Bimmer325

I'll bring the Kool-Aid!!!!1 Anyway, I'm with Croc. If Mitsu can produce something as competitive and feature-laden as the upcoming next-gen Outlander in their current state, I'm curious to see what lies ahead. They've taken risks with new product like the Eclipse while everyone else is playing it safe...and if the Concept X truly is a preview of their future design direction (Lancer, anyone?), then I'd rather they stick around. Everyone is constantly complaining about how bland and boring Japanese brands are. Mitsubishi promises to break that trend within the next few years, so I'm not sure where the animosity is coming from.

Better? ----- Bimmer325 (2) FlyBrian (5) Ravenfreak13 (1) Satty (1) BV (.5) (Mom) -----

The IS, GS, and upcoming LS are all exclusive to Lexus.

Mitsubishi could withdraw from U.S. Link: http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/06/02/mit...thdraw-from-us/ Mitsubishi product strategist Shinichi Kurihara at press event in Japan last week that if the automaker’s newest vehicles don’t sell well in the United States, the automaker might not be able to stay in the country. Kurihara said the vehicles like the Outlander, Lancer, and Eclipse have to “be successful for us to stay in business in the U.S.” In recent years, Mitsubishi has seen sales and revenue fall considerably.

LOL. At least now I know your joking...

The (un)official list of recent accidents... Bimmer325 (2) FlyBrian (4+?) Ravenfreak13 (1) Satty (1) Can't think of the others right now.

Okay...I acknowledge that the IS isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the Grand Prix comparisons can't go on any longer. Aside from the rear-window area, I fail to see any resemblance between the two. I think we can agree that the notion that Lexus (or any carmaker, for that matter) would benchmark a vehicle as homely as the Grand Prix is ridiculous. GP (rear) IS (rear) GP (side) IS (side) GP (front angle) IS (front angle) GP (front) IS (front)

The IS' interior is class-leading in my eyes. This is a basically bone-stock sample:

We've already seen the design language that'll debut with the next-generation Lancer (think Concept X). If the translation to production is successful enough, it'll really help Mitsu's bottom line. Signs of cost-cutting really aren't as apparent as one would expect with models like the new Outlander.

8 2 4

Funny BMW ad I came across. Figured Sixty8 would get a kick out of this.

A quick check shows the shirts actually aren't offered for free anymore. Chevy Mall has them starting at about $16. The selection looks to have changed from when I ordered mine. Here's a link... http://www.chevymall.com/shopping/product/...iProductID=3903

Free.99

Huh? The Pathfinder is Miss Universe compared with the Durango. Actually, I don't find it ugly at all.

How do you lose by buying an Xterra? No, really. Explain yourself.

I recently drove my friend's '01 Audi A4 1.8T. Easily one of the slowest cars I've driven. I literally floored it and the engine hesitated for a good 3-4 seconds before anything happened.

306 horsepower is underwhelming? I agree that the 250 could use more ponies (something that may soon be remedied), but the 350 is downright fast.

Honestly, the 1970 Challenger isn't the kind of "sweet-looking heritage" I'd be looking to emulate if I were Dodge. The Challenger and Charger may share a somewhat similar design language, but the Charger's proportions are far more modern. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Challenger's awkward stance, frumpy roofline, and ridiculous proportions are all 1970. Dodge isn't doing us any favor by ressurecting them in a market that's now far more competitive. Yes, it's fun that Dodge produced a new car that looks like it's three decades old. But at the same time, it lacks an ounce of innovation and pales in comparison to what Chevy's done with the Camaro. Sure, people yearning to re-live the 70s will buy one. The real trouble will come two years into it's run when everyone who wanted one has already gotten theirs.

Thank you. DCX barely went far enough to give the Challenger modern proportions.

Unless the car was specially-ordered w/ the 17" wheels, it's odd that a fully-loaded 350 would have them. They 18" wheels are standard fare on the 350.

Lexus goes after BMW's 3-series It's a nimble little rear-wheel-drive four-door car with sophisticated engineering to protect you from yourself when you realize how easy it is to drive fast. Photos and Video at Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...MTGEHJ1JBT1.DTL Michael Taylor, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, May 26, 2006 The real question about the Lexus IS350 could be: Would the Toyota/Lexus design team that came up with this swoopy little, un-Lexus-like car take umbrage if we said this car resembles a BMW three-series sedan? Has Lexus been around long enough to have carved out a reputation as prestigious as the one BMW has garnered (or thought it's garnered)? Or is it simply a laggard that has to be incessantly compared to BMW? I ask this only because it's clear that Toyota (the parent of the Lexus brand) was going after BMW (and, to a lesser extent, the Infiniti G35) when they revamped the sales-lagging IS300, made it bigger and more sumptuous, made it more upscale, more prosperous feeling. But enough of BMW -- it gets plenty of ink and the point here is the IS350. We haven't driven the BMW 330i (the closest thing to an IS350), and this review is not going to be a comparison. The IS300, introduced nearly six years ago, was a nervous, almost twitchy little four-door, a somewhat uncomfortable or cramped-feeling car, a far cry from the roominess of, say, a Lexus 400 series sedan. Which brings us full circle to the image of luxury Lexus has created in the United States ever since it introduced the LS400 sedan back in 1989 (as a 1990 model). That was the car whose signature ad showed a full glass of water sitting on the hood while that smooth V8 was running and nary a drop was spilled. Enter the IS350 and Lexus is showing that it can cater to a variety of tastes. The IS350 is a nimble little rear-wheel-drive four-door that starts life at $35,440 and in tested form, with its three hefty performance and luxury packages, bottom-lines out at $46,593. (Lexus also makes two other, less expensive iterations of the IS350: the IS250 two-wheel drive, with a base price of $29,990, and the all-wheel-drive IS250, whose sticker starts at $34,285.) On first glance of the IS350, it's evident that somebody at Toyota was thinking about how you put five people in a car that is only 180 inches long (the BMW 330i is nearly the same size and weight at the IS350. (Editor's note: Enough already about the BMW!) and make it spacious enough to hold them for long journeys. To that end, the passengers are cosseted in leather and treated to the ministrations of the upscale Mark Levinson 300-watt audio system with 14 speakers dotted about the cabin. And there are so many other electronic gadgets and design innovations to play with that you could easily take a family of four from the Bay Area to Los Angeles and not tire of all of them. A word here about the complexity of what you must deal with in buying a car these days. After spending nearly an hour and a half with the 415-page Owner's Manual and the 281-page Navigation System Owner's Manual, I figured out how to work most of the car's gizmos. So ... does the world really need, for example, a keyless car? You start the Lexus with a proximity fob, the current fashion in upscale cars -- the fob senses it's in or near the car, giving permission to fire it up. First things to be noticed on entering the car, particularly at night: they've illuminated the scuff plates with the word "Lexus," spelled out in an azure blue that looks like it's at the bottom of a swimming pool; then there are the muted under-the-dashboard footwell lights that make you think you're stepping down the ramp of a darkened movie theater. In the front doors, the small cargo bins flap inward toward the seats and have a convenient shaped cutout, at one end, for our ubiquitous water bottles. When you put the car in reverse, the outside mirrors dip down (the better to see small children or animals) and the navigation screen suddenly displays what's in back of you, courtesy of a rear-viewing camera. The car has rain-sensing wipers, memory settings for both front seats, an electrically operated sunshade over the rear window and, on the steering wheel, the usual remote controls for sound and cruise control as well as a few buttons for using the Bluetooth phone system hands-free. Which, of course, brings up the issue of safety, something Lexus likes to talk about. In addition to "vehicle stability control" and "traction control," almost de rigueur on today's luxo cars, the IS350 has a VDIM (Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management) system, which sounds like something buried deep in the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency. The system effectively talks to all the other sub systems on the car -- the anti-lock brakes, electronic brake and throttle controls and the suspension to "maximize driving pleasure while these systems help to provide control in marginal driving conditions to assist drivers on even the most difficult roads." Translation: Lexus is trying to keep its giddy new car owners from driving waaaayyyy over their heads on the nearest back roads they can find -- think of the young stockbroker, flush with his year-end bonus, zooming out of the Lexus showroom, his eyes spinning faster than his new car's 17-inch, 10-spoke aluminum alloy wheels. He's filled with the kind of hubris that only a 306-horsepower, zero-to-60 in under six seconds kind of car will give him and within 15 minutes, he is slinging his new $47,000 Lexus off a cliff. Perhaps VDIM will save him from himself. Another life-saving measure is the $2,850 Pre-Collision System's Dynamic Radar Cruise, using radar waves to "detect obstacles in front of the car." I can testify, after a morning journey in sparse traffic over the Bay Bridge, that it works quite well, in its eerie way, slowing down to the speed of a slow-moving bus in front of me. On the road, the IS350 mixes all these attributes with a confidence that, yes, inspires you to drive fast. To that end, there's a clever little device to remind you of how fast you're going: at a pre-set speed, an orange ring of light appears in the white-on-black electroluminescent speedometer -- it catches your eye subliminally. There's a similar warning for the tachometer so that, in a fit of exuberance -- our stockbroker above -- you don't scatter bits and pieces of highly expensive 3.5-liter V6 engine all over Interstate 5. The car drives the way it was designed -- it's a sports sedan and it gives no quarter to mountain passes and other twisties. At the same time, it will take you to the opera opening without a bit of shame. After all, it really doesn't have to talk to those down-market guys from Germany.

That's funny. The more I see of the Caliber, the more I hate it. Literally.

Damn, I was so close. Still...it was a Toyota, and six days is almost a week.

Garbage. It's hard to take his bashing of the 6's exterior styling seriously when he's referred to the Z4 as "a triumph of modern design".

A few of my summer job alternatives have recently fallen through, so I'm back to exploring my options. Coincidentally, I'm looking to pursue a job similar to what Northie posted earlier this week. I'm extremely interested in detailing or "prepping" new or pre-owned cars at a local dealership (or another dealership-related job, for that matter), I'm just not entirely sure how I should pursue this. I haven't found anything in the paper advertising such a position, and I'm not sure if dealerships would be interested in hiring a 17-year-old. I'd like to contact a few local dealerships, but I'm not sure exactly what I should say. What positions would a dealership likely be interested in hiring a younger person for? Does such a job seem feasible for someone my age? I've worked for a catering company for two years, but don't really have any dealership-related experience. I do, however, have a full license. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Bimmer