IS300 - thoughts?

Morba · 3 Feb 2010 at 20:33

I've always liked the is200 but have been put off by the engine. The 300 is a better alternative, anyone have any experience with them?

mjt · 3 Feb 2010 at 20:39

Auto-only, and apparently they're not all that fast or particularly economical.
And the estate isn't very big.

I think they look quite nice, especially the SportCross..
Pretty cheap too, considering the amount of kit that you get with it.

http://pistonheads.com/sales/1332005.htm

SoliD · 3 Feb 2010 at 20:44

I've sat in the back of my friends one a couple of times, seems nice enough.

Clarkey · 3 Feb 2010 at 20:46

Has a 2JZ sitting under the hood, so yeah, darn good engine.

Morba · 3 Feb 2010 at 20:54

Clarkey, chance to look good. Tell me more fella.

Auto only - not an issue.
Economy - no worse than a 330i really

Kappa · 3 Feb 2010 at 21:39

DEAR LORD what is with that instrument cluster!

Clarkey · 3 Feb 2010 at 21:51

What can I say, they are totally rock solid when it comes to reliability, and the GE makes comparable power to a 330i. In turbo form they can withstand obscene power levels with stock internals although that's a bit irrelevant in this case.

Chassis wise, it's superior (on paper, ok..) to the BMW. Torsen diff in the rear and double wishbone suspension at each corner.

Gribs · 3 Feb 2010 at 21:55

Morba said:
Clarkey, chance to look good. Tell me more fella.

Auto only - not an issue.
Economy - no worse than a 330i really

A friend has one and the auto isn't great. There's a manual override but it still changes when it feels like it and it seems to have a habit of shifting mid corner so unsettling the car if pushing on. Econcomy is high 20's on average. It's fairly comfy, reasonably quick and decently built though.

Morba · 3 Feb 2010 at 21:57

Cool. A cheaper good alternative to a BM. Cheers

Morba · 3 Feb 2010 at 21:59

Gribs said:
A friend has one and the auto isn't great. There's a manual override but it still changes when it feels like it and it seems to have a habit of shifting mid corner so unsettling the car if pushing on. Econcomy is high 20's on average. It's fairly comfy, reasonably quick and decently built though.

Is that due to the box or his driving style? Hear similar comments about other semi autos but find it's more due to the driver then the box itself

Gribs · 3 Feb 2010 at 22:09

I couldn't say for sure as I haven't driven it at speed but he didn't seem to be doing anything odd. It seemed to be if you eased off the throttle mid corner it'd shift up.

PardonTheWait · 3 Feb 2010 at 22:50

Kappa said:
DEAR LORD what is with that instrument cluster!

It looks like a flash watch, I wonder if there's a slide rule round the outside of it

NickXX · 3 Feb 2010 at 22:57

Kappa said:
DEAR LORD what is with that instrument cluster!

Lol, it was absolutely praised at launch iirc!

Moeks · 4 Feb 2010 at 08:10

I think these things are decent enough, good engine, gearbox ...chassis setup etc and very reliable .... but the interior on them is awful, in no way does it hold a candle to an E46 3 series.