New car

[Asher]

I've always thought truck never had enough chrome. (Not really)

You probably don't like this either...

[The Mad Monk]

Actually, that looks pretty nifty.

Rented a Prius for my Hatteras trip, looked at this all week:



Took about an hour getting used to, but I liked it.

I have a favorable opinion of the Prius now.

[The Mad Monk]

The Ram's instrument cluster isn't as fashion forward, but it is nice and practical.

[Dinner]

This is the car that finally unseated the BMW 335i as the best driving sport sedan on the market. And it's actually going to be reliable unlike a BMW.

I've had just regular maintenance with mine so I don't know what reliability issues you are talking about. Also, I seriously doubt it beats the 335i as it has been the top car in that segment since it came out many moons ago.

[Asher]

I've had just regular maintenance with mine so I don't know what reliability issues you are talking about. Also, I seriously doubt it beats the 335i as it has been the top car in that segment since it came out many moons ago.

I've got lots of friends with BMWs that have all kinds of issues with mundane ****.

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/habemus-papem-2013-bmw-335i-m-sport-vs-2013-cadillac-ats-36-2014-lexus-is350-f-sport-comparison-test

Habemus Papem! Like the installation of Francis, the world’s first Latin American pontiff, the crowning of a Lexus as the high priest of the sports-sedan world is something few saw coming—until we dove into the twisting, climbing, kinking, plunging roads around Leakey, Texas.

We didn’t see it coming because, on any other type of road, the IS clearly exhibits Lexus’s traditional top priority: serenity. On typical highway surfaces, minute twitches in the steering wheel and nearly imperceptible shifts of the body offer only the slightest hint of what lurks within. But charge into a series of quick bends and the IS completely changes its character. Turn-in is crisper in the Lexus than in either the BMW or the Cadillac, a fact borne out by its first-place slalom finish in spite of a mediocre skidpad performance. More important, the Lexus is utterly imperturbable. Bumps that send other cars skittering off-line or scrambling to maintain their course are absorbed and dispatched, but not kept completely hidden from the driver.

It used to be that, in this class, there was a clear divide in terms of refinement between the BMW inline-six and the engines offered by competitors. That gap is rapidly shrinking. Both the Cadillac’s and the Lexus’s Vs are surprisingly close to the BMW straight-six, but the IS’s is smoother than the ATS’s. And its eight-speed automatic is quicker and more seamless than the Caddy’s six-speed though basically on par with BMW’s transmission.

Additionally, the Lexus is lavishly, indulgently comfortable. Its front seats are an ergonomic feat, perfectly cupped and padded with no tangible break between back and bottom cushions, just one immaculate sweep of support from shoulders to thighs. Our drivers, trapped within a wide array of body types, unanimously swooned. Yes, the BMW is slightly more spacious in the rear, but nobody anywhere in that car is as comfortable as the people in the front of the Lexus. It’s a good thing we have so few other complaints about the IS, though, because its mouse-operated infotainment system burns through our good will in short order and turns us into sputtering, apoplectic maniacs. “Distracted driving” is a rallying cry for safety advocates everywhere; this device is infotainment’s nadir, a deserving flashpoint for a revolution against its kind.

Every other negative gets turned around when you wake the IS up, though. Its variable-ratio steering, seemingly overboosted and a touch slow in highway travel, comes alive on coursing two-lanes, quickening and taking on a pleasing heft. The brake pedal feels a tad touchy when commuting, but reacts more predictably under duress, better coordinating pressure to stopping power. The IS manages to be both typically Lexus-civil and delightfully capable (its stops are still the longest, though). Roman Catholicism preaches transubstantiation, the belief that consecrated bread and wine become flesh and blood. The manner in which the Lexus transforms from innocuous to vivid is nearly as miraculous.

[Asher]

It's not just the big guys like Car & Driver too, it's also the niche sites.

This site actually ranked BMW #3 behind the new ATS and IS (Both of which shocked them).

[Dinner]

Why are there only two seats but three cup holders?

[Dinner]

I've got lots of friends with BMWs that have all kinds of issues with mundane ****.

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...omparison-test

Ahh, Car & Driver. The magazine which routinely offers the top spot to which ever car company gives them the biggest advertising campaign no matter if the car in question is a P.O.S.. Now, I'm not saying the Lexus is a P.O.S. just that Car & Driver magazine's endorsements are for sale and they've been sold to some pretty god awful cars over the years.

Thanks, but I'll look for a review from a more trustworthy source.

Edit: I must day the seats in the Lexus do look comfy though.

[Asher]

Google it. It's a consensus.

The seats are injected, too. Zero gap between the leather and the foam. It'll age well.

[The Mad Monk]

Why are there only two seats but three cup holders?

One bottle of Jameson, two tumblers.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Why are there only two seats but three cup holders?

Driver Beer Can
Passenger Beer Can
Shared Spit cup

[regexcellent]

One bottle of Jameson, two tumblers.

For shame. Evan Williams.

[Felch]

I love any opportunity to bring this clip into a thread.

[The Mad Monk]

For shame. Evan Williams.

Is a square bottle.

As is Jack.

[The Mad Monk]

Bots getting a sense of humor now?

edit: the now banned bot complimented dfg on his snazzy cycle.