lexus IS with a foot operated hand brake?

A very popular car in its first year of manufacture is bound to have long leads times, especially when it starts at £22K. With higher end machines like the BMW M3 (£40K), Audi RS4 (£50K), Aston-Martin V8 Vantage (£80K), and Bentley Continental GT (£115K) the lead times were all horrendous. By comparison, Lexus isn't doing badly IMHO. Moreover, the low average number of glitches per car, compared to Aston-Martin for example, shows they must be doing something right. With production now fully on-line and various improvements made (e.g. seat belts, dash mountings and not much else), new IS cars rolling off the production line are now settling into an extremely reliable pattern of consistently high quality. Some years ago I bought one of the first Volkswagen VR6s in the country and while it was okay, there were tons of things they changed after the second year. Then again, after buying one of the first Audi A2s, I suffered no end of quality problems. So I vowed never again to buy a car in the first year of production. Order an IS now and all should be well. That said, if JD Powers is to be believed, anyone who bought an IS in its first year of production had a much better expereince than people buying a Mercedes-Benz E-Class in its 4th year of production. My IS250 SEL auto with MM arrives in September. I ordered the car in May. I could have taken delivery of one in June, but wanted a sun roof so had to submit a factory order, hence the delay.

Does anyone know what changes are being made to UK-spec Lexuses and when 2007 model year cars will arrive?

Lexus is definitively releasing an IS500 model next year. Look around the forum and on other Lexus sites and you'll find everything you need to know. Bottom line is V8 from forthcoming LS600h developing in excess of 400 bhp - just like next M3 and RS4. Also has uprated brakes, VDIM with track setting, auto gearbox, sports suspension and more aggressive aerodynamic body kit. Lexus finally realises that to compete in the luxury compact car segment, you have to offer more sporty models. So, while standard IS250 and IS220d models are more focused on comfort, IS500 will be powerful and fast. Best news of all is that price should be great. Fully loaded, should be between £40,000-£42,000, whereas RS4 is now £50K with new M3 expected to just around £45K-49K. There's also talk of Lexus developing a V6 diesel to take on the BMW 330d. This would be really great. in fact, it wouldn't just be an engine in for the IS but would go well in RX and GS. Whatever, we need more IS models and soon.

Yes. Demand really is this strong. If you want an IS now, there are new cars available including SE-Ls with MM. But if you want a specific spec, then you're going to have to wait. That's the bad news. The good news is that quality, which was already good, is getting better with every new car they deliver. There have been a variety of ongoing fixes to cure minor quality issues such as wind noise, dashboard squeaks, multimedia system glitches, seatbelt action and general fit and finish as factory workers get used to putting together a brand new model. My belief is that you should never buy a new model in the first year of production. That said a brand new Lexus is probably better in its first year of production as some brands are in their last.

It's true Toyota is discontinuing the MR2 and Celica, but it is replacing them with a single sports model that falls somewhere between both models. There was an illustration of what it will look like in Autocar a few months back. I seem to remember that the styling was very sharp. It also had a folding hardtop. There will be no new Supra, because Lexus now covers this end of the market. In effect the IS coupe will be the new Supra, in IS500 form certainly. Well above it, there will be the GT500. Given that the Supra was a super car in so many respects, I look forward to both IS coupe and GT 500.

I just wanted to "put this subject to bed" for the benefit of future forum users. I took the advice given and went and sat in two different IS250s, one with and one without the sunroof. Here's the bottom line from my point of view. The sun roof is a really nice to have extra, not least because it helps more light enter the cabin. And it's easy to use. However, it does take up quite a significant amount of headroom: some 2 inches or so! That said this is only likely to affect people who have a long torso. I am 6'0" with quite a long back and didn't feel that the amount of available headroom was any worse than a BMW 3-series with the same extra. I lowered the driver's seat and found I had plenty of headroom. Even when I raised the seat to look down the bonnet, still my head didn't touch the roof. So I don't really think this is a problem. In comparison, the car without the sunroof had acres of interior headroom and felt much more spacious and luxurious as a result. Choose either option and you won't be disappointed.

The big unknown about this car is the engine and the engine position. Lexus/ Toyota have tested both a front-mid engine and rear-mid engine configurations. They have also tested v8 and V10 engines. The GT500 would be a V8 engine. I guess a V10 would be a GT550? The 5.0 litre V8 has just been launched in the LS600h. (It may be that V10s are going out of fashion: for all the extra horsepower they provide, they add weight, increase fuel consumption are longer than V8s so affect weight balance and have been dumped by F1 so even the image is seen as very last year.) Based on what I have seen, I am expecting a front mid-engine V8 in a superlight chassis that offers astonishing performance with impressive economy. I expect GT500 to pack in some amazing technology. I wouldn't be surprised if this car had AWD. Whatever it offers, it should represent stiff dynamic competition for the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Porsche 911 and Audi R8. Only let down is weak brand image of Lexus - which is exactly what it has been created to improve. Lexus just doesn't have s*x appeal of the others. But if GT500 runs rings around them, who cares? Pricing will make or break this car. (Remember BMW's Z8, it cost too much and so sold poorly.)

Been chatting with various industry contacts and have heard that IS500 is definitely a goer. The 5.0 litre engine recently launched in the new LS600h will be used in Lexus' M3 competitor. No one yet knows what separates this from the 4.6 litre V8 engine based on the older 4.3 litre unit already seen in GS and LS models. Other forums report 5.0 litre unit as having a new direct injection system, reduced emissions and fuel consumption technology, rather than just more power. According to what I've seen in Japanese magazine JDH and heard, a more powerful engine than the 4.6 V8 is preferred because of the extra weight added by an AWD system! Other rumours suggest that IS500 will also have LS460's new 8-speed gearbox, but neither feature has been confirmed. What we do know is that Lexus is concerned about making a car that doesn't have usable power or that is hard to drive because of its extra power. Like Audi's RS4, Lexus' high performance IS will have predictable handling on the limit and a host of electronic driver aids (VDIM+) to keep it honest when limits are exceeded. I suspect that Nanny State electronics may be able to toned-down rather than turned-off. If IS500 is lighter than RS4, has more power, better fuel consumption and AWD, then Audi could be in trouble. Best news of all is that uber-Lexus would undercut all competitors by quite a margin. If true, next gen M3 could also be in trouble. Various pictures of IS500 mules have been shown in Japanese car mags. Reported horsepower is 420 bhp. Lexus must realise that this car must deliver a sub 5.0 second 0-60 time. More important, it must have great R&H. We should see this car either at Detroit 2007 or Geneva 2007 as a 2008 model, i.e. release date of September 2007. Its release should coincide with the launch of the IS coupe and hard-top coupe convertible, i.e. IS500 will be available as both Saloon and Coupe versions.

Thanks for these comments. By far the wisest is sit in both and see for yourself! In every car I've owned that has had a sun roof, headroom has been reduced slighlty. Is there anyone who owns a new IS250/ IS220d for whom this is a big problem? i.e. big enough to consider switching to a non-sun roof model because your head scrapes against the sun roof!