Professionals
Gas Financial system
Trip & Dealing with
All-Wheel Drive Choice
Cons
Small Backseat
Distant Touchpad
Infotainment Touchscreen
Some automobiles, just like the 2021 Lexus IS, for instance, have a method of validating life targets and aspirations. One factor I’ve noticed about luxurious automobiles over time, whatever the producer, is that house owners have a tendency to consider them as a private reward or achievement. The 2021 Lexus IS holds that very same attract, solely in a extra up to date and sporty package deal. Nevertheless, when you had been to buy a automobile for your self as a private reward, do you have to take into account the Lexus IS?
We lately hung out behind the wheel of a 2021 Lexus IS 350 F Sport. Right here is how our drive went.
Lexus IS: What’s New For 2021
Though Lexus stopped in need of an entire redesign, the 2021 IS nonetheless gives a beneficiant array of normal security, efficiency, and connectivity options. Essentially the most vital upgrades come by way of the chassis, structure, and suspension.
The 2021 IS falls underneath the brand new “Lexus Driving Signature” umbrella, a product growth initiative the automaker describes as a “cultural shift” when designing automobiles. In so many phrases, Lexus needs to take an “always-on” philosophy and channel that right into a uniform customary throughout their total line. The 2021 IS has turn out to be the primary automotive to signify this always-on, cultural shift. Nevertheless, was Lexus capable of take this new ethos and engineer it into the mechanical and bodily parts of the 2021 IS?
Permit me to elucidate this extra underneath the “Driving Dynamics” heading a litter farther down. First, let’s cowl among the fundamental data in regards to the 2021 Lexus IS.
2021 Lexus IS: Steadily Requested Questions
Is the Lexus IS all-wheel drive?
Though our press automobile for this overview was rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive is out there for the 2021 IS. The Lexus IS 300 and IS 350 have the choice for all-wheel drive.
How a lot is the 2021 Lexus IS?
The IS 300 begins at $39,000 whereas the IS 300 with all-wheel drive begins at $41,000. The IS 350 F Sport begins at $42,900 (rear-wheel drive) and $44,900 (all-wheel drive). This free and useful search software will let you see which sellers in your space supply the most effective offers on the brand new Lexus IS.
What engine does the 2021 Lexus IS have?
The IS 300 with rear-wheel drive has a turbo four-cylinder with 241 horsepower and 258 lb-ft. of torque. The IS 300 with all-wheel drive employs a bigger 3.5-liter V6 with 260 horsepower and 236 lb-ft. of torque. An eight-speed automated (Lexus designation AA81E) is paired with the four-cylinder, whereas the V6 is mated to a six-speed automated (Lexus designation A760H).
Beneath the hood of the IS 350, no matter drivetrain, is identical 3.5-liter V6, however with extra grunt. IS 330 fashions crank out 311 horsepower and 280 lb-ft. of torque. The rear-wheel drive IS 350 is paired to an eight-speed automated, whereas the all-wheel drive variations use a six-speed automated (identical Lexus designations as above).
The IS 350 with rear-wheel drive is the quickest mannequin, with a zero to 60 time of 5.6 seconds.
What’s the fuel mileage?
Here’s a side-by-side comparability of the EPA rankings for the 2021 Lexus IS. Our press automobile for this overview, an IS 350 F Sport with rear-wheel drive, achieves an EPA-estimated 20/28 metropolis/freeway and 23 mixed. We had been pleasantly stunned to see the next mixed gas economic system common of 24.9 after about 50 miles of driving.
What’s the guarantee?
Each 2021 Lexus IS comes with a bumper-to-bumper guarantee of 48 months or 50,000 miles and a powertrain guarantee of 72 months or 70,00 miles. That will help you decide when you want further protection, see this useful information on the Lexus prolonged guarantee.
Our 2021 Lexus IS Press Car
The mannequin we drove was an IS 350 F SPORT with rear-wheel drive. F SPORT styling upgrades embrace distinctive entrance and rear bumpers, grille surrounds, exhaust ideas, and particular badging. On the within, F SPORT therapies embrace heated and cooled seats, heated Ash Wooden steering wheel, distinctive accelerator and brake pedals, particular door accents, and a leather-wrapped shifter.
Our press automobile got here with the F SPORT Dynamic Dealing with Package deal, above and past the usual F SPORT suspension tuning. The Dynamic Dealing with Package deal provides an adaptive variable suspension, Torsen limited-slip differential, carbon fiber rear spoiler, selectable and customizable drive modes, and matte black 19-inch solid alloy BBS wheels.
By way of connectivity and infotainment options, our Lexus IS got here with a ten.3-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, Amazon Alexa integration, Bluetooth functionality, and a complimentary trial of Lexus Enform Wi-Fi. Our press automobile included the complete listing of Enform providers as effectively. Two USB jacks within the middle console, a programmable storage door opener, a Mark Levinson 1,800-watt premium stereo, and a CD participant had been among the many different niceties.
2021 Lexus IS Security Options
The upgraded Lexus Security System+ 2.5 is customary on each 2021 Lexus IS. The package deal features a Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Help, Lane Tracing Help, All-Pace Dynamic Radar Cruise Management, Clever Excessive Beams, Street Signal Help, Blind-Spot Monitor, Rear Cross Site visitors Alert, and a Tire Stress Monitoring System.
Each 2021 IS comes with a short lived spare tire, a Tire Stress Monitoring System, and a first-aid package within the trunk.
Inside Highlights: Distant Contact Interface
One factor that at all times comes up when discussing a Lexus inside is the Distant Contact Interface. Within the above picture, it’s the black pad slightly below the shifter. It really works just like a mousepad on a laptop computer. You run your finger over it to scroll by the totally different menus and options on the touchscreen. When you land on one thing you need, like navigation or local weather management, you press down on the pad, and also you now have entry to it.
Many within the automotive media don’t like this specific touchpad. The mousepad performance doesn’t hassle me a lot because the random “switching” that occurs (for lack of a greater phrase). For instance, I might use the touchpad to drag up Watercolors on SiriusXM to see the station and track title. After driving for a short time, I might look as much as discover the icon on the touchscreen had someway moved to a distinct menu, like navigation, for instance. Though the track was nonetheless enjoying, the seen menu display was now totally different than SiriusXM.
I can solely surmise that vibrations brought on by bumps reverberate up and thru the automotive. These vibrations, delicate although they might be, may have an effect on the touchpad and trigger an unintended motion of the icon on the dashboard touchscreen. This was particularly prevalent on the freeway at speeds of 60 mph or above.
Sadly, the ten.3-inch touchscreen appears to be designed with the touchpad in thoughts. When utilizing your fingers to scroll by the varied menus, the touchscreen feels clumsy and awkward, so bypassing the touchpad isn’t a lot better. To regulate issues like the warmth and AC, I used the bodily interface slightly below the touchscreen. Scrolling by the local weather menu with the touchpad is the least intuitive factor about all the system.
Inside Highlights: Touches of Class
The 2021 Lexus IS resembles a futuristic sports activities automotive from the motive force’s seat (I additionally felt this fashion with the brand new ES). The F SPORT’s perforated Nuluxe seats make you are feeling “tucked in,” virtually as if you’re in a cockpit. The 2021 IS feels fast and sporty from the second you sit down! Visibility could be a difficulty generally, though options just like the panoramic view monitor assist when backing up.
There are touches of sophistication all through the cabin of the 2021 IS, just like the analog clock, heated seats, and heated steering wheel, for instance. These little particulars go a great distance in including a component of luxurious to what actually seems like a dynamic sports activities automotive when you begin it up. It was good to have my palms keep heat as I maneuvered round some twisty roads north of Detroit.
Lexus says the brand new IS can seat 5, though we really feel that may be a bit bold. There isn’t a lot room within the again seat, and taller passengers could really feel cramped. If this can be a concern, however you continue to need a Lexus sedan, the ES is perhaps a better option. Trunk house is an affordable 10.8 cubic toes, which is barely greater than the Genesis G70 and Cadillac CT4 (10.5 and 10.7 cubic toes, respectively), however lower than the Audi A4 at 12 cubic toes.
Driving Dynamics: Growing The Lexus IS
Within the Artwork of Lexus, Toyota President Akio Toyoda says the IS “actually taught me what efficiency driving was, and it was the second when my love affair with Lexus started.” Toyoda’s appreciation for driving performed out throughout the growth of the 2021 IS, a good portion of which transpired on the Toyota Technical Heart Shimoyama in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture. The automaker’s 3.3-mile check course, impressed by the Nürburgring Nordschleife, features a practically 250-foot change in elevation, all kinds of curves and corners, and a number of sorts of street surfaces.
Engineers from Lexus spent appreciable time right here refining the brand new IS. Particularly, they honed the physique to make it as inflexible and light-weight as potential. For a sports activities automotive just like the IS, a lightweight and stiff physique construction will present real-world advantages, like extra direct steering, higher trip and dealing with, and improved gas economic system. To attain this, engineers elevated the variety of weld factors, reworked the C-Pillar design, strengthened the radiator facet helps, and chosen lighter wheel hub bolts (an thought borrowed from the Lexus LFA supercar).
Suspension modifications embrace coil springs that at the moment are 20 p.c lighter, solid aluminum A-arms (18 p.c lighter), and a brand new stabilizer bar (17 p.c weight discount). Issues go up a notch with the F SPORT Dynamic Dealing with Package deal and the Torsen limited-slip differential, each of which our press automobile had.
Driving Dynamics: Cruising The Detroit Metro
Close to the start, I discussed the brand new “always-on” mantra that Lexus needs all of its future automobiles to embody, with the 2021 IS being the primary to hold this distinction. The Toyota Technical Heart Shimoyama, which solely simply opened in 2019, is an integral a part of that now. It’s the place engineers work out the nitty-gritty particulars to assist make this bigger imaginative and prescient potential. And wow, did they ever do a very good job with the 2021 Lexus IS.
After jetting off from Detroit correct on Woodward Avenue, we jumped on West Lengthy Lake Street in close by Bloomfield Hills. We took that to Orchard Lake Street, then down Pontiac Path to Walled Lake. These roads are sometimes busy with site visitors, whatever the time of day, which causes a variance in pace and braking. These roads even have some stable corners and hills, making it a superb space to drive one thing just like the 2021 Lexus IS.
The Lexus IS feels stable and composed on a straightway, then nimble and agile when you must take a nook or change lanes. The lighter, extra inflexible physique construction, mixed with the revised suspension, makes the IS really feel tight, secure, and safe. The V6 underneath the hood of the F SPORT offers loads of snap, however acceleration is linear, direct, and straightforward to manage. Drive the 2021 Lexus IS gently, and the engine’s Eco mode will ship higher gas economic system numbers than what’s listed on the window sticker.
That is undoubtedly the results of the numerous hours put in on the Toyota Technical Heart Shimoyama. Will probably be fascinating to see how this impacts different Lexus automobiles within the close to future.
Ought to You Purchase The 2021 Lexus IS?
Throughout our weekend drive across the lakes right here in Michigan, I found the identical appreciation Toyoda has for the IS. In any case, there’s nothing like a driver’s automotive, and the 2021 Lexus IS is a driver’s automotive. Nevertheless, there are different luxurious sports activities automobiles available on the market, and I like to recommend researching every one a litter additional.
Begin maybe with the Genesis G70 first. The brand new G70 is an expensive and sporty driver-centric automotive that offers the IS a run for its cash. The Cadillac CT4, with its rear-drive structure and non-compulsory 2.7-liter turbo engine, is one other robust chance. Different perennial mainstays embrace automobiles just like the BMW 3 Collection and Mercedes-Benz C Class.
Nevertheless, when you in the end resolve on the 2021 Lexus IS, I believe you may be completely happy. On the finish of the day, it’s a well-engineered automotive that’s gratifying to drive. That will help you get began along with your analysis, see the search software beneath. That can present you the entire stock in your space and which sellers are supplying you with the most effective worth.
Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and a member of the Midwest Automotive Media Affiliation and the Society of Automotive Historians. He serves on the board of administrators for the Ally Jolie Baldwin Basis, is a previous president of Detroit Working Writers, and a loyal Detroit Lions fan.
