For 2011, Lexus has made some slight but important additions to its small sports sedan the IS. The “young-gun” of the Lexus lineup, the IS has always catered more toward the driving experience than overall luxury i.e. the BMW 3-Series and Infiniti G cars. Even still, the little Lexus usually has to live in the shadow of the Bavarian bomber but Toyota’s luxury division decided to change that with the added F Sport package for the IS 350 and 250.
The F Sport makes its case with simple additions like reworked body moldings, chassis tuning and very subtle engine tweaking. The suspension takes inspiration from the M3 level IS F and has been stiffened ever so much to make turn in crisper and the body more flat in corners. The F Sport package doesn’t go so far down the sporting path that it becomes too stiff, like what happened to the IS F. The steering has been revised as well to make the electric power steering more communicative. New 18-inch wheels have been added to work with the more aggressive body work. The interior has been given a few touches as well for the F Sport with exclusive seats, steering wheel and scuff plates.
The IS 350 F Sport still makes a solid 306 hp from its direct injected 3.5 liter V6 with variable valve timing. It is matched to a 6 speed automatic and RWD. AWD is finally available for the big displacement 350 and a 6 speed manual is available but only on the smaller displacement IS 250. Available are a plethora of F Sport performance additions that can be dealer installed. Intakes and exhaust systems to add a few more ponys are just a couple of items available.
Overall, the IS 350 F Sport is solid performance sedan and on par with the 3 Series it competes directly against. It does however bring up a solid conundrum: why buy the IS F when the F Sport is almost as fast? The IS F, though much more raw with its 415 hp V8 is being criticized for its far-too busy 8 speed automatic and overly stiff suspension. The V8 also is being called “peaky” due to it making all of its torque too close to redline. For a lot less money (the IS 350 F Sport will be around 43k-45k), a buyer could have much more subdued sports sedan that is still plenty fast: 0-60 in 5.3 seconds for the F Sport. The $60k IS F might seem obsolete now that the F Sport will surely satisfy the Lexus fan who craves performance.
