For those of you interested in the SportCross, there is an article about it in the August 10th, 2001 edition of the National Post in the Driver's Edge section.
The article can be found with two small photos at: www.nationalpost.com.
Follow the link to driver's edge.
Below is the text of the article and the prices quoted are in CDN dollars. The BMW 3-series wagon is not yet available in Canada although it is in the USA.
Same zoom, more room
2002 Lexus IS 300 SportCross: Think of it as a sports sedan with a really big trunk
David Booth
National Post
For all those frustrated sports-car-buying drivers -- now with children -- who have been wishing BMW would import the shooting brake (as wagons are sometimes called on the other side of the Atlantic) version of its entirely estimable 3 Series sedan, salvation is at hand. There is a minor wrinkle, however. You have to go to your local Lexus dealer to buy it.
Huh?
OK, so a simple little explanation is in order. For those in the know, it is no secret that Lexus' IS 300 sedan is targeted directly at the heart of BMW's biggest niche -- the entry-level luxury sports sedan market. Three-litre inline six motor. Rear drive. Five-speed automatic with E-shift manual gear selection. Heck, it even looks like a baby 330.
Widening the IS's appeal this year is the addition of a five-speed manual transmission (it probably needs a six-speed for true sporting types) and its newest iteration, the SportCross.
Don't let the name fool you as it did me. The SportCross is not some hairy SUV hybrid wannabe. Instead, think of the Mercedes-Benz C320 Estate which, as Driver's Edge has previously reported, is nothing more than one of the German company's luxury sedans with more trunk room.
Ditto for the IS 300. Sure, the wheels are painted a darker hue of silver (the standard rims on the wagon are, by the way, the same wheels that are optional on the sedan), the lower front fascia is altered and, of course, the rear end is completely different. But the drivetrain is identical and the interior is all stuff that has been seen before, save some extra utility items such as bungee cords with hooks and power outlets in the rear storage area that befit a wagon's utility pretensions.
Depending on the angle, the transformation from four-door sedan to five-door wagon is either graceful or a little quirky. From the front, side and especially the three-quarters rear view, the SportCross is well sculpted and graceful. From the front three-quarters aspect, though, the rear roofline appears a little awkward, almost as if the rear hatch's forward slope is excessive.
There is nothing awkward about the vehicle's handling, however. In gaining more cargo capacity, the IS 300 wagon is 57 kilograms heavier, a minuscule amount considering its usable cargo capacity has more than doubled to 21.9 cubic feet.
The wagon's handling feels no less planted than the sedan's and the steering no heavier, hardly surprising since most of the weight increase is over the rear axle. In keeping that extra rear-biased avoirdupois in control, Lexus has fine-tuned the rear springs and given the SportCross some slightly meatier 225/45ZR17 rear Bridgestone tires (the fronts are the same 215/45ZR17s that are offered as options on the sedan).
With the same 215-horsepower, 3.0-litre inline six as the sedan, it is little wonder the SportCross is only 0.1 seconds slower to 96 kilometres an hour (60 miles an hour) than the automatic sedan. And only 0.6 behind the manually shifted four-door.
In wagon guise, the engine feels equally sophisticated, with no more noise intrusion into the cabin (a fault common to some sedan-based wagons), and it is still amazingly sophisticated. Now that BMW has raised its 3.0-litre engine's output to 225 horses, and the class-leading Acura TL Type S can boast 260, the IS 300 could use a little extra urge. But that's only if keeping up with the proverbial Joneses is a necessity. Otherwise, the S
The article can be found with two small photos at: www.nationalpost.com.
Follow the link to driver's edge.
Below is the text of the article and the prices quoted are in CDN dollars. The BMW 3-series wagon is not yet available in Canada although it is in the USA.
Same zoom, more room
2002 Lexus IS 300 SportCross: Think of it as a sports sedan with a really big trunk
David Booth
National Post
For all those frustrated sports-car-buying drivers -- now with children -- who have been wishing BMW would import the shooting brake (as wagons are sometimes called on the other side of the Atlantic) version of its entirely estimable 3 Series sedan, salvation is at hand. There is a minor wrinkle, however. You have to go to your local Lexus dealer to buy it.
Huh?
OK, so a simple little explanation is in order. For those in the know, it is no secret that Lexus' IS 300 sedan is targeted directly at the heart of BMW's biggest niche -- the entry-level luxury sports sedan market. Three-litre inline six motor. Rear drive. Five-speed automatic with E-shift manual gear selection. Heck, it even looks like a baby 330.
Widening the IS's appeal this year is the addition of a five-speed manual transmission (it probably needs a six-speed for true sporting types) and its newest iteration, the SportCross.
Don't let the name fool you as it did me. The SportCross is not some hairy SUV hybrid wannabe. Instead, think of the Mercedes-Benz C320 Estate which, as Driver's Edge has previously reported, is nothing more than one of the German company's luxury sedans with more trunk room.
Ditto for the IS 300. Sure, the wheels are painted a darker hue of silver (the standard rims on the wagon are, by the way, the same wheels that are optional on the sedan), the lower front fascia is altered and, of course, the rear end is completely different. But the drivetrain is identical and the interior is all stuff that has been seen before, save some extra utility items such as bungee cords with hooks and power outlets in the rear storage area that befit a wagon's utility pretensions.
Depending on the angle, the transformation from four-door sedan to five-door wagon is either graceful or a little quirky. From the front, side and especially the three-quarters rear view, the SportCross is well sculpted and graceful. From the front three-quarters aspect, though, the rear roofline appears a little awkward, almost as if the rear hatch's forward slope is excessive.
There is nothing awkward about the vehicle's handling, however. In gaining more cargo capacity, the IS 300 wagon is 57 kilograms heavier, a minuscule amount considering its usable cargo capacity has more than doubled to 21.9 cubic feet.
The wagon's handling feels no less planted than the sedan's and the steering no heavier, hardly surprising since most of the weight increase is over the rear axle. In keeping that extra rear-biased avoirdupois in control, Lexus has fine-tuned the rear springs and given the SportCross some slightly meatier 225/45ZR17 rear Bridgestone tires (the fronts are the same 215/45ZR17s that are offered as options on the sedan).
With the same 215-horsepower, 3.0-litre inline six as the sedan, it is little wonder the SportCross is only 0.1 seconds slower to 96 kilometres an hour (60 miles an hour) than the automatic sedan. And only 0.6 behind the manually shifted four-door.
In wagon guise, the engine feels equally sophisticated, with no more noise intrusion into the cabin (a fault common to some sedan-based wagons), and it is still amazingly sophisticated. Now that BMW has raised its 3.0-litre engine's output to 225 horses, and the class-leading Acura TL Type S can boast 260, the IS 300 could use a little extra urge. But that's only if keeping up with the proverbial Joneses is a necessity. Otherwise, the S
