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By EWAN
KENNEDY
3 August 2009
From
Lexus comes yet another competitor in the fiercely-fought
convertible market in Australia. The upmarket Japanese marque is
pushing hard to be seen in the same light as the Europeans, so it
makes sense for it to tackle the likes of Audi, BMW,
Mercedes-Benz, Saab and Volvo in the open-top game with the just
introduced Lexus IS250C. The ‘C’ after the ‘250’ stands,
of course, for convertible.
Like most in this class, Lexus has gone the folding hardtop route.
The first thing that impressed us when we arrived as guests of
Lexus on the Gold Coast (where else would you launch a convertible
at this time of the year!) was the rear-end styling of the IS250C.
Packing a long folding roof into the back of a car isn't the
easiest of styling/engineering exercises. Indeed, it often results
in a bulky bum that looks on the contrived side.
Yet the Japanese stylists at Lexus have done an excellent job,
resulting in a sporting look at the rear that could easily be
mistaken for that of a fixed-head coupe.
The strongest feature of the Lexus IS convertible, in either sedan
or convertible format, is its chassis balance. The V6 engine is
set well back in the underbonnet area and sends its power to the
rear wheels. The result is a car that feels excellent on the road.
Our initial road tests were done in the hilly hinterland behind
northern NSW and south-east Queensland. The winding roads suited
the car to perfection, and with the roof down and the warm breezes
flowing through the cabin the Lexus was a real delight to drive.
Followed by some classy cruising in the Sovereign Islands areas of
the Coast, where the Lexus looked right at home amongst some of
the most over-the-top homes you will find anywhere.
However, the Convertible IS250 has piled on 150 kg compared with
the sedan, mainly in underbody strengthening, though the roof
mechanism itself plays a part. So the 2.5-litre V6 engine is
working hard to make the best use of its 153 kW of power and 252
Nm of torque. On level ground it's fine, but throw in a hill and
you have to work at the automatic transmission to get the car up
and moving. Fortunately this isn't too hard to do as the six-speed
has a sequential mode that can be used through large paddles
behind the steering wheel.
There's almost accommodation for four adults in the new Lexus
IS250C. The front seats support well and are comfortable to sit
in. They can be powered forward easily to make for relatively easy
entry and egress to the rear compartment. The two individual back
seats are narrower than in the sedan as they have been moved
inwards to clear the folding mechanism for the roof, but are wide
enough for adults of above average width. It's necessary for a
tall driver to move their seat forward to make decent room behind
them, but this can be done without it being an unpleasant
compromise.
The boot is very large when the roof is up. Indeed, with a
capacity of 585 litres it's in the Camry/Aurion and
Commodore/Falcon class. That's the good news, the bad news is that
the luggage area of the Lexus folding hardtop is in the sparse
side when the top is powered down. Though a volume of 205 litres
sounds OK, and is about average for this class, the shape of the
space means it can't cope with an aircraft cabin bag of average
size. On the upside, it can accept a set of nine-inch golf clubs.
Cleverly for a convertible with such a cabin there's little body
movement or scuttle shake unless the road surface is harsh. Even
then the car smooths out its movements very quickly.
As well as the upper-crust Europeans, the new Lexus IS250C is also
tackling some brands that are a little further down the price
tree, such as Peugeot, Renault and Volkswagen. So there's no
shortage of potential buyers out there.
The IS250C range, with prices (excluding government and dealer
charges), is:
Prestige: $79,900
Sports: $84,900
Sports Luxury: $99,900
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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