What’s New About the IS 500
The IS 500 brings the Lexus tried and somewhat true “hot rod” formula to the smallest sedan in the lineup. While the 2008 IS F started the revolution with a 5.0 liter naturally aspirated V8 shoehorned under a bulging hood, the 2022 IS 500 F SPORT Performance (the new Lexus nomenclature for something sporty but not quite worthy of the singular F) features a *checks notes* 5.0 liter naturally aspirated V8 shoehorned under a bulging hood. Nevertheless, the addition of the V8 here is definitely appreciated as this generation of IS, which debuted in 2014, has been without any engine above the 350’s V6 until now. Updated exterior looks are also quite a bit sharper now, with cleaner lines up front and out back and some more expressive sheetmetal creasing.
What’s Good About the IS
In an age of forced induction and electrification, the naturally aspirated V8 in the Lexus stands alone in the luxury segment. The smooth V8 somehow rumbles and wails, packing 472 horsepower at a peaky 7,100 rpm and 395 lb-ft of the torques at a high-ish 4,800 rpm. And while it’s somewhat lamentable that this isn’t a sharper tool overall, the softer focus of the rest of the vehicle make it livable as a daily driver.
Key Content
The IS 500 comes in two trim levels, F SPORT Performance and F SPORT Performance Premium. There was also a Launch Edition, as everything seems to have these days, but I assume those are mostly spoken for at this point. Performance wise, the IS 500’s are all the same with the V8 engine, a Torsen limited slip rear differential, up-sized brakes and Yamaha rear performance dampers. Oh and the IS 500 gets the quad, slant stacked exhaust tips that have been on the F cars since the 08 IS F.
Being a Lexus starting at over $57,000 it’s nice to see things like heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, power tilt and telescoping wheel, LED headlamps and of course all their safety and advanced driver assistance features like adaptive cruise control and blind spot detection are standard.
For an extra $4,500 the Premium trim adds the triple-beam LED headlamps, a 10.3″ widescreen infotainment screen, Mark Levinson audio system, factory navigation, a 360-degree parking camera view and power rear sunshade, but performance remains the same.
Quick Drive
Start up the IS 500 and you can immediately feel that this is something more than the IS 350. Where the IS 350 always sounds and feels a bit like a sewing machine to me, the IS 500 has a bit more bravado in its tone, even at idle. The V8 coaxes you into stabbing at the accelerator just to hear the engine one more time. I remember how stiff legged the 2008 IS F was, it got successively better with nearly every model year as the team continued to tweak and improve it. The IS 500 doesn’t suffer from any of that, with a pretty mellow setup that would be perfectly acceptable for all your day to day needs over nearly anything but the harshest of pavement issues. Would you want this setup on a racetrack, probably not, but I don’t live on one and I’m pretty sure 99.9% of you all don’t either. Tearing around some backroads the IS is a willing and playful partner, especially since it’s balanced with a rear wheel drive only setup. The steering, while somewhat hefty, isn’t the quickest I’ve ever driven and the brakes, while big, aren’t branded Brembos or anything of that variety so they didn’t have the strongest initial bite, but are instead well-calibrated for your regular life needs. I can appreciate that Lexus didn’t feel it was appropriate to label this car an IS F, but it begs the question, is an IS F coming? As of right now, the only “F” in the lineup is the equally aged RC F, which uses the same engine. Lexus could have shoved the turbo V6 from the LS 500 into the IS and called it a day (and maybe they should have) but I’m glad they are keeping V8’s alive for now.
Improvement Points
While the exterior got a significant revamp, the interior experience is a bit ho hum. Yes, they put a wider screen in and the touchscreen capability is back for Lexus, but the phone connectivity is still a wired affair. The graphics and instrumentation for the HVAC controls also look like something out of a 20 year old car, but at least it retains general knobs and buttons for most controls. Does anyone really value an analog clock in the dash these days? On the other end of the vehicle, Lexus needs to go full F on this chassis. It’s a bit perplexing that it’s taken them 8 years to even get us this F SPORT Performance model, seems like a bit of a cop out. Will we get another IS F before the Lexus brand jumps to the electric side of the industry?
