So I haven't contributed much to this site but figured I'd give a rundown of the (new to us) IS 250 awd I just bought the wifey about 3 weeks ago. Obviously they are both nice cars in their own right but I like my TL better. We upgraded from an 07 cobalt. It was laser blue (barney purple) manual everything except tranny. Appearently these are pretty dangerous in the rain. New tires dont help and the saleperson @ the jag dealer drove a cobalt also and said he has the exact same problem with his. I know... works at a jag dealership but drives a cobalt WTF. So here's a lil breakdown of what I've found.

Mechanical:
I orginally thought the 250 had to be a 4banger with an engine so small but I was suprised it is a V-6!

I haven't found a way to manually reset the computer but it does it itself when you fill up the tank: ~31 mpg combined (about 50/50 highway to city driving

Its feels like it has more low end torque than the tl but it's probably because of the rear wheel bias.

It sounds like its going to blow up @4500 rmp! Breathing sounds very restricted but probably wont upgrade anything for a while. TL is still stock on intake and exhaust and sounds way better.

6 speed auto- awesome! cant feel any shifts ever! better fuel economy. I am seriously jealous at this point. The only downside is the slapshift / paddle shifters are just gear limiters(?). It still shifts unlike the TL that will readline and then some and will never shift.

ELECTRONICS:

Navi is different. It offers a lot more features (most are equivilant to 07+ tl navi) and touch screen climate contols. It has a maintenance center and give a fairly detailed view of the history of the car. The OK button for the nag screen appears immediately and the screen itself is much more responsive that the TL. The major advantage Acura has over lexus is that they disable like 90% of their options when the vehicle is going over 5mph. If you want to change destination it better be in your favorites or you have to stop to input it. Major PITA!

It doesn't have the Marki Levinston sound system but it does the job. It is heavy on the bass as I felt the TL was a too light on it. 3-way component speakers in each of the 4 doors and dual subwoofers (8in my guess) in the rear shelf. Also sports a center channel so guess its another RF 360 for me when the time comes. Something else interesting I've learned, appearently the ML sound system plays DVD movies in park. Also if you didnt buy an IS with navi theres an integrated in-dash option thats available for what seems to be a good price. Wish someone had that for a TL before the navi conversion!

INTERIOR:

Im not 100% but I think its all Leather. SO SOFT! way more padding than a TL with none of those outbound wrinkles on the bottom of the seats! (Both cars bout with low 40's on the dash) The seats have 3 setting heaters and fan for ventilation. A/C for the seats works well enough but is way more efficient with slight modding to back seat floor vents. Its a 2-toned interior. Black and white super sexy.

The guages are white.. I like the blue better of coarse. They do max out when you turn the car on which looks awesome. White accent lighting (single dome LED, one in cupholder inside the armrest, and white footwell lighting). All the buttons are baby shit green, throws everything off.

Acura engineers get super props for my single favorite thing about the car I've never noticed until now. When you have the windows all down in a TL its super calm. No hellacious vibrations, nice constant steady airflow, just a great summer car. The lexus arouses the exact opposite feelings. Put all the windows down and its a death sentence to anything on the radio and even normal conversation. You feel like your steady being punched in the face, I doubt I will ever put them down going over 30 ever again.

And of coarse, rear seat has no room, and the lexus is 10 times quieter in regards to road noise.

Exterior:

The key is an RFID whatever. So you never gotta break em out of the pocket for anything. Touch the door and it automatically unlock. Push button start and when you get out there a button on the door handle to lock it up safe.

Side view mirriors are just too big... bigger than 07-08 TLs and I think thats pushing is. Probably why all that air with the windows down.

Stock wheels are a tad bigger 18s atleast.

... oh yeah and its AWD and I live at the top of a mountain in Northen VA so we seen like 7 ft snow total last year. No more chains for the TL!!! I hope this helps or entertains someone, I didnt really know too much about Lexus before this and I probably wont find out too much more because unlike Acura-driver, lexholes don't spread their knowledge, experience, or help no where as much as we do. In turn, ensuring the Acura as my favorite and most bad ass car.

 

Nice review

 

Awesome review! I truly like the IS and if something were to happen to my TL (knock on wood that it never happens) I would seriously consider an IS.

You can't go wrong with those ventilated seats! I think they are the one big thing that the TL is missing. That and the key fob.

 

Good review but i feel its more of a chick car... lol

 

Dont forget to add the Cam Gear/Valvespring TSIB associated with those cars. And yes you are right the 250's intake is restricted as hell. I would opt for the 350 in the long run instead of the 250 even though it is a best seller.

 

+1 on a being slightly biased to females / old people just from the layout but I still feel good driving it... and 350 wouldve been nice but its mostly for the wife and gas mileage is always a concern... premium is 2.95 here for the last week, hoping it goes down soon

 

Premium here is $3.34 so stop.

 

Where is "Here" Secret location man?

 

I am 5'10 and my gf and sister have the IS. Its a clown car IMO, very small inside and even the back seats have very little room. Also they both have the AWD and obviously I love the AWD coming from an STI, but the IS is balllls slow. Love the handling control with the IS over the TL, but TL takes the cake. I don't know one guy that owns a IS, well one but its the 350 manual. I feel as if the IS is a chick car as its safe, slow and I know 5+ girls that own them. Its just too small for me.

Also about this premium crap, you should use it regardless. Even at $3.34, regular is what, $3.10? So .24 cents at 14 gallons is $3.36. It cost about $3.36 more a tank and its a lot cleaner burning for your car, not to mention cleaner for the injectors and it utilizes all engines power with the higher octane. If you can't afford $3.36 more a fill up, then you should get a prius or something more gas economically efficient, ESPECIALLY if you plan on keeping the car for a while. If you lease it, use regular, who cares right? IDK, I take care of everything I own and I would recommend at least mid if not super, never get regular if you ask me.

 

 

So your saying Premium is cleaner burning than Regular?

 

Well it all depends on what your car requires. Its not a gimmick or a way to trick you, its what your car NEEDs. Our TLs with a 11:1 high compression ratio needs premium for one main reason, regular gas will cause knock. Putting premium in a car that needs regular is just a waste, as all it will do is have a more rapid combustion for your money. Octane has nothing to do with milage and all of that stuff, but has to do with a rate of burning inside the cylinders. High octane gas is formulated to burn slower than regular, making it less likely to ignite without benefit of the spark from the spark plug, and it stops pinging or as other say, denotation. So yes, for that extra $3 a tank I would say its defiantly a safety feature to keep your car running properly. All gas companies differ from what they offer too, some use more detergents then others and some is just crap gas. Go a head and get wawa gas for dirt cheap because that is all it is, watered down dirt gas. I would recommend shell, sunoco, mobile and there are some other good ones out there.

 

The IS350 does not come with a MT.

 

Just a correction, the IS250 is a four cylinder. The 350 is a V6. The late model IS300 was also a V6. The AWD version is only available with a four cylinder.

I always liked the IS model. I just don't fit in it. I'm over 300lbs and 6'5" and the seats are just too thin.

Joe

 

i always wondered why lexus never gave the option of awd with the bigger motor, they do the same thing with the lexus gs

 

x2

Nice review OP. I agree with the rest upon the IS being a chick car. Although if one were to appear in my driveway, who's to say I wouldn't drive it

 

Just to correct these statements because there is false info in here.

1. IS350 does not come with an MT only the 250 rwd does.
2. IS350 does not come in AWD only the 250 has an awd or rwd platform
3. IMO I like the IS handling characteristics. The chassis feels strong but it lacks in power hence why I prefer the 350.

Gas wise premium just takes longer to burn preventing pre det and pinging. It is necessary for higher compression cars. The price is a bit higher because there are also additives in there...Nowadays you have ethanol in there which I am against. Gets worse mileage than pure gas.

What I would watch out for the IS cars is keep up with the maintenance. The engine is not the best out there from what I have seen during teardowns (Intake gummed up with carbon and so on). I would recommend doing an induction service (if your dealer offers one) or you can do it yourself with seafoam every 15k or so to clean it out. Thats just my opinion.

Oh yea that car chews up tires just to add. We have to change tires on those things usually around 15-17k. The problem is the contact patch. The outer tread always looks fine (around 5/32) until you look on the inside. I would recommend you keep an eye on the front inside tread on your IS.

I work at Lexus so those are just some of the things I thought you may want to look out for.

 

Agreed. I see a lot of older women driving them....

 

My wife and I just bought a 07 Tl-S but she was considering the IS 250 for AWD purposes, the "Lexus" factor and the fact the GS's were out of our range. It took me about 2 weeks to convince her that it was a nice car but was way too small. She finally realized that after looking online at some dealer pics and a dealer made the mistake of taking a pic with the driver seat all the way back and she saw the amount of leg room in the rear. So after that it was game over. LOL! And after finally driving the Type S she fell in love and so ends the story. Completely satisfied!

 

I'm 6', so not super tall, and I agree with the clown car comment. It's just way to small inside. I had to push the seats all the way back, and it was nearly touching the back seat, and my head still touched the headliner. The rear seat isn't useable for an adult at all, there is zero leg room.

 

San Francisco Bay Area

 

You guys have cheap gas, up here for Costco 91 it is the equivalent of 4.33 a Gallon. 94 at chevron is about 4.75.

 

Lexus IS 250 is a V6 i am pretty sure. I strongly considered it before getting my TL but I really wanted a manual and the only way to get the manual was to go with the weak engine and RWD.

 

Where I live in NH it's $2.91/gal for premium at the Shell . And I was grumbling on how expensive gas was here.... lol

 

It is a V6 I wouldnt have said it if it was otherwise!!! As stated in the original post she has a super crappy cobalt... gas mileage was about the only plus but IS is slightly more expensive because of the premium factor.

350's now have awd option not sure which year they started offering the option.

I think I read 250 has like 206hp and tl under the same standard 258hp which seems like an accurate ratio of power from what I can feel. I know whp and hp are 2 different thing and awd less efficient, ect. TL just feels about 20% faster IMO.

 

NAIL- thx for the maintenance tips, already heard about the tires and used it to convince the wifey we need an air compressor and air tools! Def gonna seafoam gas intake and crankcase really soon.

 

hahaha good call. new toys in the garage

 

It's a 2.5 V6.

 

LOL at this thread.

The 250 is a small V6.

High octane does not burn slower or cleaner than low octane. It has more resistance to uncontrolled combustion.

Be glad the car requires premium. It's tuned that way so it gets better mpg than if it were tuned for 87. In other words you're saving money on the car tuned for premium and picking up a few more hp too.

As for road noise, my friend's IS350 with the sport suspension has just as much road noise as my TL. He did say that the standard suspension was quieter. They must use stiffer bushings with the upgraded suspension. The IS also rides choppier, probably due to the short wheelbase. Of course, this is directed at the IS350 with sport suspension.

TL has about the same bodyroll as my friend's sport suspension IS350 so I'm guessing the 250 has even more bodyroll. The TL is the better handler of the group. We had both cars at the track when stock and new. It has horrendous understeer. The FWD TL is actually balanced much better.

I'm 6'1" and I can't sit straight up in the driver's seat without hitting my head on the roof. Forget about the backseat. I've sat back there before and it's only slightly better than a 944 Porsche.

I'm still undecided on the interior. The guage cluster is definately better than the TL. No contest. Seats are very nice. The layout is simple and uncluttered. The dash is where I start to give the TL the nod. I don't know if it's supposed to be fake leather or what but it looks cheap to me. Overall I say it would be a toss up but that gauge cluster might win me over.

The transmission seems to always be shifting. The extra gears help fuel economy more than performance.

I prefer the extra low end of the 350 but I have no exprience with the 250.

The optional 13.5" brakes (I think) are very nice but my friend was able to fade them. Probably need a pad upgrade and you're set with no need to ever upgrade rotors or calipers.

RWD/AWD is always better than FWD.

Numb steering. It feels like the IS's wheel is not connected to anything.

The DI engines seem to have more aftermarket modding potential/bang for the buck. I can't remember if the 2.5 is DI like the 3.5L.

 

The IS has electrical power steering. Thats why you have no feel in the front. The Fsport suspension does cause a little more noise. I hate where the window switches and so on are. They are always in my legs way but I guess if your small it works out well. Most IS owners we get are females.

 

Is "F sport" the name of the sport suspension?

When my friend was test driving, they didn't have one equipped with the sport suspension but he ordered his that way without test driving one first. A month later he took delivery and according to him, the extra road noise was obvious. Some of it could've been the tires, I don't know if the sport suspension comes with more aggressive tires or not. It's kind of nice that Lexus offers a quiet luxury suspension and a noisier sport suspension. The '04-'06 TL came with nearly the same harshnes and the same road noise as Lexus' sport suspension. I kind of wish they offered a slightly softer and quieter suspension for the base and a-spec for the "sport" model. I guess that's sort of what happened for '07-'08.

I just saw where you said the intakes tend to gum up. This seems to be a common problem with all direct injection engines since no fuel is present to clean the intake tract, specifically the intake port of the head and the intake valve. The Lexus DI engines seem to have less problems than Porsche, VW, and Audi since they actually do have a normal port injector that's occasionally used in conjunction with the DI injector in the head. I think oil choice (very low NOACK value) is extremely important in these engines.

 

Yes Fsport is the suspension package equipped on these cars. And I do agree with the oil comment. I think a better oil choice would be better for the vehicle but from what I have seen a lot of the IS people are kinda cheap except for a selected few. I will also say the canister filter is shit. I don't think that was a good move on Toyota's part but I guess it all boils down to cost for them.

I have installed a few IS's with the Fsport package. What I hate though is when installed we have a few rechecks of noise. Well that's what you get with sport suspension but some people don't understand. We have an Fsport convertible 1 of like 400 or so made and the owner keeps on coming back for noise complaints. It is a hassle. We tell the owner the same thing over and over again (stiff suspension, every fsport bolt on, wheels, rubber band tires) but they believe we can somehow make the noise disappear.

 

nice little write up. never would have thought the lexus would have all those little luxuries especially ventilated seats, always thought that was reserved for flag ship luxury sedans. The reason the lexus's backseat is so small is because of the AWD. If you were to get the 350 the backseat has a few more inches of room back there.

 

I can't imagine any less room than an IS350...

 

Both are the same. I work on them an drive them everyday.

 

That makes a lot more sense. How would AWD take up more room in an already RWD car. And I can't see a manufacturer having a separate shell for AWD vs RWD.

 

Its all the same shell just packaged differently.

 

the AWD has a bigger differential back there so the floor is a little higher up. (usually) I take Nail's word for it since he works there but most of the time on AWD cars there is less interior room.

 

Just looked it up. Both have the same 86 cubic feet of interior space.

I'm not understanding why an already RWD car would need more space and have a larger differential. Even if it were larger, chances are it would not require mods to the chassis.

Why would a car with less hp that has the help of the front wheels need a larger diff? If anything it would be the other way around.

 

Maybe, and it's a big maybe on a front wheel drive based car that has AWD as an option since there is no diff back there in FWD form. I don't see this with a RWD based AWD car that already has a rear diff.