Horses for courses. I liked the style, drive and quality of the car and have driven my mates BMW 335d for comparison. There is no comparison in terms of power as the BMW was clearly the winner, but in terms of ride quality, handling, general build quality etc there was very little in it. The BMW steering had slightly more feel, but I put that down to the heavier feel of the wheel - the steering is quite light on the Lexus, which I liked more than the heavier feel of the BMW. Similarly the damping and suspension felt very similar indeed. It is no secret that Lexus picked apart more than a few BMW's when setting the suspension for the IS. Maybe I'm a little cynical when it comes to journalism and even car journalism, but the fact that a BMW 3 series gets 5 stars and a Lexus IS gets 2 stars, when there is realistically very little inbetween them (and in some cases the Lexus is better IMHO) then what other judgement is there to be made?
Fair comment, EVO were heavily criticized a couple of years back for rating Porsche's too highly, which i did agree with to be honest seeing as the Nissan GT-R had just come out and for the money it wiped the floor with a 997 Carrera 2S!
I think the Lexus is a great car, i do think the styling is great, and the interior is far more imaginative than a 3-series interior!
So come on Hurdy, when are you going to spill the beans about the spec of your Atom? Have you bought it yet?
