Saturday, October 4, 2008

Plenty of Competition... This Time Lexus

There are two additional luxury hardtop convertible competitors coming to take on the venerable BMW 3-series: the Infiniti G37 and Lexus IS250C. Lexus is the first to hit the auto show circuit having debuted their hardtop this past week at the Paris Auto Show. Funny side note, check out the wheels on the show car. They look quite a bit like the BMW 335i with sport package wheels, Style 189.

The folding top action is reminiscent of the hardtop action on the Chrysler Sebring. Fortunately for Lexus, the top up and top down looks give the car a similar sporty look like the BMW. You can see the top action in the video below.

Having driven the Lexus IS series a couple times (my wife drives a Lexus RX and I request the IS as a loaner car), I haven't been impressed by the car's driving dynamics nor the leather of the seats. The IS just feels boring. Corning stinks as does the constant over-steer of the car. None of this will really matter for the convertible version as I'm sure it will attract a fairly large percentage of female drivers who want it more for it's look than it's handling. But don't get me wrong, the Lexus is a nice car and would make a great cruiser for a lot of us who enjoy convertibles as a third recreational car. more.


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