Today I am writing about my “Test Drive” experience with the all new Super-Hot Lexus IS 350 F-Sport. Earlier this week I received the Lexus IS 350 F-Sport from Lexus to test drive and review. Every job have its perks and if you are like me and you love your cars, then Test Driving a new car is always awesome!
When I got the Lexus IS 350 F-Sport the clock had 3500 km meters on it, and one week later it is now standing on 5500 km. This should be an indication of how much I liked driving the car. Usually the Car Manufacturers fill up the tank, and there is plenty of fuel to do the test drive. In the case of the Lexus IS 350 F-Sport I had to dig into my own-pocket to refill the car. It was just too much fun driving than to let fuel stand in my way of thoroughly enjoying and testing the car.
This review may sound a bit unbiased towards the car but I can assure you that Lexus South Africa haven’t influence this review in any way! Unlike many other Automotive Manufacturers that gives you literature and a lesson on the car before you can spin the wheels, Lexus have just dropped of the car without giving any restrictions or Sales talk and literature about the car. They just dropped it off, handing me the keys and told me to enjoy every moment, which I did!
Getting back to the fuel part, when I got the Lexus the Fuel indicator showed fuel usage at 12.8 liter per 100km and I thought that the beast is going to be extremely hungry for fuel. I was however surprised at the fuel usage which dropped to a more economical 10.9 liter per 100 km in city traffic.
On the open road I got 9.8 liter per 100 km and I weren’t playing around and pushed the car to see what it is made of. (In the image below you can see that I was driving 141 km per hour when I took this picture, my average cruising speed ranged between 120 Km per hour and 160 km per hour.)
The fuel efficiency comes close to the 9.7 Fuel consumption (urban cycle) l/100km that Lexus officially claim on the Marketing Materials for the Lexus IS 350 F-Sport but I guess they weren’t doing more than 120 Km per hour when they did their tests. The Lexus brand is the Japanese version of German Luxury vehicles and although I am foremost a German Car Manufacture fan I must admit that I am considering trading my German Luxury Car for a permanent Lexus. Simply because the Lexus is just as much if not more fun to drive, and when doing some long distance (Johannesburg to Standerton) the car did not make me feel tired.
Lexus IS 350 F-Sport Speedometer Digital Display
Long before I became a Motor Journalist I was and am still a Programmer and are a complete Techno Junkie, I love technology and it did do the car favor when I started playing with the Lexus IS 350 F-Sport Digital display and Speedometer. It is simply stunning and if you are into technology you will also love the display. The Lexus IS 350 F-Sport Speedometer is cleverly designed to give a 3D Display which looks a lot like a normal speedometer but it is computer generated. Just the technology that renders the display so beautifully digitally is amazing, and if I don’t stop myself now I will continue raving about the display.
With easy to understand controls on the steering wheel you can manipulate and change the display to get more information in the dashboard and speedometer display. By pressing the more info button the speedometer slides to the right and a digital display opens on the left showing information like fuel usage. Moving from one info panel to another you can view your direction of traveling, and if the GPS system is active you can view parts of the map conveniently within the computerized digital display, which is awesome. Browsing more you can view radio stations, current music playing and DVD settings.
I don’t know why but I haven’t took an image of the “Sports” mode digital speedometer display, but it completely changes the look of the speedometer when “Sports” mode is active and it gives a racing car feeling to the car. On second thought I hope that I might tease you enough with the “Sports Display” for you to go and test drive the car. I remember when I was a small boy and Knight Rider were the hottest car on the block I wanted to own a car one day with a comput erized system, which I have now found in the Lexus IS 350 F-Sport. It is simply awesome to switch from Eco Mode to Racing mode, and it did something to the small boy in me playing with these controls. (Here I am raving about the digital display again). Trust me, if you like Technology you will love it, it is awesome!
Test Driving the Lexus IS 350 F-Sport
When Lexus introduced the Lexus GS into the market they had a Super Bowl Television commercial where the Lexus breaks out of a container and drives out of what looks like a parking area. The Lexus GS mantra is “Change cannot be contained” so I thought I would do some test driving inside a parking area to see if the Lexus IS 350 F-Sport can be contained! Check out the video below or on YouTube to get a feeling of what it is like behind the steering of this awesome car!
