2014 Lexus IS 350 F Sport First Drive

Edmunds.com

2014 Lexus IS 350 F Sport First Drive

Edmunds' First Drive of the 2014 Lexus IS 350 F Sport, with driving impressions, specifications and photos of Lexus' redesigned entry-level sport sedan.

Read the full story here

trmckin

More mature? I guess it does look like it has bags under it's eyes. Sorry Lexus... I'm usually a fan of all things Lexus but this thing is ugly.

bankerdanny

I would much rather have the conventional 2 dial gauges than the weird single dial thingy in the F-sport. I have to wonder about the difference in brake size between the 250 and the 350. Is the 250 really so much lighter that is can do with brakes ~15% smaller in diameter? Or perhaps the question is does the 350 really need brakes that are 15% larger?

throwback

I love the new interiors Lexus is putting in their cars, but then I was a fan of the LF-A. As for the exterior styling, the Predator (the movie) look is less appealing to me. That said, I would not be surprised to see the BMW 3 series take a sales dip, especially in North America. With the ATS, IS, A4 and Mercedes C class, the 3 series has more competition than ever.

throwback

"The 2.5-liter is our most popular powertrain on the IS and delivers great performance and fuel economy .."

That's because AWD is only available on the IS250. I'm in the early stages of looking for a new (used) car as my daily driver. It is virtually impossible to find a IS250 RWD in the mid-atlantic states. I am considering a IS350 as I have no need for AWD. I have found snow tires and common sense gets me where I need to go.

dfelix70

Unfortunately, not even a car I would consider. The styling is completely incoherent and just, odd. It's like Mia Farrow wearing thigh-high boots. It just doesn't work and is trying to hard to be something it's not. And that interior does not inspire at all. It looks like there should be a cassette player in that dash playing the soundtrack to St. Elmo's Fire.

And the review of its driving dynamics does not help it. How could a company make the GS such a driver's car and make the IS a more luxurious car? If Edmunds feels the IS can't keep up with a 3 Series, then it's that much further behind the ATS in driving dynamics.

Sorry, Lexus. Fail.

carfreak13

I just saw this car at the Denver auto show, the rear looks fine but the front is a hideous mess!

autoboy1

This is a car I would have considered but it's so very ugly and I'm not normally that concerned about that. 8/10s is all I ever drive so the dynamic traits at the limit don't matter that much to me. But this thing looks like it fell of of the ugly tree and broke it's nose on the way down and now there's jagged bone sticking out right under her eye.

wizard8873

And here I was hoping that the interior would be improved. It just looks like it's been quickly put together so that it confines to the style set by the GS and has all of the necessary equipment. Looking at that interior does not make me think I'm looking at the interior of a luxury car.

rollk

How is this not a complete redesign? It looks nothing like the previous model, inside and out.

jederino

The interior is my favorite element of the new IS. It looks athletic and upscale. Exterior boggles the mind. Did they take cues from the Subaru Legacy?

travai

Oooh. I don't know what to think of this. It's a little subversive and surprising. Refreshingly strange, or just ungainly? Can't decide yet.

I like the rear styling; the way the rocker panel sweeps up into the taillights.

Those little chrome chevrons under the headlights are undeniably odd though.

Nice interior.

agentorange

That face!! They JUST got away with it on the GS, but it blows chunks on this car. This thing has been beaten with the ugly stick, set on fire and had the flames beaten out using a frying pan. I'm not getting the sweep line from the sills to the tail-lights, either.

aidano2

Yuck. Looks like it had a cheap aftermarket body kit fitted!

financeman2

What were they thinking when they did the redesign....Lexus took a reasonably attractive car, did some great updates to the chassis and interior, and fumbled the ball in a big way on the exterior. It looks so cluttered and busy; one of the worst updates I've seen in a long time. Infiniti must be extremely happy to see this new iteration of the IS...their new Q50 appears to be a huge magnitude more attractive (IMO)

twistedrider

A face only a mother would love. Which is one ugly mother (expletive)...lol. Even the new Caddys look better. The Predator design language does not work, Toyota. And what's with the cheap body kit? This is as bad as the Acura Beak....Oy vey!

frank908

Maybe I'm not reading the article correctly, but it says that the F-sport has a variable rate suspension that mainly works on its own, but there is a driver selectable suspension mode in normal softens up the suspension, but in sport mode only affects the throttle and steering? So then the only option for the driver is "soft" mode, the rest is sport all the time by default? And it's still too soft apparently. Guaranteed, in one year, they make it a fully driver selectable suspension the GS and stiffen it up in the process. I thought the days of not buying first-year new models because of the bugs that need to worked out were over. Even Cadillac got it correct with ATS suspenisonright out of the box.

tim_boo

The interior lokks great to especially the instrument cluster, but does the front of the car look like a pug...oh wait pugs are cute.