![]() Still, it provided more trunk than its three-box sedan version, but it traded some space for the overall look.įrom the outside, the IS Sport Cross featured the same front fascia as the four-door version. Unlike its main rivals, Lexus named the five-door version "Sport Cross" since it was halfway between a hatchback and a station wagon. For the record, she denied giving out those signals, so it must be the car.Lexus rocked the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class thrones when it introduced the IS Series in 1998, and then, in 2000, it tried to do the same with their station wagon siblings. And the youngest one asked what she was doing on the weekend. One ventured a sticker price of $60,000 at least. Would anyone get it today? At, say, the Home Depot's loading zone? Three men with orange aprons gathered when the mid-40s housewife pulled up for her potting soil and softener salt. Unwagonlike, too, is the effortless closing of the tailgate, and the remarkable illumination of the HID headlights on a dark country road.ĭecades ago, everybody knew a "brake" was special, according to those old pages at least. A different car we drove had shiny gray "graphite polished" alloy wheels ($400), giving a look of exotic metallurgy. Where the four-door has 7.0-inch rims all around, the SportCross has 7.5s in back with one-size-up 225/45ZR-17 tires. Length increases less than a half-inch, aero drag increases to 0.31 from 0.29, and occupant space both front and back changes not at all. Lexus admits to 125 pounds gained in the transformation to wagon. Ride motions are crispy, or sporty, if you prefer. On the go, wind roars a bit around the posts of this squarish windshield shape. Same silky 215-hp in-line six up front, same five-speed automatic with the shifter buttons on the steering-wheel spokes (no manual in the wagon), same lean padding on the snug-fitting buckets. Mechanically, the SportCross is little changed from the sedan. If you need a fraction more, uh, headroom, pop the glove-box door. Say your nine-foot boa locks into the unconstricted position and you need to schlep him off to the chiropractor. The greatest benefit of tabling the seat may be that it opens a space for long objects, all the way from the tailgate to the dash. The front-passenger bucket folds forward, making a table of at least theoretical value. What can you expect from a car three inches shorter than a Corvette? The rear seats fold flat, leading back to a small ramp in the floor down to the load area behind. Surprise! There's even a round, basin-shaped receptacle just perfect for an angel-food birthday cake, with candles already installed and awaiting ignition.Īll the normal station-wagon tricks are present here, although on a small scale. Lift a hinged panel in the load floor, and you'll see hidden compartments of varying sizes down in what amounts to a basement. Where to pack madame's backup Rolex and pearls? No problem. The details are gorgeous, from the subtly contrasting café au lait piping on the vanilla leather seats to the lustrous metal grip on the smooth-pulling blind that unrolls to cover your cargo. No one serious about creating a hauler would taper the roof so low and narrow in back, or fill the wheel openings out flush to the flanks with 45-series neck-wrecker tires, or tuck and fold the fine-grain, cut-pile carpeting so painstakingly around the load area. ![]() The SportCross plays the special-car role so convincingly it should be an Oscar nominee. That's the only reason we cared about them. No muddy boots allowed! These were special cars. That nails the legend dead-on because the "brakes" of those old pages were carrozzeria creations meticulously trimmed in luggage leather. Anyway, this IS300 SportCross is a shooting brake of the fabled sort, a quick and rakish-looking runabout with moves remarkably like those of the zingy sedan from which it's derived, and with minimal concessions for hauling kids and hounds and large-screen TVs.
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