I enjoyed driving the Cruze more than the IS250 F-Sport somehow...

I believe it.  Even though the IS350 was faster I enjoyed tossing around the LS460 more lol.  The IS350 is a rather bland experience.

Lol, the black one is like mine, but w/o the potato shooter, and ground effects.  Add black hardtop and Volk wheels.


Once you drive a 2000lb, mid-engine car you won't want to go back unless you need to haul stuff from IKEA or Home Depot.


My favorite MR2-Spyder.  Autobacs GT300 Champion.  They changed the rules after it won and added 500lbs of ballast to the MR-S to make it 'fair'.

You had/have a MR-2 Spyder? And yeah the potato shooter is a bit much, and while I normally detest most ground effects kits, the stock body is so uninspiring that it needs SOMETHING. I really love the last 3 but it looks like some of that is custom made or at least more involved. The top picture is nice but I'd pick different wheels. Looks like just ground effects and a hard top. Makes it look good without adding too much weight.

Might have to keep an eye out for one since you have/had one. How is the car? How is durability, etc?

Love the car. Most fun I have driving.  Gets good mileage, high 20's-low 30's depending on how you drive.  I get about 23-24 hanging out by redline most of the time.  I've scared the shit out of my passengers who often ask me if I'm going to stop or do I see the red light or stop sign?!  Including a friend I took for a spin who happens to be a traffic commissioner.  I've scared pedestrians back to the other side of the street they came from and made Firefighters shake their heads.  Talk about involvement.  You can feel lift at high speed if you go too fast, you can hear the engine right behind you, turning on the car you can hear the water pump switch on and the coolant begin to circulate.  Every change or tweak is immediately noticeable on the car.  Think of it as a purpose built drivers car that gets decent mileage and has a drop top w/ Toyota reliability.  It's a last year production 2005 w/ LSD and 10K miles in pristine condition.


The only niggle are possible pre-cat failures and a dash rattle on early 2001-2002/3 models which should have been service updates.  Plus the center dash cubby hole on top can warp under direct sunlight in really high heat.  No biggie, it comes back after it cools.  They tried to save weight everywhere.  You will have road noise too so tire choice will be critical for that if it matters.

That's okay.  I've seen the 2zz/ge, turbo kits, twin chargers, rotrex superchargers, etc, etc.  The best was the 300hp Lexus V6 swap.  Holy shit did that thing scoot.  Have to trim the firewall a bit.  My ideal was a Hayabusa V8 swap but that idea had it's own issues and so did the 13B Renesis.  Rather than put in the work and money to get a proper streetable 300-500hp the same money will go toward a different car and lighter platform w/o the effort and hassle.  They just aren't in production yet.  About 2-4 years off.

So with those occupied he let me drive a 2011 IS250 with 9k miles that was stickering for somewhere around $33k. This was the F Sport model. I don't know what all that includes except suspension and seats, but paired with the 2.5l V6 and after driving... I wonder why they bother. It was really slow and the auto transmission was slow to downshift. It had paddles but I mostly drove in normal auto. The ride was quiet and refined otherwise. The "sport" seats really didn't hold all that well compared to even the basic Golf seats.

Ignoring the sad engine of the 250 I thought the IS was a good car but somehow didn't measure up. I guess I was expecting more sport and less fluff. The odd thing was the fluff didn't seem all that nice either. Odd car. If I had plenty of money I think I would still pick a Cruze over the IS new vs new considering the price difference. The IS is just not 20k better. I would honestly take a Golf TDI at 27k over a IS350 at 45k even if money were no object. The steering and suspension feel of the Golf is way more fun and while it feels solid it doesn't feel heavy or large like the Lexus did. The Lexus felt like my Grand Prix in size and weight just with stiffer but smoother suspension. I think my car accelerates better than the 250 which is really sad.

The IS350 no doubt is better with the better engine and is a good car, but not for me. This is really the first time I've seen this in my shopping to this degree. I like it but at the same time don't, but can easily see how someone could love it. Odd.

The IS250 has hamster power. The new base engine Cadillac ATS is also pretty weak, and the C250 isn't great either. These cars are just for people that have to be seen with a luxury badge on the hood, a V6 Camry can outrun all of them. I'm not surprised you didn't love the IS, it's old and outdated and due for retirement. Lexus seats have never knocked my socks off. I haven't been in the new GS, but it seems like they at least tried to go beyond the normal Japanese 8-way style with that.

The new 3 and the S4 are the cars to buy in this class. You buy the IS because you're worried that one of those is going to break, otherwise the IS has nothing on them.

I never have my auto climate control in "auto" mode as that's almost always too much fan speed. It's pretty much always set at 68/68 and then I just adjust the fan as necessary. In my car the difference between "D" and "S" on the auto is startling. Drive is definitely tuned for fuel economy. It doesn't have the sluggish throttle tip-in of recent BMWs, but it takes its time and can be lazy to react if you suddenly prod it out of a nap. The transmission also learns your driving style, which for me is usually pretty mellow so that also has something to do with it. Switch to S and it will drop a gear immediately unless you're already going too fast to be out of 5th, and the throttle response changes completely. Stab it and the response is instant, with V8 like shove thanks to 280ft.lbs at 1800rpm.

The 2.7T can dish out over 300hp and 350ft.lbs with a $600 chip from APR or MTM, but I've never really felt the need, I have no interest in stop light racing Mustang GTs and I'd like for the autobox to continue living awhile longer.