Nice car, shame about the face
The third generation Lexus IS range might have a drop-jawed look, but it covers all bases and proves that hybrids can be sporty too, says Dave Moore.
THE second generation IS Lexus was launched in New Zealand in 2006, and apart from some tiny styling touch-ups, the one you could buy earlier this year is identical to the model released seven years ago.
That’s a long time in car years, almost two complete model cycles in fact, so we were expecting something of a jolt with the new car.
That jolt comes in the form of an almost cartoonish take on the ‘spindle grille’ introduced last year on the new GS range, with a jaw-dropping look about it that resembles Jim Carrey in one of his more astonished poses in The Mask. It looks a little over the top at first, but it does grow on you and though the fine detailing of the deep new intake is cut in two by the number plate, there’s no mistaking the new IS model for the old one.
Side-on the IS has an upsweep that courses from the rear doorsills to the taillights. The boot spoiler is a subtle, vestigial device moulded as part of the lid’s trailing edge.
The new IS is 80mm longer, 10mm wider and 5mm taller than its predecessor, with a 70mm stretch in wheelbase length in order to boost cabin space. As with every carmaker Lexus claims greater body rigidity, thanks to added bracing and the strategic use of spot welds, laser screw welding, and body adhesive. Apart from an all-new hybrid variant which uses what is effectively a Camry hybrid engine mounted sideways and driving the rear wheels, the IS series engines are the same as they were before.
The 2.5 and 3.5-litre DOHC V6s carry over, the IS250 offering 153kW and 252Nm of torque, and the IS350 with 233kW and 378Nm. The IS250 uses the same six-speed automatic as before, while the IS350 gets the eight-speed directshift automatic developed for the IS F. The eight-speed unit uses ‘‘G-force Artificial Intelligence’’ in Sport mode, which can slot into a gear and go into torque-converter lockup depending on input from a G-force sensor. The IS250 consumes 9.2 l/100km on the combined cycle, while the IS350 needs just half a litre more for the same exercise.
The hybrid IS300h is powered by an Atkinson-cycle 2.5 litre inline four and has access to combined respective power and torque outputs of 164kW and 300Nm, consuming just 4.9L/100km of petrol on the combined cycle.
The IS300h’s CVT has six stepped pre-set ratios which, as with the other ISs’ transmissions can be shifted by way of standard wheel-mounted paddles. Lexus is sufficiently confident of the new hybrid that its only diesel car – the previous IS220d, designed for Europe – has been dumped.
The underpinnings have been refreshed for the third-generation IS. While it’s a similar double wishbone design up front to the previous car’s, there are new springs, dampers and anti-roll bars to enhance handling and body control.
At the rear, the suspension setup is all-new and developed from the design introduced for the new GS range last year. The rear springs are now separated from the dampers on the multi-link setup to improve boot space, without compromising on handling.
Lexus has noted that the new suspension improves handling grip by 15 per cent in cornering grip, with the F-Sport and Limited IS variants offering electronically adjustable dampers. The good news is that hybrid proponents can order their IS300h models with the same F-Sport and Limited packs.
On the braking front, the IS250 and IS300h each use 296mm vented front discs and 290mm solid rear discs, while the IS 350 uses 334mm vented front discs and 310mm vented rear items. All three cars have electrically-assisted steering.
The F-sport models have a centre-console mounted drive mode selector which allows, Normal, Eco, Sport and Sport + settings which alter transmission shift mapping, eases or increases the intrusiveness of the car’s stability control protocols and that of the adaptive suspension, while adjusting power-steering effort, and the steering ratio.
All IS350s and the IS250 F Sport also employ an engine-soundenhancing intake-noise generator, and so does the new hybrid model. But the truth is with the hybrid trying to mimic the sexily musical six-cylinder howl of the conventional ISs it’s like travelling with someone in the passenger seat using a PlayStation PSP unit. I switched it off on the IS300h after half an hour of its laughable drone. Better to enjoy the area in which the hybrid betters its rangemates, quietness and refinement.
Driving across the North Island from Palmerston North to Napier, taking in the once notorious but now fully tar-sealed Gentle Annie route, the IS is a very worthy companion in terms of ride and handling. That extra grip that Lexus talks about is very real and it’s nice to note that even with the lowest profile wheel and tyre combination, the IS is not going to loosen teeth on rough roads.
While the two sportiest drive settings were fun and did sharpen the car measurably, merely leaving the set-up in Normal was no less impressive, while being that much more cosy – as you get older I guess, this can be appreciated. Thus driven, the car still has a crisp, biddable nature and with its electric steering – one of the best out there – delivering all the right feedback from the straight ahead point, this is the first IS about which I would talk in the same sentence as the more sporting, 3-series, C-class and A4 competitors.
A complement to the new design is that when I climbed out of my F-Sport model, I was stunned to find it was an IS250 and not the IS350. It certainly felt quick enough and no-one need worry if they can’t afford the $21,000 difference between the 250 and 350. In fact, with our speed limits and without some regular weekend track time, my choice would have been to go for the IS250 with the sport pack and still be $10,000 in pocket over the base IS350.
That was until I drove the hybrid IS300h, which is only a hair slower than IS250 and can be had with the same sports enhancements, while delivering fuel economy and emissions levels that would embarrass secondgeneration Toyota Priuses.
There is a little extra weight at the rear in terms of the batteries under the floor, but if anything it of, and some you probably haven’t. Throw-in modern safety and driver-monitoring technology like blind-spot monitoring, lanedeparture warning, and 10 airbags, and the model is looking like great value. Simply, the IS250 is top-notch, the IS350 a real hot rod, but the IS300h is my Goldilocks. It’s just right. feels even better balanced at socially acceptable speeds than the other two cars. With the sport pack on the hybrid, we’d still be in pocket by $3000 over a stock IS350.
Having said all that, the IS350 is an impressive beast with 80kW and 127Nm more than the IS250 and two extra ratios through which to deploy them. It will get to 100kmh in 5.9 seconds, with the kind of slam-dunk shifts that stir the soul. By the time you load the IS350 with the Sport pack (it would be silly not to, with that powertrain) and maybe the homecomforts of the Limited pack which ask respectively $11,000 and $14,000, we’re looking at a $110,000 car.
Which sounds like a lot, but to get the cheapest six cylinder versions of the usual German suspects you’re looking at around that price anyway. The cheapest six-cylinder IS by comparison is just $73,995.
It’s not as if the base IS is exactly under equipped or less than posh. The new driving environ- ment is Lexus’ best yet – LF-A supercar included – with lovely rolls of padded seating and dashboard, gorgeous, swipe-controlled heater settings, noticeably improved rear seat space and a stereo that can make your ears bleed (another reason to switch-off the hybrid’s sound effects) as well as all the connectivity you ever thought