Another Beautiful Lexus Design: The 2006 IS

Corey Bit Spank said:
Peak numbers are never an engine's story. I'd have to see torque curves to say "Oh it really is [ ]" This isn't suppose to be the lull-around-town Lexus (They have the ES for their entry-level comfort car). :)



I'm discounting the car before I drive it, but I'm still skeptical. I've driven cars that magazines rave about and I find them average. The TSX comes to mind (I still am confused about the overboosted steering in that "sporty" car).



It seems like the luxury car market is getting soft. They add power, make the cars more boring, add the latest electronic nannies, and say "new and sportier" when they really made it "new and boring." :nixweiss
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I agree with you on those points.
 
I guess I'm strange, but I thought the old IS looked GREAT, and the new one is NOT an improvement (exterior styling-wise).:o
 
Well I'm not sure the luxury market is getting soft anymore. The new GS drives as well or better than a 5 series BMW based on my experience.



It's a terrific car and not your father's Lexus. :woot:
 
SilverLexus said:
Well I'm not sure the luxury market is getting soft anymore. The new GS drives as well or better than a 5 series BMW based on my experience.



It's a terrific car and not your father's Lexus. :woot:
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The new 5 series feels like you're driving a space ship. You might as well let the car drive for itself. No fun at all :(



Automobile magazine is getting worse than Motor Trend. I've been a subscriber for almost 8 years now and this will be my last subscription. I just don't care for their writing/"testing."



Although their pictures are always great, and the interior of the GS in the current issue looks better than the previous pictures of seen (charcoal wood and faux aluminum accent--looks a lot better).
 
I don't see how you could say the 5 series is no fun. There may be some technology and styling in the way, but its still one of the best sports sedans on the road if you ask me.
 
The active steering of the 5 is "funky". I would like to drive one for an extended period of time (couple weeks) to see if I could get use to it. That and they should make the god foresaken piece of S*%t iDrive an option :angry



Thankfully the on the new 3 both of these items are options.
 
The active steering is an option on the 5 also...



iDrive's not actually that bad either once you get used to it. The 5 has a better implementation than the 7. Gonna have to get used to it because eventually everything will be controlled by something similar. I bet the new LS430 will have some sort of iDrive like controller too. You have to to control all the functions these cars have now.
 
I hear Audi's "iDrive" system, while still not great, is quite a bit more user friendly than BMW's iDrive. Anyone have experience with it?
 
I think I am getting "old". I just don't understand what is "improved" âہ“efficientâ€Â� "better" or what other so called advancement adjective you want to use to describe having to scroll through a bunch of screens to change the radio station or the volume or the fan speed of the climate control. What was wrong with dials and buttons?
 
bet993 said:
I think I am getting "old". I just don't understand what is "improved" âہ“efficientâ€Â� "better" or what other so called advancement adjective you want to use to describe having to scroll through a bunch of screens to change the radio station or the volume or the fan speed of the climate control. What was wrong with dials and buttons?
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Nothing was wrong with dials and buttons. The problem is cars are becoming too technologically advanced to have everything controlled by individual dials and buttons. A car's interior would start looking like the cockpit of an airplane.
 
TW85 HHI said:
Nothing was wrong with dials and buttons. The problem is cars are becoming too technologically advanced to have everything controlled by individual dials and buttons. A car's interior would start looking like the cockpit of an airplane.
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I agree and disagree at the same time :)



While the addition of different traction control systems with varied settings, active steering, active suspensions, modulated brakes etc. definitely necessitate some type of central control for the manipulation of the various settings to avoid the cockpit of an airplane look, there is nothing more or less cluttering about have a redundant system for commonly changed systems like the climate control and/or audio settings.



The redundancy would allow people who want to control over everything by one sytem to be utilize the central control system. However, for simple task such as increasing temperature, fan speed, turning on the defroster, volume of the audio system, changing the radio station, etc. there should be âہ“low techâ€Â� method of simply turning a dial or pushing one button. Navigating a menu and submenuâ€â„¢s is time consuming, cumbersome and dangerous as it requires you to take your attention away from driving.



Donâ€â„¢t get me wrong I love technology and usually embrace it, however, I think the implementation and functionality of the current central control units are not very well thought out and overly complicated. That said it is my understanding that BMW has implemented some type of redundancy plan with new versions of iDrive, however, I do not have any experience with them (just the old iDrive in the 7 series).
 
bet993,



Oh, I agree with you. I think the controls that will frequently be used should have their own buttons and dials. It is poor to have to change through menus or exit a particular screen just to be able to change the climate control settings, though a few luxury cars now have the basic climate setting controls on the steering wheel.



Put me in a Japanese car and I can figure out every button and control in a few minutes. Put me in a European car and it becomes a chore just to figure out the windshield wipers or what the various buttons with markings that look like hieroglyphs actually control.
 
I personally love the controls in my car. The digital climate control is automatic, so I need only set the tempearture I want once, and I don't need to mess with it again. The button for the heated seats is easy to get to from the driver's seat. The volume control is almost right next to 3 o'clock on the steering wheel. Large buttons at the bottom of the stack for the 12 disc changer and radio stations, all seperated by about 1/4 of an inch. No trying to steady your hand so you don't acidentally hit the wrong button.



The only grief I have is that the shift lever is so tall, it's akward for someone to adjust the volume/temperature/heated seats from the passenger seat.



No worries, I'm not going to be in the passenger seat for long ;)



I think BMW had the right idea with the original iDrive system, but they just hadn't refined it quite yet.
 
Wow, I'm really impressed with the way that Lex looks. I can say that I would love to save up for one now, but by the time they come out all I can realistically hope for is a big discount on the old style, haha. In my opinion, I think the front does look a bit like a Mazda6, but the rear tail lights resemble an Acura TSX
 
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