Sport sedan at its finest, Lexus IS 350 F-Sport
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Back in 2014 this newest version of the Lexus IS series was introduced and Craig had the opportunity to attend the launch event in San Francisco, and frankly since then he has been quite enamored with the IS, especially the 350 F-Sport. We have found having had a few chances over the years to drive the 350 that it is one of the most grounded entry level sport sedans on the Market.
It comes with a naturally aspirated V6 engine, unlike most of the completion that are all turbo charged, that is connected to an 8-speed transmission that glides through the gears as smooth as silk. This all makes for what we would call a pure driving experience. Add to that all the fine Lexus luxury that comes with their vehicles, it adds up to sophisticated, luxurious fun.
Our week with the IS came in early October and included a heavy weekend rain storm that gave us the chance to get out in the water and see how well the all-wheel drive preformed. It held tight to the road even during hard acceleration and in tight corners. Back in 2015 we had the 350 during a snow storm and found it did extremely well in the snow.
Even though we would usually prefer not to have any snow during a week with a performance sport sedan as the Lexus IS350, yet we had always been intrigued with the addition of Snow to the mix, how much this would affect the dynamics of the vehicle. As with the rain, the Lexus performed as advertised with its AWD system.
Another great addition to the Lexus is the vehicle dynamics integrated management or VDIM for short. In the days when it seems there is another acronym around every corner that is going to enhance our lives and makes things better, as we being a little older, we are sometimes confused by all the lingo and how it is going help our lives, many times having to ask the kids for help or opinions on the latest new gadget to increase happiness in our lives. Case in point, Craig had heard of this VDIM system when he at the launch event. So further exploration was indeed needed to see how this would help us out as drivers of the IS.
Basically what the system comes down to is this, it is a robust software package developed by Toyota to be included with their vehicles that will control all of the systems and safety organisms in that vehicle at the same time, more than that it learns from the driver and adapts to their skills and abilities to give back the best and safest driving experience possible.
To this point, Craig had the opportunity to drive the IS350 F-Sport on a timed slalom course set up by Lexus on an old air force tarmac in San Francisco. He was given two times through the course, on the first time through he used the paddle shifters that come with the 350, and on the second time through he let the car do the shifting and manage the experience for him. He of course didn’t want to admit that he was 2 seconds faster on the course with the VDIM doing all the heavy lifting.
The VDIM system not only works but it works extremely well, having been introduced back in 2005 in limited models it continues to become a better system all the time, evidenced by the fact the new line of IS vehicles cannot be had with a manual transmission, with Lexus’s feeling that this system will work better and faster than any human element.
From the front of the IS one is either going to be completely captured with the look or not really care for it. We love it and feel that Lexus has done a great job with the design. It comes complete with evil looking new LED running lights along with air intake ports at the bottom corner of each side, these are designed to channel air to cool the brakes, of course it is topped off with the Lexus signature spindle grill.
Along the sides, the contours continue to give the IS350 a completely unique look as they move one’s eyes from the rear and upward to the sky letting you know there are no obstacles that can’t be contended with in the world of sport sedan driving. The engineers admitted to using the BMW 3 series as a plateau, and have exceeded that in the design of the new Lexus.
On the comfort side it would be hard to find something more comfortable than the new IS, the seats have been designed specifically to set the hips further into the seat and take stress off of the back, and the steering wheel has been lowered to make it more driver friendly. Of course there was leather all around including on the dash and accents on the doors along with carbon metal accents throughout the interior. The Mark Levinson sound system that came with the F-Sport upgrade was also no slouch among stereo systems.
Of course the technology in the new Lexus was unmatched with Bluetooth for both phones and audio devices. They have also included real time traffic and weather information, with this you can get a predictive map of traffic before you start your drive home and make adjustments to bad traffic before you are stuck in it on the freeway.
The entire dashboard is set up as a LED screen with a circular tachometer in the middle that has a digital read out for the speed. Other pertinent information is displayed around both sides of the tachometer. With the touch of a button on the steering wheel the tachometer slides to the right and a larger screen is available on the left where things like audio and navigation can be displayed. This is a technology like the Lexus LFA that has been incorporated into the IS at a fraction of the price.
New additions this year to the IS will be very hard to notice on the front and rear of the vehicle, it’s not a bad thing as it needs little adjustment from its original look. Throughout the cabin all the materials of luxury quality and the design is what we would have expected from the Lexus brand. For the money it can’t be beat in the marketplace!
If fun is in your future you owe it to yourself to really take a long hard look at the new Lexus IS series, how much fun you want to inject into your driving experience will help you decided if it will the IS250, 350 or 350 F-Sport! See them all today at Larry H. Mille Lexus in Lindon at 544 Lindon Park Drive, 801-227.3200.
Base Price: $42,300
Price as Driven: $50,375
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