Fresh New Details on the 2017 Lexus IS & IS F SPORT

[Gecko]

New A4 outsold it in January. I wonder if that will continue..... I just think the new styling is a bit too much, I found pre-MMC damn near perfect...interior also is showing its age compared to the Germans....

Agree. Lexus played the wrong card with the 3IS interior... retro 90's Japanese feel, sporty cockpit, but relatively bare bones with few creature comforts. It doesn't feel like a luxury car.

At the same time, Mercedes dropped a nuke with the C Class, which has a scaled down S Class interior. Some of the upper end trims of the 3 Series are nice, and you have others that are luxurious as well.

2IS interior was a better blend of sport/luxury during it's time, IMO.

 

[meth.ix]

Still can't get over the design of the exterior. Lexus should really consider getting help from ItalDesign for the 4IS redesign, despite the first generation sales flop GS 300 they designed.

Remember when the first IS was created to compete directly with the 3-Series? The dimensions were no more than an inch of each other, straight-six engine, sporty character, that's what got it praise from journalists and the car community. It's what caught the eye of the tuner community. Call it the BMW Formula.

That's what I want in the next IS.

P.S. also an IS F before I turn 16 please

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

Still can't get over the design of the exterior. Lexus should really consider getting help from ItalDesign for the 4IS redesign, despite the first generation sales flop GS 300 they designed.

I definitely agree with the sentiment, but, literally, forget ItalDesign. The company is now fully owned by Lamborghini/Audi. Even though they are reportedly still open to designing cars for companies outside of Volkswagen's orbit, I just don't see Lexus turning to them.

On the other hand, ItalDesign founder Giorgetto Giugiaro and his son Fabrizio left that firm after the full Lambo/Audi takeover (partly because they were close to VW's now-disgraced former chairman Ferdinand Piëch) and started the new GFG Design firm. That might be a more viable option for Lexus. Also worth noting is that, for the original Lexus LFA concept, the carmaker turned to yet another Italian carrozzeria, Fioravanti Srl. This was founded by Leonardo Fioravanti, a former Pininfarina designer responsible for many of the most beautiful Ferraris of the late 20th century.

 

[meth.ix]

Either way, Lexus needs to find a way to make the Lexus design language look good and a little more "plebian"

 

[RAL]

Well ... since I just leased a 2017 ... I have to say I 'like' the refresh ... the non F-Sport refresh. I particularly like the way the front fascia has been simplified and refined.

original fascia:


refreshed fascia:

 

[meth.ix]

Well ... since I just leased a 2017 ... I have to say I 'like' the refresh ... the non F-Sport refresh. I particularly like the way the front fascia has been simplified and refined.

original fascia:
View attachment 2168

refreshed fascia:
View attachment 2167

I personally like the old one better because horizontal slats do not go all the way down and that makes it look smaller than it really is, and that is why the biggest haters of Lexus design as of late have admitted that the original 3IS had the best front fascia in the lineup. Also, the vents up front are too much for me personally on the refresh. They look too sporty for the non-F Sport model and the pre-facelift IS has much simpler, handsomer design. Also, the slats in the pre-facelift model were chrome rather than the gunmetal colour, which made it more grand looking IMO. I feel like Lexus went way too sporty for the non-F Sport IS. The 3-Series looks so much simpler and elegant compared to this, which I personally feel like is too busy.'

Just my $0.02

 

[RAL]

I personally like the old one better because horizontal slats do not go all the way down and that makes it look smaller than it really is, and that is why the biggest haters of Lexus design as of late have admitted that the original 3IS had the best front fascia in the lineup. Also, the vents up front are too much for me personally on the refresh. They look too sporty for the non-F Sport model and the pre-facelift IS has much simpler, handsomer design. Also, the slats in the pre-facelift model were chrome rather than the gunmetal colour, which made it more grand looking IMO. I feel like Lexus went way too sporty for the non-F Sport IS. The 3-Series looks so much simpler and elegant compared to this, which I personally feel like is too busy.'

Just my $0.02

I appreciate you sharing your opinion even though I disagree. I think the original fascia is too busy. I find the new fascia simpler and more refined and certainly not 'too' sporty considering the way my IS 300 performs! Moreover, I like the way the refreshed/re-shaped spindle grille and rear taillights more closely reflect the beautiful LF-CC concept.





just my 2 cents

 

[meth.ix]

I appreciate you sharing your opinion even though I disagree. I think the original fascia is too busy. I find the new fascia simpler and more refined and certainly not 'too' sporty considering the way my IS 300 performs! Moreover, I like the way the refreshed/re-shaped spindle grille and rear taillights more closely reflect the beautiful LF-CC concept.

View attachment 2169

View attachment 2171

just my 2 cents

True, but for some buyers, (not me, I like the sporty look) they want a more regular looking car that performs well but they also want an even simpler looking car. If they want sporty, that is what the F Sport is for. Most of the time when someone buys a non-F Sport, they want a normal looking car, without any desire for a sporty car. I feel like those types of buyers will find that the new IS is too much even without the F Sport. I do agree that the rear of the new IS looks better though.

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

Since everyone's respectfully putting in their 2 cents' worth, I'll throw in mine and say that I'll agree with RAL. I've always had a beef with Lexus mixing different grille patterns on the same fascia, especially in this era of one-piece monster spindle grille openings. To me, the original IS3's pre-facelift mix of horizontal bars up top and squished honeycomb below is akin to someone wearing a striped polo shirt with plaid shorts, and I've said as much in more than one my.IS and Kaizen Factor write-up. A single, uniform top-to-bottom pattern looks so much cleaner...

 

[Ian Schmidt]

I'm with RAL. The single-pattern spindle looks light-years better, and since when should Lexus be catering to "the biggest haters of Lexus design"?

 

[RAL]

True, but for some buyers, (not me, I like the sporty look) they want a more regular looking car that performs well but they also want an even simpler looking car. If they want sporty, that is what the F Sport is for. Most of the time when someone buys a non-F Sport, they want a normal looking car, without any desire for a sporty car. I feel like those types of buyers will find that the new IS is too much even without the F Sport. I do agree that the rear of the new IS looks better though.

not to quibble, but such buyers you describe are likely ES buyers ...

 

[Ian Schmidt]

not to quibble, but such buyers you describe are likely ES buyers ...

Exactly. To my mind, the IS has always been intended as the ES's sportier, hipper brother. So if you really want "beige transportation" but with some of the Lexus goodness we all like, that's exactly what the ES does, and does very well in its current incarnation.