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2021 Lexus IS First Drive | A model remodel

The Lexus IS has now been with us for more than two decades. First introduced in 1999, it celebrated its 21st birthday this year and, to mark the occasion, Lexus hit the compact sedan with a significant overhaul, including a revamped powertrain lineup, an updated interior, and a much-needed tech update in an attempt to keep the sporty four-door relevant in a market that craves crossovers and SUVs. So, first things first: The 2021 Lexus IS is not actually new. In fact, Lexus still refers to it as a third-generation car internally, despite the “redesign” and repositioning for 2021, which is ultimately more about the products elsewhere in the Lexus lineup, rather than the IS itself. WeÂ’ll come back to that. Unveiled in June, the 2021 IS model range has been pared down to just two models, the IS 300 and IS 350 F-Sport. The highlight of the standard equipment sheet is an 8-inch touchscreen that's nearly 5.5 inches closer to the driver than the outgoing modelÂ’s. A 10.3-inch touchscreen is available as an upgrade, and perhaps most notably, the IS is finally available with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration suites. Despite the common name and number, however, the IS 300 is in fact offered with two very different engines depending on how many wheels are driven. Power for the rear-wheel-drive IS 300 comes from a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four, which develops 241 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. It's bolted to an eight-speed automatic transmission. With the IS 300 AWD (pictured below), all-wheel drive is paired with a 3.5-liter naturally aspirated V6 good for 260 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque, and a six-speed automatic transmission. Nothing confusing about that, is there? 2021_Lexus_IS_300_AWD_Blue_004 View 9 Photos Thankfully, things are a bit more normal with the IS 350 F Sport. Its high-output V6 is alive and well, with its naturally aspirated displacement of 3.5 liters and an output of 311 horses and 280 pound-feet of twist. It's the same engine regardless of drivetrain, though rear-wheel drive is still tied to the eight-speed automatic while all-wheel drive gets the six-speed. The quickest variant is the RWD model, which will crack off a run to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds. The AWD variant is intended to be an all-weather option, not a performance enhancer. The observant reader will note that we keep referring to the IS 350 F Sport, rather than simply the IS 350.

Lexus still planning seven-seat crossover

In case you're thinking, "But Lexus already has a seven-seat crossover in the GX 460," that's actually a proper SUV - the body-on-frame kind with the massive footprint and floaty handling. A report in Automotive News says that Lexus is trying to figure out how to produce a true crossover with space for seven humans, with the options narrowed down to growing the RX (pictured) or sorting out a brand new model.
How badly does the brand want it? Its chief told AN that another row is first on the list of dealer requests, that the offering could be worth 35,000 more sales per year and they don't care if it eats into five-seater RX sales - "We want it." But hey, when 40 percent of monthly sales are made up of the RX, and Lexus moved more than 103,000 of them in 2013, it's understandable that the company wouldn't mind risking a small hit for the chance to increase sales by a third of their current levels.
Toyota applied to trademark the name TX and that's already been mooted in reports as a replacement for the GX, said to end its life in 2016. The latest report, however, suggests that the GX might not go away since it's "highly profitable for the automaker, even at low volumes," and that "TX coding could merely be for a seven-seat variant of the RX 350." AN also wonders if this larger hauler would stay on the recently lengthened Toyota Highlander platform, which offers meager third-row seating, or switch to the rear-wheel-drive platform used by the IS and GS for tauter responsiveness. With Lexus saying it will be at least two years before it could be brought to market, we have a while to wait yet to find out.

Lexus ES sedan (probably) teased ahead of Beijing debut

Lexus has shared a teaser image of a yet-unnamed future production car, which we believe to be the upcoming ES. The now-familiar spindle grille fills almost the entire image, which Lexus has served us with the tagline "Expect the Unexpected". So, what to expect? Word on the street is that the rear-drive GS saloon is on its way out for good, and the ES would fill its shoes. The 2011-introduced GS has been a slow seller recently, and Lexus might lift the ES to the position of its sole midsize sedan – especially as it moves onto the new TNGA platform already used by the Camry and Avalon, known ES relatives on the Toyota side of things. Let's not forget the ES nameplate debuted way back in the late '80s on a posher Camry with frameless windows, and the models have walked hand-in-hand ever since. The "Unexpected" tagline could be justified by offering all-wheel drive, which would be a first in the ES; the blue tinge of the teaser's Lexus logo refers to a hybrid system, which is also mentioned in the company's teaser tweet. The car will be a global model, which the ES hasn't yet been. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. At 7,773 units, the ageing GS's 2017 sales have nearly halved from 2016's 14,878, which also saw a significant drop from over 23,000 cars sold in 2015, when it was last refreshed. By comparison, Lexus sold over 51,000 ES models last year, also topping 2017's Toyota Avalon sales by almost 20,000 cars. Perhaps the more aristocratic GS isn't seen as a viable as the more bread-and-butter ES, which could be imported to Europe for the first time ever. Earlier this month, we reported that GS orders and production are being called off. Lexus will unveil the new car in Beijing later this month. More teasers are likely to be on their way, and with them, we can report more about the car's appearance and likely spec. In a flurry of crossovers, a traditional saloon sounds like a fresh thing to introduce. Related Video: