First Drive: Lexus IS 250 and 350 convertibles

“Live a little, a lot.” No it’s not the new slogan for Las Vegas; a zero-calorie, eat-'em-all-day chocolate bar or a website arranging illicit rendezvous. Rather, it’s the slogan for the new Lexus IS 250C and 350C that you can expect the company to begin slinging throughout the advertising ether for the summer.

Yet after spending a day throwing various 250C and 350Cs around the hills and coastline of Newport Beach, I would borrow from the Army a different slogan for Lexus’ latest effort in open-air motoring:  “Be all you can be.”

To wit: The IS 250C and 350C are entirely competent variants of the IS sedan given what Lexus had to work with. And Lexus gets extra credit for hitting a key price point with the base IS 250C. But the accomplishments end there, despite some expensive attempts by the luxo automaker to reel in performance-oriented customers headed toward a BMW dealership.

We reviewed the aesthetics of the IS convertible when it made its U.S. debut at the L.A. Auto Show and have been eager to get behind the wheel since. 

The first engine we sampled was the 250C, paired with the automatic.  Both are identical to those you’ll find in the sedan; the motor pumping out 204 horsepower and 185 pound-feet of torque, and the tranny a six-speed affair with sequential paddle shifters. Unfortunately, the car weighs around 400 pounds more than the sedan.  Though the 2.5-liter power plant is still smooth, you can certainly feel the heft.

Also noticeable, at a variety of speeds, was cowl shake, though any time you chop off the roof of a vehicle, you’re going to get flex. We just would have expected less, given Lexus’ attempt to stave flex off with a thicker rocker panel and a variety of underbody braces, reinforcements and box beams throughout.

So what’s the high point of the 250C? What it takes to get you into one, which is less than you’d think.  With a starting MSRP of $38,490 (excluding the $850 destination fee), Lexus proudly, and rightly so, touts it as the only hardtop luxury convertible south of $39K. Producing a convertible variant is a necessary business move for Lexus, and doing it while hitting a key price point should help with at least pulling people into dealerships for a look. It’s also likely that nearly every buyer of the 250C won’t give a hoot about strained engines or shaking chassis.

Those looking for more power should head for the 350C. Again, it’s the same engine and transmission as the 350 sedan; 306 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque mated to a slightly beefier six-speed sequential shifter. The bump in oomph over the 250C is certainly appreciated and lends a more rounded drive quality to the convertible, and the upgraded tranny allows quicker, crisper shifts.  Cowl shake is still noticeable, and the downside of the added power is that it makes it easier to reach the limits of what the electronic nannies will allow.  

The big daddy of the day was a fully-loaded IS 350C onto which Lexus bolted nearly its entire F-sport catalog, including brake upgrades, carbon-fiber engine cover, performance exhaust, sport shocks, lowering springs, sway bars and forged alloy wheels. The result was the best-looking, -sounding and -driving IS this side of the IS F. The problem?  By adding more than $13,000 to the sticker price of a loaded IS 350C, you’re paying nearly $64,000 out the door. You know what high-performance hardtop convertible starts at $66K and could drive circles around this pimped 350C? A hint: It rhymes with ‘schmem schmree.’  (OK, it’d be $69K for the M3 with the double-clutch auto.)  

Based on the chassis, engines and transmissions Lexus had to work with in creating the IS Cs, they are indeed Lexus being all they could be. Given the price point of the 250C and the smooth equilibrium of the 350C, it shouldn’t have a problem hitting its sales goal of 1,000 customers a month who want to “live a little, a lot.”

In dealerships at the end of May.

-- David Undercoffler

Photo credit: David Undercoffler / Los Angeles Times

For the record: An earlier version of this post said drivers cannot turn off the IS C's VSC.  This is, in fact, possible to do.

Comments

[Neil B. Chapman]

If I was going to drop 40 large on a luxe convertible, I'd go for a 2007 Jaguar XK. There are one or two cropping up on eBay around that mark.

[h]

It's not aggressive looking enough and has a weak engine for the money your spending. The only thing that makes this car worth the price is the knowledge that it won't break down like your (needless to say) American and European cars.

If I'm paying for something in the $60-70K range I'd get an audi S4, used RS4, BMW 335i, BMW M3.

I can't agree with the other post that recommends the Jaguar XK 2007 because it was a Chrysler brand and it comes with no hard top. Yet if I had to pair the Lexus and this Jaguar model side by side I'd be a hard decision.

[Robert]

Based on the chassis, engines and transmissions Lexus had to work with in creating the IS Cs, they are indeed Lexus being all they could be. Given the price point of the 250C and the smooth equilibrium of the 350C, it shouldn’t have a problem hitting its sales goal of 1,000 customers a month who want to “live a little, a lot.”

[alfred e newman]

wow , for about $70,000.00 you could buy a really nice mid 60's Shellby Mustang 350 Clone ready to BURN this eurotrash and rice burners off the road. also with enough money left over to supply oxygen to yourself from laughing so much as you look in your rear view mirrior and see the look on the faces of the the people you have passed. GO AMERICAN- OR GO HOME

[Ruud Noordzij]

Since a track day on the former El Toro base with all kinds of Lexi I am convinced that this convertible's drive is even more unrewarding than his four doored siblings.
Oh well, the general Lexus buyer will - as stated - not care at all for the drivability. It's status that counts. If you'd like a two door convertible that looks good and performs well, a VeeDub Eos simply does the job. And leaves significant money in your pocket.