Is300H 2019 mini review.

[Riccccccardo]

Loaner car given to me for a day in comparison to my other past cars and Gs 450h mk4. 

220 BHP, the naturally aspirated 2.5 Litre 16v Inline 4 petrol engine with electric assistance accelerates this IS 300h to 62 mph in 8.4 seconds and on to a maximum speed of 125 mph

I’m now glad I didn’t buy this model given the chance as I find the is 300h as someone who is 6’3 height to be not as snug or spacious as my Gs my left leg hugs the centre console. Originally I was deciding between a Is or Gs and choose the Gs 450h f sport. 

Also this spec has no mark leverson system and the difference is night and day the mark lev system is a must for audio connoisseurs like myself. 

It’s the first ever car (I’ve got it on my work truck) I’ve used with active radar cruise control and I loved it wish I had this on my Gs I just have normal cruise control. The is made me feel relaxed knowing the car was keeping its distance by itself wish was nice experience  I didn’t test what would happen if there was a stopped car in front on me though.

Acceleration is decent but I found in normal mode I was just plodding along tortoise/Sunday driver I had to have it in sport mode the entire time to get any serious sensation of normal spirted speed I’m used to. 

The infotainment system felt a step backwards bearing in mind my cars 2012. I found the menus bland smaller to read and the physical selector I found i did not like at all it’s similar to the Gs joystick but very very different and I got frustrated the stick was super stiff I did not find it immediately intuitive on how to navigate. On the Gs the stick moves free like a joystick and whatever you need to do you just think and do it where as the is was not so it requires you to twist the circle joystick at various times to go up and down various menus even selecting music left and right was awkward. It seems like they buried the random folder button in a sub menu but if there’s a simpler way to select random play then someone can correct me. The Gs random play option is right infront of you while your in the audio music playing screen which is great and simple!

The steering whee controls I also found where not great for me as I have big hands and big fingers on my Gs volume etc have big simple and obvious buttons for their usages and  their purposes which I love which I did not find on the is with the tiny wee buttons and several of them on the is 300. 

 

Visibility looking out was fine I note the centre mirror seemed extremely Xl large vs any other car ive driven which was good. 

 

The thing I hated the most was the pedal physical handbrake near to the brake. Now to be fair I’ve never in fifteen years of driving driven a car with this so alien to me. I struggled to get my head round it and didn’t like even using it. So at red lights I just physically moved the gear stick to park every time instead vs my Gs which uses a no brain work auto electric park break at red lights and when stopping and I don’t have to touch the gear stick at all unless stopped for a few minutes (maybe five minutes?) the car then forces you to put into park physical moving gear stick as a safety feature. 

The seats where non electric and the side mirrors u have to physically press a button inside the vehicle EVERY TIME to fold them in when you park vs my auto fold in mirrors on my Gs when you lock the car.

 

I do love the look of the car from outside it looks fast and expensively prestigious. 

 

I do this review with a pinch of salt as I know this is a base model without all the trimmings of a highly speced model. 

 

[Riccccccardo]