st4

Most Audi’s aren’t direct copies. The A4 upwards have proper north south mounted engines and 4wd drive not a transverse engine with a haldex system like the lesser cars in the lesser marques. Skoda was a good budget alternative but price/trim they’re too close to VW. Seat is excess baggage imho for them. I agree our press is very Euro biased but I suspect the ES won’t be as good as what it replaces and the Camry a bit of a gem given what it’ll cost. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I suspect a lot of Lexus owners will get one. It looks great for the money and a far savvier buy than an ES Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Probably for a premium car the ES has the engine mounted wrongways, the wrong axel is powered and it’s too slow. However equipment levels will be generous so like for like it’ll undercut the German makes. The GS does too when you consider the standard specification. My SE 2013 GS has pretty much the same standard interior spec as a 7 series or S class of the same age. A standard 5 series SE, A6 SE is remarkably basic with manual 6 way seat adjustment being the norm. Actually is an ES300h that off the pace, the Germans 9/10 times are sold with 4 clyinder diesels. Not one of them can top 150mph, most won’t top 140mph and none will crack 60 in under 7 sec. Is a 520d that much faster than an ES300h in reality for it to matter. Probably not. The GS range was hindered by the lack of the 200t engine and 350 engine with the 8 speed box and I hate to say it a creditable diesel option if Toyota wanted to chase volume with serious gusto. The US range did better because the car got the gearbox and engine it deserved. I like my 250 but I’d have jumped at the chance at the 350 and 8sp I still think though the ES drive train suits a mass market car like the Camry better mind you and yes it’ll be lighter on kit but it’ll be thousands cheaper. I’m very interested. I live 1mi from a Toyota dealer - the Lexus one is 30mi away. Ease of ownership is a big thing for me. It’s why I sold my Mercedes. It was unreliable and I spent too much time going back and forth to a garage that wasn’t where I lived. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Camry over there has that 350 engine too. They get all the good stuff in the states including the gs300 and gs350. At least we’re getting the Camry. I’m far keener than that as an idea than an ES and it comes down to money. A prestigious car (which a Lexus IS and a Toyota isn’t) shouldn’t have a transverse mounted engine. It just doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t mind having a car with a transverse engine as such but I’m not paying posh car make money for one. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like the Camry-it looks nice inside and out and I’d be keen to save money over an ES. I’d sooner have an IS for rear drive but if faced with two essentially identical transverse mounted hybrids I’d take the Camry and put the money aside for better use. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This might be a savvy buy [emoji4] - certainly compared to an ES. It seems two very different cars get axed - the GS and avensis and two very similar cars are sold at different price points. If I had an Avensis I’d be ecstatic about this. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It might be a very good marketing ploy going after the S90 and alternative players rather than going head to head with bmw and Mercedes. I’d rather have a rear drive car but one of my all time favourites was my old S80. Mainly because it was so comfortable and relaxing to drive. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m going with the type of scenery. It’s looks like there. It’s not Glencoe or Skye that’s for sure or I’d be a fiver richer Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Unique Pyrenees A Cloud Inversion at Col de Tentes _DSC1257 (1) by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr Pic Du Marbore _DSC1252 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr This picture doesn't give the best composition but shows you the immense height of the mountain. I was over 2000m high at this point. _DSC1228 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr The Light wasn't quite good enough so I need to go back _DSC1201 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr The range is full of interesting formations. Here I am further north near Laruns in the Ossau Valley. This composition will work in the late evening when I am back again. _DSC0610 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr

Some other French Lakes in the Alps and Pyrenees I have enjoyed. I am planning some further trecks to more distant ones for this trip which is under 12 weeks to go. Lac De Abondonce (September 2017) _DSC0736 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr Lac de Fontaine (September 2017) _DSC0828_Rendition 3 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr Lac De Vallon (September 2017) _DSC0973 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr Lac de Bious Artigues (September 2017) _DSC0691 (1) by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr Lac D'Oredon (May 2016). Normally you can drive up but the road was closed due ice/snow to had to hike the last couple of miles for sunrise _DSC2494 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr Lac D'Oredon (September 2015) _DSC4813 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr Pragser Wildsee (September 2017) _DSC0925 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr

Today I am sat in the "office" planning my trip to Chamonix. I am keen to walk to Lake Blanc or Cheresys this time to get the sunset reflections of the Mont Blanc ridge in the water. I have put this off for fitness reasons but I am in much better shape now so think it is time... Last year I enjoyed some fabulous atmospherics on the Aiguille Du Midi _DSC2189 - Version 2 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr _DSC2200 (2) by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr _DSC2233 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr _DSC2193 (1) by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr _DSC2194 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr The year before I foolishy went in Skiing Season and took the Flegere cable to car from La Praz. The views even from the Ski Center over to the Mont Blanc ridge were magically. Shame I couldn't stay for sunset as the hiking path was waste deep in snow but in September this is a cable car up job and down in the dusk/night. Its well worn. _DSC8013 (1) by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr

A couple of hunches. Blakey ridge in N.Yorks or near the Lecht in the Cairngorms.

That bodes well for the next CT. I agree, smaller wheels all the way. Much cheaper to replace tyres, slightly more efficient and much less road noise too. That really matters. The amount of extra tyre roar from a 20 inch wheel is considerable and could make long journeys more tiring. In a wet climate narrower wheels are also safer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What a great thread!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just have the SE and reckon it’s the best car I’ve had. It rides better than my old E class Merc, the seats are as comfortable as the ones in my old Volvo S80 and it corners better than my old C class. The “chassis” or perhaps steering and suspension has been well designed and the quality of the shocks and springs shine through. The kit level is off the charts. Space wise it’s got more than the E class, refinement is in another level (being petrol helps). The only thing that lets it down is the gearbox (the 8spd in the IS200T and LS460 and RCF/GSF would be the one) and the fact the headlights don’t turn the way they do in a Merc with ILS. I’d have loved a 350 or 460 GS with the 8spd box. I know it would be “the one” or even an F A GSF might well be the best car that was briefly on sale in the Uk Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree and the GS needed a bigger engine between the 250 and F. The 350 would have been ideal. The good news is the new Toyota chief is a total car nut but the marketing boys have pedalled the hybrid thing beyond the point of now return. I think there’s room for both, but Lexus are an American and Asian predominantly uptaken range. The UK and EU aren’t big markets for them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And to the IS. I think it would be epic Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I doubt it will. Lexus and Toyota uk are hell bent on pursuing hybrids at the expense of a more diverse and traditional offering. The engine is probably for the next supra and that’ll be it but it would be a great fit for the IS, RC, NX/RX and LS and GS if they were going to continue making those. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

IS200t ok it won’t be as smooth as your 250 but faster. 240bhp is a decent amount of power. It can’t be that unrefined surely. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The less new cars that are sold means less used ones as a few get crashed along the way. There’s oodles of 520d bmw for sale but under 20 2.5 gs250. If you want an IS200t in a few years that’ll be even harder Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Engineering and platform sharing. Having just one small longitudinal engine rear drive car means a whole lot more cost than spinning two off the same transverse/front drive ones already in the Toyota family. If they were continuing with the GS I’d have more hope as the engines/gearboxes and certain suspension components unique for longitudinal engines could be shared for the IS and RC as we know it. Look at the Volvo range. One modular range of engines and transmissions designed for transverse mounting and two platforms to spin off a large range of cars that are sold world wide. That, sadly, is the way of the future. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There is another thread discussing the idea the IS might go. I suspect it’s replacement will be a transverse engined fwd car, based on a smaller platform. Grab these rear drivers whilst you can Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

But those who did liked them. Why would a transverse engined fwd saloon of the same price do better. People still want diesels and cross overs. The range is still ahead of its time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree. There’s a “rightness” to a north south mounted engine driving the rear wheels which no transverse front drive car can hope to match. My next one will be an IS to replace the GS not an ES Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I suspect people are sad as there’s no direct replacement for a car they like Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk