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The power "availability" is similar in both - I tried them within a week of each other. However, the Accord that I drove was particularly rattly and not that smooth! It was a courtesy car....the demo was sold! The IS has 2 very slight flaws which would not be noticeable if the engine wasn't so powerful, and in the Avensis (which I have not driven, but been driven in) I think it would be comparable to the Honda: 1) The Turbo lag is noticeable - below 1800ish little happens, then it all comes in one go until just before 4000 - Scott may be able to confirm 'cos I only had a 50 minute drive... 2) The gearing between 2nd and 3rd leaves you wanting a ratio in between sometimes... In the Accord the lack of the oooomph means that you think the power delivery is over a longer smoother plain. It's not, the IS diesel is crushingly fast when that turbo sings...you'll see what I mean. An auto would have been perfect... However, the car is just so much better than the Accord in every other way. Try it yourself... I tried everything in the class, this was the best overall IMHO...so we bought one! Thanks - this is the what I was looking for! I guess that the sport will solve the gear 2/3 gearing issue (at a cost of higher tax + fuel consumption), but the turbo lack would be similar in both I guess.... I look forward to test both shortly and compare to the BMW 530dA E60 that I currently drive.

From a performance perspective I can see that and if the Lexus could be bought with an automatic gearbox it would be the natural choice. What I am after, though, is more how the power is delivered and how well that fits with a manual gearbox. I have driven diesels for quite some time and those that have a narrow power band work fine with an automatic but in everyday driving I find them to be a hassle with a manual. The broad power band of the Honda engine, however, makes it work well with a manual gearbox. I guess that I will have to try the Lexus myself, but it is always interesting to hear the opinions of others while waiting for that :winky:

Thanks for the reply Scott - I'll have to try both the sport- and non-sport versions when they arrive. I agree that the sport seems to be a less economical alternative and here in Sweden it will really be penalized due to the rather high CO2 emissions for a diesel.... Has anyone compared the IS220d to the Accord diesel? Would be interested to hear how you feel they compare. I know that the Accord lacks about 40 hp, but otherwise it is a really nice engine with a very wide power-band (my parent has got it in their CR-V).

New to the forum and interested in the IS220d. Just read the review on The new IS and according to them there is a notable difference between the base and sport version of the 220d due to different final gear ratios. Does anyone that have tried the base 220d have any comments on this? Unfortunately I will not be able to the car myself for another couple of months as the 220d is not released in Sweden until the end of February...