13th Feb 2001, 22:10
The Lexus IS200 has been reviewed as being one of, if not the, finest handling four door cars ever built, and my own experience only backs that up. Is indeed interesting that there are people in this world who have grown up with no idea of how to drive a truly well balanced car. Perhaps the gentlemen who have problems with their Lexus' leaving the road backwards should buy Subaru WRX'. They could then understeer off the road in this much overrated car.
23rd Feb 2001, 20:05
The car only has 150bhp, so you must have been showing off to your mates and driving like a damn fool for the conditions. I love the car man, and the handling is spot on, provided you treat it with respect. Go and buy yourself an Escort, this car is too classy for you and you would be better of with a front wheel drive (no "death trap" oversteer to cope with).
5th Mar 2001, 10:23
In response to the thoughts posted by the other contributors. I have been driving for 35 years in various rear and front wheel drive vehicles, as have my colleagues.
At no time have I experienced this behaviour in a vehicle apart from under the conditions you have mentioned, this is why it came as such a surprise. Especially after reading such glowing reviews before selecting this car.
I only hope that our IS200s are rogues and you do not go through the "fun" of losing control at 25 MPH in damp conditions depositing you in front of oncoming traffic.
One solution to this has come from my local dealership and it is that the unidirectional tyres appear to lose grip at between 10-15000 miles and interestingly this is when all of our cars experieced unpredictability.
2nd May 2001, 06:22
Uni-directional tyres??? Last time I looked they were directional!!!
I would check if you have the correct tyres fitted, unless you have the crap base model is200 that is???
4th May 2001, 09:02
I have just ordered my new Lexus IS200 Sport (with styling kit). After an extended test drive (3days) I found the car to be almost perfect!
However I do agree with other comments I have read, it does need more Bhp, 30-45 more horses should do it! Who can chip these cars? (mail me kool4813@hotmail.com)
The 18" wheels provide that extra bit of bite on the road, so the guy that says his was stepping out needs to buy the car with the wheels that it was meant to have.
11th May 2001, 11:24
Hi, I'm sorry, but I have been driving for many years now and you have to be driving more than boy racer-ish to even get an old banger car with destroyed suspension off the road and into hedges.
I think your heading 'potential death trap' is somewhat misleading.
19th Jun 2001, 07:49
The back of my Lexus kicked out at 60 mph on snow whilst driving in a straight line.
To say I was surprised is an understatement. I wrapped it round the barrier and span 4 times down the motorway. I have driven rear wheel drives before and am not a boy racer.
11th Jul 2001, 06:21
This car is definitely over-rated and I agree with the originator of this topic.
The car's butt skips out at relatively low speed and LEXUS have admitted to having to replace front and rear shocks due to knocking The low profile tyres wear out quickly - you will be lucky to get 10,000 miles on these tyres.
Some may be fortunate and not need to have the shocks, road wheels and rear disks replaced - but push LEXUS for replacements as the AA were brought in to my problem and agreed with my findings.
18th Jul 2001, 03:15
I read this review before I selected my Lexus and frankly as other people have commented, thought it was down to bad driving on the reviewers part. However a couple of days ago on a slightly damp road exiting a junction and going up a hill, I found the traction control inexplicably turning on, then as it stopped the back end kicked out and bingo I'm wrestling myself out of a spin. Fortunately it was only at about 20mph and there was no oncoming traffic so I was able to recover without any damage to the car.
I have to say though, my immediate thought was that the comment above was absolutely right. I sincerely hope that it was me and not the car because it has been the only glitch in 10 months and 20,000 miles. Otherwise it has been absolutely spot on and a joy to drive.
23rd Jul 2001, 08:56
I have to agree with the original comment made. We were driving at a fairly slow speed (50mph) on a damp road when the back end kicked out sending us into a spin. There were no sharp corners or sharp braking. Had there been any other traffic coming in the other direction I would hate to think what the outcome would have been. There is something seriously wrong with this car that would worry me a great deal.
26th Jul 2001, 01:39
As someone who isn't an owner of an IS200, I'm hesitant to add my own 2 pence worth. However, as a performance car driver (Celica GT4, ST205 model), I find it very hard to understand how a car's tail can kick out, even in damp conditions, unless you were in some kind of corner - the laws of physics would seem to dictate that it should not happen on a straight. You have to have cornering forces applied to the tyres in order for them to break loose. The only way I could see this happening on a straight is if your car is fitted with a Limited slip differential, one of the rear wheels may have slowed or locked momentarily - that could cause the tail to kick out.
I would suggest you have your dealer look at it - if enough people make enough of a fuss, Lexus will have to investigate as they are very sensitive about their brand reputation.
G.
11th Aug 2001, 05:05
I have had a Lexus IS200 Sport for 14 months. The car has twice spun out from the rear end in snow conditions going up slight inclines. The car was travelling at low speed and the car ended up planted in the roadside hedgerow. On both occasions my wife and kids were in the car, this was a very frightening experience for them. We took our other car, an 8 year old Rover out in the same conditions and experienced no-such difficulties.
I have been driving cars for a long time and many different models, and have never experienced this kind of performance. I have had Lexus inspect the car and have been told that it is "performing to specification", although they have confirmed that 13,000 would not be excessive wear on the Bridgestone 215/45ZR17 tyres. I look forward to approaching Lexus again with all the other contributors comments.
20th Jan 2001, 09:06
I have lost the back end twice with this car, but how fast do you need to go to get it off the road??? When it happened (on oil or diesel, may I add) I just ended up diagonally coming off a roundabout. You must be pushing it some to get those wide tyres to slip!