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Jouralists often critcize Mercedes Benz and Lexus models that don’t allow the driver to completely defeat the traction and stability control systems, forgetting that not everyone drives professionally and/or on a test track. We suggest leaving such systems on when driving on the street; drive smoothly enough and the computer will think you’re still in control.

That said…

For 2003+ Mercedes:
With key in position 1, press trip odometer reset button 3 times. Go through screens til ‘ESP Dynometer Test’ is displayed. Set to ‘ON’. Start car. This mode is not meant for use when driving so will deactivate ESP and ABS.

For the ‘06 Lexus IS:
Start the car with the parking brake on, press brake twice and hold. Activate parking brake twice. Repeat sequence till light activates on dash. (You have 30 seconds). Everythng but ABS will be deactivated til the next time you start the car.

source: digg.com

UPDATE: Automobile magazine has since tried the Lexus defeat procedure on their long-term GS - click here for a video…

We can think of few cars more soulless than the new Lexus GS. From its cheaply trimmed interior to its lifeless steering and brakes to its confused and ungainly styling the GS is a bunt when Lexus should be swinging for the bleachers.

And that’s just what it did with the new IS. You’d expect the IS to feel more driver focused, and it does. But its the immaculately conceived interior finish (far better than the GS or even a 5 series) and more imposing appearance that really make the car gel. Top Gear’s Tom Ford nails the IS with his description in this piece.

instead of the GS’s jowls, we get cheekbones and chin, plus a more defined bottom and sharper shoulders. So it’s a tidier, tauter interpretation of the new Lexus L-Finesse design language that we’ve already seen rolled out to decidedly muted applause in the GS. More resolved here, though, the version that got the same genes but ate less curry and doughnuts. This is A Good Thing…

The seats are also a bit flat across the base… it’s not always the most comfortable car in which to thrash because you tend to hold on to the steering wheel for support rather than direction.

the inside is a really very nice place in which to insulate yourself from the greyness of the real world… There’s… the feeling of solidity…

You can imagine the BMW engineers getting hold of this new IS250 somewhere in a darkened warehouse and torturing its secrets out of it with military-grade intrusion software and miniature toffee hammers, while swearing softly in Bavarian and trying to think of an excuse.

it’s very hard not to be impressed with this new IS250. And very hard to imagine that when the early-adopter atmosphere of the noughties gets a handle on the whole anti-hero image thing, BMW is going to have to try much harder to sell you a car.

We’re impressed – and get the sense that if it wasn’t for the lumpy, shoulder hunching rear seat of the IS, Lexus wouldn’t sell a single GS…

UPDATE:

The ride is agitated at village speeds but improves markedly as the pace increases. Through the bumpy, gnarled back-lanes of Surrey, the IS was utterly unflappable. It glides over snags, feeding the bumps into your subconscious but never letting them intrude unnecessarily into the process of making progress. The all-new speed-sensitive electric power steering won’t surprise or delight you initially, but up the pace and things become much more impressive. It’s as though the rack shrinks as your commitment grows. Dive for a corner and the nose of the IS darts as it grips and turns in. You throw it into corners faster and deeper and it keeps gripping; understeer hardly seems to enter the equation: flick-flack through a quick direction change and the car just stays with you. It’s so unexpected that it’s unnerving at first. One might almost be forced to utter an incredulous ‘I don’t believe it’. On the cold, greasy roads of our test route the lack of understeer means the back feels quite eager to play, but most of the time you just concentrate on using that surgical front end to slice through a corner. When the rear does come round, the IS remains unflustered and an instinctive twitch of opposite lock catches it quickly. Admittedly there’s not a stream of grainy feedback, but the steering is nicely weighted and the body always feels taut and controlled. The only down-sides to the pointy front end are that it’s a little too sensitive on the motorway and that it has a mild tendency to wander and pull slightly under heavy braking… there is still a slightly digital quality to driving the IS250, particularly with the arcade-game gearshift, but in terms of exceeding your expectations, the IS would be a five-star car. source: evo

These pics from Top Gear show us Lexus wasn’t kidding when they promised more dynamically styled cars in the future.

The new IS looks even more serious in the flesh than in photographs. The next LS - rumoured to be coming in regular & long wheelbase forms as well as a performance enhancing gas-electric option – finally looks as a competitor to the S class et al should.

Click here for a preview of Toyota’s next generation of airbag design…

(Forgive me for questioning where their inspiration for a more nurturing cradle for one’s face came from).

Like ‘SUV’, the term ‘hybrid’ has become a media buzzword that’s now being slapped on an increasing number of vehicles. While many deride SUVs as unsafe and inefficient, I can name cars that don’t handle as well and drink more fuel than – say – a Subaru Forester or BMW X3.

I recently drove the Lexus RX400h in the type of urban driving that the hybrid is supposed to be best at and averaged 18 miles per gallon, while Motor Trend’s Long Term test of a 2004 Chevy Silverado Hybrid resulted in an overall average of 14.8mpg.

Has ‘hybrid’ simply come to mean ‘less inefficient than it might have been’?

When the current Mercedes E class came out with its brake-by-wire technology, it was hailed as a breakthrough – the future of braking systems. While the advantages were clear on paper on the test track, the systems made it impossble to brake smoothly – rather embarrassing when you’re carrying passengers…

Mercedes has since cancelled its plans to use the technology in any upcoming models; even the technology laden new S class (complete with another bad idea – an iDrive style controller) has conventional brakes.

Now Lexus has put a brake by wire system in the new GS. As Automobile’s Mark Noordeloos notes in the November ‘05 issue:

After all of Mercedes Benz’s issues with a brake-by-wire system I’m surprised that Lexus fit this technology to the GS. These binders are too abrubt on application and difficult to modulate…

Perhaps the car companies should consult us before making cars (as our clients do before buying them).

Saw an ad for the new Lexus IS today proclaiming

“THE ALL-NEW IS 350 IS THE FASTEST CAR IN ITS CLASS. (We’ll pause a moment while we let that sink in.)”

While that may be true, here’s another quote (from the October issue of Motor Trend) that gives us pause:

“The BMW remains the more committed driving tool even if the IS350 has the edge in acceleration.”

According to this link…