vs Lexus IS300?
 

http://images02.olx.ca/ui/2/85/47/25167847_1.jpg

http://www.autospies.com/images/user...%20Drifter.jpg
215 hp
Curb Weight: 3255 lbs
18-25 mpg

...and the 2JZ.

I'm starting to consider getting one of these guys in 5-spd manual, autocrossing it, and eventually getting a later-model BRZ or FR-S. They run about $10,000 to $15,000 for a 2001-2005 in good shape.

Good idea or bad idea?

I can't wait to see the difference between that and an frs/brz. I've had one, tracked it, was GREAT, very impressive (it's still pretty much a 4 door supra). For autocrossing though, it may be quite heavy. You'll need a very good set of coilovers and a model with the LSD from factory at least.

I loved that car, wish I never sold it and i'm hoping the frsbrz will make me forget it.

If you can find a 5 speed car...

^^ Indeed. I've been looking for a 5 speed for a while. Iv'e only found one that was in good shape but it was red. I hate red.

i stopped my quest for a 5speed IS300 a long time ago. Shit was Unicorn Status

I'm looking to get IS300 5MT or 06-07 WRX 5MT for a while before getting BRZ, but IS300 5MT is super rare and WRX is overpriced in my area.
I used to drive the IS300 AT model many times. Great car, fun ride, but not luxurious as it should be.

mmmm I've always found the IS300 sexy.

:lol: ^^^THIS

I've wanted this car for a couple years, was supposed to be my first car until my cuz who was selling it wrecked it. Oh wells.

I think the RS200 is a better comparison to the 86

The RS200 was the first Toyota car they claimed to be the 'spiritual successor' to the AE86. So perfect comparison?

It was also the car used to compare the weight and/or dynamics of the FT86 in one of the Japanese interviews, too.

Maybe they sold more 5MT's in Canada, because I have quite a few friends with them. Don't seem to be too unicorn to me.

Jeff

I may just look for a cheap auto and do a 1J swap with a 5speed. Ive done auto to manual swaps before and it's not too difficult.

boy do i miss my 01 IS300 :(

Standard IS300 have always been pretty rare from what I understand, as several other posters have noted. I've only seen a handful in person over the years. I think the IS300 would take better to mods than this boxer 4, but that's merely speculation.

2JZ no S#*@!!!!

/FnF

Jeff

5speed IS300's are a myth, Like Santa Claus or sock goblins.

There's 2 in my area for sale that are almost identical. Two silver 2004 5-speeds with ivory leather interior and sport design package. First has 35k miles for $16k and second has 88k miles for $12k...they're definitely pricey but i doubt they'll depreciate much further.

I was never really happy with my 01 IS300, partly because it was auto and partly because it was so heavy and unbalanced. I did Greddy coilovers, Hotchkis sway bars & some subframe braces and still the car was very unpredictable at the limit. I autocrossed it a few times and it was rather quick but I never really enjoyed driving it that much. I had a lot of close calls in terms of oversteer on the street, luckily my reflexes were quick enough and I never had an incidents but since then I've driven a few BMWs and they all were very progressive at the limit and felt much more balanced.

I honestly think the IS300 is one of those cars that was trying to be too many things at once. Lexus took the balance out of the car by adding the big iron 3L to give it that "luxury" grunt Americans want. The 2JZ made it front heavy, it got terrible gas mileage, I averaged around 16 city driving spiritedly. In Japan the car came with a lighter high revving 2L inline 4, which gave the car better balance and I'm sure it was a better driving experience.

The 5 speeds are notorious for being weak and having long term issues, and I blew my auto trans at 50k miles...luckily it was covered under powertrain but overall it wasn't the best owning experience. It was in pretty mint condition and I sold it for 10k with 55k miles with a new transmission in it. I just wanted it gone. Don't mean to be a buzzkill but just figured I'd give my $.2 since I owned one for a couple years. They look fantastic and in terms of a daily I think they'd be great if they didn't guzzle so much gas, which I don't mind if the car is quick but even with intake, tune & exhaust they are slow. You have to boost them in order to get real power and that's a total headache.

Here's an old video from 07 from the first autocross I did with it, was fun but again...felt like a pig! Excuse the terrible video quality!

[u2b]MDxw-dFs36Q[/u2b]

not a buzzkill at all, just a good reality check. I'm really looking for feedback of current and previous owners of the car.

When you say that "The 5 speeds are notorious for being weak and having long term issues", do you mean the automatic or manual?

PS. Cool video, looked like fun.

The manuals, they don't hold up well to spirited driving over time and they will NOT handle boosting. The autos are a little stronger in terms of holding power but it's an auto, can't have much fun with it...at least that's me.

I will say I was impressed that at least in the 01's the auto would hold a gear in sport mode, it would bounce off the limiter & wouldn't auto upshift like the garbage out there today. I'm sure me hitting the limiter wasn't good for the tranny and like I mentioned I blew my trans, wasn't pretty. I was drifting around a lot and it just dumped all the fluid, techs said I grenaded the torque converter somehow.

Everyone I know who has had a 5 speed has had at least one clutch in it or worse, and those who went turbo had to swap the Supra's getrag 6 in, go 5 speed auto or 4 speed Supra auto. The reason I got rid of the car was because in order to make it fast or balanced it would take a huge amount of money and custom work, something I wasn't willing to do. I went and bought a driver's car instead and never looked back.

bmw 330i/ci is a better choice

Why? I did compare IS200 vs 320, and lexus is better. It did have better steering feel and it is much more cheaper to maintain. And lexus is better looking car :)

I did own IS200 and i loved it. Very, very good car to drive. Bad mileage tho :burnrubber:

faster, better brakes, steering (subjective?), availability and aftermarket support. Lack of an lsd and subframe issues are the downsides of them. Maintenance costs are not too bad.

I'm surprised to hear the IS200 got bad mileage too, I figured that was an IS300 issue due to the big iron 3L gas-guzzling 2JZ up front.

Wow, sounds like a lot of ppl are having a hard time finding MT IS300...

I just check locally and found few (half dozen) MT... but found lil over dozen AT. Gotta say, it's not unicorn as '98 Impreza 2.5RS green (MT). Now that's a unicorn lol

Anyways, back to vs IS300. FRS/BRZ don't have any upgrade asap, so IS300 have advantage on that... but FRS/BRZ has lighter weight & great overall balance too...

hard choices...

Well, IS200 do have big iron 2L 6-cyl gas-guzzlin engine. It's not utterly bad, but too much for me cos i drive alot.

And add 'ancient' to the 2.0L descriptive list. 1G is oooooold... Mk2 Celica-Supra had 1G in Japan I think...

Yup, Celica XX ('82~'85) had the 1G

Ahh I guess I was assuming the IS200 had the BEAMS inline 4, but that's the RS200. Didn't the IS200 come with the inline 4 in some markets?

RS/AS/IS200 was JP & Euro

I don't think it did as a Lexus. Something about prestige of not having a 4 cylinder, blah, blah... Maybe some markets, but I don't think Europe did, and in North America we had the 'prestige' of not even having a 'tiny' 2 liter 6... Or a manual transmission for a year or two.

Too bad too, a BEAMS-powered RS200 Altezza would make a nice 4-door driveway mate for this car.

86 vs IS300 Relative Performance
 

I have been driving a 2001 IS300 for almost 10 years as a DD and I still find it loads of fun.

I have a deposit down and hope to be driving an asphalt FRS auto in June. I will sell my IS300 to some kid who wants to tune it up.

A lot of people seem worried about the 200 HP on the 86 but given the lower weight I am hoping to see similar performance to the IS300.

I will not track my FRS and if the performance is similar to my current ride it will be a gas. I almost never put the pedal to the floor and I have lots of acceleration any time I want it.

I know the 4 cylinder 2.0 L Boxer is not the 3.0 L straight 6 in the IS but I guess I will find out soon enough.

I believe that the FRS will handle better which to me is the big issue as I really love driving a small RWD car that allows me to take corners without slowing down.

The table below compares the specs of the 2 cars. Any comments from gear heads on the relative performance of the FRS vs the IS300 are welcome.

Car----------Kerb Weight---HP---Torque--hp/lbs---ft lbs/lbs
2001 IS300--3450----------211---212----0.061----0.061
2013 FRS ---2600----------200---151----0.077----0.058
Ratio--------75%----------95%---71%---126%----95%


http://127.0.0.1:8080/uc/PWR2WT.jpg

I learned to drive manual for the sake of test driving the IS300 M/T when I worked summer at a dealership.
Awesome car - smooth engine, and it just felt so easy to drive (even as a M/T newbie)

Same here. I don't understand why people buy an automatic "sports car".

You do realize that Ferarri/Lambo/etc. have not offered a manual tranny in some time right?

Ferrari still offers the California with a manual and the Gallardo is just losing the manual. They're beyond a typical "sports car" though.

Jeff

I think the IS300 in stock form is pretty "meh". 220hp out of a 3300lb car and it barely gets 20mpg. A supercharged one on the other hand, is loads of fun! My friend had one with about 350whp and it was a BEAST... until he blew 3rd gear on the dyno. Yeah, the 5spds are pretty weak from what I've heard, and they're only available from 2002+, so don't bother searching for the '01's if you want a manual.

TRD Japan offers a lot of aftermarket parts for the car which is nice. My friend had massive 4 piston front brakes on his.

01 was the only year available with AT only.
02-05 had the MT.

Jeff

Fixed!