The first Lexus IS was a fun car to drive, with a willing six and agile handling, but it was cursed with a tacky, boy-racerish, down-market interior. (Click here for my initial review of that car, here for a later review of the six-speed.) I'm in my thirties, but I felt way too old to be inside that car. As I said in my review, it should have been a $25,000 Toyota.

For 2006 Lexus has introduced a new IS. All that remains the same is the name. Which, frankly, they should also have changed. The new car is essentially a shortened GS. Compact sedans being my favorite class of car, I promptly took the 306-horsepower IS 350 for a test drive.

Unfortunately, a six-speed manual is only available in the 204-horsepower IS 250. I sampled this powertrain a week later.

Styling

Though a convertible as shown in the photo might later be offered, for now the IS is available only as a sedan.

The first IS had a fairly attractive exterior, with jaunty proportions and a rakish beltline. The new one, though, is easily the best styling from Lexus to date. Envision a Saab 9-3 with a bit more rake to the beltline, a kicked-up rearmost window, and more sophisticated character lines, and you won't be far off. The new car looks especially good from the rear quarter. From the front the fenders look a bit pudgy, though less so than those on the also-new 2006 Lexus GS. Overall, the only change I'd personally make to the car is a bit less curvature through the fenders.

The interior of the new IS is an absolute triumph, easily the most stylish and most nicely furnished interior in the class. (The Audi A4 can kiss its main source of distinction goodbye.) The use of metallic-finish and wood trim on the center console and doors is first-rate. The instruments are now conventionally arranged (Hallelujah!) and of the electroluminescent type that helped make the first big Lexus such a hit. They have a large number of fine markings, but could not be easier or more pleasant to read. Unlike in the GS, the doors are fitted with proper grab handles. Attention to detail is apparent everywhere you look.

The worst thing I can say about the styling and materials of the interior is that the metallic trim that wraps around ot the inside of the grab handles could get a bit cold in the winter. Leather would feel nicer. Pretty harsh critcism, eh?

In comparison, an Infiniti G35's interior looks cheap and a BMW 3-Series' interior looks plain, almost like something you'd expect in a family sedan. (Note: the G35's interior is much improved for 2007.) The interior in an Acura TL is nearly as stylish, but not as sporty and the materials are definitely a notch or two lower in grade.

Revision: The first IS I drove had an all black interior, the second a mix of light gray and black. In light gray the interior doesn't feel nearly as rich. Suddenly it's obvious that the lower half of the instrument panel is the same hard plastic found in much cheaper cars. More of the story: avoid the light gray interior.

Accommodations

The driving position is lower in the new car, more like a serious luxury sedan and less like an economy car. You sit considerably higher in an Infiniti G35, for example.

Large, the IS is not. The cabin is narrow and the center console is high and wide. For me, this enhances the sportiness of driving the car. In the manual the shifter should fall readily to hand--I hope to find out next week.

The front seats are well-bolstered and at least average in comfort. Both are ten-way power adjustable, including recline and lumbar. Adjustable side bolsters, as on the 3-Series with Sport Package, would further improve these seats.

The back seat is easily the car's largest weakness. Even a GS comes up short in this area. So it shouldn't be much of a surprise that the IS might well have the tighest rear seat currently available in a sedan. Adult men will barely fit in back, with little to no clearance for knees behind the front seatbacks. I think even an RX-8 offers rear seat passengers more room. I would have to put three child seats in the back seat. Because the rear wheelwells intrude quite a bit, I'm not sure they would fit. I might check this out next time.

Aside from the limited amount of space the rear seat is comfortable. So for two children or short-legged adults it would serve well.

Trunk capacity at thirteen cubic feet is a bit better than the class average. Unfortunately, as in the old IS and the G35 the rear seat does not fold. Only a small passthrough is provided.

On the Road

I first sampled Toyota's latest V6 in 3.0-liter form in the new GS, and found it among the nicest I've experienced. This engine is available in 2.5- and 3.5-liter forms in the new IS. I drove the latter this time because it's the most powerful and it was the only IS the dealer had. As I partially mentioned earlier, only the 2.5 will be available with a manual transmission or all-wheel-drive (but not both at the same time).

As the 306-horsepower spec suggests, the 3.5-liter feels very powerful. But not only at the top end. Though torque output peaks at 4,800 RPM, there's plenty of power lower down. The car launches forcefully from a dead stop. This despite having gained a few hundred pounds in the redesign--the IS 350 weighs over 3,500 pounds. A six-cylinder BMW 5-Series weighs less.

The engine also makes wonderful noises, at least to my ear. I recall a similar Germanic purr from older BMW and Mercedes engines. Perhaps not optimal if a quiet engine is your thing, but this symphony certainly enhanced my driving experience.

The automatic is a six-speed with a sport mode and paddles behind the steering wheel for manual shifting. In sport mode the transmission holds onto gears longer and brakes the engine when you let off the gas. Though this might get tiresome around town, it works very well when the road gets curvy. So much so that I felt little need for the paddles.

If you do want to shift for yourself the paddles are nicely shaped and located, and the transmission reacts about as promptly as the average automatic seeking to impersonate a manual. Which means quicker than a conventional automatic, but still not all that quick. (VW's DSG is a different story.)

In sharp contrast, the IS 250 is downright sluggish, even with the manual. According to the salesperson, they've found that letting IS 250 shoppers sample the IS 350 is a mistake. Flooring the IS 250's throttle at 3500 RPM has little obvious effect. I held the pedal down waiting for the engine to reach its sweet spot and take off, but this never happened. All the way to the redline the smaller six lacks verve. It also lacks the invigorating soundtrack of the big six.

I can only imagine how sluggish the all-wheel-drive IS 250 feels.

To be blunt, the 2.5-liter six should have never made it into the new IS. Why buy a sporty compact if the performance just isn't there? The 3.0 from the GS would be a much better choice. Don't be surprised if the 2.5 is replaced by the 3.0 in a year or two.

The six-speed manual is also a huge disappointment. The lever is tall, its throws are long, and the feel is uncannily similar to that of a poorly engineered cable linkage in a front-drive car. I mentioned this to the salesperson, and she actually agreed.

The clutch engages abruptly near the top of its travel. I found it unusually difficult to produce smooth shifts.

The steering is less go kart-quick than the old car's, and lacks feedback, but is still satisfyingly sporty in feel and responsiveness. The compact BMW has an edge here, as its steering is downright sublime, but the new IS is about even with the C-Class in this regard.

The suspension is more of an issue. The IS 350 feels balanced in most hard turns, with power oversteer just a stab of the throttle away. But sometimes the rear end feels a touch soggy, and the IS 350's highly integrated stability control system cuts in too early and too severely, taking the wind entirely out of the car's sails when it does so. The new 3-Series is more tossable and can be more confidently hurried along a challenging road. Notably, the BMW's stability control system works seamlessly, such that you often don't even know it has intervened.

The IS 250's system is less obtrusive, but still cuts in often despite not having much torque to keep in check. I enjoyed the steering and handling of the car considerably less the second time around. Without the big six's power oversteer on demand, the chassis feels much less dynamic.

The IS 350 I drove had the Luxury Package, while the IS 250 had the lesser Premium Package. A Sport Package with a sport-tuned suspension will be available in the spring. This should improve the sharpness and stability of the chassis. The question is how much.

The IS 350's ide quality can be a bit jiggly on some surfaces, but is never harsh. Noise levels befit a Lexus. You know from the seat of your pants and your ears that you're in a premium automobile.

Even though the tires on the IS 250 were 17s rather than 18s, that car seemed to ride less smoothly and more noisily than the IS 350. Tire thump on a patchy stretch of highway was especially more prominent than I remembered. The IS 250's ride also seemed less smooth in general. Maybe the big six just bewitched me, but the extra person in the car during the first test drive (my father) might have been a factor. A couple hundred pounds in the rear seat might settle the rear suspension.

Given the base suspension's marginal ride quality, the sport suspension is seeming less enticing.

Lexus IS 250 / IS 350 Price Comparisons and Pricing

The IS 350 I drove, with $8,000 worth of Luxury Package, 18-inch wheels, Nav, and Mark Levinson audio, was $44,000. This suggests that Lexus is going toe-to-toe with BMW.

But this isn't really the case, because it doesn't take into account the significantly higher level of content on the IS. Even the base IS 250 with a price of $30,580 has leather, 10-way power seats, keyless access and ignition, a CD changer, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, and metallic paint standard. All of these are optional on the BMW 325i. Adding just the leather, keyless system, and metallic paint to the BMW boosts its price, already $1,000 higher than that of the Lexus, to $3,400 higher than that of the Lexus. Adjusting for remaining feature differences boosts that gap even further, to $4,400.

The gap is even larger, about $5,000, with the uplevel engines.

The Infiniti G35 is about three thousand less expensive than the Lexus, but the gap can vary anywhere from one to four thousand depending on equipment level. Adding option packages in either can significantly reduces its price to value ratio.

Prices change frequently, and differences will vary based on feature level. To quickly generate these and other comparisons with the specific features you want, visit my Web site, www.truedelta.com. (It's the only site that provides true "apples-to-apples" price comparisons.)

TrueDelta's page for the Lexus IS:

http://www.truedelta.com/models/IS.php

Last Words

For 2006, the Lexus IS has thoroughly grown up. Any hint of boy racer has been banished. In IS 350 form the new car is every bit a Lexus, everything the first IS should have been, and more. The styling is sophisticated, and (in black) the interior is the nicest in the segment. From behind the wheel the IS 350 feels satisfyingly sporty--even before you start the engine (using a push button) and drive off.

The new 3 handles with greater agility and precision, and has a signficantly roomier rear seat. But the new Lexus matches or significantly surpasses the Bavarian in every other area. As much as I car for handling, it would be hard for me to choose the even pricier 3 over the IS 350--if I were willing to give up the clutch.

An Inifinti G35 is two to three thousand dollars less, and even more if you want a sport suspension--getting one on the Lexus requires ordering an expensive package. But while the Infiniti has a far roomier rear seat its interior is of much lower quality. The Lexus feels like a far more expensive car. The main deciding factor will be the importance of a roomy rear seat and whether a manual transmission or all-wheel-drive is desired with a large V6. The Lexus only offers these features with its small six.

Which brings me to my revised view of the new IS. I was blown away by my IS 350 test drive, only to emerge from my IS 250 test drive thoroughly disappointed. If you insist on a third pedal, and I do, then the IS is not a viable car. The six-speed needs to be paired with the 3.5 or at least a 3.0 ASAP.

As is, I would give the IS 250 only two stars, and after driving it I'm much less sure the IS 350 deserves five. Needless to say, only the IS 350 is recommended.

A Note on Lexus IS 250 Reliability and Lexus IS 350 Reliability

I cannot practically cover reliability within the context of this review. However, many people are interested in such information, so I've started collecting my own data. Results, once they are available, will be posted to my site, www.truedelta.com, with updates every three months.

Unlike other sources, TrueDelta will clearly identify what difference it will make if you buy an IS 250 or IS 350 rather than another vehicle by providing "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats (among others). You will be able to specify the number of years, annual miles, and types of repairs to include in Lexus IS reliability comparisons.

Before I can report results, I need data on all cars--not just the IS--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. For non-participants, this access will cost $24.95.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.

A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.

If you're an Epinions member, and you want to receive an email alert from Epinions when I post a new review, click here.

Some of my reviews of related vehicles:
Acura TL Type-S review
Audi A4 2.0T review
BMW 3-Series review
Cadillac CTS review
2004 Infiniti G35 review
2007 Infiniti G35 review
2002 Lexus IS 300 review
Lincoln Zephyr review
Mazda RX-8 review
Mercedes C-Class review
Saab 9-3 review
Volvo S60 R review