Okay so last week I raved about an underpowered and inexpensive EV and its place as a great city runabout. Even if my man-maths fail and my lead drops, next week I will gush about the same concept taken to its zenith. So do permit me this week to stare lovingly at another amazing way to move around dense population areas, but this time accompanied by a glorious soundtrack.
The formula for the Lexus IS500 is neither new, nor has it fallen in any sort of irrelevance since its inception. The combination of a relatively small car being given an engine a class or two higher than what common sense and careful pricing structures dictate has been a favorite of buyers ever since someone at Buick looked at their short-wheelbase offerings, glanced at their largest straight-8 engine and went “hmm…”. The leap in vehicle from it to the current crop of M2 CSs and the IS500 is monumental, but the concept is essentially the same.
Lexus even got the styling right. Not because the IS is especially good-looking. In fact, it mostly serves to remind me that we were possibly a bit too visceral on our hate of the Acura Power Plenum. Because they offer F-Sport versions of everything on their lineup, most people won’t notice that you are driving around in a 480-horsepower, V8-powered monster. Blacked out trim, quad exhausts, and a slightly longer front overhang and bulgier hood are your only surefire indicators. And two of those can be easily replicated by the aftermarket. Paint it atomic silver and practice gentlemanly driving and you’ll be lucky if people even register you as anything else than “car”, let alone “sports car”.
Of course, as soon as you get to a short onramp you get to reap the rewards. Punch it from a standstill and listen to the engine, now on its third F-branded shell after the RC and the departed GS F, climb all the way to 7100 RPM to get you every single one of those horses. 4.4 seconds or so later you’re doing 60, are perfectly able to merge safely. The people behind you, if they even bothered to notice, are probably thinking “Boy they really flog that Corolla.”
It is not a perfect city car. It may be the correct size and the engine may be eminently likable, but at 17 MPG city it’s not the most efficient way to commute, and that figure is going to drop really quickly if exposed to stop and go traffic. Also, for the motoring enthusiasts who enjoys their power low, 7100 RPM to get peak horsepower may induce early single-cam VTEC flashbacks.
But just like I said on the Dacia article, we are not perfectly rational. So,if you need (persumably) bulletproof reliability, (likely) a cossetting interior, and (definetely) explosive power and noise under your right foot to make it through the day, Lexus will have you covered.
And at any rate, the predator grille is still far better than the new BMW M Nostrils.
