2024 Lexus IS 500: Fast and agile, but never harsh

2024 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance Premium vs. 2025 Cadillac CT5 Premium Luxury: Battle of the fun little sedans.

This week: Lexus IS 500.

Price: $66,970 as tested. Fancy black wheels added nearly $2,500 to the price, the lone option.

Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver likes the “cozy and well-appointed cabin, supportive front seats, chassis that marries comfort and capability,” but not the “snug-fit rear seat, underpowered base four-cylinder, IS 500′s numbers fall short of high-zoot rivals.”

Marketer’s pitch: “A different breed of F Sport.”

Reality: This is quite the rocket.

What’s new: The small performance sedan gets a few new trim touches for the model year, but otherwise it’s pretty much the same as the F Sport Performance version of the small sedan launched in 2022. The IS line itself was redesigned in 2021.

Competition: In addition to the Cadillac CT5, there are the Acura TLX, Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, and Volvo S60.

Up to speed: The 5.0-liter V-8 offers all the performance you’d expect from an eight-cylinder in a small sedan. The 472 horses are far more mild than you’d expect in most applications, but when you want it to move, it will. It gets to 60 mph in just 4.3 seconds, according to Car and Driver.

And it sounds waaaay cooler than those faster EVs doing it, thanks to the stacked quad exhaust listed on the sales sheet.

On the road: I still can’t decide if it’s the speed that’s the most fun or the agility, but I’d lean toward the latter. Every time I approached a corner, I glanced to the left, then I glanced to the right, and if no one was around, I’d slow down to maybe 25. Whee!

Country road handling in the rear-wheel-drive sedan is very nice, and the ups and downs can’t be handled any better than in this sedan.

Sport mode and Sport Plus offer the best handling, of course, but the regular mode is not too bad, except for some sway over rough roads.

Driver’s Seat: Unlike most performance sedan builders, Lexus keeps in mind that some of us still want a gentle ride. Mrs. Passenger Seat scowled at having to enter a low sedan, but her face brightened once she settled in. “What kind of car is this?” When I answered, she said, “I knew it.” Soft like a baby’s bottom, that NuLuxe material. I call them Lexus cuddles.

The gauges diverged from my usual “clear and easy to read” template, sadly. The digital speedometer with tachometer encircling it works just fine, until you want to use the shifter. Then the speed display shrinks to make room for the extra large gear readout. It’s nice to know what gear I’m in and be reminded to shift, but the driver in the car directly behind will also know.

Shifty: The only real downfall came in the 8-speed transmission. It worked perfectly fine when left to its own devices, but try to operate the gears on your own and it becomes very catlike. (If you’ve ever tried to get a cat do something, you know what I mean, Mr. Driver’s Seat typed with arms stretched around his Velcro cat on his desk.)

Friends and stuff: Rear seat room is as you expected, kind of snug. There’s room for feet and legs, but only if you remain rather still. Headroom can be even more challenging for tall passengers.

The rear doors curve to a chest-thumping, neighboring-car-in-a-parking-lot-thumping point. Careful.

Cargo space is a snug 10.8 cubic feet.

Play some tunes: Another downside — I was surprised the stereo sound wasn’t better. It handled the basics well, but I’m used to the Mark Levinson Premium Audio sparking joy. Call it a B+.

It seems like it’s been a while since I’ve heard a truly awesome stereo; I even checked against my home system, so it’s not my aging ears yet. And a few test vehicles have done pretty well since the Lexus.

Operation of the system seems better than most Lexus models. Like the others, it has the screwy touch pad I’ve complained about endlessly while the screen is also a touchscreen. But it just seemed easier to handle, so maybe it’s undergone some much-needed refinement.

Keeping warm and cool: Buttons control all the functions, except for temperature sliders. Round dials blow from the corner, and square ones from the center.

Fuel economy: I averaged 18 mpg in a wild ride. This would be the other possible downside I mentioned, but every drop was worth it.

Where it’s built: Tahara, Aichi, Japan

How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the reliability to be a 5 out of 5. We are unsurprised.

Next week: 2025 Cadillac CT5.