Lexus IS 350

From the day it debuted in showrooms in June 2000 (as a 2001 model), the Lexus IS 300 fought an uphill battle for respect and attention in the compact luxury performance market, never quite able to escape the long, dark shadow of the class leading BMW 3. Sure, the IS won some fans, but few tears were shed when Lexus announced that 2005 would be the end of the road for the little car that couldn’t. Ears pricked up as news spread that the IS 300 would be replaced by not one but three completely new models for ‘06—the base IS 250, the IS 250 AWD aimed directly at the rally crowd Subaru has owned lately and the flagship IS 350. Could a revamped Lexus make a real run at the 3? We convened at the Horseshoe Bend Resort on Lake Marble Falls in the Texas Hill Country to find out.

The biggest knock on the old IS 300 was that its drivetrain didn’t cut it in comparison with the 3-Series. The engine lacked sophistication and top-end thrust, and the transmissions were a bit primitive. The autobox, surprisingly for a Lexus, was rather clunky and the manual was rough. As a whole the drivetrain sapped some life out of the car. All this would be a huge “So what?” except that the chassis felt so great. For the first time in a Lexus, the IS 300 delivered a really involving chassis, with great turn-in and flat, balanced cornering. Just as important, the IS 300 chassis revealed the flaws in the 3-Series. The 3 had become a bit overstuffed and soft itself, sort of like a boxing champ whose reign has gone on a bit too long. But, as in boxing, if you want to knock off the champ (in this case, the BMW 3), you have to be more than just a little bit better in a few places and hope for a win on points—you have to score a decisive knockout, and the IS300 simply didn’t have that kind of punching power.

Things are a bit different this year. The IS 350, for example, is underpowered if you compare it to a Corvette Z06, but with a full 306 hp and 277 ft-lb of torque generated by the 3.5L V-6 under the hood, the new Lexus delivers more horsepower (61 hp) and 26 percent more torque than the 330i, the flagship 3. According to Lexus, that extra power translates into serious performance: a claimed 0-60 mph time of 5.6 seconds, which flat-out smokes BMW’s estimate of 6.1 seconds for the 330i and Mercedes-Benz’s 0-62 mph time of 6.4 seconds for the C350. Those are numbers that at least get my interest, but they’re tempered by the fact that a manual transmission won’t even be offered as an option on the IS 350.

As it turns out, the lack of a manual transmission can be blamed on the fact that the ‘06 IS line is going to be the first ever global Lexus. It’s not simply a re-branded Toyota Altezza—it’s the Lexus IS in every country. And since it doesn’t have a Toyota counterpart, according to Lexus spokespersons, there wouldn’t be a crossover application for the manual transmission that would fit the IS 350, rendering it a prohibitively expensive bit of engineering. This disregards the fact that the number of Lexus buyers who opt for a manual transmission is miniscule. So if we want the power of the 350 but the fun of a manual, we’ll have to seek out a talented specialist and take out second, third and fourth mortgages to pay for our one-off, aftermarket sticks.

Since I didn’t have the time or the liquid funding that would’ve allowed me to order up a one-off manual transmission for the IS 350 I’d be driving, I made do with the automatic. Ah, the sacrifice.

To be fair, the IS 350 does have a “manual automatic” shift setting, complete with steering column-mounted paddles. To be honest, I can’t stand this arrangement. If I’m not stomping a clutch and jamming a shifter, I’m not fully immersed, so simply giving me some fingertip gadgetry won’t change things. I’m partially mollified by the fact that a stick is available on both the IS 250 and IS 250 AWD, but then you’re giving up substantial performance (you lose 102 hp and 92 lb-ft of torque) in exchange for a bit more driver immersion—not a good tradeoff in my book.

So opting for power and performance, I slid behind the wheel of an IS 350 and set out to explore the car’s limits.

It’s hard to ignore the seductive charms of the IS 350’s interior and focus on how the car performs. There is none of the Teutonic austerity of the Mercedes-Benz or the infuriatingly excessive engineering of the BMW. The IS 350 may not be palatial by most measures, but by comparison, the Lexus interior—and I really don’t mean this to sound obnoxious—is the automotive equivalent of the Geisha, inviting and accommodating, at least for those sitting up front. If you’re consigned to the rear seat and you’re over 6-feet tall, you’d better hope the ride’s a short one because 30.6 inches of legroom isn’t nearly as much as it may sound. Score one for the 330i, which offers the rearseat passengers a comparatively expansive 34.6 inches of legroom.

Comparing interiors is largely an exercise in comparing tastes. Comparing performance is a whole other story.

The roads of the Texas Hill Country west of Austin are just about perfect for real-world testing of a performance-oriented vehicle: twisting two-laners with elevation changes ranging from small blips to mile-long ascents, dead-straight stretches of highway that have you crossing your fingers and hoping the local constabulary are otherwise occupied and surfaces that span the spectrum from dirt and gravel to pristine interstate. Of course, there are the inevitable obstacles: police, livestock (many of the roads out here run through farms and ranches, so it’s not unusual to come through a curve to find a cow standing at the next apex; deer can and do come bounding out of the scrub trees quite frequently) and sometimes there’s even some rain to slick everything up. If you’re as lucky as I was while piloting the IS 350, you’ll get to deal with all of it.

“Piloting” is the correct word. After turning onto Texas 71 in true “Dukes of Hazzard” fashion, lots of spinning, smoking tires and an immensely satisfying fishtail (am I the only one overly influenced by bad movies?), I reactivated the traction control and put the gas pedal firmly to the floor. The IS 350 rewarded me with smooth, linear acceleration that didn’t flatten until the speed was solidly into triple digits. It felt significantly faster than the 330i from takeoff to top-out, which didn’t surprise me.

As I barreled into the first series of curves, the traction control kicked in. For ‘06, Lexus’ engineers have relaxed the traction control a bit, so there’s slightly more oversteer allowed before the car takes over. This is a very good thing. A brief shower had put sheen on the black top, conditions that would usually have me backing off the as, but the traction control came through as promised. Hard on the brakes, everything under control, big stomp on the throttle, and the back end came loose just enough to point out the edge of traction and put a smile on my face.

It wasn’t all beer and Skittles. The paddles that were supposed to give me “manual automatic” or whatever they’re calling it these days were as useless as I thought they’d be, and I quickly wound up simply leaving the transmission in “D.” I’d like to see the steering improved. At low speeds, I had no complaints, but as things start happening faster, the steering doesn’t quite keep up, requiring more input than it should. I had no complaints with the balance the IS 350 strikes between luxury and performance. I’m sure there will be some who’ll say Lexus has gone too far toward the luxury end of the scale, that the IS is a bit too isolating and doesn’t transmit enough road feel through the steering column or through the floor. I disagree. You just have to pay attention and become an active driver instead of a passive one. To my touch, the IS 350 was decidedly more driver-immersive (if I may coin a phrase) than the BMW 330i and even the Mercedes- Benz C350. The Bimmer and the Benz may not be any softer than the Lexus, and they may let you know what’s happening at the rubber/road nexus, but neither offers up the total handling package I felt in the IS 350. The IS 350 engaged me, helped me focus on what I was feeling through the steering wheel, the seat and the floorboard, and it kept me focused. Neither the Bimmer nor the Benz accomplished that feat. At some point in each of those cars, even when I was on great driving roads, I found myself easing into the experience and disconnecting from the act of driving. In the IS 350, I was engaged by the handling from the time I first hit the throttle to the time I put the transmission in park.

In the interest of science, and because I didn’t want to pass up on the opportunity, I took an IS 250 AWD with manual transmission out for a spin as well. While I desperately missed the power of the 350 (the 250 AWD’s 2.5L V-6 produces only 204 hp and 185 lb-ft of torque), I was thoroughly impressed by the stickiness of the AWD system and the ability to shift my own gears. Low-end torque was especially lacking, but as long as I kept the tach up near the red line, there was enough grunt to keep me interested. The steering seemed more responsive, too, although that was quite possibly a result of my greater immersion in the driving experience.

Motoring up TX-16, I reached a couple of conclusions. There’s really no getting around the fact that the Lexus IS 350 is the new king of the class having more power, improved performance and responsive handling are every bit as luxurious as any of its competitors. While Lexus hadn’t released MSRPs at press time, I’m betting that we’ll see a base list price in the $35,000 range, giving it even more of a competitive edge. I really wish Lexus would at least give me the option of an IS 350 AWD with a manual transmission. That setup would be a rockinggood rally car, one that might just put a shiver or two up the spine of Subaru’s WRX STi, as well as a sweet road car for the rest of us. But, according to Lexus, my wishes aren’t going to come true any time soon and possibly won’t come true at all at the factory level. So I guess it’s time to look into taking out a few extra mortgages and finding a transmission builder, isn’t it?