2014 Lexus IS Review: Way Better Than Before

The 2014 Lexus IS is so strikingly different from the car it replaces that it almost deserves a new name.

The contrast starts with how it looks. The wheelbase has been stretched three inches and the car is nearly half an inch wider.

This makes the 2014 Lexus IS look much more muscular and menacing. Flared fenders and the huge, signature spindle grille—which Lexus is adding to all of its cars—help too. (Read more about Lexus’ new design approach here.)

With a character line that kicks up from below the doors, the rear of the car is particularly dramatic. Taillights stretch around the rear of the car like some revealing bikini bottom, their outer edges tugged taught. The whole car is so much more emotive than the sterile old IS.

This can be felt inside, as well. The wide, symmetric dashboard, the steering wheel that pleases the eyes and hands, the tight instrument cluster all create a sense of purpose. What a change from the blandness of before.

Even the way you sit in the car feels better. Contoured seats hug the body and give a sense of being in a sports car, especially the optional F Sport seats.

By contrast, I hit my head getting into a 2013 IS 250 on hand for comparison during the 2014 model’s press launch at Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina. With the seat lowered all the way, my scalp still scraped the roof. It felt kind of like sitting on a bar stool at a dinner table.

The rear seat of the new IS is also notably more accommodating than before. It has 1.6 inches more legroom.

But the most crucial changes come as a result of the car’s stiffer body structure, redesigned suspension system and updated transmissions.

The old IS felt like a driving appliance. It isolated you from the road and impeded enjoyment with its transmission that was always in the wrong gear when you needed to punch it.

The 2014 Lexus IS engages the driver with poise, sharp steering, a precise throttle, and a smooth-shifting transmission that always seems to pick the right gear and hold as long as necessary for optimum acceleration. It was easy to push the car right up to the very edge of its limits, with tires chirping on the long left turn out of the pits at Rockingham Speedway.

This was true of the base IS models and the F Sport ones, which have sharper suspension, steering and transmission calibrations, besides more aggressive styling and larger wheels.

Not so with the 2013 model. The rear end on the soon-to-be-replaced IS felt like it was on marbles it was so loose. And the numb steering didn’t give enough feedback to precisely position the car through the road courses’ tight turns.

The new 2014 IS, on the other hand, was so responsive diving into turn three, which exits Rockingham’s back straight, that I was stunned enough to exclaim out loud.

The car has its limits, though. It is a bit more nose-heavy than key competitors such as the BMW 3 Series and Cadillac ATS, which causes it to understeer when really pushed into tight turns. Most people will never come close to driving the IS hard enough to even notice.

And, sure enough, on the winding back roads of North Carolina, it didn’t matter one bit. The Lexus IS came across as responsive and fun to drive. Both the standard 204-hp V6 engine of the IS 250 and the optional 306-hp V6 of the IS 350, are smooth, powerful and sound wonderful when revving up. The latter makes the IS noticeably quicker, though.

The F Sport package does make a difference in the car’s demeanor, keeping it flatter through turns and giving it an extra edge in terms of steering feel. But as with most adaptive suspension systems available these days, the firmest “Sport +” setting is best reserved for the track, or perfectly smooth roads.

Lexus gives plenty of options for configuring the IS. The rear-wheel-drive IS 250 with the 204-horsepower V6 is the most affordable model, starting at $35,950. Adding all-wheel drive costs $2,535.

The more powerful rear-wheel-drive IS 350 starts at $39,465 and is the only model to get an eight-speed automatic transmission, which allows for better acceleration and fuel economy. The other models get a six-speed. It costs $2,235 to add all-wheel-drive to the IS 350.

It really doesn’t matter what version you pick—250 versus 350, rear- or all-wheel-drive, plain or F Sport. Every version of the 2014 Lexus IS is a quantum leap over its predecessor.