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The Lexus IS220d Sport Proves That Buying A Diesel Saloon Needn’t Mean Surrendering Style. Andy Enright Reports

The blow to the pride hurt more than the physical pain. Walking away from the Lexus IS200 on test here, I couldn’t resist a glance over my shoulder. It’s just one of those cars you get a real kick out of looking at. I’d walk away from a Mercedes C-Class, a BMW 3 Series, an Audi A4 or a Jaguar X-TYPE without so much as a second thought but the Lexus engenders a warm glow to your ego. You’ll want to remind yourself of what you’ve arrived in. You’ll feel like you’ve made it, that people are congratulating you on your refined taste. Right up to that moment when you walk into a bollard.

This has the effect of bringing you to your senses a little. There’s nothing quite like a blow to the nether regions to bring matters into a sharper focus. As you stagger away nursing your bruised pride, you’ll have an opportunity to review the Lexus IS220d Sport a little more dispassionately. Yes, it does look fantastic sitting there all sharky sweeps of sheet metals and 18-inch alloy wheels but is there more to it than mere good looks. Have you been suckered by a rather talented stylist into buying a car that’s all show and no go? Although this car’s standout feature is its good looks, there’s substance beneath the taut surfacing as well. This Sport model joins the existing IS220d diesel and offers a few refinements guaranteed to appeal to keener drivers. The most obvious change is a change in the differential gear ratio in the rear axle from 2.474 to 3.200. That might sound like technical gibberish to most but it has a real effect on the driving characteristics of this car. In short, it makes the gears ‘shorter’, sharpening up acceleration and getting the biggest possible bang for your buck from the IS220d’s 175bhp turbodiesel engine.

"The IS220d Sport feels better built than any of its German rivals"

The six-speed gearbox is extremely good and you’ll be snicking up and down gears just for fun, the pedal positioning making smooth up and down changes easy. The engine does its best work between 2,400 and 3,750rpm, so it’s not as peaky as many diesel cars but you’ll need to grab for gears fairly quickly if you’re intent on making a quick getaway. The sprint to 60mph is dispatched in just 8.6 seconds. In case you’re wondering why the Lexus is slower off the mark than the less powerful BMW 320d, the answer comes down to weight. At 1,655kg this Lexus is fully 225kg heavier than the BMW. That’s like having Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield in the back seat. Like many other perfectly formed things, the IS is on the small side. The big guys would likely have a few issues with kneeroom and because of the electric adjustment for the front seats, there’s little room underneath for Lennox to plant his size fourteens. There can be few grumbles about the standard of fit and finish and the amount of gear you get. As well as those 18-inch rims, there’s sports suspension and sports pedals. Metallic trim detailing inside vies for your attention with Cellensia suede-effect upholstery. The front seats get heating elements for those chilly winter mornings while the eight way electric adjustment ensures a perfect driving position. There’s also climate controlled air-conditioning, a 13-speaker audio system with an in-dash 6 CD autochanger, rain sensing wipers, front and rear parking sensors, keyless entry, a push button start, memory settings for the driver’s seat, steering wheel and door mirrors. I could go on but by now you probably get the picture. This is a car that takes the sort of equipment you’d expect in a top end luxury saloon and crow-bars it into a compact executive model. It’s easy to excuse its somewhat lardy showing on the scales as a result. The ride on the 18-inch alloy wheels and sport suspension set up is firm but composed. The steering is quick and accurate and the on-limit handling, as defined by the VDIM stability control system, is benign in the extreme. This system is a vast improvement over the old VSC stability control system, allowing a little more wheelspin but intervening earlier and less obtrusively when it detects the car getting a little out of shape. What’s even more interesting is that whereas traditional stability control systems just nip at the brakes to keep things in check, VDIM manages brakes, throttle and even steering, adding a couple of degrees of counter steer crucially early in the event of a slide. Power out of a wet mountain hairpin with the engine right in the meat of the torque and you’ll feel a mild muting of throttle response and a spot a flashing light on the fascia. No drama, no temptation to counter steer yourself (something that can royally confuse some stability control systems) and a rapid reapplication of full power once the car detects it’s pointing in the right direction. Top marks. The interior is an object lesson in how to make complex systems intuitive to access and operate. It’s here that Lexus scores its most decisive victory over the BMW 3 Series. The satellite navigation, audio and ventilation systems are all simple to use. Try changing the stereo’s bass and treble on a BMW fitted with iDrive. If you can do it within twenty minutes of starting out, without recourse to a manual, mind, you’re doing better than me and I’ve got a degree in IT. In the IS 220d, you’ll figure it out within ten seconds the first time and the same goes even for the more complex functions. The second biggest advantage the Lexus scores comes in after sales service. Here the company is second to none and Lexus dealers monotonously rate as having the best service offering year after year. Judging by other Lexus products, it’s doubtful you’ll see much of them other than for routine servicing as, again, Lexus trounces all German rivals when it comes to reliability. Although the engine is by no means the best unit in its class, the rest of the Lexus IS220d Sport package makes up for it. It’s not cheap but if you want a car that you really get a kick out of owning, this is as good a contender in this class as any. Just don’t admire it too much.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Lexus IS 220d Sport PRICE: £26,925 – on the road INSURANCE GROUP: 13E CO2 EMISSIONS: 168g/km PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 8.6s / Max Speed 134mph FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 44.8 (extra urban) 52.3 (urban) 35.8mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side & curtain airbags / ABS / ESP