Lexus IS 250C Review
Hi! I'm Joe Wiesenfelder with cCrs.com. We got the rare opportunity to drive two cars back to back competing retractable hardtop convertibles. We have the 2010 Lexus IS 250C and the 2009 Infiniti G37. They’re both rear-wheel drive luxury convertibles.
Now, let’s start with the IS 205C. It’s a 2010 Lexus model. Now with the C, all the way up, I've got a little headroom to spare but generally very workable. The leg room between these two cars is actually pretty comfortable. A quirk note on the driving, I noticed that with the top up, this car feels a little bit firmer, a little bit less shaky and rattle than when the top is down; interesting. Now, with 204 horsepower from this smallish V6, it’s not super powerful but it’s a smooth accelerator reasonably sporty to drive.
Now, it’s a fully automatic power top. Once the engine is running, you hit one button and everything starts to go into motion. What I like about this top is it doesn’t wait for each step before the next step starts. It’s time, so all the different parts move pretty quickly and it falls into the trunk within about 20 seconds.
Now, here’s a common aspect of retractable hardtops. The top needs to go under the trunk which takes up space, right? Here, with the top down, you at least get some useful space. In retractable hardtops, sometimes you get next to none. You need to move the panels up to get in. This has a nice wide opening, so you can fit duffel or two in here. As this kind of convertible goes, it’s not bad. Now, once the top is up, you move the partition out of the way and you get more than 10 cubic feet, really not bad.
Now on to the Infiniti G37 convertible, this one happens to be a 2009. Now, this particular car, the G37 starts at just under $44,000.00 which is more than the other and it’s because its standard engine is more powerful, 325 horsepower versus 204 in Lexus and you feel it. It has got a lot of power and actually, aside from the issue of power, I think it handles better. It has a really good feel to it, a little bit more soul. It does have a fair amount of jiggle though when the top is down, probably more than the Lexus. This one also has a retractable hardtop, a little bit of more clattering, shaking and it takes longer. It’s probably about 30 seconds instead of 20.
Now, this is probably the biggest difference between the Infiniti and the Lexus. Look at this. There's like no space with the top folder down. It takes up so much of the trunk. You got almost nothing. I can’t think of any piece of luggage that would fit in this thing. Now, with the top raised, usual story with the retractable hardtop, you get a lot more trunk space. This folds down actually more easily than it does in Lexus. You get about 10 cubic feet.
So, the biggest physical difference between these two cars the Infiniti has less top down trunk space. Overall though, I think it’s sportier and it’s not just because of the engine. Now, this one comes with 325 horsepower standard and that’s why it costs just under $44,000.00. The IS 205C we had was just under $39,000.00. You can get a more powerful V6 in that one that makes them about even. But if you want a cheaper version, Infiniti doesn’t give you one.
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