My Wife likes sports cars, so I listen to her. After she got me to the Lexus dealer, she did not say a word. Kind of wierd actually.
After we closed on the car, she finally said, "It really looks like you.". She has not driven it yet, so she has not made any comments about it other than on the looks.
I am still getting used to the high beltline. I like the nose, and the tail of the car. But I really am just nuts about the interior. Like BMW, it's all business on the inside. Lexus made good use of polished and brushed aluminum. Not glitzy at all. Very well done and clean.
The paddle shifters are CNC pieces of aircraft grade aluminum. Very stout. One oddity being the cruise control. It is a stalk which is mounted to the steering column and turns with the steering wheel (just under the right paddle shifter). Took a bit of getting used to, but now it feels very natural.
You can shift with the paddles or the shifter on the console, or you can let it do all the work for you. Think standard transmission with an automatic clutch. It has 3 driving modes. Sport, Normal, and Snow.
"Sport" chirps the tires when at full throttle during the upshifts and locks up fast during downshifts. You have absolute control of the gears.
"Normal" almost feels like a full automatic transmission. Hard to tell it is shifting unless you have your foot deep into the carpet. In this mode the transmission will not shift into or out of a gear which could cause an overrev or lugging of the engine.
"Snow" takes throttle control away from you whenever the rear tires break loose. Applies brakes if needed, to keep the rear tires from slipping.
I do not know about the "Snow" mode, but the other two work as advertised.
