mordecai

It's a huge upgrade alone just from the reshaping of the headlights. At first I didn't mind it, but over time what bothered me with the 3IS was the weird headlight shape that was arbitrarily formed by who knows what. I'm baffled by those that are saying they miss Lexus' luxury and elegant styling. To me, just removing the the randomly shaped headlights and shaping it to a more pure form makes it 100x more refined and elegant while keeping the sportive feel of the 3IS. They improved the rear too which was my least favorite part of the IS (even with the weird shaped headlights of the front)

Diesel350

Meh, I think the Germans are doing much better in this class.

baddis es

iTrader: (3)

you could tell an FSport over the base/premium model with a quick glance on the current model, but now it's going to take a bit more to differentiate between the two due to both the refreshed front bumpers being almost identical outside of the grills. personally think that's a setback.

taillights are OK. the refreshed rear bumper is a nice touch for the base/premium but I think the faux tailpipe design make it luxurious, again good for the base/premium, but doesn't do much for the FSport's aggressive approach.

nav screen is a huge upgrade, didn't see the touch pad make its way over from the mouse setup, and still no memory seats.

the GS refresh was so much more exciting than this - they could have done better with the IS line.

situman

Probably won't move the sales needle much. They would be happy if sales simply don't drop in this day and age of suv lovers. With that said, not really enough of an upgrade. I suppose with the new platform looming, no sense in doing major updates anymore. Glad there's no IS-F actually. No sense in having another car linger on a platform about to be retired soon.

JDR76

I don't understand the comment. They just changed the shape of the exhaust tips. How does that make them "faux"?

peteharvey

He means that the real exhaust pipes has a circular cross-section for air flow reasons, while the new exhaust tips have a polygonal shape which looks different from the past.
Polygonal shaped exhaust tips don't really affect exhaust flow, so they are fine.

baddis es

iTrader: (3)

might just be my mistake when initially looking at the pics, as it looks as if the exhaust tips are built into the bumper, see Lex LS, and not apart of the actual exhaust






and I personally don't have a problem with the faux tips - loved them on the IS-F and they look perfect on the luxury over sport themed models for Lexus - but this sleek redesign of them doesn't fit the FSport trim, and rather the current setup for the FSport (as peteharvey said, circular/oval shaped). the base/premium models can get away with it, as it's not meant to push the "sport" design.

ALtin107

The front grill is growing on me but I still think you definitely need to go with the F Sport for the more aggressive look.

mmarshall

I owned an original 2001 IS300 for about five years (bought it brand-new), and, although subsequent versions have offered the AWD and high-performance V8 options that the original one lacked, I don't think any of those subsequent models were built as solidly as the original, Toyota-Altezza-based version.

BrownPride

Beautiful from the outside
Interior is still a huge "meh" and trails its competitors both in design and material quality. It's not bad, but just doesn't feel up-to-par in 2016.

gengar

Probably the same reasons they didn't make one for the original 3IS. A lot of excuses were batted around, like not enough space to shoehorn a V8 (or some variant of that and needing to comply with new dimensional safety regs). Most likely, it's just that Lexus didn't have the stomach to design/engineer an IS-F and an RC-F in the same segment.

EZZ

Completely disagree here. Ton of seat time in the 335/340 and its still a blah interior. So plain. Had a new Q50 for a week and thought the interior was okay but completely generic. The new A4 seems nice but last year's A4 was dated. Mercedes is the top of the class. ATS is just bad.

I'm surprise you say this as the interior has been universally praised across all comparisons.

SNiiP3R

iTrader: (3)

No room in the engine bay for the V8.

And Lexus does not have any other V8's..... if Lexus can't fit the one it sticks everywhere, then there is no IS-F.

blacksc400

iTrader: (4)

Good improvement to the interior, but they just made the exterior front so bad.

chromedome

I'm a big Altezza fan, loved the interior in that car. I'm kinda glad my ES has a similar chrome and black interior like the Altezza because I remember drooling over it ages ago.