I am shopping for a second car, something fun to whip about in the city as I run errands with my baby daughter. While researching my options, I turned to Todd and Paul from the Everyday Driver podcast for vehicle suggestions. Paul provided me with a laundry list of vehicles to test drive, and the IS350 F Sport is one of those vehicles. Thus, I found myself at my beautiful (really, the place is a marble palace) local Lexus dealer late one afternoon.
While my suited salesman goes to fetch the F Sport keys, I sit in an IS350 on the showroom floor and inspect the interior. The interior materials in the IS350 are on par with what I have in my well-optioned 2011 BMW M3. Lexus has a blocky center console shape that I don’t love from a styling perspective, but everything seems well laid out and is nice to touch and interact with.
The F Sport’s front seats are very sporting in their shapes, though not as snug as the Recaros from the Cadillac ATS-V I test drove just a few days ago. The Lexus and Cadillac both have plastic shift paddles for their automatic transmissions, but those in the Lexus are of better quality. I did not test to see if the rear seats are deep enough to fit my daughter’s rear-facing car seat, but visually there appears to be enough rear space for the IS to do baby duty too.
My salesman finally returns, telling me we will drive the very IS350 I had been sitting in off the showroom floor for my test drive. He opens the grand doors to the street, drives the car out of the building, and then hands me the keys. My test consists of a few miles of interstate highway driving and then several blocks on city surface streets.
Notes from the drive:
- The IS350’s 8-speed automatic shifts fine in auto mode.
- The Lexus will discretely blip downshifts. The Lexus upshifts in manual mode much more immediately than GM’s ATS-V 8-speed automatic did. Still, the F Sport doesn’t have that snap/punch to a shift that a true DCT provides. I’d put the Lexus 8-speed on par (or a little ahead) of the ZF 8-speed found in many non-M BMWs.
- The IS350 has Eco, Normal and Sport modes for suspension, throttle, steering. The throttle mapping changes were obvious, but I couldn’t sense the differences in suspension and steering tuning between the modes.
- The 306 hp provides good acceleration, but I am accustomed to my M3, and the IS is clearly in a class below the M3. My jaw did not drop in response to the F Sport’s 0-60 mph pace.
- The Lexus’ six-cylinder engine is naturally aspirated and has smooth power delivery. Obviously, it avoids any turbo peakiness. Unfortunately, it also manages to avoid the top-end kick found in the best NA engines. (BMW M3 and Porsche 911 GT3 come to mind.)
- The F Sport’s steering is light and accurate. I would not say it is over-boosted, and I think I could get used to its weight with time. There is some, but not a ton, of feel on city streets. The M3 provides a bit more feel.
- Speaking of road feel, there is actually more texture and communication through the suspension than through the steering.
- On the highway, the salesman notes the cabin’s quietness and suggests it would be an improvement over the M3. In fact, I don’t think the M3 is much noisier. Both cars predominantly transmit tire noise into the cabin. I’ll agree that the IS has better wind noise suppression.
- The F Sport’s suspension, even in sport mode, is tuned softer than the M3’s. There is more glide in the chassis over highway bumps, making for a softer and more comfortable ride. On the other hand, there is also more body roll.
- There weren’t any high-speed corners to try on this test route, so I don’t know how the Lexus performs there.
From this short test drive, the IS350 F Sport seems like a well-built luxury sports sedan and one where Lexus prioritized the luxury first. It appears to be level below in power and road holding to motorsports inspired vehicles that come from M, AMG, V, and Lexus’ own F. Its demeanor does match the rival 328i M Sport I drove recently. Compared to that car, the IS has a much nicer interior, but the 328i actually feels quicker in town, as its turbo motor really delivers off the line. I came away pretty happy with the M Sport in terms of its ride and steering but concluded that I’d want aggression in my ride. The same is true with the IS350 F Sport; I want more race car than it provides. Nevertheless, I’d be curious to try the F Sport on a good twisty road, as I can only learn so much from a drive up and down the highway.
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