Lexus dropping 2.0T for U.K.

Big Rat · June 22, 2017

At the LC launch in Cheltenham yesterday much talk around all the car range of cars and engines and apparently the 2.0T petrol is going to be dropped.

Shame I've mentioned on here I personally quite like the motor myself .

The 'senior' Lexus staff that were there were saying they spent a fortune developing it as well.

Big Rat

dutchie01 · June 22, 2017

same in Holland, hybrids only.

Rebecca · June 22, 2017

Hopefully they will replace it with the IS350.

Never did understand why they didn't release it in the uk.

Big Rat · June 22, 2017

2 hours ago, Rebecca said:

Hopefully they will replace it with the IS350.

Never did understand why they didn't release it in the uk.

@Rebecca Nope that came up as well they've no intention of that either - shame.

Big Rat

Linas.P · June 22, 2017

That is good news for me, hated 2.0t with passion. Same as @Rebecca would prefer IS350, or for that matter even IS250, RC250 would be way better than 200t or 300h.

rayaans · June 22, 2017

It's because of sale figures. They're ******* for the 200t on all models that it's on

I saw it coming to be fair.

Doesnt matter how much they spent developing it, they've already recuperated the cost in their main market, the US

Rebecca · June 22, 2017

I'm quite surprised to be honest that lexus have decided to pull the plug on the 200t in the uk.

Recently I've noticed more 200t's on the road than any other lexus and that includes the popular ct200h.

Would I buy one? No. For a 2 litre turbo charged engine it looks underpowered on paper. At around 7 seconds 0-60 it's barely any quicker than the 250 and you don't get that lovely V6 sound and proven reliability that you get with the 250.

I just wish lexus would introduce the 350 to the uk. As much as I love my 250 I would be the first to buy one.

rayaans · June 23, 2017

11 hours ago, Rebecca said:

I'm quite surprised to be honest that lexus have decided to pull the plug on the 200t in the uk.

Recently I've noticed more 200t's on the road than any other lexus and that includes the popular ct200h.

Would I buy one? No. For a 2 litre turbo charged engine it looks underpowered on paper. At around 7 seconds 0-60 it's barely any quicker than the 250 and you don't get that lovely V6 sound and proven reliability that you get with the 250.

I just wish lexus would introduce the 350 to the uk. As much as I love my 250 I would be the first to buy one.

The CT200h doesn't have the 200t engine so that doesnt count - this thread only relates to the 200t engine which is only available on the IS, RC, NX and RX at the moment.

Apart from the 2 cars at the dealership, I have never seen a 200t out on the road.

Remember that the IS200T hits 62mph in 7.0s whereas the IS250 is rated at 8.1s. (Im not talking about the hypothetical 7.7s figure thats out and about as there is a hypothetical figure for the IS200T as well). Thats 1.1s faster on paper alone.

In reality, after the initial set off, its stronger than the IS250 in any gear, at any RPM. The torque figure matches the IS350 and thats what counts in the real world.

Smoothness is not an issue, its buttery - the smoothest 4 pot ive tested.

Noise isn't too bad either as long as you keep the ASC off.

I strongly suggest you drive one, its superb and in every way better than the IS250 engine it replaced apart from the noise.

Farqui · June 23, 2017

I wasn't aware of the tech in the 200T motor, heck Lexus even went to the trouble of making their own turbo for it #golly

dutchie01 · June 23, 2017

Shame it is no longer available as it was on my shoppinglist to replace my IS300H.

Dont want to buy thesame car again so it was a strong contender.

Big Rat · June 23, 2017

There is a development video for this engine on the tube somewhere, great engineering I've had three service loan IS cars with it it and concur with the observations above, quite frankly with the torque it develops, it's in gear acceleration an IS 250 would not know which way it went on a A/B road.

They even did the old 50p trick from back in the LS days of yore.

Big Rat

noby76 · June 23, 2017

recon an IS350h and IS450h would be a better model for UK/European market.. maybe thats where Lexus might be aiming. below is the in gear acceleration figures for 250 and 200T.

Big Rat · June 23, 2017

51 minutes ago, noby76 said:

recon an IS350h and IS450h would be a better model for UK/European market.. maybe thats where Lexus might be aiming. below is the in gear acceleration figures for 250 and 200T.

@noby76 Don't you just love data, I rest my case but seriously often wondered if they had done an 'F' CT with the 20.T engine and the eight speed auto Mrs Rat would be sat in one now 😁

Big Rat

noby76 · June 23, 2017

i agree the CT needs the 2.0T engine to take some market share from petrol turbo versions of BMW 1 series and Audi A3 not sure which corporate executive at Lexus makes these decisions but their decisions dont help sales and Lexus brand in Europe. This is how the IS200T fares against closet rival BMW 328(2.0) auto. not much about half a second to a second difference between them. but the BMW is very light in weight..

Big Rat · June 23, 2017

@noby76 Yes it is unfortunate none of this going to happen now they are a very sales numbers US orientated car company which you can understand.

But if more had been made of the CT performance wise there would have I believe a sales gain as would as others have said if they dropped the 350 into the Is for us.

Clearly the number crunching bean counters at Lexus disagree and we can spout on about these 'what ISF's ' but it won't make a jot of difference ☹️

Big Rat

peachy · June 23, 2017

I got to test drive the 200t at lexus Wolverhampton before purchasing my is250.

Although it dosnt look much quicker on paper than the is250 the 200t certainly feels much quicker on the road. It would leave the 250 for dust.

Definitely not as quick as my wife's bmw 328i though with its 2 litre twin turbo.

Big Rat · June 23, 2017

57 minutes ago, peachy said:

I got to test drive the 200t at lexus Wolverhampton before purchasing my is250.

Although it dosnt look much quicker on paper than the is250 the 200t certainly feels much quicker on the road. It would leave the 250 for dust.

Definitely not as quick as my wife's bmw 328i though with its 2 litre twin turbo.

@peachy If your handy with the spanners you could swap them when she wasn't looking, probably going to swap performance for reliability though 😏

Big Rat

DanD · June 23, 2017

I wonder if Lexus will also drop the NX200t and in particular the RX200t? - Never seen one of the latter and I feel that a 4 cylinder turbocharged engine just isn't in keeping with the image of the RX.

steveledzep · June 23, 2017

I have no experience of the 200t engine.

I've just been up to Scotland from South Wales. Some of the climbs on the M6 in Cumbria and the A74 in the borders are quite steep. My RX coped with it very well, but the needle was firmly in the Power band. I can't imagine a wimpy 2 litre 4 potter, albeit turbo charged, would have delivered as quiet and serene a journey.

Had a CT as a replacement once, not too impressed, but I bet the 200t engine would inject a great deal of spark into that car.

dutchie01 · June 23, 2017

Weight Weight Weight.

The 200t is considerably lighter than the 300H. how much? Uncle Henry and his wife in the back seat. All the time. ( and he is a big man..)

Linas.P · June 23, 2017

The only car 2.0t would be suitable is CT... somewhat making it semi-hot hatch. For all other cars in Lexus line-up the engine is underpowered.... And that is not only 0-60 figures. 2.0t sound trashy at any speed and feels underpowered. It might be true that is by fraction faster, but the feeling behind the steering wheel is like the car is about to fail. It is not buttered smooth even by long shot, whereas 2.5 v6 actually is.

As well when you say it is faster at any gear and speed.. that is not true. You still have that slight hesitation before turbo kicks in, slightly shorter gears and in a real situation in traffic, jumping out from the lights IS250 might still be quicker and by no means will always feel more powerfull.

talaipwros · June 23, 2017

10 hours ago, noby76 said:

recon an IS350h and IS450h would be a better model for UK/European market.. maybe thats where Lexus might be aiming. below is the in gear acceleration figures for 250 and 200T.

surely that can't be right

my skoda citigo is faster than IS250 if 80-120km/h on 5th gear takes 18.3, not to mention the 28.6 on 6th gear

Linas.P · June 23, 2017

23 minutes ago, talaipwros said:

surely that can't be right

my skoda citigo is faster than IS250 if 80-120km/h on 5th gear takes 18.3, not to mention the 28.6 on 6th gear

That is true, I have skipped trough those times above and just looked to gear ranges, because those times are beyond comprehension.

Taking the first example it makes no sense. So acceleration from ~40-60MPH in 4th gear apparently takes 10.3s, whereas acceleration from 0-60 takes 8.2s?! As well I would stress that 4th gear would be exactly right for such acceleration - that is exactly what you would get when changing from D to S, it always defaults to 4th gear, so I often change to 3rd if I do overtake from ~20-30, but from ~40-50 4th gear would be best, and it definitely doesn't take 10s... 3-5s would be closer, but even then not 100% flooring it.

rayaans · June 23, 2017

2 hours ago, Linas.P said:

The only car 2.0t would be suitable is CT... somewhat making it semi-hot hatch. For all other cars in Lexus line-up the engine is underpowered.... And that is not only 0-60 figures. 2.0t sound trashy at any speed and feels underpowered. It might be true that is by fraction faster, but the feeling behind the steering wheel is like the car is about to fail. It is not buttered smooth even by long shot, whereas 2.5 v6 actually is.

As well when you say it is faster at any gear and speed.. that is not true. You still have that slight hesitation before turbo kicks in, slightly shorter gears and in a real situation in traffic, jumping out from the lights IS250 might still be quicker and by no means will always feel more powerfull.

1) by your logic, if the 200T is underpowered, the 250 is more underpowered

2) your views go against many people who have driven the 200t. It doesn't feel underpowered - it feels very strong tbh so I don't understand where the smoke is coming from.

3) 200t is faster at any speed and in any gear. Turbo lag is minimal and the torque (almost double) and hp overrides it

27 minutes ago, talaipwros said:

surely that can't be right

my skoda citigo is faster than IS250 if 80-120km/h on 5th gear takes 18.3, not to mention the 28.6 on 6th gear

Figures are true and explainable.

The 200t has 8 gears - meaning the 5th and 6th are shorter, hence faster acceleration

250 only has 6 gears so 5 and 6 ae technically overdrive. Additionally the power is only available higher in the rev range and there's very little torque below 4.8k rpm

The 200t maximum torque comes on at 1.6k rpm

rayaans · June 23, 2017

11 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

That is true, I have skipped trough those times above and just looked to gear ranges, because those times are beyond comprehension.

Taking the first example it makes no sense. So acceleration from ~40-60MPH in 4th gear apparently takes 10.3s, whereas acceleration from 0-60 takes 8.2s?! As well I would stress that 4th gear would be exactly right for such acceleration - that is exactly what you would get when changing from D to S, it always defaults to 4th gear, so I often change to 3rd if I do overtake from ~20-30, but from ~40-50 4th gear would be best, and it definitely doesn't take 10s... 3-5s would be closer, but even then not 100% flooring it.

Linas is back with his BS again.

If you do a proper 0-62mph run, you'll find the IS250 gets to 62mph in 3rd gear.

So yes 40-60mph will take 10.3s because there is barely any power available as the engine will be lugging at 2-3k rpm. The max power comes at over 4k