Lexus IS350 C Review: How much convertible compromise you have to make

Owning a convertible has always meant compromise, but modern open-tops are doing all they can to cut down on how much you have to give up to get the wind in your hair.
Today’s example is the Lexus IS3250C (“C” is for convertible). We didn’t just take it out for a drive in a canyon; we spent a week finding out if it’s useable for daily drudgery.
We’ll start with the canyon drive stuff first, ‘cause it’s more fun. You can choose a 2.5 or 3.5 liter V-6, making 204 and 306 horsepower, respectively. Both have aluminum cylinder blocks and heads, and Toyota’s Variable Valve Timing. Both have direct injection, but the 3.5 adds port injectors. The 3.5 is plenty fast, and is an engine that seems to enjoy getting stomped on. The RPMs shoot up, the shift happens quickly, and it revs right up again like it wants to.
The transmission is a six-speed auto with paddle shifters. They’re real shift controllers, as opposed to some cars that only take your shift input as a suggestion. The automatic mode should do for all but the most engaged of drivers. Also, it’s rear-wheel drive. All wheel drive is available, but how fun is that?
When you remove the roof from a car, you take off perhaps the biggest brace the body has. Lexus has countered by adding structural members, and tightening up bushings and other parts. While we would call this work a success in that the car does not feel flexy when either driving hard or going over low-speed bumps and dips; it does raise the question of why don’t they do this to all their cars, convertible or not?
You can add F-Sport performance stuff like 19-inch wheels, brake upgrades, and suspension and exhaust systems. The plus side of using the dealer upgrades is that you get the full warranty. “F” is the new performance arm of Lexus, along the lines of AMG for Mercedes and “M” for BMW. The new F supercar just debuted, which Lexus certainly hopes will sell a lot of aftermarket F stuff for cars like this.
OK, enough performance, let’s check out the day-to-day living. We used an older convertible for 13 years of daily driving, so we know the compromises:
1) Trunk space. The IS350 is not a large car to begin with, but Lexus did a good job of maximizing what they had to work with. There is a sliding cargo cover-type divider in the trunk. With the top up, you get decent compact car-sized space. To get the top down, you have to slide the divider, cutting space by more than half, but still letting you make an average grocery store trip with the wind in your curlers.
We gave it a challenge of carrying two electric guitars in cases, two amplifiers, and two musicians. We had to load and unload in a given sequence: Put the top down, load an amp and a guitar in the back seat, put the top up, and load the other guitar and amp in the trunk. It was more effort than, say, a station wagon, but we did it.
2) Security. The IS-Cs have aluminum roofs, so if a crook wants to slash your top, it’s going to take some serious effort. It uses a transponder key, so security appears to be no less than a fixed-roof model.
3) Pain. Our convertible was power, so we never dealt with fighting to pull a roof up anyway. The Lexus top goes up in 21 seconds, using a series of high-tech folds and stackings. Should impress both tech-minded and stupid dates with its choreography.
4) NVC. Just made that one up: Noise, Visibility, and Comfort. Lexus gave extra sound attention to the drop-top model, and it works. Visibility is OK top up, with available back-up camera helping, and is unbeatable (duh) down. The top is lined, so climate control functionality should mirror the standard IS, but Lexus made it more adapt to top-down situations. We didn’t feel any dramatic difference.
5) Safety. The IS features all kinds of airbags, including for your knees, and the Lexus safety systems for avoiding crunching metal in the first place.
6) Price. Getting two cars in one is going to set you back $7095, regardless of which model you choose. When you see the impressive top up-down show, you’ll feel like it’s worth asking a good chunk extra for.
Extra cool stuff, fixed-or-moveable top, includes HID adaptive headlights, and heated and cooled seats. The voice recognition is in no hurry, giving you too many choices any time you want to give commands.
Our IS350C loaner based at $43,940, but had two major option pakcages taking it to $51,860. The Luxury package at $3,055 is worth it, but $3,890 for the Mark Levinson Premium sound and navigation package seems beatable by the aftermarket.
Check out the slide show for more details and fun.