IS250 and Q50 not "Recommended"
 

Taken from CNBC article on Consumer Reports bashing the new IS250 and Q50. Yes they're sedans, but there will be a Q60 Coupe and IS Coupe as luxury competitors to our FT86.

Side note, CR gave the FRS/BRZ high ratings, Recommended status, and their top pick for sports car.

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Lexus, Infiniti get rare 'not recommended' reviews

Lexus and Infiniti, two Japanese luxury brands with well-established reputations for quality vehicles, have received an unflattering designation from Consumer Reports (CR). The auto team at Consumer Reports has said it cannot recommend the Lexus IS 250 and Infiniti Q50 after both placed among the lowest in rankings of luxury sedans.

In describing the Q50, Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports said "this car seems to have lost its way." As for the Lexus IS 250, Consumer Reports said, the sedan "scored too low to be recommended."

Consumer Reports recommends vehicles that perform well in a series of tests and have average or better reliability in the organization's annual auto survey of vehicle owners. How models perform in government crash tests is another factor considered when vehicles are recommended.

CR pans Lexus road test
Consumer Reports editors gave a harsh review of the Lexus IS 250 saying, "It was the worst road test score posted by any Lexus sedan in recent memory."

While the sedan was given an overall rating of "good", CR panned the car's performance. "The Lexus IS handling is short on finesse, with vague-feeling steering that doesn't telegraph much feedback. Road noise is elevated and the ride is neither plush nor tied-down," it said. "[The IS 250] acceleration lacks punch. Fuel economy is disappointing at 21 mpg overall in CR's own tests," it added.

A Lexus spokesperson responded to the report said, "Lexus is unclear on the cause for the low rating. We look forward to engaging in a discussion with them to get more direct feedback on their experience with the car. The 2014 IS sedan is resonating extremely well with customers, automotive and other non-automotive publications."

Road tests highlight issues
Consumer Reports said the Inifiniti Q50 did very good in the CR road tests. Still, the sedan ranked below competitors due to a number of issues the magazine editors found with the car.

Consumer Reports said, "The Q50 isn't as much fun to drive as the G37. Handling is mundane, due in part to dull steering. The underwhelming driving experience strips the car of much of its sporty legacy." The CR auto team did praise the Q50 as "very quick, even with the added weight of the optional all-wheel-drive system."

A spokesperson for Infiniti said, "despite scoring well, the Q50 is still too new for their (Consumer Reports) reliability results, which is necessary to categorize the car as 'Recommended.' We're confident that when those results are in, the Q50 will be on the 'Recommended' list."

CNBC.com
Lexus, Infiniti get rare 'not recommended' reviews

That's crazy. The IS is winning tests in most car magazines, yet not consumer reports. My mom loves hers, as does everyone else I've talked to that owns them. They're a lot better than the previous generation.

Well, CR tested the IS 250, which does have a pretty frumpy engine. All the magazine reviews have been for the IS 350.

Not all of them.

IS350 FTW.

I never consider the slow IS250 200hp~3,600 lbs. New IS350 Fsport has good rating above the 335i in term of better driver car and handling. I think it was either motor trend or car&driver reviewed few months ago.

While I don't go to CR for car reviews, consider that these automakers PAY the cheerleading mags like R&T and Car and Driver for ad space. CR is truly independent, they don't have a vested interest in making Lexus or Infiniti happy.
I'd honestly rather drive an IS300 or a G35 than these newer, bigger, heavier iterations. Especially given the Q50's steer-by-wire (unfortunately a harbinger...).

When I heard about the steer by wire, I think I almost spat my drink onto my screen. Lexus tried it on the LS and they had to recall the cars, but the Q50 isn't even that long, there's no point to it by any stretch of the imagination.

IS is boring but will probably last forever.... CR should stick to what they know, I really don't give a shit what they think about handling

IS250 and IS350 is on the same chasis, different engine. These two are new and very good vehicle, even better than 3 Series in many aspects. Though Q50 is not recommended, I understand that.

But I disagree with IS new bred being under evaluated. It sounds like those people don't know about car, or they was poisoned by too much Kool-Aid.

CR should stick to reviewing toasters and freezers.. While they may be more independent than the popular car mags.. They don't consider that sporty type cars have firm rides and fewer cup holders. They judge these attributes as they would against other commuter type cars. Not a fair evaluation for cars designed for enthusiasts who don't care about frivolous aspects of their ride..

These seem like fair evaluations from the sports/sporty car enthusiast's point of view:

"The Lexus IS handling is short on finesse, with vague-feeling steering that doesn't telegraph much feedback."

"The Q50 isn't as much fun to drive as the G37. Handling is mundane, due in part to dull steering. The underwhelming driving experience strips the car of much of its sporty legacy."

Meanwhile, the paid-for-by-the-auto-industry "enthusiast" magazines gush as much as they reasonably can, and even they are underwhelmed by these cars. They're too big and too heavy, A-B appliances to look good/successful in, perfectly acceptable for modern-day Japanese Buicks.

It's interesting all the arguments about a car being heaving in the past few years, shouldn't it be obvious where the automotive brands should be working on then?

I'm really surprised about the Q50!

I think it's a sharp car, obviously it's not going to be as much fun to drive as a G37 coupe, but still...it's a big leap forward for Infiniti IMO

Lexus is making some decent moves lately, but I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about these Darth Vader looking front ends

Nick C.