The Lexus IS is a very good car, brand issues be damned. That single sentence could be the entire review of the car, but that’s not how we roll. Rather, the Lexus IS250 like and 8 who swallows, and would be more than open to having some minor work done to get even closer to being a 10 (really a max of a 9, but remember that if you try to do to much –and Lexus will sell you the kit- it could go all Montagesque). The exterior has a paint job that looks to absolutely flawless (apparently the eco-friendly process mandated in the EU and North America is not required in Japan), yet despite being so good looking there are a few minor issue preventing the car from being that 9 right out of the box. You see, there are three –let’s call them- issues with the car. The gearbox is out of a Hilux, the stability control cannot be fully defeated, and the rear seats only have a ski pass through instead of folding flat (you can still put long things in there, but girthier items will have to ride on an accessory rack).
The first issue can be fully resolved by fitting what Lexus calls the F-Sport clutch and sport shift packs. Lexus will fully cover these modifications under the existing warranty or for one year on older cars, so you’ll still get the service one would expect form Lexus. It’s the kind of service where if one were to leave their dog in the car while having the oil changed, your retriever would probably arrive washed like the car and with a note saying that your friendly tech had also clipped his nails, expressed his anal glands, and trimmed the matting under the ears. Lexus is that good at anticipating the needs of their owners.
That leaves two flaws unresolved: ok, 1.5 since you probably bought the accessory rack for items like those requiring sex was to function fully (remember to put down a towel so that the sex wax and sand –off one’s surfboard- don’t cause a mess on the roof). The stability control is just there, but in normal driving the “off” position allows for 95% of the fun. Of course having sampled the over-powered (yes there is such a thing) IS-F, there is a reason for this nannism from Lexus. The car is not meant for too much power, and clearly has limits lower than the German competition. The 2.5L V6 is about equal in performance to the old 3.0L inline six, so you have one of the few cars which has not gotten any faster -in base form- from one generation to the next. This is ok, because the ride quality is becoming of a Lexus, and the handling is otherwise really quite sporting. It’s fast enough, yet still has a performance car feel, like how a BMW used to be.
Stepping in to the cabin of the IS, the interior has a truly premium feel. You can get nice heated and cooled leather buckets up front, an available touch-screen sat nav (there is a way to defeat the interlock whilst underway) with Mark Levinson stereo, iPod/aux inputs, and Of course golf bags are easily carried; this is still a Lexus. The interior plastics are on par the BMW, but lack some of that tactile soft-touch feel present in most of the Continental competition. However, this is actually a good thing for those who want their interior to age well: that soft paint on the plastics in your Audi will bubble and peel in warm weather or just from the heat of the little red light behind it, leaving your formerly beautiful interior looking for crap just out of the warranty period. In short, buy one if you want a good rear-wheel drive car: buy used, buy well, and keep the thing for a very long while. It will be that 9 you want to keep, at least until something better and newer comes along.
