There aren’t many brands out there that not only match the Germans when it comes to the compact saloon market but arguably beat them at their own game.
Lexus are doing exactly that after upping the ante on the design front with a sharper, more sophisticated look, in a bid to brush up their image and attract younger drivers.
The luxury arm of Toyota have always built quality cars but for me, apart from the LFA supercar, they somehow lacked that ‘wow’ factor but they have addressed that and the new IS 250 F Sport is a perfect example of how they are giving their vehicles a desirability boost.
This is not the fastest IS by any stretch of the imagination, that honour belongs to the ISF, which is a terrific car, but it is mightily impressive from the way it looks to the drive experience.
The F Sport version of this car has been given a cosmetic facelift both inside and out and the suspension has been tweaked for a sportier ride.
The most obvious design change is the new, super-aggressive full faced black mesh grille and air intakes on the front. Combined with a stylish light-cluster, it gives the car a refined but intimidating look.
From the side, the IS has an athletic look sitting on 18-inch alloy wheels and the rear, with its wraparound tail lights and double exhaust, completes the sporty appearance.
Just in case you forget this is the F Sport version of the IS 250 there are badges on the front wings to remind you.
The interior of the car is really impressive, with lashings of leather and carbon fibre. As soon as you sit in this car you feel the quality.
The seats are amongst the most comfortable in the sector and the instrument panel, inspired by the LFA which has a slide effect to reveal all the data you need, is simple, yet stunning. The dash has been completely redesigned and although I originally had my doubts about putting the 7-inch electro multi-vision infotainment screen at the back of a reasonably deep recess I did actually get used to it and the technology in this car is excellent.
The cabin is cleverly designed to feel intimately compact in line with its sporty persona but there is plenty of room to carry four people in comfort.
This car is powered by a 2.5-litre V6 which has 204bhp and delivers power to the rear wheels via a six-speed automatic with wheel-mounted paddle-shifts which provide a sportier drive experience.
You can drive the car in three modes: eco, normal or sport. In sport, the outer circle of the tachometer turns red and white and you get sharper gear ratios and a more responsive performance.
The engine is reasonably potent and because this car is fitted with an artificial noise generator it actually sounds much faster than it is which, frankly, apart from the novelty value which soon wears off, seems pointless.
I much prefer to keep things real and if I want something a bit faster I would rather spend a bit more on a faster model like the IS 350 than play a game of let’s pretend.
However, I don’t want to grumble, because this car is delightful to drive and absolutely oozes class.
If a compact, high-quality saloon with great aesthetics (I think this car looks better than most of its direct competitors) is what you are looking for then the IS 250 F Sport ticks all the boxes, except perhaps the one marked ‘price’.
Starting from Dh190,000 it is clearly aimed at affluent young executives and in that territory it faces stiff pricing competition from the Germans.
Verdict
Small sedans don't come much better than this. The design, build quality and interior is truly impressive and for the majority of people it will be fast enough, although personally I prefer a bit more in the way of performance which you get in the more powerful IS 350. The one thing I really don't like was that fake engine noise.
