2002 Lexus IS200 Sport from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing.

A nice car in many ways, but I have some reservations.

The gearing does not seem ideal, but I can live with that.

My real problem is with the ride. It is very nice on a smooth motorway, but the car seems to fidget and fret all the time on country roads that are anything less than perfect. I don't sense any problem with the way in which the tyres grip the road, but I have never felt so aware of surface undulations, even when driving a 1995 Celica GT with fat tyres and a very firm suspension.

I have carefully adjusted tyre pressures to 33 psi, and experimented with 32.5 and 34, but it seems to make little difference.

The car is still under warranty and came with full RAC check etc. Should I ask the dealers to look again at the shock absorbers, for example? Or is this how all IS200s ride on poor surfaces? Should I just learn to live with it?

I would say that as the car has such big alloys (17-inch) and thin tyres (which improve looks dramatically), it something you'll have to live with. The bigger the wheel and the thinner the tyre, the firmer the ride, the more road noise and the more surface imperfections the car will pick up. On the plus side, it is aesthetics and handling that benefit. The IS200 is otherwise an excellent car, much better than a BMW 3 series or Audi A4.

As the author of the original 'nice, but' comment, I can now say (5,000 more miles down the road) that my original criticisms or reservations were mostly unfair. Some of the roads round here have dire surfaces and I have found that other cars do no better on them, while some fare a lot worse. More to the point, the Lexus 200 is not supposed to be a 'magic carpet' limo, but a swift sports saloon, and is much more satisfying when driven with a bit of zest, as I have found.

It has been wholly reliable, the paintwork has been durable and chip-free and getting it serviced at Lexus Leicester was the equivalent of travelling 'first premier' class instead of economy. You pay for that I suppose...

I have driven both the standard IS200 and Sport and in my opinion the car with 16" wheels is a far better drive, it rides better, corners better and does not tramline, fidget or jar, the Sport on the other hand suffers a lot due to the 17" wheels and tyres, they are totally superfluous on this car.

The 17" wheels detract from the handling, and are just there for flash value, I would opt for the 16" wheels every time and I have done a collective 180,000 miles in both cars.

I run 18" by 9" wheels (not on an IS200) and used to have serious "tramlining" as you have described. I had the wheel alignment fixed (toe-in in particular) and the car was transformed. You may need to get advice on settings for the non-standard wheels, as I did. I run 30psi as my 235x40R18's have very rigid sidewalls.

I have also driven the is200 sport on 17" rims and I would like to sugest that you try 215/45/17 khumo ecsta supra 712 tyres as when these were fitted to the car it was far better on both performance and handling. But I drive now a AUDIA4 1.9 TDI 130 SPORT which has 18" 235/40/18 and is far more responsive and feel steady than the lexus was and ever could be, but on the whole not a bad car.

I have a 200is sport with the styling kit which has the 18" alloy wheels. I must agree with yourself that it tends to twitch a bit. Good at a high speed though, I was doing 130mph (illegal I know) and it was solid.

I have just driven a Lexus is200 with the 17" alloys, and I thought it was OK, this is not my car, as I drive a Renault Laguna, but the point I would like to make is my Laguna also has 17" alloys, but you can feel more of the poor road surfaces in the Laguna than in the Lexus.

I know the Lexus is in a different league, but I was trying to make a comparison.

The Lexus is200 could do with a little more power though, but nevertheless a great car with a fantastic array of kit on the SE version.