Experienced by Adrian McQueen
Photography by Adrenaline Lifestyles
What a pleasure it was to get behind the wheel of the 2023 Lexus IS 350 F Sport. Pulling up to my driveway and seeing the Atomic Silver Lexus was an electrifying sight. The Lexus IS line has been sold by Lexus since 1999 and was originally sold under the Toyota Altezza nameplate in Japan. It was introduced to the market as an entry-level sport model as an inline powered v6, only available with the five-speed automatic transmission with the five-speed manual being made available in the US in 2001. The IS designation stands for Intelligent Sport. The Lexus IS line has come a long way over the years and I was excited to get started with my review.
Upon first look, my eyes locked in on the F Sport exterior styling. The Lexus spindle grille is prominent and nestled between the headlight design, that comes with triple beam LED headlamps. I love the car’s sporty, sleek and sloping look. The dual exhaust and rear lip spoiler help amplify the rear design. The model that I tested sat on 19-inch Matte Black BBS forged wheels. This really set off the look for the car.
Lexus is known to have an origami-inspired multi-angle interior design that is unique and shows off the brands appeal. The IS 350 not very spacious inside but I did not feel cramped. It can comfortably seat five people with good legroom. There are F Sport bolstered power front sport seats with heated and ventilated functions. The IS 350 also comes with a power tilt and slide moonroof.
High-quality materials are throughout the car such as the gorgeous black geometric film interior trim. The car seat connectors were easy to find and reach, as I needed to use them with installing my daughters’ car seat. The trunk space was a bit small and would have proved difficult for a family road trip, but it was great for quick shopping trips and running errands.
The Lexus multimedia system comes with an 8.0 inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The infotainment screen is vivid and easy to see. The 17 speaker, 1800 watt premium Mark Levinson surround sound audio system is outstanding and definitely kept me grooving while driving around.
Other options that came with my tested IS 350, which added heated and ventilated front seats, adaptive cornering headlamps, heated steering wheel rim and a powered rear sunshade. The Comfort package was added as well and came with rain-sensing wipers, a powered steering column, auto-dimming side mirrors with memory, driver’s seat memory, and blind spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert.
The IS 350 model uses a 3.5-liter V6 with a 6-speed automatic transmission making 311 horsepower. This car is a full time all-wheel drive (AWD) beast. I felt a smooth and premium experience in the IS 350 AWD. It is a sporty sedan that’s fun to zoom around town in, as well as hug tight corners that are outside of the city. The gas mileage on the IS 350 AWD is not that great in comparison to the other cars in its class. The model tested gets 19 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway and 22 mpg combined. The Lexus IS has a four-year/50,000-mile basic warranty and a six-year/70,000-mile powertrain warranty.
The Lexus IS 350 earned five out of five stars overall from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It comes with safety features such as Air bags throughout the vehicle, plus a knee airbag for both front occupants and rear side-thorax airbags. Also added is the Lexus Safety System+ 2.5 suite of advanced driver assistance systems, which adds a Pre-Collision System featuring forward collision warning with autonomous emergency braking, lane departure alert with steering assist, automatic high beams, and dynamic radar cruise control.
I enjoyed my time with the IS 350, taking it to car shows, social events and my usual daily duties. The 2023 Lexus IS 350 AWD has a quality smooth ride, low cabin noise, delivers strong performance, impressive comfort, good quality, a wide assortment of features, a fairly long list of advanced safety systems, better than average expected reliability and it comes at a reasonable value. My model tested came in at $55,710.00. In the compact luxury sedan segment, the Lexus IS 350 goes up against the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A4, Jaguar XE, Alfa Romeo Giulia, BMW 3 Series and the Tesla Model 3. I definitely feel that it is one of the better choices in its class. Please enjoy the photo gallery.
