Lexus IS 350 coming to Australia

By Alborz Fallah | February 22nd, 2010

After years of asking, Lexus Australia has convinced Japan to send the Lexus IS 350 sedan model for the Australian market. The gap which had existed between the Lexus IS 250 and the Lexus IS-F will finally be filled with the arrival of the IS 350 in late 2010.

All those that complained the 2.5-litre V6 Lexus IS 250 was somewhat underpowered and the 5.0-litre V8 Lexus IS-F was too much will have their prayers answered with the IS 350 powered by a quad-cam 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine, coupled to a six-speed sequential transmission.

Power figures are 228kW and the car puts out 375Nm of torque, all that put together and it means the Lexus IS 350 will catapult from 0 to 100km/h in just 5.6 seconds.

We should feel lucky the IS 350 has been approved for our market, as there are only three other countries which currently have access to the car, United States, Canada and Japan.

“Lexus Australia has always stated that IS 350 would be a welcome addition to the local vehicle line-up and we are very excited about its arrival, the IS 350 will slot nicely between IS 250 and IS F, further strengthening Lexus’ performance credentials. IS 350, along with future product from Lexus, will go a long way to solidifying Lexus’ popularity in Australia,” Lexus chief executive Tony Cramb said.

Read Lexus Reviews.

Altezza

Finally! I’ve test driven IS250. It’s too underpowered and need more power. Hopefully it’s going to be priced below $90,000. By the arrival of IS350, Lexus Australia will need to revise IS250 pricing, it should be cheaper. It’s long overdue but it was a nice addition.

Baddass

“It’s too underpowered and needs more power.” Tehee, nice bit of tautology there!
It’s about time Lexus brought in the ’350, and now it can REALLY compete with the Germans.

carl

get the Toyota aurion TRD for half the price!!

Damian

Front wheel drive and boat like dynamics? No thanks…

If one was to get a TRD Aurion, they may as well save another $15k and get an FG XR6 Turbo – a better car altogether.

Shak

Agreed. Anyone who bought the TRD while it was being made i \s going to hurt sorely when it comes time to resale.

gazza

Quite the opposite shak! There is a toyota dealer in brisbane offering big dollars to buy any trd aurion or hilux available! There is a real collectors market for the trd range which is different to the bogan collector market!

bt

we have one for them, 07 trd aurion SL only 5000 kms, black in colour plum leather trim
bt

and will sell for 44k!
cheap collectors item!

gazza

For a start the IS250 & IS350 are rear wheel drive and both have one of the best chassis around and what has trd aurion got to do with a lexus IS350?

tekkyy

saying IS250 is underpowered is a bit harsh
what IS250 lacked is engine choice

being the only base model with a V6 it doesn’t lack power against the non-Sports variants of the competitors
Wayne Kerr

I really hope the IS350 is reasonably priced, if it were < $65K, that'd be a performance luxury bargain.

If it ends up being something stupid like $85K, I'd rather get a G6E Turbo for 55K.

Tony

you be real hard pressed to get a IS250 for $65k so there is no way this car will be that cheap. Id say it will be 5 to 10K cheaper than a similar powered BMW 3 series.

Wayne Kerr

I got 55K for the IS250 from redbook. So for an engine upsize and a few extra goodies in the IS350, a 10K jump is fair.

But your guess is probably much better than mine. We get ripped pretty badly in Australia. In the states, the base price for a 335i is $42K USD, and an IS350 a few thousand less.

I know Australia has more taxes, and the government needs to protect the local car industry. But from a consumer’s perspective Australia as a whole is getting ripped pretty badly when it comes to cars.

Tony

the base manual IS250 here in NSW is $60K drive away and they dont sell many of those at all,most people buy the Sport Luxury and that is $84K drive away and Lexus wont discount. I would say the IS350 will be very close to RX 350 pricing.

Rick

Lexus certainly will discount. I was shopping an IS250 against a 3 series and let’s just say that my local (Melb) Lexus dealer was more than willing to be ‘flexible’ with both pricing and finance rates.

Re the IS350, this is the version we should have had all along. I ended up going for a 3 series and one of the reasons was the IS250 felt underpowered. The current series is also starting to get a little long in the tooth so for me is perhaps a case of too little too late ? Also, it won’t be too long before we see a new hybrid version of the IS range.
stevo99

I dare say the IS350 will carry a rough $8,000 premium over the IS250.

The Realist

G6E Turbo is not in the same league wrt features, quality, and service.

jake02

What about the IS220d? I’d prefer that to the IS350…
chappy

All too late now they did the same with is300 years down the track and my guess will be prices around $100000 as its competion is BMW 335 and the audi S4 which both is faster and a faster 335 due out this year lexus is behind the ballgame i would have bought a IS350 from the beginning but i bought a IS250 after a couple of years i needed more power so i bought a 335m-sport coupe and that is one hell of driving machine power and handling is sex on wheels.
XYZ

Lexus should be able to increase its market share with the IS 350. If the V6 2.5 litre engine IS 250 is considered underpowered, the BMW 320 is seriously underpowered, the Audi 1.8 litre is underpowered and the Merc C200 (1.8 litre engine) is also underpowered. All 3 base model Germans have much less power.
Jig

With the exception of the IS-F, Lexus builds one of the most un-inspiring, un-involved and quite honestly one of the most bland cars in the world. I will never buy a Lexus and to think that they have the tenacity to charge their new LF-A 750K AUD just shows how delusional Lexus management is. Good luck to them.
AAA

0 to 100km/h in just 5.6 seconds … that’s faster than the Aurion 350, just a bit faster ~
Valet Dabess

i never liked the exterior of the is range. is-f with the wide bodykit looks nice though
Robj

Boring and dull, like the owners whom buy these…I’d rather get a G6E Turbo also and save a few jobs…

The Realist

Your taxes and willingness to put up with an inferior product is already saving jobs.
gazza

BY BUYING A DULL & BORING G6 YOU ALREADY HAVE SAVED JOBS!

Shak

Well better late than never, but i would hardly call the IS250 underpowered for a mid sized RWD sedan.
mark

pffft, old news! i knew that half way thru last year
Toyota worshiper

I think this car is going to be too fast for our market. A car with that much power cannot be safe. I’ll stick to my four-cylinder Camry.

Driver

… you have fun with that

XYZ

More competition is always good for car buyers. Lexus has dropped its prices when the import tax was dropped from 10% to 5% on 1/1/10. This should enable it to price the IS 350 a bit more competitively. Merc and BMW did not drop prices even when the import tax fell. The BMW 325 is disadvantaged by the noisy and expensive run-flat tyres (costs $400 each to replace). The Merc C300 (previously called C280) is overpriced at around $100K (on road). Merc does not have anything in between the underpowered C200 and the overpriced C300. Lexus IS 350 should take a few sales away from the BMW 325 and the C300.

Mic

I have all the cars you talk about above. The Merc C280 is the best out of the lot, BMW is total crap, has problems all the time, the services are TOTALLY overpriced all the time, the engine is too small for the weight of the car… I will never buy another BMW again. The C200 you are right, its underpowered but is a great shopping car for the mrs, great on fuel, doesnt quiet have the features my C280 has but is a good car all round. My C280 has plenty of power and pick up, is REALLY good on fuel, is super quiet and has every feature you get in the IS250 and more. It is fully optioned and you are right, once you have it all added up it breaks the $110K mark easily… but is so worth it, one of the best cars I have ever owned. I had a call from my lexus dealer today and will be one of the first to take the new IS350 for a test drive next month, I cant wait… He quietly said it will be close to what I spent on my C280 so that should give you a rough idea. I was planning on getting the ISF and the new C63 this year but from what he tells me I will be rather impressed with the IS350 and would probably go that way…Only time will tell I guess but then again the C63 is likely to be my new favourite toy lol

Simon

Finally a Lexus I could consider seriously!
Kiyoshi Manabe

The long-awaited product for Lexus line-up in Australia,that’s the IS350.
Apart from US and Canada,no IS350s have been marketed officially outside Japan. Yet considerable number of Lexus IS350s have been sold in European countries for years,through parallel-importing route from Canada. It implies that the IS350 is quite attractive as a guise for districts apart from North-American market.
I currently own a 2009 Lexus IS350,which is as fast as the Mercedes E550,posting 0-62mph(0-100km/h) in 4.9-5.1sec depending on climate. She’s a silky-bomb,with respectable silence and velvet-like smoothness. On the other hand,she is miserer than the VW Passat 3.2,recording 10km/l average.
She would be very attractive choice for Australian buyers,if price is below 90000 dollars. We want to see good efforts of Lexus Australia!
DJCJ

I think the IS250 is not underpowered (especially when you compared it against its class competitors the A4, the 159, the C200 and 320i), but does not reach its full potential, courtesy of a transmission that has the old-school of Lexus thinking. How should I know? Ive owned one for 4 years now, and as a value for money all-round package is the best vehicle on the road for under $60k. I think the A4 would be actually, if it wasnt for its huge expensive options list. And the IS250 is still the quickest vs. its direct $ for $ European competitors.

The IS250 auto has a desire to go into the next gear as soon as it can, and in true auto it can feel sluggish because of that. Its the old Lexus school of thinking (get into the next gear, get the sound down, get the fuel economy up) still lingering. But drive the car and select the gears yourself (it will hold gear into the redline if you like, unlike the Audi which overrides you anyhow) and the thing has plenty of grunt and is so much more fun to drive. (8.1sec to 100km/h for a solidly built car is hardly underpowered – especially when compared with 11sec for the BMW 320i).

But when the 350 arrives, I might just have to take one for a test drive!
http://musclebeach.com.au Mike

Ive owned an is250 since 2006, recentely test drove g6e turbo, fpv gt and f6,HSV GTS and a Lexus ISF….. gotta say, the fords and Holdens are off the mark for prestige, they go well, but feel cheap compared to my Lexus. The ISF is great, but a lot of $$, so I like the sounds of the IS350, Little things like smart key, heated/cool seats, precise steering, low road noise, and a feeling of accomplishment whilst driving a Lexus is hard to beat. I cant find a better value prestige motoring expierence, and now we get a choice of more power. Thats fantastic….anyone else out there that has owned a lexus will know what im saying. If you can find a better car for the money, I would be suprised, no, make that astonished.
Cheers.

Fred

I have also owned an IS250 since 2006 and agree with Mike that this is the best value for money package around and that the IS 350 would be a welcome addition and I just may get one!

is350 f sports

i have just purchased a is350 with f sports pack for a bargain 82k driveaway…

same spec/set up in merc/bmw will set me back 130k +, comparing to 335i …