(Click pic for link)

Edmunds says the 330i only beat the IS350 on the slalom by 1mph. And of course the IS350 blew the 330i away in straight line performance as expected. Still, they think the 330i is a much more enjoyable car overall so they went with the 330i. I am surprised that the 330i didn't completely out handle the IS350. So for those of you who think the Lexus has horrible handling, guess again.

I'd still take an IS350 over a 330i any day.

Another thing I liked hearing was that the 06 330i's straight line performance is nearly identical to ours, meaning that not only could we devour it on the track, but in a straight line it'd come down to the driver. Nice to know considering its 10k more.

 

It's also family sedan.

 

yeah it's sedan. well. in canadna, HERE, our goverment says that
RX8= four doors sedan. AHAHAHAHAHAHA. so yeah same class.

 

Both of them make me yawn, but I do like the looks of both cars, especially the IS.

 

No. Not the same class, the same number of doors.

 

Ok, you want to play like that, since that BMW is an AT put the 17 second wonder. the AT RX-8, up against it...

 

They make me yawn too. As far as the 3-series is concerned, i'll take an M3 or an M3.

 

personnally, I'm very impressed with the bimmer. It rates about the same "ahem" hp as our car at 240, weighs almost 500 bls. more, is larger, longer, more spacious then ours, 4 real doors 5 passengers, yet still pulls the same 0-60 times. That alone is impressive.

The reason I would pick the bimmer over the IS is the same reason I drive an 8. Every article and car mag that has compared these 2 cars says the same thing. The bimmer gives you that confident connected to the road feeling, whether your taking corners or straights, like your in total control and the Is gives you that disconnected floaty feeling. Sure the IS is quicker in a straight line ( if you want an auto only IS), but if that were the only important thing in life, wouldn't we all be driving mustangs or srt4's.

I wonder how the manual IS would compare to the BMW. Many would say thats not a fair comparison, but I think it is. I want the highest level "manual" available from each car, it's not my fault that Lexus doesn't think we need a manual .

BMW builds exactly what mazda builds into each of thier cars. They make a product that makes the car, driver and road...one, except BMW does it in sedans
( I even think of the 2dr BMW's as sedan without the second doors). Mazda does it at an entry level and BMW does it at a higher more refined level, but it's the same thing. Mazda calls it zoom zoom, BMW just calls it the ultimate driving machine...

 

There's nothing to guess about; it handles like a puffy little camry, that's why the 3 outhandles it not only in this comparo, but in every one so far.

And I guess you overlooked this part:
"Although only a second separated the car's slalom times, it was the feel of the wheel both through the cones and out in the real world that separated the two."
Nuff said.

 

Can Lexyota be any more blatant in their attempt to make the profile of the IS350 look exactly like the Beemer?

Why stop there? Why not copy the grille, too?

 

Is there an echo in here? The previous IS handled dang good, but was under powered. Lexus couldn't give them away, so they changed the formula and added more 'luxury' than sport. I'm sure they sell more units, and ultimately that is the goal.