Lexus IS300

Lexus IS300 long term test

Shahzad Sheikh

July 2009

It’s the stuff you don’t immediately notice that acts on your subconscious to justify the luxury label on this IS300. Having sat in traffic recently pondering why this littlest Lexus of all is worthy enough to brandish the badge of Toyota’s premium level marque, I realised that it was the subtleties in excellence that stood this car apart.

The build quality is tighter than a flea’s cleavage, it’s as fuss-free as flying first class on Emirates and the buttons and switchgear in here have better tactility that some clickable encounters in a Bentley.

These are the kind of things you get used to without even realising it. The other day I got into an Audi S5 and was indignant with the realisation that it didn’t have cooled seats or a reversing camera – both present in the Lexus. It also took me a while to get my head around the MMI interface – which normally I find so intuitive. I think I’ve been spoilt by the oh-so-obviousness of the IS’s touch screen.

What else? The floor mats are real carpet, the Bluetooth connection is instant and works amazingly well, the active cruise control is amongst the best I’ve tried, a Mark Levinson stereo fills the cabin with musical majesty plus the IS tells you what day it is every time you start it. Entirely unnecessary, but a nice touch that helps you build a relationship with your car – I invariably found myself talking back!

However, the paddleshifts should be removed altogether unless they are going to put a proper sequential-shift gearbox in the car, as they mislead the driver about what they actually do. Lexus should also endow its smartest-looking and sportiest offering with some decent grunt. Yes that tarmac-tearing IS-F can’t arrive soon enough, but even the regular car should have at least the 300bhp 3.5-litre direct injection engine the American editions boast.

Satisfying to own, pleasing to drive, enjoyable to hurl around and packed with loads of gizmology, the IS300 remains an enticing – and cheaper – alternative to the 3-series and A4.

June 2009

Finally found some time to take the IS300 for a fast blast on some of my favourite roads and did not come back disappointed.

The grip and precision the little Lexus serves up is excellent, and pretty much makes the traction control system redundant. I know this, because I had the system turned off. To do this, you have to press and hold until you get both the TRC off message and the traction off symbol lighting up on the instrument panel.

However, the way it’s been configured, this particular driver’s aid simply wakes itself the first time the car detects slip and reengages. The fact that the system remained off at the end of my run, indicated it never deemed it necessary to awaken.

Then again, there isn’t enough power on tap to really trouble the sticky rubber or the natural talent of the well-designed chassis, which brings me back to the original question I posed last month of why we don’t get the 300bhp IS350 here? Or, whilst we’re on the subject, the 400+bhp IS-F. Surely a car of that calibre deserves to be let loose on our wide roads?

Sticking our Performance Box on this 228bhp IS, it recorded 0-100kph runs of just over 8 seconds with a best of 7.8secs. It also revealed an accurate top speed of 237kph. Not exactly tardy, but it certainly tallied with the sense that this car is swift rather than genuinely fast.

For this sort of car you really want the acceleration time to be in the low sevens and Vmax at closer to 250kph. And you want a little more torque to really torment the tyres.

Nonetheless, in fast sweepers it gracefully carries impressive velocity, never feeling unsettled and there’s no hint of understeer. On tighter turns an eager and responsive helm translates to remarkably neutral handling. Only when you do start to hurl it about you notice the rear lightens up and starts to float a little.

It doesn’t herald snappy oversteer, but concedes that the admittedly smooth, big car style ride is set up slightly more biased towards comfort. This is the only time I’ve felt the car could do with a sports setting for the suspension to firm and flatten things up a little.

Power delivery is good, particularly with the transmission shifter in sports mode, and you can use the paddles to hold lower gears and bounce off the rev limiter, but on occasions when it’s not prepared to slot down, it warns with a double-beep.

Frankly though, the paddleshifts are not satisfying enough to justify the extra exertion and it’s best to leave it in Sport – but you have to remember that fourth is as high as it will go, unless you manually shift up.

All in all, this car has an incredible depth of talent as a junior sports saloon, it just needs a little more grunt and a tighter arse!

Since the last report we’ve put 1000km on the car, which has seen it past its minor service at 5000km. As expected it is utterly dependable with no hint of problems. A couple of times the keyless entry appears to have played up, leaving Shahzad locked out.

May 2009

The Lexus IS300 is the first Japanese car to join our long-term test fleet. So stand up and take a bow Lexus.

It is possible to get too complacent, and whilst Jap cars are renowned for their reliability and durability with millions around the world ready to testify, the days when they used to leave the Europeans trailing and the Americans at the bottom of the heap, are fast fading.

Other manufacturers have wised up to the whole ‘reliability rocks’ deal, and in the US Buick is actually ahead of Lexus in the overall dependability rating in the renowned and respected JD Power and Associates car survey. That’s extraordinary.

So it’s no done deal when it comes to assessing the ease of ownership experience of Japanese cars, there’s no reason to take anything for granted. Having said that, the white IS300 in my care for the last month, has had a relatively easy life. With a number of roadtest vehicles in recently, the Lexus hasn’t found itself too troubled and I’ve only put about 500km on it.

There hasn’t even been an opportunity to take it for a decent run, something I will rectify by the next write-up, but having driven the IS before, I already know it to be capable and competent sports saloon.
A worthy rival to the BMW 3-series thanks to its keen chassis, grippy handling and sharp responses, it is the sportiest and best looking of the Lexus range currently available in the Middle East. It’s also a car that sired the V8-powered IS-F, a genuine M3 rival that we can’t wait to try, when it hopefully arrives later in the year.

Our ex-demonstrator was already well broken in with just over 4000km on the clock. White with beige leather interior – a true Middle East spec – it’s an inviting, high quality cabin with nice touchy-feely bits which all combine, despite its compact dimensions, to remind you that you are in Toyota’s premium brand.

A strong pungent smell is the first thing that comes to mind each morning as I get in the car. An air-vent powered air freshener has helped to alleviate it and it quickly dissipates. The second issue I have is that I’m too tall, so I have to recline the seat back further than I normally would to avoid my head annoyingly brushing the roof lining.

My third problem has been the paddleshift gearbox – it doesn’t behave the way you expect it to. Upshifts are not instant, in fact it’s a sort of pre-select system that allows you to select the range of gears available.

So the gear you select via the paddle shift will be the upper limit – ie, select second and it will only choose between ratios one and two. However it does mean you can downshift and hold onto gears longer than even the sports mode will allow. In fact, once I adapted my driving style a little I made it work for me, it’s just that it’s a little convoluted.

Delights include an excellent stereo, sat-nav, Bluetooth connectivity that actually works, a reversing camera, keyless entry and start plus a brilliant active cruise control system.

It’s pretty nippy and eager, but clearly the chassis can take more power. One thing I haven’t yet got to the bottom of is why China, Brunei and us get the 3.0-litre V6 with 228bhp, whereas in Japan and America they get direct injection units including the 300+bhp 3.5-litre V6. Although, admittedly, we’re better off than Europe where they only sell the diesel and a 2.5-litre variant, I do think we deserve the extra 70 or so bhp we’re missing out on!

Ex-demonstrator comes to us with 4100km on the clock, due for a service at 5k. It’s nicely equipped and has active cruise control. Only issues are a slightly sweaty smell when you first get in and there isn’t quite enough head room for Shahzad’s frame. The paddleshifts work a little differently, so take getting used to.

Own a Lexus IS300? Let us know what your experience has been like below

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