ganzoom

The only feature that we're really after in the premier spec is memory seats, but because the colour combination my wife is after is so rare (titanium with ivory leather), we're going to have to order brand new, so sadly no chance of pre-reg savings :( Looking at it again there's a £3k difference between luxury spec we want and premier spec....so with my financial head on we should forget about premier spec....but at the same time buying a brand new car is hardly something we would have considered had the IS300H not impressed us so much....afterall we all know it basically throwing away £8-10k in deprecation for the sake of been the first owner :)

I think your missing my point. I'm not saying the 300H is underpowered, I'm saying the way the drive train is set up is not aimed at 'enthusiastic' driving. As I've said the most fun/best drivers car I've ever owned was my Integra Type R which only had 180bhp but delivered a driving experience that I've not experienced in anything else since. Infact even standard I found my BMW 335i to be comprised as a drivers/fun car, due to a lack of a LSD, poor damping, and inherent understeer, I had to spend over £5k on suspension mods alone before I was finally happy with the car. I would have just bought a M3 in the first place, but the wife put a stop to that :( I'm glad you enjoy driving the 300H in sports mode, but I'm just giving my view that the 300H falls a long long way short of delivering a fun/engaging driving experience compared to the cars I've driven/owned in the past, C- at best, decent effort but not up to standard....'sport' mode or not ;)

60-120 mph in 4 seconds....Humm that's very quick, infact twice as quick as a 500bhp+ M5 and nearly three times faster than a Tesla S, your 300H must be running some kind of super charged hybrid system :P I spent a good 30min hammering the 300H in 'sport' mode and in my view its the worst mode for the hybrid drive train. I'm sure some people will love it, but for me it delivers a driving experience that I just cannot get on with and when our 300H arrives I cannot see my self ever using the sport mode.... That's a opinion based on my own driving experience and in comparison to other cars I've owned, not by watching YouTube videos or reading stats, so for me, sorry but the IS300H in any mode is no sports car, and the more people tries to compare it to a proper sporting small saloon like a 335i or S4 etc the more flawed the hybrid drive train will look.

Which spec to go for on the 300h? I wondered if people who have gone for the Premier spec model could share their thoughts on if they think the blind spot monitor/stereo etc is worth the extra cost over Luxury spec with electric leather seats? Currently we are going to order Luxury with electric leather and pro Nav, which brings the cost not that far off the premier spec which will give us memory seats which we would find useful. Just trying to work out if the other features are useful enough to justify the cost :)

By responsive I mean how the drive train delivers it's power. In the 335 when you spot a gap in traffic to make a pass, you simply have to squirt the throttle, if needed the will drop a gear and than it just shots fowards. There's no lag or waiting. If you want you can keep the revs at 4k rpm which is peak torque and nearly peak BHP, that way the car will respond instantly to any throttle input, and you can really play with the rear end of the car mid corner simply with the throttle. The IS has a rated 220bhp which is a fair amount but the CVT transmission is built for economy not speed. Even in 'sports' mode what you do with your right foot seems to have little impact on the rate of power delivery, it certainly isn't linear. Add to that the drone from the engine and it makes for a really disengaged driving experience, I certainly wouldn't be taking the IS on any Sunday morning blasts. The IS isn't actually slow, it's well damped and corners well, give it a tradition autobox and am sure it'll change the nature of the car, but that would destroy the excellent economy of the car and therefore make the whole hybrid drive train a bit pointless. Anyways all these are my views, but I have been spoilt regarding how a car should handle. My first proper quick car was a Honda Integra Type R (DC2), which by all accounts its one of the best handling cars ever made, and despite it only having 180bhp could crack 0-60 in under 6 seconds and had an engine that reved to nearly 8krpm before peak power. In terms of pure driving fun on a twisty B road it makes my current 335i feels like a slow witted barge, the DC2 was almost telepathic, you see a ....but these days as I get older things like a stereo/aircon/leather seats have become a bit more important :)

Very off topic all this. But yes my 335i is a N54 block. The break downs on my car has nothing to do with the mods, most the mods are suspension/handling related. All the problem I've had are all well know 'issues'. Electric water pump, high pressure fuel pump, oil filter gasket failure, torque converter gasket failure, coil pack failure, cam gasket failure, serpentine belt failure...all in the last 12 months, on a car with less than 50k on the clock, and serviced above/beyond BMWs service schedule. So you can probably see why it came to replacing our reliable Civic that's done 86k without a single fault the thought of having another BMW on the driveway was enough to give me nightmares!!! But back on topic, currently away on holiday at moment, but cannot wait to get back to the UK to complete the purchase of the IS....probably the first time I've looked forwards to coming back to work :)

Doesn't the IS250 have a NA V6? And the straight 6 in the 335i is a blown unit, it like comparing the 4 cyclinder engine in the Micra to the 4 cylinder unit in a Golf R :P For us having both a 335i (same engine as the 135i) and a IS300H is the perfect combination on the driveway. One is a mental performance orientated saloon that feels more like sports car than even my old Nissan 350Z on a twisty B road, and the other the perfect every day car for eve thing else's. I wish you better luck with you BMW ownership experience than what I've experienced. My 335i has been the most unreliable car I've owned to date (including a £700 Peugeot 106)!! It's the only car to have ever left me stranded by the side of the road needing to be towed :( Infact the whole ownership experience with BMW has put me off buying another 'premium' German brand again....£170+vat/hr labour is standard labour rate doesn't help.

But you wouldn't compare a 120d to a 135i??!! Personally that what I see the performance of the IS300H, so why would you compare the IS300H to a 135i?? It any thing the 135/335i are niche products, they sell in tiny numbers compared to 120/320D. Personally we found the IS300H to be the best package compared to BMW/Merc/Jags, and the fact there is less of them on the road just makes the car more exclusive :)

LoL, not sure I would describe my addiction to motoring as 'serious' ....more like a stupid illogical waste of money, and time :) I've been with Unvieristy of Leicester now for 15years, initially student now lectuerer....the new DMU buildings are very nice.

Ive looked at the Q50, but the reviews are not all that great. The steering sounds awful....after all its not just about power, also I've previously owned a 350Z, and the engine into Q50 is essentially still the same as the Z's but with an electric motor stuck on, so it'll be abit like a backwards step for me ;) But more seriously though the IS300H is for my wife, and for her mpg > bhp any day of the week, and actually I enjoyed driving the IS300H much more than I thought....hence my very brief/fleeting thought about getting something similar for my self. I don't do many miles in the 335i so mpg is not really an issue, and have spent about £7K on modifications to the engine/suspension/ICE over the last few years, which means even though from the outside it looks like a 320D, it's capable of delivering 90% of the performance/fun of a M3, but without the 'M' tax. Recently did a 2000 mile+ round trip around Europe in the 335i, including 8 Alpine passes, 140mph+ blasts down the Autobahn with the wife asleep in the passenger seat, and the Belgium GP....So it will take some thing very very special indeed to tempt me away from my 335i, the Lexus dealer tried it, but I put a stop to that conversation within about 10 seconds The only car on the market that I can realistically seem my self letting the 335i go for is the Tesla S....but at nearly £100K for the model/spec I want, I think I'll be holding on to my 335i for a long long time yet, which really is no hardship .

I agree that comparing a 335i with the IS300H is complete unfair, for a start if you spec up a 335i to the same level as the luxury IS trim with leather and nav the price difference is nearly £10K....and thats before you even start to consider the running costs of the 335i....Mine current reading 25mpg longterm, and on a B road blast I've seen 8-9mpg. However its equally unfair to claim something like a 135i/335i is near the top of the performance tree and has too much power for real day life, power/sportness of a car is all relative to what your use to. My 335i is quite heavily modified, its currently running at a dyno proven 380bhp and 400lbs of torque. I have a clean licence (no points in the last 7 years), and nearly 10 years of no-claims bonus, and on-oncassions I still find the engine response from my 335i lacking....So what ever car that replaces my 335i needs to be faster (At least 400bhp) and more economical....which is why the 400bhp 85kwh Tesla is so appealing, 100% bhp/torque at 0 rpm, £10 to refuel....bring it on :) I would say a stock 135/335i is moderately quick, but not really sporty, a GTR/911 turbo is sporty, but their running costs are in a whole different league I think the IS300H is a fab family car, but the CVT drivetrain is awful if your after anything like a sporty drive.....the paddles shifts are useless, since they really don't affect power delivery, and the whole drivetrain will do pretty much what it wants to do in regards to power distribution regardless of what your doing with your right foot....where as in my 335i I can literally flex the toe on my right foot and nearly instantly feel it's effect on the power delivery. Now thats not a criticism of the drive-train in the IS (we're about to order brand new one after all), but it is a fact the hybrid drive train is set up for comfort and economy, much like a diesel engine and long gearing in a 320D. Even though only a small majority of people buy a 335i or M3, the 'Halo' effect means most 320D drivers seem to think they are driving a 'sporty' car, when in reality they are not, and in my view the IS300H far more advanced than a 320D. But it works for BMW interms of sales, hence all the 320Ds driving around with M badges stuck on every where, and generally driving like ****. When buying the 335i 3 years ago, I nearly went for the ISF, but a big V8 was just too uneconomical for me to justify. I would love Lexus to produce a new hybrid version of the IS-F....the instant torque of an electric motor, couple with a decent blown V6, and real life economy of 35mpg would make it very hard car for me to resist .

So handed back the demo today, was a shame to have to hand the keys back :( I think in a few years time if Lexus stick in a decent engine in a hybrid/EV combo I could be easily persuaded to part with the 335! For now we have to decided colour combo. Was all set on Mercery Gray and Ivory interior but we really like the Titanium colour of the demo....decisions decisions :)

So have just spent the last 24hrs driving the Lexus IS300H as a replacement for our diesel Civic, I thought I share my views on it. Interestingly I think the hybrid drivetrain is both the best thing and worst thing about the car :) IS300H vs our BMW 335i as a 'sports saloon': There is no contest. The IS300H with the hybrid engine/CVT gear box combination is just not designed for any kind of 'enthusiastic driving', and despite putting out 220bhp feels slow, laggy, and under full acceleration makes awful noise. The 'active noise control' it's worse than even the real noise at full load. The steering paddles are a gimmick, the 6 speed ZF box in our 335i is x10 more responsive. When thrashed the hybrid drive train is also pretty un-economical (17.5 mpg on a 6 mile B road thrash). It's a shame because the actual car handles well, but sorry Lexus to pretend the car has any 'sporty' potential is a joke. Don't get me wrong, the car isn't slow, and will hold it's own in a traffic light GP, but drive something like a 335i/S4/Golf R back to back against the IS and the IS feels like a £5k 1.0 Dacia interms of performance.....But than again a 320d vs my 335i will result in a similar conclusion. But compare the IS300H to our Civic diesel as a 'family run around': The hybrid drive train/cvt box is so smooth and noise free at town traffic it makes the diesel engine in the civic feel like something from the industrial revolution. Over a day of driving covering some 70 miles, including my little bit of 'spirited' driving we averaged 50 mpg. In urban stand still traffic some of the mpg readings it was reporting was frankly astounding (over 60mph), it's the only car I've driven that's returns higher mpg numbers the worse the traffic!!! I know some diesels can achieve that, but not in the same smooth, rattle free style. The full EV mode where you can hit 30mph on battery alone is amazing, and a real head turner. Our car will also be doing mainly a daily 3-4 mile commute so that's a good recipe for DPF issues on any diesel. As a luxury family car it's a pretty compiling package, we were so impressed have ordered a brand new one :) So in summary the hybrid unit in the IS300H makes for a great luxury family car, it's bring a level of refinement I've not experienced before and make the noisy diesels found in equivalent cars feel totally outdated. But it's unlikely I'll be replacing the 335i with any kind of hybrid, however a full EV car like a Tesla is whole different matter, and am 100% sure full EV is the future of motoring. Theres a few small things I would like Lexus to change, the outdated foot brake, the controller to the Nav unit. The CVT transmission is also loud under full acceleration, but once you reach the desired speed it all quietens down nicely :) The crunch point for us was when we went to the Jag show room and another IS300 glided in under EV mode, a few minutes later a £70K diesel XJ pulled up. The first thing I noticed about the Jag was the engine rattling away. At that point both me and my wife pretty much agreed there was no point in us even going to look at the Mer C class in the show room down the road. I half thought about delaying the order to see if Lexus release any MY015 updates but frankly the car is so nice we cannot be bothered to wait 6 months. So soon we'll have a Mercury Grey IS300H in Luxury spec, with electric leather seats and pro Nav on the drive way :)

Hi guys we've just done a 24hr test drive with the IS300H, I have to say the comments many reviewers give about the CVT box is justified. For a car that produces 220bhp, a 0-60 time of over 8 seconds is awful, the paddles and sport mode is a joke compared to a traditional 6 speed ZF box, and when really driven hard the battery depletes quickly and the performance drops off even more. Compare it to my BMW 335i.....in terms of performance/power delivery/handling, it's like comparing Man City/Liverpool against Darlington FC/Cambridge United. BUT the IS300H isn't a 'sports car/saloon'. Nor is a 320d or 2.1 diesel Mer C class. The IS is a luxury family car. When seen from that point of view it's amazing, and simply blows away the completion interms of refinement. You get the same performance/economy as a 320d, but without the diesel rattle. Which in my book is fab ;) We were so impressed by the over all package of the IS we've decided to order one to replace our Civic diesel. I do agree that most motoring journalist are biased though, and don't seem to get the point of the frankly amazing drivetrain :)

Cannot wait for our 24hr test drive this weekend. Only other car in the running is a petrol C class, but the hybrid drive train on the IS has already pretty much won us over :) Times are definitely changing, am 100% sure after the IS300H purchase for my wife, I'll be replacing my BMW 335i with a pure EV machine, most likely a Tesla in a few years time. But I will miss the noise the 335i makes

Just looked up the E300 hybrid spec. Battery size only 0.8kwh, so smaller battery, but the car weighs 1800kg, so quite a bit heavier than the IS300H....so the Merc hybrid system looks a bit antiquated in comparison to the IS :)

Lexus has said they don't want to use lithium ion batteries, and will wait for the next generation of battery tech. The IS300H battery pack is rated at 1.6kwh, compared to 65-85 for the pure EV Tesla, and 8.5kwh on the plugin/hybrid Golf GTE...So there's lots of room for Toyota/Lexus to improve on. Having said that I cannot wait to order our IS300H, for all the talk about the engine sounding 'rough' at full acceleration it's still leagues better than a clattery diesel :)

Thanks for the info, over £5K off the list price....be interesting to see how close the dealer can get :) Yes I've seen the ad for that one, infact there is one at our local dealer for similar price, in the spec/colour we want but its done 14,000 miles. In the past I've always bought cars 6-18months old to avoid the dreaded new car depreciation, but this car is for my wife, and she is really keen on the idea of getting something brand new and in the exact colour/spec she likes (she is also funding the car with of her own savings). Given we are likely to keep this car for 6 years + (we've had the Civic since 2008), and just how nice the IS300H is we really don't mind paying the new car tax/deprecation, I certainly am not going to try and convince her to go down the used route. Really looking forwards to Saturday now :D

Thanks for the info guys, will read up on the finance small print. Thought about going used, but over 12 months they haven't really dropped that much in value, and it's a car we are going to keep for 5years+ so might as well get the spec we want :) Cannot wait till Saturday to get the deal done.

So we have decided to replace our well used Honda Civic with a IS300H. Initially we though about going with the Executive spec car but after going to the dealers today the spec we have decided on is Luxury + Pro Nav + Electric and leather seats. Book price is about £35K. We're going back next weekend to go a 24hr test drive, and try and hammer out a deal. Currently have already got some quotes through online website at roughly 10% of RRP. We're going to pay with cash up front, but have thought about going down the finance route if its a better deal, and clearing the finance with-in the 'cool' off period. Have never bought a car new before, but the IS300H has impressed enough that we're willing to take the initial depreciation hit :) Anyone got any hints/pointer about dealer negotiations?