Hello all,

I went to the Taste of Lexus event today. For the ones that had never heard of it, here's the link http://www.tasteoflexus.com/ . Pretty cool. It was free and I got to drive alot of cars today on a small course with cones. I am no pro when it comes to maxing out the cars but I've tried my best to tear apart the rubbers I drove the following cars today and here are my impressions. By the way, all the cars were automatic

1) new 330i w/sports - nice and really lives up to his name. The best handling of the group but power is alrite, don't feel the pull as much as my car. It would be awesome if this one was manual.

2) is250 - underpower for sure. After driving the 330i the is250 felt very slow and lack of grip. Exhaust was wayyyyy to quiet for my taste

3) is350 - the fastest of the bunch. Straight away was really fast, handling was good but not as good as 330i. Definitely a competitor against the 330i

4) gs430 - heavy lexus, hard to throw it around the curves, too many bells and whistles lighting up on the dash correcting and braking for you. Felt like the car is drivng me.

5) 530i - not sure if this was sports or not but it felt pretty good. Just like a big versioin of the 330i with less grip and a bit slower but felt pretty darn good

4) Gx470 - tried out an suv anyway, tires squeaking in every corner, how can people drive SUV?

It was a fun day and the event was free. Lines were not that long. Here's a picture of the event.

One disappointment on all the cars were the exhaust tone. The lexus exhaust was non existent. The 330i was alrite but once I get back to my G, the exhaust was sooooooooo much better.

Since I am comparing all these cars with my X and it doesn't have sports, definitely the 330i beats it flat out in handling (maybe if I get rid of the turanza's with real rubbers, my car would grip better or if I had the sports package) but I think my X pulls harder than all the cars except the is350.

 

concured and co-signed

IS350 is faster and the 330 handles better, but to me the G has the right
balance

Only true advantage that the other 2 have is fresh and crisp exterior,
which is to be expected since they are new, but I think the G even can hold
its own in that dept.

 

Manufacturers do a terrible job of advertising these things. You mind telling us how you found out about this event? There is one being held just minutes away from me Oct 1-2 and all spaces are full. I'm pissed.

 

That's really true. I never hear about events like this. I would drive a pretty good way to attend one.

I'm really disappointed I didn't know about the IS350 when I was car shopping. I think it would have been a top contender for me. Still the same, I really like the AWD of my x. Some people think that's a "snow only" benefit, when, in reality, AWD is great in the rain. Just wish I could try it out with the G....Haven't seen a drop of rain in over a month where I live

 

Don't regret your decision to buy the G35x. We took out an IS350 at a lexus event here and while it's very fast, it doesn't handle nearly as well as out G's. If you like the feel of the G, the road feedback, the non-artificial steering, I don't think you would really like the lexus. Just imo. The lexus is a nice car (fit and finish is incredible), and it should make nissan release something very nice, but I was all when I heard about it too, and after driving it I am again about my G.

 

Well, that's good to hear. Yes, I like my G quite a bit. But I've always been a power person, and I'd like a little more than the G offers. Unfortuneately, there seems very little our there in the way of mods that do much for the G, short of cams or FI, neither of which I'd spend the money to do (let alone void the entire car warranty). Still, it's a great car for the money.

 

Next weekend I'm going to a Honda event to toss around the new Civic Si. After that I am hellbent on going over to crash the Lexus event afterwards. I might even put a couple beers in me beforehand. Both events are held on the same day.

 

I think my friend told me. There's also a Mazda event coming up.

 

There's a Honda event? when????????? where? link pleaseeee

 

I know about the Mazda event. Mazda emailed me because we bought my wife a 3 earlier this year. The event's being held in Miami Oct 15-16. Can't wait to test the new MX-5 Miata.

mikeee2, go to www.eshots.com/civiclive for info on the Civic event. I found out about it from Honda.com, but it's no longer listed there.

And I spoke to a lady on the phone about Taste of Lexus. She said I can just show up out of the blue.

 

I registered for the Mazda event also. The Civic event is already over in NY. Oh wellie...thanks for the info.

 

Well, they don't have any of these even close to me, so...............

 

Unfortunately it'll always be the big cities like NY, Chicago, LA, etc that gets them. Not to rub it in but I didn't know about these events till this year and this Lexus was my 1st one.

 

Isn't the Lexus event invitation only? BTW, I am jealous of you guys that got to drive the IS350!

 

Thanks for the Honda link!!!
After going to the Legacy GT test drive event last year, I've been hooked on these. So far I've gone to Subaru (Legacy), GM auto show, MB, Toyota (Matrix I think), Mitsu, and Mazda. I already signed up for the Lexus event as well. I liked the Subaru event the most. It was really by appointment only. Only 9 people were allowed to drive 3 cars (LGT, 325, S60) every hour. Also, the instructors keep yelling at us to beat the **** out of the cars. I've heard many good things about last year's Lexus event.