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Lexus IS to get 2.0L Turbo Four-Cylinder

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#1 ·
Lexus IS to get 2.0L Turbo Four-Cylinder
LeftLaneNews
April 22, 2014
By: Nat Shirley


While the latest Lexus IS has received almost universal praise for its engaging handling, one ***** in the sport sedan's armor has been its base motor, the IS 250's antiquated and underpowered 2.5-liter V6.
To provide buyers who don't want to step up to the IS 350's 3.5-liter V6 with a more enticing engine option, Lexus will offer the IS with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, according to a Motor Trend report.

Full article at link.
 
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#3 ·
Styling is subjective...as long as the quality and performance are in line with what they're charging then they will sell. And yes, this is a bit hypocritical on my part due to my hatred of the SS purely due to its looks.
 
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#7 ·
Well this couldn't arrive soon enough.



New GS250 (300, whatever) that takes five grand off the base price and makes the opening price far more competitive with the A6 and 5-Series. And Lexus, don't be stingy with the 8AT. Make that standard across the range, ya'er?
 
#6 · (Edited)
Everyone knew this was coming and it's long overdue to replace the anemic decade old entry level six cylinder.

In typical Toyota fashion they go ultra conservative on hp. I suppose they are protecting their V6 by having the brand new Turbo 4 produce 235hp?

The torque is good but 235 hp out of a 2.0 Turbo is weaksauce by todays standards, especially with a new release.
 
#10 ·
The 2.5 is a boat anchor and should have been retired with the outgoing 2nd-gen IS. GM always catches hell for releasing an all-new car with carryover engines, if only for a year. Yet, when Toyo/Lexus does it, no one says a word.

And even while this turbo 4-pot is an improvement, it's not even class competitive in terms of output. That all said, Lexus will sell a ton of these because it's cheap (relatively) and that "L" on the grille has cache.
 
#12 ·
According to the article the IS will be offered with the 2.0T engine, so you can get it with either the 2.5L V-6 base engine, 2.0T I-4 engine, or 3.5L V-6 engine. It will bring the car more in line with engine lineups like what the ATS offers (2.5L, 2.0T, 3.6L) and with the BMW 3 series now that you can get the 320i in the states.

The funny thing is these new engines are really messing up the nomenclature, if they call it the Lexus IS200 (being a 2.0L engine) then people may not understand that its between the 250 and 350. If they call it the IS300 (which may make some sense) then it is missing a 3.0L engine for that name.
 
#25 ·
This car needed this engine years ago. The 2.5 is anemic, and gets mediocre mileage. As for the power ratings, I wouldn't worry about it. The ATS 2.0T is rated as having best-in-class power but is the slowest out of the 328i and A4 2.0T. Lexus probably took their time and made sure all the kinks were worked out with this engine.
 
#34 ·
Honestly I feel that BMW's push has more to do with Mercedes sales success and BMW not being considered a true luxury brand by many people. They spent a lot of marketing to portray their vehicles as sports sedans and pushing the sporty characteristics of their cars that they were not considered to be a luxury car at least when compared to Mercedes. I think both Mercedes and BMW are getting into similar trouble that Cadillac got themselves into when they started to focus on the lower end luxury market back in the 1950s.

I feel that BMW has a long ways to go if they really want to be a true Mercedes competitor as I feel Mercedes easily has them beat when it comes to luxury.
 
#35 ·
Globally, Mercedes was third last year in sales compared to Audi, who has continued to focus on sportiness even as BMW goes towards a luxurious tilt to their sport-luxury. I believe even in China MB is in third place to the other two Germans with regard to sales volume. MB's cars seem more traditional in design and persona, so on a whim I'd have guessed they'd be the top seller in China. Mercedes is kind of going sportier, but only marginally at this point. I think Mercedes ranked third in 2012 as well, and maybe in years prior. All three have become major successes globally, which may come as a surprise if only would look exclusively at sales in the US only. Audi sold about half as many cars in the US as did BMW and MB.

Your reference to Mercedes' association with luxury is quite accurate, IMO. BMW has been premium, but more sporty than luxurious. Audi is.....tech-y? I'm not entirely new. Neo-German, something with German engineering but fresher than the other two? I'm not sure.
 
#37 ·
I wouldn't count BMW out too quickly, what the mags are saying now is that while the 3 and 5 series are pretty cushy, the 2 and 4 series retain the sporty side of the market, and since you can now get the 4 and 6 in sedan form as well (is there a 2 sedan? I can barely keep track) enthusiasts can still get what they want, at a higher price of course.

I am in China and it is surprising how quickly BMW has caught up to Audi in terms of sales. I think the 5 series is more or less neck to neck with the A6, that's certainly what I see on the street when it comes to the newest generation - F10 vs C7 although of course there are far more previous generation Audis than old BMWs. It seems to me that China is converging with the US in this respect. The decade or so lead that Audi had in terms of product bandwidth is rapidly falling away and BMW should be on track to sales leadership in both countries. They are slightly hampered by the fact that the 3 series - sized segment is not a very big one in China - very few people buy C-class or A4s either so BMW's traditional selling point of having the best compact sport sedan/coupe is sort of moot.

MB seems to do well with the S-class and the SUVs, but the E-class since the last gen has been a failure, for reasons unclear to me. Maybe it's because they don't really resonate with young buyers while older buyers are already defaulting to Audi.
 
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