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Some Whining and Questions about 2014 IS250/350

10K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  cloozoe 
#1 · (Edited)
Believe it or not, I almost LOVE the front end. The design is terrific.

I am not sure about the rear design (bumper, trunk, taillights). I think the best looking tail lights is the 2008 model.


Big Fuss:

1). Windows on the sides are huge. The 2nd gen IS has high sides (doors) and low window profile design which is perfect for many of our tastes. But sadly the 3rd gen IS has "decreased" the height of the doors and made the windows taller. Especially the rear door windows are too big. The base of the window line towards rear is virtually level instead of pointing up. I bet the Lexus did this to increase visibility from inside. For driving this is good but bad for fashion. :(


Medium-High Fuss:

2). They made the wheelbase whopping 3 inches longer over the previous gen which is a bad news. This means the rear leg rooms will be increased, unfortunately. They turned the car into a GS model. :pissed: Also the rear shoulder room appears to be bigger and the upper seats look flat. It just doesn't look chic as the 2IS. 2IS had tight legroom and seating space in the rear and the seats had more shape to it, not flat like the 3IS. It's like getting in a bus.

Lexus lost the whole idea here. The reason why I got the Lexus is because of the small leg room and tight seating space in the rear. Lexus has gone opposite. You can make rooms bigger on the GS and LS models, don't do that on the IS model.


Minor Fuss:

3). The car has gotten 0.4 inches wider. It seems there might be an increase in wheel gap (width-wise), meaning the wheels tugged in a little deeper. I haven't measured this so I'm just making a rough judgement here.


4). Due to increase in size of the vehicle it gained at least 100 lbs. :( But then it has 8-spd auto transmission. I hope the gears are tighter. Is it? I can't find the gear ratio yet. With closer ratio gears it can make up for the increased weight for acceleration. I can't wait for the real-world acceleration tests from the reviews and the vehicle owners.

Lexus says they've made enhancements in the handling of this vehicle so I hope it compensates for the increase of weight of the vehicle for handling. Another thing to note is that, with longer wheelbase the turning will be slightly less responsive / agile. Improved suspension tweaking will help, but shorter wheelbase is also important in certain part of the race tracks. 111 inches is long in my book.


Question: Is the single-ring tach reader in the instrument panel found in F-Sport package from the factory? I saw some videos of the 3rd gen IS that show Two-rings in the instrument panel. Is that for the non-F-Sport then? I like the single-ring that moves left and right. very neat. And yes, I love the dash design on the 3IS.


cheez
 
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#2 ·
Big Fuss:

1). Windows on the sides are huge. The 2nd gen IS has high sides (doors) and low window profile design which is perfect for many of our tastes. But sadly the 3rd gen IS has "decreased" the height of the doors and made the windows taller. Especially the rear door windows are too big. The base of the window line towards rear is virtually level instead of pointing up. I bet the Lexus did this to increase visibility from inside. For driving this is good but bad for fashion. :(
Small mailbox slot windows are stupid. Part of driving in an enthusiastic manner is actually seeing where you are going. Cars for a long time have been getting pretty bad in terms of pillar thickness and high sills. I like to be able to see where I am going, and if you have a good-looking car, you want to be seen in it. I welcome the advances to improve visibility in modern cars. Want a car with bad visibility? Pick up a Camaro or first-gen Chrysler 300.


Medium-High Fuss:

2). They made the wheelbase whopping 3 inches longer over the previous gen which is a bad news. This means the rear leg rooms will be increased, unfortunately. They turned the car into a GS model. :pissed: Also the rear shoulder room appears to be bigger and the upper seats look flat. It just doesn't look chic as the 2IS. 2IS had tight legroom and seating space in the rear and the seats had more shape to it, not flat like the 3IS. It's like getting in a bus.

Lexus lost the whole idea here. The reason why I got the Lexus is because of the small leg room and tight seating space in the rear. Lexus has gone opposite. You can make rooms bigger on the GS and LS models, don't do that on the IS model.
It's not bad news. It seems that you will not be told otherwise on this point, so there is no reason to argue. How often do you hear about somebody wanting less overall space in their car, when weight is not impacted? If you want a small car, then buy a small car! Cars are getting bigger and bigger all the time, so you can blame the product managers that insist on giving people more of everything instead of focusing on what really works.

If you're going to keep having these unrealistic demands, I don't know if you'll ever find something that meets your needs.
 
#6 ·
Small mailbox slot windows are stupid.
That's your opinion.

Part of driving in an enthusiastic manner is actually seeing where you are going. Cars for a long time have been getting pretty bad in terms of pillar thickness and high sills.
There are times I wish I had more visibility when I'm driving, especially when changing lanes or pulling out of a parking lot etc. But I can cope with it with low profile windows. It just looks damn good. There are reasons why the windows got shorter. One is protection. More metal on the sides helps protecting you from the side impact. Second is the aesthetics.

I like to be able to see where I am going, and if you have a good-looking car, you want to be seen in it.
No I don't. :pissed:

I welcome the advances to improve visibility in modern cars. Want a car with bad visibility? Pick up a Camaro or first-gen Chrysler 300.
2nd gen IS is adequate. There are a lot of new cars with windows going low profile. It's time for you to accept the change! :p

How often do you hear about somebody wanting less overall space in their car, when weight is not impacted? If you want a small car, then buy a small car!
No, 2IS is the perfect candidate. It has pretty tight interior space and very cozy.


Have you seen this car in person, and that's why you are suddenly passing these judgements?
Are you referring to the size of the windows? If so, yes, trust me. The windows are larger and taller. Also the base of the window line towards the rear is level, not angled up like the 2IS. It looks very 1st gen-like. Go try taking a tape measure and verify the height of the windows. It will be taller than the 2IS.

To answer your question, yes, the single sliding cluster is the F-sport only, and the regular traditional gauge is on the regular 350.
Thanks for the confirmation. :) I do love the single cluster.


cheez
 
#3 ·
I can agree with the OP on some things as far as looks go, pertaining to the front end and rear end. I like the front end a lot. It's very aggressive looking which is needed. The rear I'm not crazy about, but it isn't bad. From the side view of the car, the rear tail lights angle down like the 1st gen rear lights do, which is something Lexus may or may not have done on purpose. I'm not crazy about the car being larger, but hey, I'm not the engineer that designed what's supposed to drive and handle better than the previous generation. Although, I like smaller cars in general. As far as the windows, I like how there's less door and more glass. That's how the first gen is. I do agree with the OP on the bottom of the window line being too level, but hey, once again, I didn't engineer this car. I do believe Lexus engineers have a good bit of knowledge on what this car needed and didn't need.
 
#8 ·
I will be in the market and was really looking forward to the next gen IS and was very disappointed at the first pictures. There's no angle on this car that I like and some angles were just hideous, and I'm being kind. I'm sorry to say this because I so wanted to like it.

I was hoping it would look better in real life and went to the Canadian Auto Show here in Toronto. Unfortunately, it didn't look any better. The front headlights and separate DRL are like an afterthought and the huge grill is an out of proportion protusion. Someone said it looks like the ugly monster from the Predators movie. I can't disagree.

The rear lights looks like it's melting, kind of a sad look. It's not ugly like the front, but it looks like the person who designed the front was a different person than the one who designed the back and they didn't bother to talk to each other at the design stage. There's no cohesion, no flow at all between front and back, IMO.

Also at the auto show was the LF-LC concept vehicle. That car looks very nice! Sharp curves, great lines that flow beautifully. The grill was big but it worked, it fit within the flow of the overall design, very menacing but stylish at the same time. Beautiful!

I hope the IS F (which is the model I'm really looking for) is going to look more like the LF-LC and less like the new IS. I rather doubt it, but I'm hoping, or else I'm scratching the IS off my list.

This takes me back to 2002 when the Chris Bangle designed BMW 7 Series was deemed butt ugly by many and BMW had to do a makeover with a redesign about a year later. I think the new IS is following suit. I'm already looking forward to the mid-cycle redesign that can't come soon enough.
 
#9 ·
The rear lights looks like it's melting, kind of a sad look. It's not ugly like the front, but it looks like the person who designed the front was a different person than the one who designed the back and they didn't bother to talk to each other at the design stage. There's no cohesion, no flow at all between front and back, IMO.
I actually totally agree with this. You nailed it pretty well. It does look like two different people designed this car. One guy did the front and the other back with no communication.:pissed:

I'll stick with my 2nd gen IS350. It's still fresh new (has 6200 miles on it) and is in factory condition.


cheez
 
#11 ·
Well, I had a 2008 IS250, then I got a 2011 IS350, and now I just got a 2013 IS350 F.

Let me tell you what I think:

Power: the IS250 (both 2nd and 3rd gen) is good but not the best if you are interested on performance. The new IS350 RWD got the upgraded 8-speed transmission from the IS F… big mistake. Comfort and luxury side, yes, good choice, it drives like “grandpa’s car”, but performance side, well, see it this way, the transmission was made for an IS F, meaning, it has over 100 HP more than the IS350. The gears are made to give good torque to that engine, not the smaller 306 HP engine on the IS350. Results? Even when Lexus claims the acceleration is the same on both 2nd and 3rd gen, reality is, the 2nd gen IS350 RWD smokes the 3rd gen IS350 RWD. Period. Look at reviews and videos and you will see why. I miss the power of my old IS350. The IS250 (both RWD and AWD) and the IS350 AWD kept the 6-speed transmission, but they are slower anyways, so if you want the fastest, stick with the 8-speed one and try not to think about the 2nd gen IS350…

Luxury/Comfort: on this topic, the 3rd gen is more of a winner. The new interior design really makes you feel like a pilot inside the Space Shuttle. Everything is at your fingertips and you have full visibility of both the road and the consoles. It seems that Lexus decided to listen to “old school” people when re-designing the car. The LED interior lights are gone. Big mistake. Each personal interior light once again flash bright in the driver’s face when driving at night, compare to the hidden light that the LED used to have, illuminating only the passenger and leaving the driver alone. Same thing, Lexus has decided to replace the digital clock on all their models (not just the IS) for an old school clock style. Not cool, not practical. If you go for the ML Sound System you will be blown away with the quality of their sound. Recommended.

Exterior looks: front bumper has an excellent design together with the new Head Lights and LED lights. The F front bumper looks better and very aggressive but they took away the Fog Lights from it. Big mistake. The F also features LED Head Lights. I particularly don’t like them as the light is too blue (not good for your eyes on the dark) and the light intensity is not as good as the HID lights. Rear design is not as good in my opinion. I think the latest 2nd gen rear lights would have been better. Wheels are faily good, and the overall design is nice and similar to the 2nd gen.

Other things: the gas filling access door doesn’t open remotely, you have to push the door itself while the car is unlocked to open it. If the car is locked, it doesn’t open. I think that is a mistake because it forces you to get out of your car to open the door before yo0u can lock the car, giving perfect chances to burglars to steal your belonging inside the car if you end up forgetting to close your car while refilling (it seems that is the new trend, to steal things like women’s purses from the car using the opposite side doors while she is filling up the tank). Also, the ashtray is gone, and so is the power plug, so as far as I can tell, there is only one plug inside which is located inside the center console. I don’t smoke, but I like to have two power outlets so I can have a Radar connected to one and the Phone Charger on the other one. I still need to read the manual to find out if the USB ports (yes ports, there are now 2 USB ports) give 5Volt power out or not).

But again, don’t get me wrong, overall, the new IS looks good and aggressive, it has lots of character, has lots and lots of new technology on it, and many good things, including better brakes, handling, improved visibility, confront, etc etc.

If I have to choose, I would actually ask Lexus to put back the 6-speed transmission on the IS350 RWD and I would be a happy camper.
 
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#13 · (Edited)
Well, I had a 2008 IS250, then I got a 2011 IS350, and now I just got a 2013 IS350 F.

Let me tell you what I think:

Power: the IS250 (both 2nd and 3rd gen) is good but not the best if you are interested on performance. The new IS350 RWD got the upgraded 8-speed transmission from the IS F… big mistake. Comfort and luxury side, yes, good choice, it drives like “grandpa’s car”, but performance side, well, see it this way, the transmission was made for an IS F, meaning, it has over 100 HP more than the IS350. The gears are made to give good torque to that engine, not the smaller 306 HP engine on the IS350. Results? Even when Lexus claims the acceleration is the same on both 2nd and 3rd gen, reality is, the 2nd gen IS350 RWD smokes the 3rd gen IS350 RWD. Period. Look at reviews and videos and you will see why. I miss the power of my old IS350. The IS250 (both RWD and AWD) and the IS350 AWD kept the 6-speed transmission, but they are slower anyways, so if you want the fastest, stick with the 8-speed one and try not to think about the 2nd gen IS350…
This is really, really DAMN GOOD post. I appreciate your comment! Everything is making sense now as the bits and pieces are coming together after what you posted about the gearing between 2nd gen IS350 and 3rd gen IS350 F-Sport. I too was wondering because I have seen reviews of the 3rd gen IS350 F-Sport and standard model IS350. Despite F-Sport model having the 8-speed transmission, BOTH cars had crappy 0-60 numbers of 5.5 sec, and of course, crappy quarter mile too (way over 14 sec at lousy ass 98 mph). I would have thought that the 8 speed would have helped with the acceleration as the gear spacing would be closer in the first 3 gears. It appears Lexus didn't bother to change the gear ratios and simply took the IS-F transmission and dropped into the 3IS 350 F-Sport! The first two gears are tall, much taller than that of the 2IS 350 gearing! No wonder the new IS350 F-Sport struggles with the acceleration. Not to mention it weighs good 100~ 150 lbs more, making the situation even worse. Thanks for your information on this, very valuable.

That Lexus however, should not do bad on highway pulls then because the IS-F gearing is actually shorter up top, you'll get a little more power at higher speeds. 90~ 140 mph pull should be great. Should be a little faster than the 2IS 350.

So to ramp this up:

- Get the 3IS 350 F-Sport if you want good highway pulls
- Get the 2IS 350 if you want better 0-60 pulls (and quarter mile)


The 3IS 350 F-Sport should also do a little better than the 2IS 350 in the turns.


Really good to know this. Everything making sense.


I don't mind the design the exterior of the 3IS though, and do LIKE interior quite a lot.
 
#12 ·
I am a 2007 IS owner and all of your complaints are welcome improvements in my opinion, especially when I looked at the new generation in person. Maybe I'm more open to them because I'm 6'1"? My biggest complaints after owning my car the past 6 years is:

- Really only 1 cupholder (the center console barely counts)
- Hard to see out the windows because you have to bend your head unrealistically down (particularly to see out of the passenger window if you're driving)
- Poor rear leg room
- Annoyingly big side airbags on the driver and passenger side
- Head feels too close to the ceiling of the car

Lexus addressed all of these in the new generation, so I really don't have any complaints.
 
#17 ·
I saw one for the first time at the local dealership the other day and thought it was a little over-the-top/Hyundai-ized in terms of body aesthetics. Obviously just a matter of taste and I've had that response to many new body designs over the years and sometimes they've grown on me.
 
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