For eight long years, Lexus has kept the smallest of its sedans as is, without much in the way of updates. From the looks of things, this strategy has made the new model very angry indeed.
My word, this is one aggressive looking car. But here's the thing - beneath that scowling exterior lurks a familiar heart: the same old V-6 powerplant, with the same old six-speed transmission.
If you look through the sales results, you'll find that Lexus sells plenty of their slightly-nicer-Prius, the CT, and many, many of their biggish crossover, the RX. The neglected IS, while a nimble, decent-driving machine, doesn't really compete on an even footing with cars like the BMW 3-Series.
However, Lexus says that their entirely new IS lineup is now about driving pleasure first and foremost. They might sell cars that are luxurious and/or appliancelike, but they also want to be seen as a genuine performance brand. That's why they built the supercar LFA, they say.
This F Sport model is supposedly bred from that same wild DNA - Lexus insists it's a rival to the segment-leading BMW 3-series. Let's just see about that.
Design Someday, in the not-toodistant future, someone will build a car made entirely
Scan this page with the Layar app to see video of the Lexus IS 350 F Sport in action as well as clips from some of the classic car movies listed in Brendan McAleer's column.
out of a grille. This machine takes us one step closer to that day.
No sitting on the fence for this one, you either love or hate the new looks of the IS. The giant hourglass, the Nike Swooshes under each bulging LED lamp, the gaping air intakes - it's all quite a lot to take in.
From all other angles, however, Lexus has done an exemplary job with their angular, flowing design language. The IS looks nimbler than its larger stablemates, naturally, but it has some of that same road presence and conservatism.
F-sport models wear an aerodynamics kit, along with that extra-scary front grimace. The straight edges tie nicely with the oddly elongated rear lights, and the gunmetal-coloured 18-inch alloys are reasonably sized.
No, it's the front that's going to be the deal breaker for most folks with this car. I keep worrying that it's going to bite someone.
Environment Where the exterior of the IS is polarizing, the interior is less so. It's a more conservative, sensible version of the LFA's cockpit, and has a bit of style of its own.
The first thing to notice is the seats - these have the aggressive side-bolstering you expect from a sports sedan, but are also nicely comfortable. Lexus, always a stickler for details, has come up with a new way to shape and bond the leather to form curves, and the seats both look and feel the better for it.
F-Sport models get a sporty looking three-spoke steering wheel (heated in my Executive-level tester), and then there's the trick instrument panel. Pressing a button on the steering wheel allows the tachometer to slide to the right, revealing a large, left-mounted digital screen that shows off all kinds of extra information.
Combined with the entirely digital tachometer sweep and a gauge that glows red as the revs climb, it's the sort of thing that could easily be a bit cheesy were it not so well executed. It's a fun piece of equipment and it never got old to hit the button and slide into attack mode.
Not so fun is the Lexus Remote Touch system. This is a sort of trackpad device to control the navigation and on-board systems, and it is fiddly, slow, and a bit outdated. Your passengers also can't enter in destinations once on the move, even though the car has a weight sensor telling it that the passenger's seat is occupied.
Overall though, fit and finish are at the usual Lexus-like level, and with increased rear legroom and reasonable trunk space, it's a marked improvement over the old model, and entirely competitive in its segment.
Performance As previously mentioned, the IS comes with one of two carry-over V-6 options: a smaller 2.5-litre engine good for 204 horsepower, or the 3.5-litre option here, with 306 h.p. Rear-wheel drive IS350 F-Sport models get a new eight-speed automatic, everything else gets the same old six-speed.
It's the sort of careful, non-revolutionary move you'd expect from a company under the Toyota umbrella, and while my AWD tester didn't have a gee-whiz talking point like forced induction or a clever gearbox to recommend it, that turned out to not be too much of a problem.
The bigger-bore V-6 is an excellent engine, slightly noisy at idle, but smooth and capable of startlingly ferocious noises higher up in the rev-range. It pulls strongly, and is simultaneously happy to putter about at lower speeds. Having been around for a while, the venerable sixspeed automatic has shiftpoints well-paired to the 3.5-litre, and doesn't hunt for gears.
What's more, if you turn the centrally mounted Drive Select controller to Sport or Sport+ mode (this last is more sporty, and therefore presumably better), the IS ditches the specs and turns into a full-fledged back road burner.
This is a great chassis. It's the equal of the ATS for handling, if perhaps with slightly less feel, but using the paddle shifters to keep the revs up, the Lexus is decidedly un-Lexus-like in behaviour.
It doesn't necessarily urge the driver on the way the baby Caddy does, but it's nimble enough, and the all-wheel-drive system does a great job in keeping everything planted on wet roads. While there are more powerful engines on offer from its German competition, the IS350's V-6 plays a great tune - an unexpectedly lively machine.
If this sort of boogie is not your bag, you'll be pleased to note that the IS also does a solid job as a settled-down cruiser. There's a bit too much tire roar in the F-Sport model
(and the odd thwack over rough pavement) to be a properly gliding luxury sedan, but Lexus will also sell you a version without the aggressive setup.
Features Opt out of the F-Sport packages, and you're actually going to end up spending more money. The standard car ($44,000 for the all-wheel-drive IS350) comes with push-button ignition, heated seats and a central multi-function display. Moving up to the F-Sport Executive Package, as my tester was equipped, bumped the price to $53,200, but was actually $650 cheaper than the standard Executive trim.
At the top of the range, the F-Sport Executive came with an excellent 15-speaker Mark-Levinson premium audio system, dynamic radar cruise control, a rear power sunshade and the entire suite of F-Sport enhancements. Standard Executive trims get a few extra niceties like ventilated seats instead of the go-fast looks.
Observed fuel economy was decent for this power level - leaving the Drive Select in Eco mode for a longer trip allowed the weekly average to come down around the 10.5 litre/100 kilometre level, mostly on hilly mountain roads and shorter in-town trips. Premium fuel is required.
Green light Excellent driving dynamics; comfortable, grippy seats; well-laid-out interior ergonomics.
Stop sign Polarizing exterior styling; fiddly navigation controls; eight-speed automatic only available in rear-wheel drive.
The checkered flag Another legitimate contender for the small sporting sedan crown. Looks angry, drives sweetly.
Competitor Cadillac ATS 3.6-litre GM both played it safe with the styling of the $48,375 ATS, and took a bit of a gamble. The resulting sharp-edged corporate looks of its smallest sedan are an unmitigated success next to the Lexus's love-it-or-hate-it mean-mugging.
You have to hand the driving experience to the Caddy as well, though only by the slimmest of margins, and only when fully equipped. Start speccing the IS and the ATS with the same equipment, factor in that strong Lexus re-sale and the IS starts looking like the better value.
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