Today, I attended the Lexus Performance driving event at Texas Stadium. They brought out their whole lineup, but the only one really worth mentioning was the IS250/350.

IS350 was RWD, 308hp, IS250 was AWD, low 200hp. The ride was smooth, refined, and luxurious as expected. On the same track, they had a BMW 330 as a competitor. The IS looks bigger on the outside, but still small on the inside. The interior looks WAY better than the old one, the gauges are great, stereo is nice, and the cockpit was well styled. The new engine for the IS350 is a welcome change. Very powerful, nice torque, smooth acceleration.

It was hands down better than the BMW. Price is expected around $35,000 for the one we drove. Kinda high for a small/mid size car. For that pricetag, I'd probably rather have an Infinity G35 sedan and stretch out a bit. But, if you have the money to spend and want more performance, that thing is great!

Still had more fun driving my EVO home afterward...I wanted to take IT out on the track.

 

I attended the same event but in New York (Belmont Park). The Lexus IS350/250 very luxurious but lacked the sportiness the old IS had. Now sure the IS350 is much faster than the old one but I still preferred the IS300. Also the BMW 330 I thought was king of the cars at the event. I wasn't the fastest but handled the best, steered the best and looked the best. Plus the BMW can be offered with a manual transmission and all wheel drive on all 3 series sedans regardless of what engine. Now when is mitsubishi going to have a driving event where they will have Evolutions? Now that would be fun. All in all I had a good time at the event (about 1 month ago) even though I liked the BMW the most. On a side note I attended the same type of event for the previous IS300 in Fort Lauderdale where I also thought the BMW had all of the best qualities and that is coming from a home with 3 Lexuses and 1 BMW.

 

How bout the performance of the IS 350?

U think the Evo can take this car on the Highway? I kno off a dig, the IS 350 has no chance.

 

I would guess the Evo would win on the highway as well, but I can't be sure. We didn't get to drive the IS350 that fast. It wouldn't be a boring race...on the track, of course.

 

did you drive the 400h? is it powerful for a hybrid?

 

Awesome man. How was the event overall?

I signed up me and my girlfriend for the event here in so cal (anaheim stadium), I think ours is in november. I can't wait, ive been wanting to drive the is350 for awhile now.

 

I skipped the SUVs. It was starting to drizzle a bit and it was chilly and windy. They did some runs from 20-70 comparing it to the BMW X5 and the sporty Caddy SUV and it beat both pretty easily.

 

Overall, it was nice. Go hungry, they had a lot of good food there. We had an afternoon time slot, the Sunday morning slot is the way to go.

 

i wish someone would come out with a semi lxurious boosted vehicle...i like how my cts is luxury right now but i want sumthin more fun to drive under 35k....is350 would be nice but not boosted and looks a little too luxurious...

 

Thank's for the reminder, I totally forgot they were serving food. My slot is saturday at 2:30pm. I wanted sunday, but my g/f didn't... so no arguing, she won .

 

The RX 400h was very powerful and ultra quiet/smooth. Really felt like driving a V8 with the gas millege of an Inline 4. The IS350 really felt super fast (which it had a stick shift and awd). The acceleration of the IS350 is supposed to 0-60 in 5.7 seconds but felt significantly faster than the GS430 which claims the same 0-60 times of 5.7 seconds. The BMW 530i they had it compared to felt sluggish and generally felt awkward but was very comfortable. Great day to enjoy new fine cars and eat fine food all for free.

 

sorry but can someone tell me how to sign up for this kinda events? i have never heard of anythign like this and would love to attend one and test drive some cars

 

i want to know too

 

A lot of them you can find on the car websites...but this Lexus one was by mailed invite only. I did one for Mazda a while back, then got invited to Mercedes, then signed up for Volvo (which was my favorite) and then got invited to Lexus.

 

so what do you have to do to get invited?? thanks.