2011 Lexus IS

For more than 10 years, Lexus has presented luxury shoppers an unlikely offering in the IS, a rear-wheel-drive sport sedan from a brand best known for cushy comfort. The gamble worked: The IS drives better than most of its Lexus siblings. It does not, however, get there without a penalty.

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While the Lexus IS sedan performs well, it makes drivers give up ride comfort and roominess in ways that its competitors don't.

Lexus restyled a few elements on the IS for 2011. The car comes in IS 250 or IS 350 form, representing the size of each one's V-6 engine. Both are also available as a convertible, denoted by "C" in the model name. The lineup's high-performance IS-F sedan is covered separately on Cars.com. All-wheel drive is optional on the IS 250 and 350 sedans; in previous years, it was optional only on the IS 250.

We evaluated two cars: a rear-wheel-drive IS 250C convertible and an all-wheel-drive IS 350 sedan.

Quick, or Not So Much

Even carrying an extra 176 pounds of driveline, the all-wheel-drive IS 350 moves out. Lexus' direct-injection V-6 feels on par with the powerhouse six-cylinders in the BMW 335i and Infiniti G37. It pulls strongly, sounds muscular and can generally overtake slower traffic whenever your right foot desires. Aided by a quick-shifting six-speed automatic, the 306-horsepower IS 350 is a confident beast. One editor thought the automatic shifted a bit harshly sometimes, but most agreed it's a responsive gearbox — not the usual pedigree from parent company Toyota. Still, I wish the IS 350 had a manual transmission. Most competing sedans offer one with their larger engines. Manuals might not sell well, but having one available would make the IS more attractive to performance enthusiasts.

The 204-hp IS 250 does offer a stick, and you'll probably need it to wring the most out of the engine. Our test car's pint-sized V-6 felt two cylinders short. It reminded me of a Mercedes-Benz C240 — the cheapest six-cylinder Mercedes of its time, discontinued in 2006. Like the old Benz, the IS 250's oomph from a stop is modest, though it's better in the drivetrain's Power mode — activated by a dashboard switch — which noticeably hastens accelerator and transmission response (at some cost to fuel efficiency). With three people inside, our convertible needed the drivetrain's full reserves to reach highway speed.

Lexus quotes a zero-to-60 time of 8.4 seconds for the 250 convertible, which is pokey for a luxury car. Weighing 375 pounds less, the rear-drive IS 250 sedan hits the mark in 7.9 seconds, Lexus says. (Incidentally, that's not far off the C240, which hit the mark in about 8.2 seconds.) Among today's entry-level sport sedans, the BMW 328i is quicker, and the turbocharged Audi A4 beats both. Lexus has some catching up to do.

Ride & Handling

As a group, sport sedans ride firmly, but the IS sedan takes things to an extreme that could turn off many shoppers. Wearing 17-inch wheels and P225/45R17 tires, our IS 350 sedan picked up all sorts of bumps, from slight expansion joints to sizable potholes. Our editors agreed it's uncomfortable, and that's a sacrifice you don't necessarily have to make. The 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class ride decidedly better. Believe it or not, you could probably get the IS to ride even worse: Options include 18-inch wheels and lower-profile tires, as well as a performance-tuned F-Sport suspension.