LEXUS is hoping a raft of high-tech features plus sharper looks will attract buyers to its latest IS sports saloon.
Best seller in the Japanese company’s line-up, the IS has not only been revised for 2010 but been extended with a new F-Sport grade.
This new spec, available for both IS 250 and 220d models, takes its cue from the high impact styling of the IS F and is positioned in the IS line-up between the established SE-I and SE-L models.
Dedicated F-Sport exterior features include lowered suspension on the IS 250, exclusive 18-inch wheels and an IS F-style front grille and rear boot-lid spoiler.
A black-on-black interior colour scheme is complemented by black headlining and grey stitching detail on the front seats and steering wheel.
F-Sport models share a number of premium equipment features with SE-L grade, including rain-sensing wipers, HID headlights with AFS, 13-speaker audio system and memory settings for the front seats and door mirrors.
Lexus has also developed one of the most accurate and fast-responding navigation systems around. Using a 40GB hard disc drive, it provides Europe-wide coverage and is able to gather live local traffic intelligence in each country.
A further benefit of the HDD system is its ‘sound library’ function. Up to 10GB of disc space is available for owners to store audio tracks from CD – room for about 2,000 songs.
The touchscreen, full-map system is available as an option on SE and SE-I models as part of a package that also includes a rear park assist .
For F-Sport and SE-L versions of the IS, it is included in the optional Multimedia Package, together with a 14-speaker Mark Levinson Premium Sound System.
Lexus IS 250 SE and 220d SE have been given more street appeal for 2010 with 10-spoke, 17-inch alloy wheels fitted as standard. And there are also improvements in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. With manual transmission, combined cycle economy is now 29.1mpg, compared to 28.8mpg for the 2009 model; the new figure for the automatic is 31.7mpgŠ (from 31.0mpg).
CO2 emissions have fallen from 231 to 227g/km for the manual and 214 to 209g/km for the automatic.
Prices are from £24,350 for the Lexus IS 220d SE model rising to £30,150 for the IS 250 SE-I automatic.
