# My In-depth Review of IS300h



## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

So, having given my RX450h F-Sport to my dealer for servicing and MOT, I was given a complimentary Lexus IS300h Premier to drive around. This was a fully loaded vehicle with blind spot monitor, the 15 speaker Mark Levinson Surround Sound system and the blind spot detection (whereby the car alerts you when reversing out of a parking space if a vehicle is approaching.

First things first - the keys:










I particularly like it - its soft touch plastic, akin to the material found on the upper door panels on the IS. It felt nice and solid in the hand but its small enough to be unobtrusive. If you're like me, and you like keys then its certainly a nice key fob. It seems to follow their design language too which was interesting.

Now onto the looks -



















IMO its a lovely looking vehicle. It look classy, especially in the Premier spec with the 18" wheels on. I prefer the F-Sport as I think it is the best looking car in this segment with a cohesive design language from front to back (unlike the new Jaguar XE which looks brilliant from the front and rather dull from the back).

Im especially fond of the side profile, it looks fast even when standing still and has a great coupe-esque look to it, one that simply trumps the new Mercedes C-Class (I think it looks like a Banana, no hate please) as well as the BMW 3 series which almost looks like any old car from the side. Now these are my opinions and I understand some of you may prefer the looks of either the Merc or the BMW so we can agree to disagree on that one if you prefer! . In this exact spec though, I think the grill was slightly weird. It had horizontal slats on the top and then merged into a hexagonal type design underneath. Maybe it would have been better to just keep the horizontal slats all the way down?

As for the lights - I thought they looked fine in person. Nike swoosh, arrows, call them what you wish - they look a bit different that's for sure.

I particularly liked the finish on the wheels - they were rather shiny, almost chrome-like but they do look quite good!

Paint finish (Arctic/Starfire pearl) was impeccable as is mostly the case with Lexus paint. No blemishes I could see bearing in mind this is a 6 month old demonstrator and no orange peel which is great if you're like me and hates wet sanding.

Now onto the interior:










No doubt about it - a lovely place to spend time. I'll talk about the seats first - superbly comfortable, no complaints in over 100 miles of driving and adjustability is great as they are full electric with lumbar support for the driver. They fit like a glove (im 6 ft 1) so I doubt most drivers would have a problem with it. In fact, they were so comfy, I didnt really want to get out.

The driving position is great too, no awkward offset pedals or steering wheel, they were both bang on centre which I liked.

The door panels were of good quality, a step above BMW and dare I say it Audi (Slightly unfair - due for a refresh). It is clear though that the Merc C-class is the benchmark in this segment but thats not to say that the Lexus IS is bad quality as its not - everything closed with a solid thud (doors are bloody heavy) and everything felt as it should, somewhat better than in a car of this price bracket.

Now the leather had me fooled. It felt like the usual super soft Lexus leather. After a brief look in the brochure, it appears its actually faux leather, referred to as Nuluxe. Its similiar to Mercedes Artico but is softer and it wears better than real leather apparently. Of course, the car only had 6k miles on it so that's untested so far.

Something slightly off about the interior was the grey headliner. There was no grey evident in the rest of the interior so I was slightly confused about why the headliner was grey, when the seats are black.

The audio system was fine. The 15 speaker system excels in clarity but needs to be tweaked to get the best out of it. However, for an updated system with 800+W, it sounded worse than the 300W system in my RX which was slightly odd. I found that the sound quality was heavily dependent on the source and it tends to sound better if listening through the USB or through an IPOD rather than CD's. An issue I found was that the USB needs to be taken out and put back in every time you get in the car to ensure it is recognised, I dont know if this happens on all IS300h's or if a previous driver had done this (please let me know in the comments)

The temperature gauges are a nice feature. They're a talking point but not really any easier than buttons or knobs. However, they were nice to touch 

Onto the driving experience:

What can I say? Lexus has done a great job on this one. The handling was great on this particular Premier version, I can only imagine its better on an F-Sport. Turn in was crisp, it handled curves like a boss. You wouldn't be left wanting for handling, in fact, its a better handler than the 3 series (isnt it supposed to be the benchmark?) which in comparison feels a bit mushy. It certainly feels sportier than the C-class but handles about the same I reckon. Its miles ahead of the A4 but obviously, not totally fair as that's getting a refresh soon anyway. I cant comment on the Jaguar XE as I havent driven that one.

Steering was slightly numb but it was very accurate and pretty surreal. It felt pretty sensitive to every input and having driven Lexus for a long time, I can say its probably their best steering setup yet (apart from the LFA of course). Brakes were strong too but dust like mad. I washed the loaner (im crazy I know) and wheels were already dirty by the time I had gone to the supermarket and back.

Ok so the real talking point of this car - the hybrid powertrain. 2.5L inline four cylinder with electric motors - total system output, 223hp. 0-62mph 8.3s?!! What?!  I was pretty disappointed when I read that.......

....but then I actually drove it. By no means does it feel slow or lethargic. Even in normal mode, the car goes pretty well and in-gear acceleration (aided by instant torque) was very enjoyable. Sport mode tightens the steering up a bit and improves throttle response while keeping revs slightly higher. It was a great car to drive, I thoroughly enjoyed it - certainly felt faster than the IS250 anyway and from a rolling start, it goes pretty well.

Don't be fooled by the 0-62mph time, It doesnt mean much when it comes to hybrids! I had the car almost exclusively in Sport mode (just because) and pretty much milked it nearly all of the time. Result - 35.4mpg. I did however, see if I could get the 61 mpg claim. I failed, but managed 53.2mpg in normal mode with some dedication though! :lol:

So that is my review of the IS300h. If you're looking for a competent vehicle in this class I doubt you could go wrong with any of the vehicles mentioned, but if you want something different, or with a petrol engine then perhaps it could be the car for you?

Its certainly worth a test drive anyway, and I liked it quite a lot that the Merc is being replaced later this year with an IS300h F-Sport  Going to be having sleepless nights for a while I think.


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## Guitarjon (Jul 13, 2012)

Wernt driving aro Bradford today were you? Saw an identical one. Not a common car. Very nice car. 

That 0-60 time is odd considering the spec!


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

Guitarjon said:


> Wernt driving aro Bradford today were you? Saw an identical one. Not a common car. Very nice car.
> 
> That 0-60 time is odd considering the spec!


Haha yes, must have been me as I was going to get my RX back after service and MOT at Lexus Bradford.

Where about's did you see me?

And yes, the 0-60 time is rather odd. It was a shock when I put my foot down, wasn't expecting it to go like it did.

I think it might be to do with the initial launch. It prefers rolling starts or brake torquing to get it off the line. A normal "foot all the way down" approach doesnt work as the car tries to stay in electric mode so it loses some time. I did brake torque it and the wheels span (although it was wet yesterday) and the traction control was on so it removed the power.

It certainly feels like a conservative number after driving it.


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## rf860 (Jul 24, 2011)

I don't know about anybody else, but I just don't see these as an alternative to Merc, audi and bmw. 

All the ones I've sat in feel a lot cheaper and not as well built. 

The interior in that one just looks a mess, very bitty.


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## andy665 (Nov 1, 2005)

rf860 said:


> I don't know about anybody else, but I just don't see these as an alternative to Merc, audi and bmw.
> 
> All the ones I've sat in feel a lot cheaper and not as well built.
> 
> The interior in that one just looks a mess, very bitty.


Build quality in my opinion is better than BMW, equal to Audi and Mercedes but nicer materials than Mercedes

The reason many dn't see tham as n alternative to BMW, Mercedes and Audi is down to 2 main reasons - lack of diesel which after you have tried Lexus hybrid Drive ceases to be an issue, secondly the fact its not German


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Great review.

I had a 24hr test drive in a 300h back in August... I loved the car but unfortunately the Wife did not.

The drive was so comfortable, the quality of the interior was definitely above BMW and any other car I have been in. Loved the gadgets and the ventilated seats. Loved the ability to creep around in silent mode


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

rf860 said:


> I don't know about anybody else, but I just don't see these as an alternative to Merc, audi and bmw.
> 
> All the ones I've sat in feel a lot cheaper and not as well built.
> 
> The interior in that one just looks a mess, very bitty.


I agree, the previous Lexus vehicles used materials which were slightly inferior to the Germans. However, the interior is very good quality for this segment, it's worth a sit in the new one if you get the chance to do so, you may be surprised.

Interior looks are subjective, I think it looks quite funky inside, others won't, so I understand your point of view. Once again though, it's worth seeing in reality as there are a lot of angles which don't show well in pics.



MatrixGuy said:


> Great review.
> 
> I had a 24hr test drive in a 300h back in August... I loved the car but unfortunately the Wife did not.
> 
> The drive was so comfortable, the quality of the interior was definitely above BMW and any other car I have been in. Loved the gadgets and the ventilated seats. Loved the ability to creep around in silent mode


That's good to hear. Shame on the wife!! Haha.

What happened buddy? She didn't like the look of it?


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## Jdudley90 (Mar 13, 2011)

I had one of these for a month when my mini got bumped albeit the se model. My personal opinion was that it was incredibly comfortable but I didn't think the handling was great, the in car tech was hard to navigate, the fuel consumption wasn't anywhere near as good as a diesel and I would want something with a bit more punch for the money.


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

Jdudley90 said:


> I had one of these for a month when my mini got bumped albeit the se model. My personal opinion was that it was incredibly comfortable but I didn't think the handling was great, the in car tech was hard to navigate, the fuel consumption wasn't anywhere near as good as a diesel and I would want something with a bit more punch for the money.


the se will be different. It runs on super skinny tyres (215/55??) which won't help much in terms of grip or handling. I think the offsets on them are also different to help aid fuel economy making the wheels heavily inset which doesn't help either.

With the premier model, the fronts are 225/45 and reas are 255/35 and they make a big difference in handling and outright grip. I feel like they get the power down pretty well too.

The SE is only £29k and comes with decent kit. The in tech system is pretty crap on the SE. it comes with a dodgy rotary controller. The joystick system in the particular model I had was very simple, just point and shoot.

As for outright punchanged, it felt pretty quick. Can't say it felt any slower than a C220 CDI or a 320d.

Basically don't go for the SE model, luxury is ok but the f-sport (with the sports suspension) and Premier are the ones to go for

The SE is focused mainly for company car buyers who will benefit on BIK.

As for fuel economy, it's ultimately down to driving style really as I mentioned in my review. I got 35mpg when milking it but did manage to get 53mpg when trying. Day to day normal driving would achieve about 45mph consistently, motorway and town.

I have a C220 CDI and in town it manages 30mpg And it only picks up on long motorway runs so I feel mpg is on par with diesels, the main benefit being no rattling to listen to, ultimately leading to a more special feel to the car


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## andy665 (Nov 1, 2005)

Hybrid definitely requires a tweak to how you drive to extract maximum economy, just as diesel does compared to petrol.

Most people do not know how to drive hybrid efficiently and therefore do not achieve great fuel economy


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## Daffy (Dec 15, 2005)

For a 'premium' brand it doesn't do it for me in terms of looks. Could easily be the mis-fortunate love child of a Mazda 6 and Audi A4. Maybe the colour doesn't help as it is I assume quite a big car which IMO doesn't lend itself to the police white. It is not boring like an Audi or BM but not as classy as a Jag to look at just a bit of a misfit.
Hopefully the interior is better as that is where you spend most of the time.
However good review and an interesting read.


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

Daffy said:


> For a 'premium' brand it doesn't do it for me in terms of looks. Could easily be the mis-fortunate love child of a Mazda 6 and Audi A4. Maybe the colour doesn't help as it is I assume quite a big car which IMO doesn't lend itself to the police white. It is not boring like an Audi or BM but not as classy as a Jag to look at just a bit of a misfit.
> Hopefully the interior is better as that is where you spend most of the time.
> However good review and an interesting read.


Looks of course is a subjective thing. Its a car one has to appreciate in real life as the angles dont show up well in pictures making it look quite flat.

I should mention that the colour is actually a pearl white - the paint itself looks great in the sunlight, it has a lot of flake, gold, purple, blue and really does change colour. Its more of an ivory colour than a bright white. Same colour different light below:










However, I think the F-Sport versions have a brighter white which has glass flakes in it, and that looks more "police white"

Personally, although the Premier version looks ok, we've gone for the F-Sport version (which is oddly cheaper but does have less kit) in the white with red leather which will be replacing the C220 CDI my wife's been tooting around in:


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## andy665 (Nov 1, 2005)

Rayaan said:


> we've gone for the F-Sport version (which is oddly cheaper but does have less kit) in the white with red leather


Good choice , my only preference over that would be the grey with red leather.

F SPORT seats are even better as they use integrated foaming. Instead of pre-cut foam being shoved into the trim the foam is injected into the seat cover in liquid form, eliminates all air gaps meaning better comfort and less creasing

I think only Lexus use this seat construction method and its only currently on IS / NX F SPORT but will be rolled out to all F SPORT variants in time


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

andy665 said:


> Good choice , my only preference over that would be the grey with red leather.
> 
> F SPORT seats are even better as they use integrated foaming. Instead of pre-cut foam being shoved into the trim the foam is injected into the seat cover in liquid form, eliminates all air gaps meaning better comfort and less creasing
> 
> I think only Lexus use this seat construction method and its only currently on IS / NX F SPORT but will be rolled out to all F SPORT variants in time


Sounds a better option then as it will be kept for a long time, 5 years or so.

We did see a grey, white and blue F-Sport all together but we went for the white as it seems to be the "in" colour at the moment. And with the red seats, the blue may have looked slightly off. Wife didn't like the grey and I wasnt too sure on it either so it was the white in the end.


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

These are my current favourite car. A neighbour has a white (whiter than the premier version) f sport 300h and it is simply stunning. I've driven it and I was just taken aback with the equipment, refinement and quality. So much so that when I change my car next year, I'll definitely be buying one. It's beautiful. It's Lexus. 
Cooks


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

Cookies said:


> These are my current favourite car. A neighbour has a white (whiter than the premier version) f sport 300h and it is simply stunning. I've driven it and I was just taken aback with the equipment, refinement and quality. So much so that when I change my car next year, I'll definitely be buying one. It's beautiful. It's Lexus.
> Cooks


Sounds good! Ive told my dealer to look out for a white/red ex-demo in their group, possibly 14 or 64 plate but don't mind a 63 plate as Ill be doing the full detail myself so its not a huge problem.

They really do drive quite nice - its the exclusivity that does it for me, always makes you feel a little bit special


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Exactly Rayaan - I've always kind of been drawn to cars that are slightly left of centre and these are a nice different alternative to an A4 or a 3 series. 

Cooks


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## JBirchy (Oct 9, 2010)

A great review, thanks for taking the time. I'm with you on the looks, I really think it's stunning, inside and out. I had a good drive in one before I ordered my Golf GTI as I was originally looking at a car in this sector. 

Compared with the 3-Series I thought the ride was particularly good, comfortable but not mushy.

In my opinion however, the CVT gearbox really lets it down, and I'm afraid it was a deal breaker for me. I was very close to ordering a blue F-Sport but just couldn't live with that gearbox. The ZF8 speed auto in the 3-Series (and also now the Jag XE) is in a different league. No matter how good the other aspects of the Lexus are, I just don't think the gearbox can compete. Don't get me wrong, it's totally fine when driving slowly (in fact it's very smooth), but when pressing on I thought it was terrible. Such a shame as I really wanted to like it. I really enjoy extending a good petrol engine through it's rev range and through a couple of gears, something that I didn't find very enjoyable in the IS.


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

JBirchy said:


> A great review, thanks for taking the time. I'm with you on the looks, I really think it's stunning, inside and out. I had a good drive in one before I ordered my Golf GTI as I was originally looking at a car in this sector.
> 
> Compared with the 3-Series I thought the ride was particularly good, comfortable but not mushy.
> 
> In my opinion however, the CVT gearbox really lets it down, and I'm afraid it was a deal breaker for me. I was very close to ordering a blue F-Sport but just couldn't live with that gearbox. The ZF8 speed auto in the 3-Series (and also now the Jag XE) is in a different league. No matter how good the other aspects of the Lexus are, I just don't think the gearbox can compete. Don't get me wrong, it's totally fine when driving slowly (in fact it's very smooth), but when pressing on I thought it was terrible. Such a shame as I really wanted to like it. I really enjoy extending a good petrol engine through it's rev range and through a couple of gears, something that I didn't find very enjoyable in the IS.


I see what you mean. It takes some getting used to but I think it suits the nature of the drivetrain and ride. I find it very smooth on a day to day basis - so smooth that it makes the likes of conventional boxes seem a bit jerky.

Its a different sort of experience, its more akin to a jet whereby the power just keeps coming with no gear change until you let go of the throttle. For enthusiasts, the lack of gear change, and probably the "feeling" of gear changes isnt there.

Maybe I should mention that later this year, the IS is getting the 2.0T from the NX with 235hp. Should see 0-60 in 6.7s but for my wife (who is the main driver of the car), it wont make much difference as she only uses it for shopping, school runs etc so I thought its best to go for a 300h as the road tax is only £20 and she'll get much more MPG than I do.


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