[gangzoom]

****Update on POST 18****

So after waiting nearly 3 months the replacement to our trusty Civic has arrived…It’s a Lexus IS300H Premier. Electric every thing, internet access, pre-crash braking, surround sound, and best of all the hybrid drivetrain…All of a sudden the 335i seems very very outdate. I think me and the wife will be fighting for the keys to the Lexus .

Did 70 miles today, mixture of M ways (80 mph cruising) and city traffic, fuel gauge hardly moved, computer reporting 47mpg, range of 630 miles...So just a bit better than the 25mpg and 300 miles range I'm currently getting in the 335i

[Kerr]

It'll be interesting to see how it goes and how you get on.

[Timujin]

USA doesn't get this. Congrats.

[mob17]

Congrats, the styling is quite nice.

What was the mpg when just cruising at 80?

I'm sure you'll be back to loving your 335 after a week or so!

[makkan00]

Congrats on getting new car.

Few things though... I get approx 45mpg out of 520d if its on standard map and 43mpg if its on DTUK box. Perhaps your mpg will get better.

And I cannot understand why lexus gave those nike logos as DRLS....

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by Kerr

It'll be interesting to see how it goes and how you get on.

I’ll see how it goes over the next 6 months, but initial impressions are good. Lexus are making some interesting cars these days…RC-F excluded, but the GSF looks good

Originally Posted by makkan00

Congrats on getting new car.

Few things though... I get approx 45mpg out of 520d if its on standard map and 43mpg if its on DTUK box. Perhaps your mpg will get better.

I know diesels are still king when your doing big miles, I use to get 55mpg+ regularly in the Civic on a 40 mile commute. But after spending 18 months commuting in a diesel I’ve had enough of listening to that horrible diesel rattle whilst stuck in traffic (Even my father-in-laws E class sounds like a tractor at idle).

In additional we no longer need a car to do long commutes, and most journeys will be 10 miles or so in city traffic, which isn’t good for most modern diesels with DPFs….So we nether need a diesel and I certainly didn’t want one, so the IS300H offers excellent mpg but the smoothness/refinement of a petrol engine

The IS300H apparently takes about 5000 miles to really loosen up, I managed to get over 60mpg in the demo car we hard whilst doing some urban commuting




The engine bay is pretty packed, but the hybrid unit is a non-service item, and apparently in over a decade of selling hybrid cars Lexus have only needed to replace/repair a handful of units, which is good since we are planning to keep the car for upto 10 years

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

I’ll see how it goes over the next 6 months, but initial impressions are good. Lexus are making some interesting cars these days…RC-F excluded, but the GSF looks good





I know diesels are still king when your doing big miles, I use to get 55mpg+ regularly in the Civic on a 40 mile commute. But after spending 18 months commuting in a diesel I’ve had enough of listening to that horrible diesel rattle whilst stuck in traffic (Even my father-in-laws E class sounds like a tractor at idle).

In additional we no longer need a car to do long commutes, and most journeys will be 10 miles or so in city traffic, which isn’t good for most modern diesels with DPFs….So we nether need a diesel and I certainly didn’t want one, so the IS300H offers excellent mpg but the smoothness/refinement of a petrol engine

The IS300H apparently takes about 5000 miles to really loosen up, I managed to get over 60mpg in the demo car we hard whilst doing some urban commuting




The engine bay is pretty packed, but the hybrid unit is a non-service item, and apparently in over a decade of selling hybrid cars Lexus have only needed to replace/repair a handful of units, which is good since we are planning to keep the car for upto 10 years

Japanese are well known for reliability. On a side note, my friend's hybrid civic packed up after 10 years which gives you impression that these cars have life line of 10 years if you use carefully otherwise less than that.

Good luck and hope you enjoy it

[misterS3]

Nice Car.

Not sure about the rear end below the lights in the 3/4 view you posted above. It's almost like they wanted to do something different to the 3 series and went a bit swish/slash crazy! I guess it's just that it's new and once it's been out a while (like the Bangle BMW's) everyone will get used to it. BTW i have no idea about style fashion or design. So it's probably a good thing

Enjoy!

[Mani59]

Looks great! Really like it!

Been reading your posts on the Lexus Owners Club forum.
Any chance of some photos of the interior? How does it compare to your E90?

[DanTheManc]

It looks like its been involved in a rear end shunt in your third photo.

I'm sure it a great car and you're very happy with it but I must admit, I much prefer your 3 series.

[E92Dan]

Ahaaaaa

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by Raj59

Looks great! Really like it!

Been reading your posts on the Lexus Owners Club forum.
Any chance of some photos of the interior? How does it compare to your E90?

Comparing it to the E90 is abit unfair, because the Lexus has only been out since 2013, and the spec we have gone for is the absolute top of the range, only feature missing is a sun roof which we didn't want.

It's the most not adventurous design, but just as with the E90, the main focus is the driver, so everything is easily in reach, and not distracting. The sat nav system isn't as easy to use and the graphics no where near as nice as the iDrive system. But I've got use it to after 48hrs, and quite happy with it now.

The quality of the finish though is a level about the E90, I haven't been in a F30 so cannot comment on that, but the material used and general feel is not far off the E-Class my father in-law has.









Still getting to know the car really, have done 150 miles in 2 days in it already, and probably will hit 300 miles by the end of the week, so will have a better impression of the hybrid drive train.....Best complement it's had so far I suppose was from my mother-in law, who knows little about cars, after a brief outing, she said 'It's like your BMW in here isn't it' ...Which I suppose was the design aim for Lexus...Still the F30 might be better but I cannot comment on that.

One thing is for sure, the Lexus is 100% better than the diesel Honda Civic it replaced, I use to find any excuse not to use the Civic for commuting even though I knew it was x2 more economical than the 335i, but for the last 3 days the 335i hasn't even been started.

[dy63]

im actually digging that interior

[Waspo]

Originally Posted by cupraraj

im actually digging that interior

Bit 'Boxy', all squarish! IMHO. Like the outside lines though! Almost a CSL Style Boot going on there!

[singh21]

The side skirts look mean

[AWSAWS]

How does it handle, corner, accelerate? You going to add more batteries to super tune it?

[paulf61]

I like, not sure about the 'hybrid' badge on the side skirts though..

[gangzoom]

So we’ve had the Lexus for well over 2 weeks now, and mileage is now over 700, with me doing most of those miles.

I’m more than impressed with the Lexus, overall mpg is improving with every trip, at the weekend got nearly 60mpg on a 100mile trip down the M1 down to London with cruise control set at 70mph, come the summer, and the engine loosened up I wouldnt be surprised if itll hit 65mpg regularly….Which for luxury saloon, stuffed full of gadgets/leather and is more refined than my father-in laws Merc E cleass is pretty astonding



Lot’s of online reviews complain about a ‘sluggish throttle’ but actually both 0-60 and 40-70mph ‘in gear’ acceleration more than matches a 320D

Remember the Lexus was bought as a replacement to our old 2.2 diesel Honda Civic, which we sold because my commute has dropped from 80-100 miles a day down to 5!!! So economy and refinement were the main aims, but also ability to cope with lots of short journeys without having to worry about dpf.…

Other car we considered include:

Merc C class = Diesel engines too rough, and wife didn’t want a Merc on the basis they are too common!
Jag XE/XF = Again the diesel engines really put us off, we visited a Jag show room, a Lexus IS300H happened to pull in at the same time as a £60K Jag XJ…One was silent and refined, the other sounded like it belonged on a farm. You can guess which was which
BMW = Wife didn’t even want to look at a 3 series based on how often my 335i visits the local mechanic!!
Audi = Might as well by a Skoda and than stick some Audi badges on.

So for our needs, I love the Lexus, the car will be with us for easily 7-8 years+, and for us I’m 100% sure we made the right decision in choosing it over the others brands.

And if the Prius reliability is anything to go by, I don't think we'll have any issues with maintenance. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...d-up/index.htm





Now the biggest headache the Lexus has given me, it that despite it been a traditional ICE (internal combustion engine) car 90% of the time, the 10% of the time it’s in EV mode it’s simply amazing. Been able to cruise along at up to 30-40mph with no engine noise is a experience I want 100% of the time…..and shows up just how outdated/old fashioned the ICE is

I firmly believe that in the next 5 - 10 years traditional ICE cars will disappear, forget environmental/cost arguments, been able to move along in near silence is just a nice experience (or I could just be getting old). It's a bit like when I watched Steve Jobs Keynote Apple presentation when he first showed off the original iPhone lock screen, and than unlocked the phone by swiping his finger across the screen....I had a Plam Treo 650 at the time, I remember looking at it and thinking 'This thing now belongs in the bin'

I'm half tempted to swap the 335i for a ‘performance’ hybrid like the Lexus GS450H or the Infiniti Q50, but actually why waste £30K now buying something that's essentially still a ICE car, when full EVs with stupid performance is already available….and like all technology, the cost will come down…..The minute Tesla announce a £40-45K 200mile range EV machine, my 335i will be up for sale. Hopefully BMW will be able to offer a similar product by the time the Tesla 3 is due to arrive in 2017

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

So we’ve had the Lexus for well over 2 weeks now, and mileage is now over 700, with me doing most of those miles.

I’m more than impressed with the Lexus, overall mpg is improving with every trip, at the weekend got nearly 60mpg on a 100mile trip down the M1 down to London with cruise control set at 70mph, come the summer, and the engine loosened up I wouldnt be surprised if itll hit 65mpg regularly….Which for luxury saloon, stuffed full of gadgets/leather and is more refined than my father-in laws Merc E cleass is pretty astonding

Glad to hear that you are enjoying it. Its amazing how we get accomodated!

When I moved to F10, I did not think it was stable enough.
However after few mods, its a different story. I drove 330d over the weekend and that is the first time I missed my F10 and wanted to be back in F10 asap.

On a side note how come your average MPG is more than best MPG?
Usually best MPG figures are higher than average MPG

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by makkan00

Glad to hear that you are enjoying it. Its amazing how we get accomodated!

When I moved to F10, I did not think it was stable enough.
However after few mods, its a different story. I drove 330d over the weekend and that is the first time I missed my F10 and wanted to be back in F10 asap.

On a side note how come your average MPG is more than best MPG?
Usually best MPG figures are higher than average MPG

I think I have managed to control the temptation to swap the E90 for something newer .

I have no idea about the mpg computer readouts, but I do know the CIC system in my E90 is still easier to use. Interms of user interface the iDrive system really is a few generations better than most other manufactures

Oh the folding mirrors for the E90 are on their way...so they should arrive this week, and ill be likely chasing after your service, your be helping to keep another ageing E90 from been sold off

[briers]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

The minute Tesla announce a £40-45K 200mile range EV machine, my 335i will be up for sale. Hopefully BMW will be able to offer a similar product by the time the Tesla 3 is due to arrive in 2017

I shall let you know how the p85d is I have on on order. By the time you are ready to move on (unless you keep cars a long time) the teslas should be in their cheaper 3rd gen.

Elon musk tweeted that a software update to cure range anxiety will be released this Thursday.

I think there will be big progress between now and 2018-20.

Just going to take ages to get my delivery. Around 6 months I will be waiting.

[gangzoom]

Very envious!!!

Cannot wait to see what you think of it, especially compared to other cars you've had!!

Yes I'll be pre-ordering the model III as soon as its announced, infact if Tesla would let me I'll give them £10k now to secure a build slot