Conti or Jap?

[W210k]

So far, in my est. 25 years of driving in Singapore - mostly conti (mainly German and Italian makes), with the occassional rented cars in-between servicings and vacation tours up north or down under (mainly Japanese, Australian or Malaysian makes), I don't think I have come across a Japanese car that has near-parity qualities to that of a luxury conti standard ..... until I came across the Lexus IS200 that is.

 

The IS200, designed by a Japanese engineer involved with the Toyota F1 racing team, was pre-production tuned on a race track in Germany.

 

Its body rigidity and braking power is the best in its class (normal-use road cars). Its brake rotors are 296 mm front and 307 mm rear - borrowed directly from its bigger sibling the GS300 (a model which is a notch higher than the ES300).

 

Tried slamming the IS200's doors and was pleasantly surprized that is just as very heavy and closed with a solid thud, similar to my Merc E200 and the BMW 3er.

 

Its suspensions are double wishbones+coil springs+gas-filled shock absorbers+stabilizer bar, something again repeated only in the GS300, but not the ES300. Even my E200 Kompressor has double wishbones only for the front and the BMW has standard config ones.

 

Pushing the IS200 around bends puts it dangerously very near the capabilities of a BMW 3er. Here the Merc, no matter E or C Class are no match. Even then I would dare say that the IS200 handles better than the 320i ..... since in a separate test I did between the 318i Valvetronic and the 320i (2.2L), I found the latter a little bit more nose heavy around bends and would need to step on the breaks a bit harder to contain the higher centrifugal force.

 

Using the previous generation Toyota 1G-FE In-Line 6 cylinder 24V DOHC engine of the late Celicas and Supras, albeit outfitted with VVTi gives 153 bhp and 195 Nm of torque. Good you say? But unfortunately due to its heavier body (kerb weight given as 1385 - 1455 kg in the brochure ..... don't know why there is a range when there is only 1 engine type), 0-100 km/h acceleration is nothing great.

 

But seriously, when I pushed the IS200 up to 180 km/h during the test drive, it was still very stable (for a Jap car), the engine was pleasantly sonorous but muffled (unlike normal Jap cars) and the wind and tyre roar noise is by far much quiter than the BMW 3 and Audi A4 that I recently tested. At those kind of speeds, I guess only the true luxuries like the Merc E/S Classes, BMW 5/7 series, Jag S/XJ types, or Lexus own ES/LS could better it on noise supression.

 

Interior of the IS200 is nothing but plush. ALL factory-fitted, the seats and the door panels (combination of leather and seude leather) as well. This is becoming important nowadays since due to cost cutting, buying a BMW 3 Series today from PML does not get you leather door panels (all fabric ..... yucks, a big let down!), and even the seats from C& C(for Mercs) and PML (for BMWs) are all local fitted.

 

Truly, I never really respected Japanese cars on their overall handling, body rigidity and interior trim qualities, until I met the Lexus IS200. Truly a conti-besting Jap car to match.

[Super7]

Thanks W210K for your review of the IS200. The car shows us what Lexus is capable of producing. I think the new model is just around the corner and it will be interesting to see what progress Toyota/Lexus is going to make from where they are now in the new IS200...

 

Cheers

[Jman888]

Not sure if this is true, i heard it from one of a professor on marketing topic. He mentioned that Toyota before coming out with the Lexus, they wanted to study what the American really want in a luxury car like Jag, BMW, Merz, and the American brands.

 

They sent a group of engineers (Japanese) to the US, reside them in the expensive neigborhood, signed them up in expensive country clubs, buy them the expensive cars, send their children to top school, etc every things were top of the class. They live there for a couple of years just to study the mind set of the American.... and eventually after they return to Japan, they produced the Lexus..... and that is what they call R&D i would like to be one of the engineers

Edited January 19, 2003 by Jman888

[Saaber]

LEXUS IS300

 

The IS300 is a compact front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sedan from Lexus to compete with the BMW 3 series. The car is available in Japan as the Toyota Altezza and in Europe as the Lexus IS200. Over there the IS is available with 2-liter engines -- either inline-4 or inline-6.

 

In North American the IS is badged as IS300. The engine is a detuned unit from the GS300. It's a 3-liter inline-6 producing 215 HP. It's currently mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission w/ sequencial shift mode operated by steering wheel buttons -- just like the GS400. The 5-speed manual gearbox should be available for the model year 2002.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australia Vesion of Lexus IS300

We have installed a 2JZ-GTE engine from a 1995 Supra. The engine is a twin turbo 3 liter, with sequential ceramic turbochargers. The standard power from this engine is 320 HP, with the modifications we have done the engine produces 450HP. We have modified the standard sequential turbo system (one turbo at low rpm and two at high rpm) so that both turbochargers operate at all times.

This is been done so they operate as two separate turbochargers with their own internal wastegates. The original setup had only one wastegate on the first turbo. What looked like a wastegate on the second turbo is used to control the initial spin up of the second turbo, and it operated totally different to a normal wastegate.

 

 

 

 

[Jman888]

beside the engine, for Lexus, they were not only look at improving the engine (can be copied easily) but studying the mindset and behavior of the consumers that make Lexus a success in the luxury car segment.

[Super7]

Hey, when will Proton wanna design a up-market saloon for the Americans???....... i think they will send some local guys to stay there, maybe at least for 20 years, to "thoroughly" understand the mindset of the Americans.........

[Jman888]

[:/] twenty yrs [shakehead] remember they have the 2020 vision by then car fly/float in the air already

[Super7]

i heard the strategy for Malaysia car manufacturing industry now is to focus of niche cars like the lotus etc......

[Saaber]

The Predecessor of Lexus IS200

 

AE86

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jman888]

I heard of that too, well they study/share the 'old' technology like previously with Mit, Renault and now Lotus. The only good thing is they have the plant that helps to reduce the price of the car

[Jman888]

were they produced in 1986? look different (engine) from a tradition Jap car

[Super7]

...the legendary AE86..... btw, in the 2nd pic, what's the #3 sports car next to the red AE86???

[Saaber]

I'm not sure, I have this other pic, maybe you know?.....

 

[Saaber]

[/url]AE86 Versions

The AE86 was first produced in 1983 in Japan and this continued until half way through 1987. During this time there were two distinct versions produced, the zenki and the kouki. These two versions can be distinguished by their front indicators and their rear lights. The zenki has small front mounted indicators and rear lights with the word 'SPRINTER' across the top of the right light. The kouki has larger corner mounted front indicators and rear lights with either a red band across the top or a black band with a white stripe.

The AE86 was available in two body types, these were the coupe and the hatchback. The hatchback is the frame most enthusiasts think of when discussing the AE86.

AE86 Coupe AE86 HatchBack

[/color]

To further broaden the purchasers choice when buying an AE86 there were two more variations on the AE86. These were the Sprinter Trueno and the Corolla Levin. These are still available today from Toyota as they have carried through the range up to present day in the form of the AE111. The key differences in the Trueno and Levin are in their light assembly. The Trueno was given pop-up head lights unique to the AE86 and the Levin was given fixed head lights very similar to those of the rest of the Corolla range of that era. Because of this set up the Levin had a larger grill between the lights than the Trueno, in later years the Trueno grill was phased out completely and the bonnet was simply extended between the lights.

AE86 Trueno AE86 Levin

[/url]

[Super7]

hmmm..... i guess it could either be a Lola or Lotus 30 from the 60s....

[Super7]

Can anyone explains how come in the pics showing the engine, we can see the big 'gear' driving the twin cam exposed and not covered up???..... is this normal???

Edited January 20, 2003 by Super7

[Pauly75ts]

"big 'gear' driving the twin cam exposed and not covered up???..... is this normal???"

 

Hi! there, Super7,

 

Race engines get stripped after races, so they throw away the covers, save weight too.

 

Rgds

 

Paul Yong

[Renegade]

Hey, when will Proton wanna design a up-market saloon for the Americans???....... i think they will send some local guys to stay there, maybe at least for 20 years, to "thoroughly" understand the mindset of the Americans.........

 

Up market saloon for the Americans ? They can't even get their staple, everyday car for the domestic market right....

 

If they were to try doing a "lexus" with their designers, they probably won't come back...

Edited January 20, 2003 by Renegade