It’s happy days for Davison as he bags the new management fleet arrival. But can he prevent the rest of the crankandpiston team from stealing the Lexus IS 350 off him?
[Not a valid template]| Driver's Log | |
|---|---|
| Date acquired: | June 2014 |
| Total kilometres: | 3945 |
| Kilometres this month: | N/A |
| Costs this month: | $0 |
| L/100km this month: | N/A |
The last time we were fortunate enough to have a Lexus on fleet didn’t go so well. Having the immensely capable and luxurious Lexus LX 570 at our disposal for a couple months caused a fair few arguments over who was going to drive it and when. Then the digital crew got involved and it turned into a riot of who should be the long term custodian.
Lexus, obviously getting wind of our internal bickerings, pulled the rug prematurely on our custodianship and sold it from under our feet. The crankandpiston team immediately fell into silent depression but at least the arguments stopped. Well, for a few hours anyway…
And now we have a new Lexus joining us on the long term management fleet which should (hopefully) be with us until September. Using my newly found position of power within the team (namely that I can punch the hardest) I have ensured that the Lexus will stay solely with me for the duration. Well, except in special circumstances. Such as ‘someone’ pulling rank. Punching a boss in the visage is rarely considered a good move for continued employment.
The reason why I am so keen on custodianship for this particular model is that it is an IS. It may be the entry-level luxury Lexus but, throughout its three generations, has always had a much more sporting personality than its more luxurious bigger siblings. The designation IS does stand for Intelligent Sport after all.
We’ve been fortunate enough to obtain an IS 350 with 3.5-litres of V6 goodness providing 312hp to the hind quarters. And it gets better. This isn’t the regular IS 350. This is the IS 350 F Sport Platinum and comes complete with a whole host of extra goodies to make the experience that little bit more enjoyable.
Well, it will be if I can keep the rest of the team from joining forces and wrestling the keys off me.
| Lexus | IS 350 F SPort Platinum |
|---|---|
| Engine: | V6 / 3456cc |
| Power: | 312hp @ 6400rpm |
| Torque: | 277lb ft @ 4800rpm |
| Transmission: | Eight-Speed Sport Direct Shift / rear wheel drive |
| Front suspension: | Independent Double Wishbones with high-mount upper arms, coil springs, self-adjusting two-mode variable dampers, stabiliser bar |
| Rear suspension: | Independent multilink, coil springs, self-adjusting two-mode variable dampers, stabilizer bar |
| Brakes: | 13.2-inch ventilated discs with four-piston fixed calipers (front) and 12.2-inch ventilated discs with single-piston sliding calipers (rear) |
| Wheels: | 18 x 8 (front) and 18 x 8.5 rear |
| Tyres: | 225/40R18 (88Y) Front / 255/35R18 (90Y) Rear |
| Weight (kerb) | 2110kg |
| 0-100kph: | 5.6 secs |
| Top speed: | N/A |
| Price: | AED 230,000 (US$63,500) |
