autobeach

Mr Mole, thank you for your replies and candour. I would rather Lexus didn't go below 6 cylinders for their petrol engines. However, if business dictates that you have to chase market share lower down, I hope Lexus have the good sense to restrict demand to protect residuals. or are you attempting to outsell the Ford Mondeo as per the 3 series?

Mr Mole, thank you for your replies and candour. I would rather Lexus didn't go below 6 cylinders for their petrol engines. However, if business dictates that you have to chase market share lower down, I hope Lexus have the good sense to restrict demand to protect residuals. or are you attempting to outsell the Ford Mondeo as per the 3 series?

Thanks LeedsLad, actually look OK without SatNav - I had visions of some plastic cover where tha SatNav display was supposed to be! The Mole. I'm not playing Trumps, I'm considering spending the thick end of £30K on a car, one of my criteria will be it's performance - can the Lexus 'walk the talk', after all, there's a Sport model, it has dual exhausts, it's RWD, the direct competition is BMW. One frustration I have with my current car is it's lack of performance. Here are some figures from Autocar for an old 323Ci convertible. top/ 0-60/ bhp/ torque/ weight/ date 137/ 8.2/ 170/ 181/ 1669/ June2000 So an old Beemer, with less power, less torque, 100Kg heavier has equivalent performance to Lexus' latest. Not good reading - maybe BMW's horses are more potent. Hopefully, Lexus are being very conservative thus far with their claimed figures.

I guess most of this is aimed at The Mole. To kick off, I've enjoyed the whole 'Lexus Experience' since I bought my IS over 3 years ago; excellent car, a bit slow, a bit thirsty. I like the look of the IS250 (inside and out) and think that Lexus should do well with the model - especially since the new 3 series is so dull/ bad/ ugly inside and out. However, I have a few concerns. Namely, it seems to be pitched slightly more expensive than I would have expected, the Sat Nav/ sound system at close on £3K is steep (I'll happily pay 1.5K for Sat nav and keep the standard sound system which will be impressive enough !). And what does the dash look like if you don't buy the Sat Nav ? I'm also concerned at how lardy the new car is 80-90Kg more than the equivalent Beemer, and the quoted acceleration figures from Lexus are very worrying at 8.4 secs (0-62, BMW325 is 7.0) from a >200 bhp engine? This type of car should be able to easily cruise past 'lesser' vehicles without straining it's V6 lump. I'll wait for the car mags to figure the new car - definitely a key point for me. As others have posted, ticking a few boxes on the options list will take me to the £30K mark - at the very top end of what I'm willing to pay for a car, also into the realms of some very nice, under warranty M3's.