[JW]

Here's the handling part:

"We were surprised at the IS300's pronounced understeer, as well as a tendency to wallow slightly in abrupt transitions. We were also surprised at how easy it was to bottom the car's suspension at higher speeds over large bumps, something that occurred several times.... And finally, we were surprised at the volume of road noise finding its way into the cabin. It was far from deafening, but noise is a word one just doesn't associate with Lexus."

"On the positive side, when it's not being caned through lumpy corners, the IS300's ride quality seems pleasantly composed over most surfaces, and it doesn't seem to have any waiting-to-bite-you vices. The brake system should stack up as world-class, the thrust of the straight-six is gratifying indeed, and as you'd expect of Lexus, the price of admission includes first-class seats and a terrific audio system."

Earlier in the article, they hint at the instrument cluster as "busy." And criticize the smallness of the center storage bin (like most of us have already).

 

[JW]

I forgot to mention...

Turning circle curb-to-curb 37.4 ft.
Top Speed is 144 mph, drag limited.

HMMM.....

[This message has been edited by JW (edited June 02, 2000).]

 

[Brandon]

Hmm... Dammit guys, THEY ARENT RAVING ABOUT THE CAR. This sucks. I expected the car mags would love it! But they are all saying basically the same thing, the understeer of the car and noise. Bah, well it doesnt discourage me from buying it, i still have my money set on it.

BTW, was it a big article, like was it on the cover page too? Havent had a chance to see it in the shelves yet..

 

[JW]

Yeah, it's discouraging, but you should go out and see for yourself how well the car handles, etc. The bottom line is, who cares what others say, it's your own decision to purchase the car.

This article is only a preview so it's only 3 pages long (61-63). The cover has pictures of SUV's (yuck). Anyways, it's just Car and Driver. Wait till Road and Track and Motor Trend come out too.

 

[dude]

I've bottomed-out bimmers at numerous occassions too.....

Road-noise?? Anyone know how 'bad' the road-noise is??

 

[JW]

One more thing...

C&D lists the curb weight as 3300lb (this includes the driver).

[From TEG: They must have a midget test driver because with the car being 3270lbs that leaves only 30lbs for the driver!]

[This message has been edited by TEG (edited June 04, 2000).]

 

[ME]

Ya, kind of dicouraging to me at least. Did they have the 17's on their tester? They usually sacrifice ride quality quite a bit. What about performance numbers? I'm going home tomorrow so I'll see for myself.

 

[SteveB]

Seems like the criticism is consistent with all the others reviews. specifically, heavy understeer; short suspension travel and noise.

Someone feels the same way as I am that instruments may be too "busy". Everytime when I look at instruments at the top of this page, it seems it's hard to read the scales on the speedometre. But that could be just because I'm looking at a picture. So it may not be so bad when looking at the actual gauges (I've never had a chance to look at the inside).

Maybe thicker front anti-roll bar or stiffer front springs with help minimize the understeer? (I read somewhere that to decrease understeer, you increase the front traction, be it creating more downforce or through suspension tunning). But I'm not pretending to be an expert in this (that's why I come to you guys).

 

[JW]

No, a thicker front anti-roll bar and stiffer front springs will *increase* understeer. You need to put a thicker bar and stiffer stuff in the rear to decrease understeer.

 

[SteveB]

Originally posted by JW:
No, a thicker front anti-roll bar and stiffer front springs will *increase* understeer. You need to put a thicker bar and stiffer stuff in the rear to decrease understeer.

Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I either remembered it wrong or the article was wrong (most probably the former). I just assumed when the car has understeer/oversteer, it's loosing traction at that end. And thicker roll bar or stiffer springs at that end will increase traction.
Good thing I'm not a suspension designer!