Kinda funny my dad has the dark pewter sedan is 300 and I have the black mica P5. I don't live near him but plan on taking some pics of the cars together when I see him over thanksgiving. It was also one of the deciding factors for me buying the p5. I just love the lines of the is300. BTW if you haven't driven they are alot of fun. And actually didn't really notice a lack of horsepower. Don't get me wrong there are few cars out there that wouldn't benefit from some extra ponies but it wasn't bad at all, especially for it being a sport shift. BTW it does hellified donuts and power slides, and my dad was in the car with me egging me on.
The P5 looks awesome aswell as the MP3, but at least with a IS you have the ability to creat a 350-400whp car. You can't do that with a Protege of course, definately not for a reasonable price. I'd take an IS over any Protege anyday no contest.