Tesla

Added convenience, safety and luxury features on the new IS reports Cathy Parker.

The new front design adds 15mm to the length and features the new spindle grille treatment, the rear gets a minor redesign around the light cluster and there are new alloy wheel designs, but the big news is inside with a new climate control panel and 10.3 inch screen for the multimedia system. All models add the Lexus Safety System + package with its pre-crash safety system, dynamic radar cruise control, lane departure alert with steering assist, sway warning and automatic high beam. Bi-beam LED headlights are also standard with F-sport and Limited grades getting a three lens system. The rear suspension is a new multilink arrangement and the front has a new aluminium bottom arm with upgraded damper rates, bushes and sway bars to sharpen up the handling. The model range is unchanged with three IS200T models with the 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder 180kw engine (200t, 200t F-sport and 200t Limited), two IS 300h choices with the 2.5-litre V6 hybrid powertrain with 164kw (300h and 300h Limited) and the range topping IS 350 F-sport with the mighty 3.5-litre 24 valve V6 and 233kw. Lexus are on a big worldwide push to generate an image that is more brave, innovative and exciting. This is both via their vehicle designs starting with the Halo LFA, premium sports RCF and GSF models through to the F Sport models such as the IS 200t F-sport and IS 350 F-sport which inherit some of the essence of the F models and also through initiatives such as the global Lexus Design Awards, Lexus short films and the recent Lexus hoverboard. The IS has a drive mode select function, on the base models this gives a choice of ECO, normal and sport which adjusts power train, steering and air conditioning (ECO gives ECO settings for power train and air conditioning) while sport gives power mode for drive train and sport setting for steering. The Limited and F-sport models get sport S and sport+ modes instead of the single sport setting, Sport S gives power mode for drive train but normal for everything else whilst Sport+ adjusts powertrain, steering and adjustable suspension to sports mode. In addition the F-sport and Limited also have a customise mode where the driver can individually select the state for powertrain, steering, suspension and air conditioning. On the road the 200 models are nice to drive with amenable road manners and the engine delivers good performance, the instrument panel and controls are well designed and the seats are comfortable and provide good support. Moving to the F-sport the dash changes from a more conventional two dial layout to a large single dial, this being the rev counter with digital speed readout inside the dial which personally I didn’t find as easy to read as the standard twin dial setup. The added sports+ mode tightens up the suspension and steering with a bit of a trade-off for ride comfort. The 300h is similar to drive albeit a bit smoother due to the hybrid power train (and very quiet a low speeds when only using the electric motor), fortunately it forgoes the gaudy display beloved by some hybrids and in fact you would be hard pressed to realise it was a hybrid driving it (until you need to fill up when the 4.9 l/100km consumption will be very noticeable vs the 7.5l/100km for the 200). The 350 is definitely a different kettle of poisson though, big engine – small car – magic! The extra performance is even more than you would expect from the actual numbers on the spec sheet, with the 350 pulling much more strongly through the range. We had the chance to try the cars on the Taupo racetrack and the ability to use the power to push out of corners made the 350 a much more enjoyable proposition to drive. So whilst this is only a facelift, there are quite a few added features and a sharper design, making the IS a package worth looking at if you are in the sports sedan marketplace.