In town, it was more of the same. The road holding ability of AWD made parking in downtown after a snowfall quite easy. I was able to take advantage of spots that others were afraid to try. Getting out and into traffic was always the same. All I had to do was find an opening in traffic and go for it.
Practical Luxury
The IS is a bit smaller than the more-common ES, and as such, it does give up a bit of trunk space, but you would never know it unless you parked the two of them side by side. I could fit in a couple of sets of golf clubs (I am an optimist) or a couple of hockey bags (realist, too!) or all our groceries from Costco and Sobeys in one go.
Moving to the inside, luxury is the name of this game, with leather-faced front buckets that are heated and cooled. Since my test cars are never plugged in or put in the garage, getting a warm seat in five minutes is quite good. It took about the same amount of time for a noticeable amount of hot air to come into the cabin.
The front seats are fully-adjustable power units and the steering wheel is also power adjustable for tilt and telescoping. There is also a seat memory system that will hold two settings and make my life easier when someone who is vertically challenged has been driving.
Back-seat comfort is pretty darn good. The rear seat is a semi-sculpted bench seat that will seat three, but is best occupied by two if they are full-sized adults. I found that I had hip room and a good amount of shoulder room. On height, I was pretty much touching the roof. In contrast, my feet and legs fit in quite well. Wide door openings also assist in making the seat easy to get in and out of.
Instrumentation on the IS consists of a tach and speedometer as well as fuel and temperature gauges. It did take me a couple of days to get used to the fuel gauge location and the way the needles swung.
Powertrain
With the 306-horsepower, 3.5-litre V6, Lexus gives drivers the choice of being shiftless by just putting the six-speed automatic in drive or moving the lever over to the manual-mode gate and rowing your own way through the gears. This feature allows those who want to control their destiny to do so while allowing everyone else to relax when they drive.
When people ask if the car is as good as I say, I tell them that “She Who Must Be Obeyed” (Rumpole by John Mortimer) has given her stamp of approval to the car and declared it a vehicle of interest.
The IS 350 AWD starts at $44,950.
 |
| Inside, luxury is the name of this game, with leather-faced front buckets that are heated and cooled. (Photo: Lexus) |
Practical Luxury
The IS is a bit smaller than the more-common ES, and as such, it does give up a bit of trunk space, but you would never know it unless you parked the two of them side by side. I could fit in a couple of sets of golf clubs (I am an optimist) or a couple of hockey bags (realist, too!) or all our groceries from Costco and Sobeys in one go.
Moving to the inside, luxury is the name of this game, with leather-faced front buckets that are heated and cooled. Since my test cars are never plugged in or put in the garage, getting a warm seat in five minutes is quite good. It took about the same amount of time for a noticeable amount of hot air to come into the cabin.
The front seats are fully-adjustable power units and the steering wheel is also power adjustable for tilt and telescoping. There is also a seat memory system that will hold two settings and make my life easier when someone who is vertically challenged has been driving.
Back-seat comfort is pretty darn good. The rear seat is a semi-sculpted bench seat that will seat three, but is best occupied by two if they are full-sized adults. I found that I had hip room and a good amount of shoulder room. On height, I was pretty much touching the roof. In contrast, my feet and legs fit in quite well. Wide door openings also assist in making the seat easy to get in and out of.
Instrumentation on the IS consists of a tach and speedometer as well as fuel and temperature gauges. It did take me a couple of days to get used to the fuel gauge location and the way the needles swung.
Powertrain
With the 306-horsepower, 3.5-litre V6, Lexus gives drivers the choice of being shiftless by just putting the six-speed automatic in drive or moving the lever over to the manual-mode gate and rowing your own way through the gears. This feature allows those who want to control their destiny to do so while allowing everyone else to relax when they drive.
When people ask if the car is as good as I say, I tell them that “She Who Must Be Obeyed” (Rumpole by John Mortimer) has given her stamp of approval to the car and declared it a vehicle of interest.
The IS 350 AWD starts at $44,950.
 |
| With the 306-horsepower, 3.5-litre V6, Lexus gives drivers the choice of being shiftless by just putting the six-speed automatic in drive. (Photo: Justin Pritchard/Auto123.com) |
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