The 3.5L DOHC V-6 engine found in the Lexus IS 350 has been named as one of 2008’s top engines by Wards:
As it earns its third consecutive 10 Best Engines award, Associate Editor Byron Pope sums up the Lexus-exclusive engine’s execution: “Good luck beating this in any category.”
…where the IS 350 application really nudges the needle is that engineers seem to have deliberately let a little more emotion edge out the near-clinical refinement.
“Sounds fabulous when pushed,” says Editor Drew Winter, and all judges agree this unquestionably is Lexus’ most emotive engine.
That may be the most important marker set by Lexus’ scintillating 3.5L DOHC V-6 as the company experiments with the formula. If Lexus is able to combine its laboratory-grade levels of noise, vibration and harshness with the correct proportions of emotion that excite car junkies, even BMW needs to take heed.
Among the other winners was the BMW 335i’s V-6 and new hybrid engine found in the GMC Yukon.