Lexus Is Models & Spesifications

Exterior
Reviews

Here
are the important details about the next-gen Lexus IS that debuts next week in
Detroit: New looks, obviously. Better, for the most part. The harpoon shaped
LED driving lights look good. The big mustache look grille may take some
getting used to. It’s about the same height. There will be three models: an IS
250, and IS 350, and an IS 300h hybrid. No mention (yet) of an IS-F. The 250′s
powertrain is largely carried over, the 350 now uses a variant of the current
IS-F’s eight speed automatic. (The 250 continues on with six forward gears.)

If
the exterior isn’t enough to convince you, one glance at the new car’s interior
will probably do the trick. In a word, it’s stunning, and easily among the more
sporting designs we’ve seen in recent years. Lexus says the longer wheelbase
and thinner front seats combine to give more rear legroom, addressing a common
complaint with the previous IS models.

Interior
Reviews

The
preproduction cars we drove were equipped with the F-Sport package, as seen
above, which includes comfy seats, Lexus’ “Drive Mode Select,” and, on IS 350
models, active suspension and steering. More immediately visible, however, is
the ultra cool LCD gauge panel that, like the LF-A supercar, features a moving
ring that tricks your eye into thinking the tachometer itself can slide out of
the way to make room for additional information.

The
rain cleared for our drive on the streets, and there, the new IS shone much
brighter. Intake noise (thanks to a sound symposer) is surprisingly loud in the
cabin, but the IS demonstrated an appropriate ride handling balance. The brakes
felt great, too, though occasional clunks from the transmission served to
remind us that this was still a prototype and hopefully there will be time to
remedy the shift paddle programming issue.

And
the turn signals. Since Lexus is on a relentless pursuit of BMW, the company
has copied the Germans’ turn signal stalk here, as in the GS. But what they
haven’t done is stolen the latest software version-the only way to cancel the
turn signal is to pull the lever in the opposite direction. That brings with it
the fear of activating the turn signals in the other direction.

Engine
Reviews

The
chief engineer for the 2014 Lexus IS stood in front of us and said the
development target was to be the most fun to drive car in the segment. He said
this with a straight face, no less. Huh?… Is this really what’s going on at
Lexus?… Sure, the GS likely is the best handling and most fun to drive car in
its segment, but that car has always been a bit of an outlier. So now the IS
has targeted the BMW 3 series, right as the BMW 3 series lost a bit of its own
direction. Each of the two companies appears to be running to where the other
one just was. It makes no sense.

However,
we do know from Jay Leno’s test drive of the car that it’s 70 mm longer than
the old IS and that it’s been fitted with an eight speed auto. The US market
version will offer the choice between a base 2.5 liter with about 210 hp and a
3.5 liter V6 with 306 hp, just like the GS 350.