Lexus IS 350 2010 Review

Lexus IS 350 & IS 350 F-Sport

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Along with midlife tweaks to the 3 Series/C-Class sized luxury midsizer, the latest update has seen the arrival of the beefed-up '350' variants. Powered by a direct-injected 3.5-litre V6, the new IS 350 range is aimed at the likes of BMW's 335i and V6 equivalents from Audi and Mercedes-Benz. Lexus is claiming class-leading performance with an impressive 0-100km/h time of 5.6sec along with great real world performance.

In addition to three variants of the 250 and 350, the updates also cover the IS 250 C coupe cabriolet (also available in three grades) and the single-model V8-engined IS F super sedan.

It's the F Sport enhancements that are the real focus of this update, however. Not content to live off its luxury-oriented lineup, the Toyota-owned top-shelf marque is pushing performance as a key part of its growth strategy for the 20-teens. Like the Germans, it's Lexus' plan to pursue a pyramid of performance with F Sport filling the role as the volume sporties and more aggressive F models above them. The limited edition LF-A supercar will sit at the Lexus performance pyramid peak.

The new strategy was spelled out by local Lexus chief, Tony Cramb, at the IS 350 launch in Tasmania. Though Cramb was careful not to reveal any formal details of future F model plans, he made it clear that the marque was serious about its commitment to a new 'performance' strategy.

Priced midway between entry level Prestige and top of the range Sports Luxury models in their respective capacity segments, the F Sports approximate Audi's S line and BMW M Sport models.

When compared against their European counterparts they offer impressive value for money. And at last a move away from the anodyne, vanilla caste that seems to go hand in glove with the Lexus brand.

Equipped to higher levels than equivalent IS 250 models, the IS 350 range is priced from $64,800 for the Prestige. This is a premium of $9000 over the equivalent IS 250 variant. The F Sport 350 at $71,800 is the pick of the litter with the Sports Luxury topping out the line-up at $81,300.

All IS 250 models have had their pricetags trimmed with the 350's arrival. At $55,800 the Prestige has dropped $100, while the $76,300 Sports Luxury is $1000 cheaper than the model it replaces. The new F Sport 250 is $66,800 -- $1500 less than initially announced.

Key facelift changes across the IS family include an interior tidy up as well as detailed changes across the car. Most obvious are new upper and lower front grilles and bumper and the arrival of daylight running lamps (DRL) on all 350s (as well as selected 250 models).

New alloy wheels that step up an inch in diameter help deliver a more purposeful stance to the midsize exec.

Include in the revamped IS range's standard equipment list are items that Lexus says European equivalents still charge extra for. Indeed, Lexus states that depending on the model, the IS enjoys a $30,000-plus advantage over equivalent Euros. By way of comparison, metallic paint, high-spec audio, heated front seats, full leather, eight airbags and reversing cameras are all standard on all updated IS models.

Compared to the 250s, the 350 adds a DVD-based satnav, HID headlamps with daylight running lamps and washers and a reversing camera at the Prestige grade. The F Sport gets the sports goodies outlined elsewhere and extra luxuries such as rain sensing wipers, power steering wheel adjustment and an optional moonroof.

The Sports Luxury 350 adds the abovementioned sunroof, adaptive cruise control, seat cooling, Lexus advanced pre-collision system with auto brake and more.

Selected facelift updates also make their way onto the IS 250 C and the IS F performance flagship. In the case of the M3-baiting IS F, Lexus has tweaked the rear suspension settings as well as incorporating a new face, DRLs et al. The updated mechanical limited slip differential that was added as a running change in 2009 is retained in the latest IS F.

It's the IS 350 F Sport that will therefore get the lion's share of attention at launch. A calling card for Lexus' new sports sub-brand, the auto-only sports sedan gets bespoke, lower (10mm) sports suspension with stiffer springs (see below) and uprated dampers, upgraded GS 460 V8 sourced brakes (at 334 x 30mm the front rotors are 38mm larger in diameter than the 250's) with four-piston monobloc front calipers and reprogrammed electric power steering.

For the record the IS F program has also donated suspension components to the F Sport, including rear suspension bushes. By way of comparison, however, the F Sports spring and damper rates sit betwixt the standard and F settings. Spring rates front and rear on the standard 350 are 39/49Nm with the IS F at 86/94Nm (the latter reduced in this iteration). The F Sports sit at 51/60Nm.

While the standard IS 350 also gets the above detailed upgraded brake package, only the F Sport models (250 and 350) sport wider rear wheels and rubber. All 18s, the rears are 0.5-inches wider at 8.5-inch. Tyres are 225/40 at the pointy end, and at rear -- 255/40s. Bridgestone ER33 Turanzas are standard.

Under the bonnet, the new 3.5-litre V6 is a version of the same powerplant that features in the RX and GS ranges. Rated at 233kW at 6400rpm and 378Nm at 4800rpm, it features Lexus D-4S dual direct-injection fuel system. This utilises both port and direct cylinder injection, combined with variable valve timing, to boost power and torque as well as fuel efficiency.

The all-alloy engine weighs in at just a few kilograms more than its 2.5-litre stablemate. Overall while the 350s' weight has increased between 25-40kg per model (depending on equipment levels), compared to the 250 power is boosted 52 per cent and torque 50 per cent. Fuel economy is just 0.3L/100km worse than the smaller engined car at 9.4L/100km.

The 2GR-FSE 60-degree V6 is matched exclusively with Lexus' own A760E six-speed automatic transmission. A conventional epicyclic trannie as opposed to the dual-clutches favoured by BMW and Audi, the six-speed has taller gearing than its 2.5-litre counterpart. Shift paddles activate a sequential 'manual' mode and Lexus claims gearshifts can be as quick as 0.8sec.

Though matched well to engine, the transmission doesn't quite deliver the full-on sports experience other aspects of this car and engine justify (see ON THE ROAD below). It'll therefore suit 95 per cent of current Lexus buyers down to the ground.

The F's influence continues inside the cabin in the shape of a smaller diameter steering wheel, alloy pedals and leather shifter. There's F Sport kick plates and other detailing to boot. Double stitching on the leather sports seats is well executed and attractive. Indeed, tweaked IS F front sport seats are used in both F Sports, though the 250 and 350 sensibly retain a three-place rear bench in lieu of the IS F's two-place rear 'buckets'.

With the IS facelift another major change is the arrival of Pre-Collision Safety System (PCS). Offered only on the top of the range Sports Luxury in concert with adaptive cruise control, the system can autonomously brake the car is extreme potential collision circumstances.

The rest of the IS package is essentially unchanged. Check out our original IS launch review back in 2005 and our IS F coverage for more on PACKAGING and SAFETY.

IS currently accounts for around 40 per cent of Lexus' local volume. Via the facelift, F Sport variants and the arrival of the 350, local boss Tony Cramb is looking to boost overall IS sales. Though he expects some substitution between 250 and 350, incremental volume should increase around 25 per cent, he says.

"IS350 pricing is critical for Lexus -- it has to be realistic. It has to achieve a position of leadership and it has to bring new competition to the luxury sedan segment... Just because you can charge a premium for luxury vehicles doesn't mean you have to," Cramb told the Carsales Network.

"We're really throwing down a challenge to our competitors [with the 350 range]... We identified a massive opportunity in the $65-80K [price range] and we believe we have set a new benchmark for value in the segment," Cramb stated.

Those competitors are an interesting discussion point. Do you compare based on performance or price? In no uncertain terms the IS 350 is a much closer match for the likes of BMW's 335i, the top-spec A4s and V6 C-Class models than ever before in terms of overall performance -- but it is tens of thousands of dollars cheaper. Compared the lower power sixes and turbo four-cylinder Euro models with which the 350 competes on price and the Japanese car wins any performance comparison easily.

With F Sport at last delivering some edge, Lexus may be on to something here...

The F-Sport tune delivers an engaging chassis that's sharp but still exhibits good levels of comfort. The ride is not pillowy -- indeed, there's some initial fussiness thanks probably to spring and damping rates are much higher than the cooking model IS, if not quite as severe as the IS F. But big bumps and really bad tarmac are less of an issue.

And the 'win' here is body control -- the IS 350 sits flat and is especially well resolved in fast transitions from corner to corner. This is the sort of terrain for which roads (and Targa stages) in Tassie are famous. The IS 350 eats them up. Not with the same scalpel sharpness of, say, BMW's best but with an alacrity no Lexus or Toyota (except maybe some race-prepped specials) has shown before. Good stuff.

Unlike some other Lexus models it's possible to tone down the safety nannies. And that's the way we drove the IS 350. A single touch of the stability control button (Vehicle Dynamic Integrated Management in Lexus speak) has the traction control deactivated but the system will still intervene. Keep the button down for an extended period (while stationary) and you can turn it off and enjoy the on-throttle tunability of the chassis.

Steering is well weighted -- more BMW heft than Audi fingertip -- and the front end will point and stick when you want it to... Turn-in is especially confidence inspiring. In this regard it's significantly better than we're used to from the big L. And both the brakes and rubber are well up to the performance potential the muscular direct-injected V6 provides.

The Bridgestone Turanzas chosen have another benefit too -- a raised shoulder on the front tyres should give some additional protection for touch parkers. They won't render those big attractive dark metallic rims untouchable but they will prevent a casual kerbing. Good stuff again.

The sports seats deserve a mention... They're spot on in terms of their combination of comfort and location. The bolstering is quite pronounced but not to the point that you can do yourself a mischief getting in and out. I liked to the IS F-sourced steering wheel with its coupled gearshift paddles. Though the IS 350's autobox isn't the sharp shifting wunder-box of the IS F, it's a good example of the breed.

The Assistance Chief Engineer on the IS program admitted the R&D department had trialled a dual clutch gearbox to add to the F-Sport armoury but claimed it's delivered no real benefits in terms of efficiency or performance. When BMW M-DCT and latest Audi S tronics are such pleasure to use, and Benz/AMG is set to drop a dual clutch into its models -- even C-Class derivatives, it's hard to rationalise Lexus' results...

Though there's a Sport mode for the gearbox, we couldn't discern much difference from the standard set-up. In the end we left the box to its devices much of the time, just flicking the paddles into action when required. In reality the gearbox and engine's power characteristics are well matched.

It's a pretty lively V6 under the foot. It's just a shame -- especially in this F-Sport variant -- that it's not as lively to the ear. If there's a significant aspect to the performance experience that is lacking in the IS 350 its aural. Indeed, it's not that the V6 is anodyne in its engine note, it's just that there is no engine note. The whole damn thing is too quiet!

If the Lexus engineers won't play BMW's game in terms of adopting a twin-clutch gearbox then the least they can do is go and have a listen to a six-cylinder 3 Series being used in anger.

Lexus says it's serious about F-Sport. More than just one model, it will be the foundation of a pyramid of performance with the LF-A and its ancestors at the very peak. In this knowledge, the IS 350 F-Sport is an admirable start-up.

As a brand Lexus has always been able to deliver quality. It has been less successful in engendering passion. In this respect F-Sport could be just what the doctor ordered.

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