2021 Lexus IS350 F-Sport

Price as tested: $52,345

Specs: 3.5 Liter V6

311 HP / 280 TQ / 0-60: 5.7 Seconds

—

Guy who did stuff: Yousef Alvi

Let’s get this out of the way first…this is the best looking sports sedan on the market today! Just look at it! It is stunning from every angle!

Now, looking at it’s stunning body, you would think that this IS is designed to annihilate the world’s best sport sedans….

While the body maybe fully redesigned, underneath the 2021 IS is pretty much the same as the 2014 IS. Same engine, suspension, interior etc. So you still have the 2GR-FSE 3.5 liter V6 making 311 horsepower (instead of 306), mated to the same 8 speed automatic that debuted a few years back as well. So all of that lack-of-newness leads us to a leisurely jaunt to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds. Or to put into perspective…the same as a Camry TRD.

That leads us to the IS’s competitors…which there are numerous. From the Genesis G70, to the Audi A/S4, to the BMW 3 series, down to the Infiniti Q50 and the Acura TLX. There is not a shortage of choices here and trying to directly compare the IS to any of those vehicles is where things get confusing. Because, drawing a straight line from this IS350 F-Sport to anything else on the market is not possible and that is by design.

That above quote is what Lexus does best. First they dominate a segment so well that they instill a loyal client base that extolls the Lexus(y) virtues to anyone and everyone, then yes the years trudge on that formula that won people over…never really deviates. They produced a product that worked…so why change it? Market forces change so often that it’s akin to chasing one’s tail. It’s smart business acumen to uhhh:

Or to put it another way…just look at the Lexus GX, it’s a vehicle that has been with us since 1872 (or thereabouts) and Lexus has sold over 15,000 of them year to date!! Which is more than the IS, RC, LS and LC! But it’s formula that worked then and for some dedicated consumers…works now.

So, obviously, i’m giving A LOT of leeway here to Lexus but for good reason. At the surface this car doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Heck, even driving for a week…it doesn’t really make any sense whatsoever. But looking the typical Lexus customer…it starts to make a bit more sense.

So how do I sum up this 2021 Lexus IS350?

While it is consistently/hilariously outgunned, outclassed and out-teched by it’s rivals. It is not outsmarted. Because this sculpted yet olden beauty still handily outsells (year to date) majority of its rivals…and that is what counts at the end of the day.