Here’s Your Reminder: the 2024 Lexus IS500 Still Has a V-8

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You always know when you’re doing something for the first time, but you almost never know when you’ll be doing it for the last. When it comes to driving the 2024 Lexus IS500 F Sport Performance, though, there’s a finality to every rip, growl, and purr emanating from the exhaust of its naturally aspirated, 5.0-liter V-8. The IS500 has to be the last V-8-powered Lexus sedan ever. Lexus won’t be making another car like this, right? There’s no way.

In recent years, the eight-cylinders powering so many modern era sports cars have been replaced by V-6s, four-bangers, a turbocharger or two, and hybrid systems, with greater resulting power and performance than any of us could have dreamed. No doubt it’s a good thing, too, because internal-combustion V-8 engines are pretty damn inefficient, and doubly so without the aid of forced induction and electrification. One look at the IS500’s paltry fuel economy numbers (17/25/20 city/highway/combined mpg) makes that clear.

Eight-Piece Orchestra

But put numbers (and reason, logic, and rationale) aside for a second. There’s an incoherent joy in firing up a performance V-8 as your first noise of the day. The deep, bassy vibrato that fills the cabin and tingles your synapses, the guttural crescendo that roars as the revs climb and rattle your chest, or the sucker-punch bark that greets you with each downshift. That’s the good stuff. That’s why we celebrate this Lexus, which has the absolute gall to continue to exist as V-8-powered performance sedan.

As with any statement piece, however, it’s how you accessorize around it that can really make it shine. In this case, both the powertrain and suspension have been tuned more for comfort. No matter the drive mode, the IS500’s transmission shifts with an impressive nonchalance, and with its plush seats and brake pedal that’s more pillowy than urgent when pressed, it’s tough not to feel as though you’re driving a V-8-powered couch.

Honestly, it’s terrific. For the past decade or so, the performance car market has been swept up by an unfortunate wave of overcompensation, where cars that should not be riding as stiffly as they do seem to have been designed as though pelvic dislocation was the intent. The IS500 rejects that and instead walks a more relaxed path. It doesn’t take itself so seriously and would be more … Read More