2024 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Review: Fun, But Falling Behind

The current generation Lexus IS has been in production for over a decade. Even with upgrades and facelifts spanning its production run, the sports sedan has been showing its age for a handful of model years now. Lexus seemed to pull a Hail Mary in 2021 with the introduction of the IS 500. It was the first time an eight-cylinder powerplant graced the IS platform since the late, great IS F from the second-generation IS platform. 

In a world constantly turning toward turbocharging, prioritizing fuel economy, and especially developing more and more electric vehicles, the 2024 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance, on its surface, seems like a breath of traditional fresh air. For us enthusiasts who aren't yet ready to say goodbye to our old ways, a rear-wheel-drive sedan with an angry V8 up front in the modern age is a dream come true. After all, even AMG turned to a turbo four-cylinder in place of its iconic V8. 

When you get past the rose-colored V8 glasses, though, it becomes clear that the IS 500 is more about its eight cylinders than the car itself. What you're left with is a platform that, while perfectly fine, has overstayed its welcome and fallen behind compared to the competition

First, the obvious positive: the 2024 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance uses the 2UR-GSE 5.0-liter V8 engine sporting a whopping 472 horsepower and 395 pound-feet of torque. It happily screams its way north of 7,000 RPM and sings a song that is nothing short of empowering and enlightening. I genuinely believe that the 2UR is one of the best-sounding V8 engines ever made. Just driving around town, despite the monumental heat, I found myself cracking the windows to get a better listen.

Clicking the transmission into manual mode and tapping the left paddle at higher RPM unleashes a downshift that is nothing short of visceral. To give a good comparison, the last time I got this excited about the brutal sound of a downshift, I was driving a Ferrari F12. Transparently, there are no readily available words to describe how satisfying this engine is.

Of course, as with any vehicle sporting a V8 powerplant, the fuel economy is not something you can expect to be soothing. That said, the IS 500 isn't quite as bad as one might think. EPA ratings are 17 mpg city and 25 mpg highway for a combined rating of 20 mpg. Throughout my week of testing, the rolling average came in at 19.8 mpg. Considering the amount of time spent with my right foot buried for the sake of hearing the engine, I'm more than satisfied with that result.

The IS 500 F Sport Performance is available solely with an eight-speed automatic transmission, with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters. Compared to a dual-clutch transmission, the eight-speed in the Lexus isn't quite as blisteringly fast to shift, but it's more than sufficient. When in the Sport S+ driving mode, the response time to paddle inputs is plenty quick and offers a gratifying amount of control for spirited drives.

However, in standard driving situations with the car in Comfort mode, the transmission gets easily confused about what gear it wants. This is especially true in decelerating situations when coming to a complete stop. At stop lights and stop signs, the downshifts were clunky and jittery. Upshifts in casual driving situations are passable, though with an occasional clunkiness in that regard, too.

Ultimately, the transmission is more than passable for performance use. That said, despite stepping into the car knowing it's an F performance model with stiffer suspension and engineering aimed at acceleration, handling, and overall performance, I found that the unsettling shifting when left to its own devices is a bit underwhelming. At the end of the day, it's still meant to be a luxury sedan.

Beyond the V8, the F Sport Performance comes with a handful of perks, arguably the most important being adaptive adjustable suspension — that changes in real-time with your drive mode selection — and a limited-slip differential. Pairing nicely is a set of lightweight BBS wheels and Bridgestone Potenza Sport tires. All of this works together to put that ferocious 472 horsepower to the ground as efficiently as possible. 

The result is a handling experience that is pleasantly surprising. I was surprised to find just how agile the IS 500 is on a twisty mountain road. It had no problem hunting the apexes of the corners, the traction control and LSD managed the rear end quite nicely, and the suspension kept body roll to a minimum for a pleasant flat cornering experience. Overall, it handles great for a big car.

That is the stipulation, though. It is a big car. With a curb weight of nearly 4,000 pounds, it needs that 472 horsepower output and then some. The 2024 IS 500 F Sport Performance sprints from zero to 60 miles per hour in 4.4 seconds. That puts it on par with its competition in the BMW M340i (though the all-wheel drive variant is faster) and the Audi S4. However, those cars have far less power at 382 and 349 horsepower, respectively.

Though the Lexus IS platform is over a decade old, the exterior styling of the 2024 model is still modern and crisp. Sure, the older design cues show themselves here and there, but above all else, it's a stylish car. The same can't be said for the interior. At first glance, the cabin appears to be a standard luxury car affair. This particular example has black leather upholstery and blue accent stitching, and the expected features — heated and ventilated sports seats with power-adjustment, a heated steering wheel, etc. — are all present. When you look closer, though, the delivery becomes more questionable.

The plastic material used on the dash and the upper portion of the door panels looks cheap, largely due to the fact that it appears to be the exact same material you'd find in a Toyota. The instrument cluster cover on the dash has padded leather upholstery, and it would have been lovely for the entire dash to wear the same. In a similar fashion, the steering wheel looks old-fashioned and clumsy. 

The most dated feature is a touch-sensitive square for interacting with the infotainment system. It's the same interactive pad that has been in use in the RC since 2015, and, frankly, it's very transparently ten years old. It's also made entirely moot because the infotainment system uses a touch screen. It's cumbersome and redundant and should have been done away with half a decade ago.

The trackpad dovetails with another major complaint I have about the 2024 IS 500: the onboard tech. Specifically, the lack of USB-C ports. A 2024 model-year vehicle without a single USB-C is absurd, made even more ridiculous by the fact that most 2024 Toyota models have such a port. Yes, Lexus is trying to work with what it already has, but this would be a simple modernization upgrade that would benefit many, considering most phones come with a dual-ended USB-C cable at this point. It's time for USB-A to die.

Other than that, onboard technology is sufficient. The infotainment system responds quickly and doesn't show many signs of lagging during use. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay function just fine. The only downside of the infotainment system is the forced interaction with the touch-sensitive pad in the center console. Going back and forth to the menu button, the center console, and then the screen to make the desired selections is annoying. Just stick with the touchscreen. 

The sound system is solid. It's not something to rant and rave over, but its quality and capabilities are more than good enough. Let's be honest, though: it doesn't really matter, when you can listen to that V8.

It feels like more than just biting the hand that feeds us, to complain about a rear-wheel-drive car with a V8 in the modern world. Big displacement and that beloved eight-cylinder roar are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. That said, it's hard not to get lost in what the IS 500 could be, if Lexus really went all-out and wasn't working within the confines of their current tooling and parts bin. An all-new IS platform that retains the almighty 2UR V8 could be something that completely puts the competition to shame, and brings Toyota reliability with it.

Instead, we're left with a car that feels like a last-ditch effort to scrape a few more sales out of a platform well past its expiration date. Again, the V8 is massively appreciated, and I'm in no way downplaying the fact that the 2024 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance has great power, great handling characteristics, and one of the best exhaust notes in history. 

It just would be phenomenal to see Lexus engineers spread their wings and develop a truly modern performance sedan. After all, if putting a V8 in what is effectively an 11-year-old car keeps up with modern competition, one can only imagine how dominant a ground-up IS redesign would be in its field. Unfortunately, for now, imagin is all we can do.