2007 Lexus IS 350

Owners will also find plenty to be passionate about with the IS interior. Wherever you look the feeling is of stylish design, with upscale materials lovingly assembled and built to last.

Interior

Behind a handsome three-spoke leather wheel are Lexus' trademark Optitron electroluminescent gauges, with an oversize tachometer and speedometer glowing a subtle blue hue. The needles even do a nice little dance for you, sweeping around the face of the gauge on start-up. The center stack has a soft silver tone and even on our touchscreen navigation-equipped tester (voice activated too!), simple and easy to understand switches—something that sets it way ahead of BMW's confusing iDrive system.


Enhancing our enjoyment of the cozy confines was the optional Mark Levinson Premium Surround Sound Audio System that's offered in conjunction with the DVD navigation. Filling the cabin are 14 speakers with discrete 5.1 multi-channel play back and 7.1 channel speaker architecture. Ten amplifier channels provide 300 watts total output at 0.1% total harmonic distortion. We're not entirely sure what all that means, but since you can watch DVD movies on the navi-screen (the vehicle must be parked with the emergency brake on—sorry) and enjoy the tremendous sound, your home theater might end up gathering dust.


Our tester was also equipped with the Sport Package, which greets you with the delightful smell and rich texture of perforated leather trim, and adds front seats that not only have a memory function but also are heated and ventilated as well. Perhaps the only flaw in an otherwise flawless interior, the rear seats are short on legroom compared to the competition. Adults will not be happy there for long periods. We think that if carrying passengers is your biggest need, the larger, but comparably priced Lexus ES 350 is the better choice. But for the enthusiast, the IS is the way to go.


If the rear seat is a tad short on legroom, Lexus makes sure the IS is long on value. The more affordable IS 250 with a smaller 6-cylinder engine, rear-wheel drive and manual transmission features standard dual-zone climate control with air filter, leather interior trim, power moonroof, heated outside mirrors, handsome 17-inch 10-spoke aluminum alloy wheels, traction control, side airbags for the front seats, front and rear side curtain airbags—basically everything you need for a nice little sport sedan—at an impressively affordable $30,255. Add $1,200 for a 6-speed automatic transmission. Pop up to the IS 250 all-wheel drive model (AWD isn't offered on the IS 350) and you're looking at $34, 285.