Learn Me: Lexus IS300

I had a manual IS 250 as well. Don't bother. It's gutless. The manual was no more engaging to drive than the auto 250. It's a totally unrewarding drive. As noted the IS 350 is pretty damn quick and changes everything. But of course no manual trans.

Storz wrote: Does nothing better than the BMWs it tried it be better than. Not impressed

Reliability is the IS300 strong suit. Like an anvil. Mine only needed the calipers replaced after 13 years in the salt. NOTHING else. My BIL drives it currently, still looks great. The extra gas consumed is more than offset by no repair costs.

It is not fast nor does it handle exceptionally. It is a nice place to be though and I love the alcantara seats and sound of the straight six.

I'll throw in a nod for both the IS300 and the G35. The reason I didn't get an IS300 was because of availability- as mentioned, the ones you want are the 5speeds with the LSD. I think they feel a bit tighter than the G35 too.

I have a G35 sedan right now (6-speed), and I love it. It grips well, has close to 50/50 weight distribution, and has a great engine. Once you realize that it's much faster than the IS300 and gets slightly better gas mileage, the choice becomes tougher. If you can find both, drive em and see

In the IS, because wheel speed runs speedo, you can run auto rear end in the manual. Ive got thaat setup in my sportx (at least till I get my v160 getrag, then I'll swap back in the manual one)

I drove one daily for years. Put 150k miles on it. Very solid and reliable car. Kids would take photos of it--and mine was bone stock. It's a very nice car if you need a nice, roomy sport sedan. I would echo that the fuel economy was shockingly bad. The driveline is kind of antiquated and while it makes nice power and is very drivable, it likes gasoline. I did have problems with the clutch damper. Snow tires were important.