[mcconn]

Anybody else attend the edmunds.com event in your area?

I went to the one near Washington D.C. and test drove the following cars in what they called 'near-luxury' sport Sedans.

BMW 323i
Audi A4 2.8
Lexus IS 300
Cadillac Catera

The other cars you can compare are:

Infiniti I30
Acura 3.2TL
Chysler 300M
Lincoln LS V6

I didn't test drive these cars as you can compare all of them side by side, interior/exterior/under-hood/etc and didn't like what I saw, comparitively.

After test driving at a local Lexus dealer, I felt 'comfortable' in purchasing the Lexus IS 300. However, I still wanted to compare to the BMW 323i.

After test drives at the Edmunds event I was surprised by the poor performance of the BMW 323i, comparitively. In my mind, there was no comparison in how the IS 300 handled on tight curves and it's acceleration on straightaways compared to this other model.

The Lexus dealer called me two days later and said he had a black/black. I checked out how the black looked and drove it home that night.

The next edmunds.com live event I believe is in LA this weekend. I found it a useful experience to 'compare', if you will, these cars in the 'near-luxury' sport sedan category.

 

[Kscbruin]

I attended the Edmunds Live event last Sunday, it was a great event. You can drive all the cars at the limit. They had one white and one yellow IS300. I floored it to redline in 2nd and kept it there through out the short course. I love how it handles, hardly any body roll. Great car, just need to save up money to buy it!

Kevin

 

[ckolsen]

I can't imagine anyone who wants a 'sports sedan' attending that event and NOT choosing the IS300, it was so superior to the other cars there. (I went to DC event). It's a shame it wasn't quite fair with no sport models from Audi or BMW.