Interior, Space and Equipment

Slip into the cockpit and there’s more that’s familiar than not.

The IS scores points for premium material quality, vault-like refinement, and a simple user interface. The basic layout is the same, high central section and a tiered dashboard, an overall feeling of closeness and intimacy, in stark contrast to contemporaries. Whether that’s good or bad is very much an eye of the beholder thing, just like the predominantly analog dials of the driver’s instruments. 

What’s new is the 10.3-inch touchscreen, which has been moved forward for easier reach (unlike the Audi A4’s touchscreen), and now boasts Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s also had an obvious resolution upgrade, with the graphics appearing sharper than previous screens, and the simple to use but still finicky Lexus Remote Touch trackpad is still present.

What’s even more simple to us are the many buttons, on one hand looking less futuristic than the competitors, on the other hand a breath of no-menu-digging fresh air. But on a practical note, what dates the cabin more than the buttons or the CD player is the fact that there’s nowhere to put a large smartphone in easy reach without taking up the two cup-holders. 

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As before, the cabin isn’t huge on room and rear passenger leg- and headroom is obviously less than on the now stretched out C-Class and 3 Series, and the boot space is 450-litres. With the slinky sedan style the boot aperture isn’t particularly large, though we were able to fit a decently-tall Toyogo plastic box in, and the seats do fold down for more space.

A key update for the revised IS is the addition of a full suite of active safety systems, which as the Toyota Corolla Altis proved last year, every car should have these days.

As part of Lexus Safety System+, the car has autonomous forward collision warning and braking (Pre-Collision System), Lane Tracing Assist (steers or nags you into your lane) and adaptive cruise control. The latter two work together to make driving less of a chore on open highway stretches.

While we’re all for active safety systems, it’s also equally important that, forward collision mitigation aside, they can be adjusted to a driver’s liking or shut off where applicable. The IS has an unnamed speed advisory system that chimes in to exhort you to ‘Obey all local traffic regulations’ distractingly often, nevermind that you are, for example, doing 60km/h while ramping onto a highway. It cannot be turned off, and is at odds with the car’s spirited driving character.

UPDATE Feb 2021: Lexus Singapore has updated its original info – the safety voice is part of the navigation system and you can modify it to warn you if you’re exceeding speed limits by a certain amount (say 5km/h) or shut it off altogether.

Page 3: Driving Experience

Page 1: Introduction, design and appearance
Page 2: Interior, space, equipment
Page 3: Driving experience
Page 4: Pricing, competition, conclusion

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