- In 2018, Toyota President Akio Toyoda
announced no more boring cars for the company.
Three years later, Lexus has dropped this off at our shop.
Underneath this cover is a car
they say no one has ever seen before.
Lexus says it's got plenty of power,
rear wheel drive,
and that it was designed for enthusiasts like you.
It's a "WheelHouse" first today.
We're go debut a car.
I wore my nice shirt today.
(jazzy upbeat music)
Now you might be thinking
that this doesn't look like an enthusiast car.
You might be thinking that looks like a normal IS 350.
But under this bulging hood right here
is not the V6 from the Camry.
In fact, this Lexus makes more power
than the new BMW M3,
and it weighs the same as a Mustang GT.
This thing is a bonafide sleeper.
(engine roaring smoothly) Oh!
But I've got a question.
Is this even a good idea?
Is Lexus no longer the sophisticated luxury arm
of Toyota that it used to be.
Are they making cars for us now?
Is this new car any good?
And what's it for?
Who's it for?
Well, let's go ahead and find out.
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(mellow music)
- Today's episode of "WheelHouse"
is a little different than usual,
because when Lexus calls,
you pick up the dang phone.
Today, I'm gonna show you this brand new,
never-before-seen car
in a way that makes sense for this show
and hopefully explain why Lexus decided to build it.
So sleepers, a sleeper is basically any car
that is faster than it looks.
As I see it, there are two kinds of sleepers.
Ones that people build themselves,
like the Farmtruck from "Street Outlaws,"
or this Volvo we featured on old "Bumper 2 Bumper."
Then there are factory sleepers,
fast cars for people who want a fast car
without all the flash those usually come with.
We love sleepers, that much is obvious.
But to answer whether or not this is a good idea,
we gotta see what the idea even is.
(air whooshing)
When you first look at the IS 500
you think you're looking at a normal sedan.
But after a while, you pick up on some subtle signals
that this thing is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
In the looks department,
not a whole lot has changed
except for the quad exhaust tips in the back,
which are reminiscent of the RC F.
Kind of give it that more sporty look
and they sound really good too.
Quad exhaust tips, always cool.
They also got the bulged out hood up here
to accommodate the new engine,
and what an engine it is.
So the normal IS 350
has a 3.5 liter V6
making 306 horsepower.
It's pretty decent.
But if the IS 350
has a 3.5 liter engine,
how about you take what this IS 500
has under the hood.
Ta-da, it's a five liter
naturally aspirated V8
making 472 horsepower.
This is the same engine that's in the LC 500.
And it probably makes this car sound
very muscle car-esque.
But what's not muscle car-esque
is the interior.
I feel like I slammed that very hard.
Very nice.
The first thing I noticed,
there are a bunch of buttons.
There's things that you press.
Everything is very close to your hands.
It's the opposite of minimalism and over streamlining
that seems to be the trend nowadays.
I really like having everything in reach.
It's very well thought out, it's super cool.
We got a sunroof up here, very cool.
Also the rear seats fold down,
which is a very underrated function.
I fit a flat screen TV in my Mustang
just because those seats folded down.
I really wanna drive this, but, unfortunately,
this is the only one in North America, so we can't.
I guess there's really nothing else to do but start it up.
Can we start it up, Troy?
Okay, let's hear that V8.
(engine starting)
(engine running smoothly)
I hear the chuggy, chuggy, chuggy of a V8.
I like that, gonna give it a little rev-ski.
(engine roars smoothly)
Oh!
(engine roars smoothly) Oh!
Okay, yeah, I'm sold.
I'm sold, what more do you want?
(exhaling deeply) V8s are the best, I'm speechless.
I gotta know the retail on this.
Okay, dude, that's sick.
Now many people, especially here in America,
feel like Detroit has exclusive claim
to the cross-plane V8.
And, honestly, I don't blame them.
I love me a good V8 muscle car.
They're pretty much my favorite.
But in reality,
Lexus is no stranger to the V8.
In fact, when the brand started in 1989,
Lexus's very first car was a V8 sedan,
the large and in-charge LS 400.
Side note for any kids watching,
the LS 400 is a baller high school car.
That all aluminum 1UZ V8 engine
from that land yacht is legendarily bulletproof.
It's reliable enough to go a million miles,
as some of you might've seen with Matt Farah's
famous million mile Lexus.
And many people in the drift community
love the 1UZ for being the JDM pseudo LS that it is.
If you're thinking about building your own sleeper,
give that model a look.
It was available in the LS 400,
but also the Toyota Crown, Soarer, and Aristo,
making the 1UZ one of the easier JDM engines
to get parts for.
And with later models making 290 horsepower,
it's no slouch either.
30 years later,
Lexus hasn't stopped making V8 powered cars.
In fact, the V8 in this new Lexus right here
is the final evolution of that original 1UZ
that started the brand.
It's the Charizard Gigantamax
to the 1UZ's Charmander.
And the engine isn't the only thing that's evolved,
Lexus did too.
Sure, they started out making large luxury sedans
for smooth cruising,
but as time went on,
they dabbled and given us enthusiasts
something to dream about as well.
Sure, Lexus might be known for comfy and maybe beige,
but they make fast stuff too.
They gave us the LFA,
one of the most universally praised supercars out there.
Jeremy Clarkson said it was his favorite car.
That's all I need to hear.
Lexus also built the RC F Track Edition,
which we cover on this channel.
And then there's the LC 500,
a car that truly embodies the phrase, spaceship coupe.
And it's that drivetrain
that they stuck into this IS 500.
Get it? LC 500, IS 500.
500, 5.0, V8.
So where did this car come from?
Well, maybe it's part of Toyota's larger vision
for the company.
As I mentioned at the top,
in 2018, the president of Toyota
stood up on stage at the Detroit Auto Show
and said, "No more boring cars,"
right before unveiling a new Prius and a new Camry.
It's pretty funny for sure.
But since then, we've seen Toyota deliver on that promise
with awesome, awesome cars,
like the GR Supra and the GR Yaris,
which if they sold in the States,
I would probably make
a unwise financial decision and buy one.
But it's got me wondering,
did this no boring cars mandate
apply to their Lexus brand as well?
If so, that might've seemed like a tall order at the time.
Even though Lexus is the brand that made the LFA
and can maybe spend a little bit more money
making their cars than the economically priced Toyotas,
they aren't exactly known as an electrifying,
adrenaline pumping brand, they're Lexus.
- [Announcer] Lexus, the spirit of evolution.
- But that's why I think a sleeper,
like the IS 500, is the perfect car for Lexus right now.
It's not boring, it's unassuming.
There's a difference.
Despite Lexus's marketing campaigns
centered around luxury and refinement,
the company actually isn't a stranger to sleepers at all.
In the 2000s, many people realized
that the engine in cars, like the little IS 300,
was actually a non-turbocharged version
of the legendary Toyota 2JZ.
If you've got your knucks a little greasy,
you could swap some parts over,
build up some boost,
and have a 600 horsepower rocket
that still looked factory and fancy.
People would think that you were just showing up to the meet
to drop off your step-kids, but bam!
Flames would shoot out the back, awesome.
Larger sedans like the GS 300 also had turbo JZ potential.
In fact, you might've already seen,
Hert, from Hoonigan,
drive his GS 300 across the country
drifting at various stops for Drift Week.
And I can't think of many cars
that could drift every day,
road trip every day,
and survive Hert at the same time.
So I think that says a lot.
Maybe Lexus saw that car owners
were boosting their little 2000 sedans
and turning them into drift taxis.
And they saw the V8 they had
lying around from their $100,000 space coupe.
And then they just.
(engine exploding into car loudly)
That's a sandwich.
Plenty of luxury car makers
have shoved a big V8 into a small sedan before.
BMW, Cadillac, heck even Lexus themselves
have done this before with the IS F.
But it's 2021,
and the times they are changing.
V8s are starting to disappear
as OEMs are opting for the more economical
turbocharged engines and hybrid power.
If you've got an itch that can only be scratched
with a naturally aspirated V8,
there are less and less options for you.
Lexus has been making V8s since day one.
And it's awesome to see
that they're still making them today.
But even Lexus isn't immune to the march of time.
So we could very well be looking
at the last hurrah of the Lexus V8.
After spending some time with this car,
I've got one question that still hasn't been answered.
And that's, why is Lexus building this?
We've established that they aren't the first
to make a car like this.
And we also know that it's not likely
to be the foundation of their future cars,
even though this one launches
their new F Sport Performance line.
Add into the equation the fact
that Lexus isn't gonna be making very many of these,
and that they're only gonna be sold in North America,
and that's got me asking, who is it for?
This car isn't a big risk for Lexus.
It's a limited run model
composed of a bunch of pre-existing parts
at the end of their development cycle.
Really good parts, mind you,
but it's not like Lexus has taken a big swing
at making a new platform or anything like that.
These are proven ingredients
arranged in the best way Lexus engineers could think of.
I talk to these guys on the phone.
They're like you, they love cars and they love driving.
And I can tell that they're super stoked
that their bosses let them build this thing
in the first place.
This car, the IS 500, is a signal,
a coded message, from Lexus straight to enthusiasts,
the people still watching this,
that they wanna make cars for you.
This is a small first step.
But if a car like the IS 500
is just a glimpse of what's to come,
I can't wait to see what the future holds.
If you want to know more
about the origin of Lexus and that amazing 1UZ engine,
checkout the episode of "Up to Speed,"
which is coming back.
I promise you, James just shot like four of them last week.
There's also the "Bumper 2 Bumpers" on the LFA
and the RC F Track Edition.
If you wanna see some behind the scenes of Donut Media,
check out our membership program, Donut Underground,
click the join button if you wanna know more.
If you've got a cool Lexus sleeper,
let me know in the comments.
Lexus, if you need someone
to look after one of these things,
I'll take mine in that red or blue.
You know, I think it'd look great.
You have my info.
Be kind, look out for each other.
See you next time.