2023 Lexus IS 500 review // Is this enough performance?

This is a Motormouth couple car review of the 2023 Lexus IS 500 luxury performance sedan. Look at this great colour, the Lexus IS 500 F Sport in Infrared Red!
The Lexus IS 500 F Sport has a 5L V8 with a direct shift 8-speed automatic transmission, 472 horsepower and 395 lb-ft of torque. This is a RWD model.
It has an F Sport tuned adaptive variable suspension, Yamaha rear performance dampers and stabilizer bar, Torsen limited slip rear differential, paddle shifters and drive modes that include, Normal, Sport, Eco and Sport +. While this is the sportiest Lexus I have ever driven and the V8 sounds great, it is still a Lexus and you will find it to be “Lexus sporty” but still very comfortable. Plus you can’t beat its reliability score, JD Power gives it a 90/100. Although it does a lot well, it’s not as fun and engaging as the BMW M340i with a turbocharged 3L inline 6 and 382 horsepower. Yes, the BMW has less power but that inline 6 is fantastic.
In Canada, there is just one trim of the Lexus IS 500, it starts at $75,100 CAD and in the US two trims F Sport Performance $58,670 USD and F Sport Premium $63,170 USD.
Standard features include, a 10.3” touchscreen with navigation, wired Apple Carplay and Android Auto, a 17-speaker Mark Levinson sound system, Nuluxe power front seats, heated and ventilated front seats, driver seat memory, heated steering wheel, a moonroof, panoramic view monitor and Lexus Safety System+ 2.5 including blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert.
In the US, there are some features that are not standard including, the Mark Levinson sound system, a panoramic view monitor and the larger touchscreen with navigation, instead an 8” touchscreen is standard
The Lexus IS 500 has a low stance offering 5.5” of ground clearance and comes standard with premium triple beam LED headlamps, a singular LED taillamp that tapers across the rear, dark chrome window trim, F Sport Performance 19” gloss black wheels, quad exhaust tips. In the US, the triple beam headlamps are standard on the top trim.
Fuel economy, the Lexus IS 500 gets 14.1L/100 km, 17 MPG city and 9.3L/100 km, 25 MPG highway.

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[blu_is]

I have this car and the transmission is slow, until it’s in Sport+ and Manual mode. The purpose of the car (as stated by Lexus many times) is to be a Grand Tourer first and a Sports Sedan second. The FYC segment was funny; if the plan is to keep the car long term, none of the competition can compare. I absolutely *love* this car and feel incredibly lucky to have snagged one in my preferred spec. Longevity, Build Quality, Stellar Customer Service, and a quick N/A V8…it’s quite a deal to me! Thanks for posting.

[NeedSpeedRC]

The IS looks really good. Always turns my head when I see one.

[LiamG]

I've got the is350 f sport. Car has been bullet proof as expected. Handles great, drives like a dream and comfy. Not great on fuel but it's a great looking car.

[bostonmah]

I think you guys missed the point of this car. This car is for someone who wants a v8 NA car like what they use yo make 20 years ago. Also for the collector who wants to keep it as I think the is500 will hold its value really well 10-20 years from now

[ISUR]

got mine recently, love every bit of it, except for the brakes lol... the transmission, it needs to be in Sports+, manual mode, TCS/VSC completely off and above 4000rpm to shift quick, otherwise just leave it in auto. The yamaha damper is a body damper and not just rear is front & rear, it reduces NVH. The ML system is actually a DVD player not CD and yes you can watch DVD movies when your car is parked... just be happy that Toyota/Lexus still make N/A V8s while everyone else are downsizing, hybrid and turbocharging due to the emission law. The direct competitor to the IS500 is the TLX Type S.

[paulh]

I really love this car even in the 350 F Sport.

[immanuelingari]

'Ding ding ding with your credit card'😂.Greatest car reviewers of all time👏🏼💯

[ranthony]

As a single, full time dad, with only one income, cars such as this are only a dream. What a nice looking car.

[jprusso]

I use the CD player in my Lexus to load FLAC files and play them... so you can load more on a CD and don't lose the sound quality. Since you have it, might as well use it to its best!

[xochilquetzal]

I'm getting this car for the naturally aspirated v8 and the reliability vs its competitors. I'm excited!

[Bonjurro]

The great thing about the CD player is you don’t have to use it if you don’t need it

[omendarklight]

Truly an amazing vehicle, love everything about it but I had to go with the NX for the extra room and features. Loss of power but great vehicle nonetheless. IS 500 would be the way to go for performance and reliability.
Thanks for bringing it to us!!

[jazzjokesjalopies]

How did we ever buy cars before we had reviews like this? Really informative. Thanks!

[elde]

Yep. Another terrific review guys. Thanks!

[MrMustangrick]

I have the GS F V 8 and love it. More room inside and the glorious 5 liter . In sport plus the tranny is fine. The gas mileage in normal mode has been better than expected. Bullet proof after 4 years . Solid Lexus quality inside and out.

[aceofspades]

I’m an audiophile and there are many of us. I’m not as much into car audio but I will say the ELS system in the higher acuras is nice. Most of us audiophiles are into 2 channel setups and many will spin vinyl or stream. Most streaming services are lossless at this point and many of the Bluetooth codecs are far better than mp3 resolution and on par with cd quality.

[facetiousmonkey]

My mom is one of those “guys”. Opera and classical music hits different when on CD

[cjsnylons]

Great review of a great car that will be missed when out of production. Andrea, that outfit to match the car is stunning!

[JamesSmith-swnk]

Red and black looks GOOD.
Also, nice car. 😁

[vancity]

I had a 09 ISF which had a hard suspension which was later softened. Its was an awesome car one of my favourites I have owned. It was never trying to be an M3, but did what it did very well. I considered buying another one later, but for yrs they had that ridiculous entertainment system with trackpad, seriously? Finally they have Apple CarPlay (wired). The transmission was always a negative but still a blast to drive and own. Many performance brands have fake exhaust tips. If I were in the market today, I would definitely consider it.