There’s one thing this luxury sedan has that no other remaining four-door model does.
Outside the European automakers, it’s tough to find a luxury sedan at all — let alone one like the 2026 Lexus IS350. See, while we thought (much like the Acura TLX) that Toyota would simply drop an entry-level offering from its lineup, that’s not what actually happened here. Instead, the IS got a freshening up. That update sadly left it without a V8 offering in the range…but it did leave the naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V6 as its remaining powertrain.
If only by default, the automaker’s decision to tweak the Lexus IS again makes it a unique offering among premium sports sedans. Its nearest rivals, like the brand-new Audi A5, the BMW 3 Series or the Mercedes-Benz C-class, no longer offer any sort of naturally aspirated engine, let alone the N/A V6. And yet, here is the 2026 IS350 with the same 3.5-liter V6 engine it’s had in some form for a couple generations now. Here, it still manages to put out 311 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque. That’s not bad, considering this is a compact sedan with no forced induction or electrification in sight.
As before, the packaging in the IS determines which transmission you get. Going for the rear-wheel drive version of the IS350 nets you an 8-speed automatic transmission, while the all-wheel drive version gets a 6-speed torque converter automatic instead. Again, the IS300 and the V8-packing IS500 are gone (RIP), while the remaining powertrain is wrapped in either the F Sport or F Sport Design trims as options.
The 2026 Lexus IS350 gets some useful interior updates, too. The old-school infotainment system with the much-maligned trackpad is finally, finally gone. In its place, you get a 12.3-inch touchscreen display, while the space that trackpad leaves behind is now taken up by controls for the heated and ventilated seats, as well as a physical volume control. You do still get an old-school shift lever instead of a toggle switch like some modern Lexuses/Lexii, and you get newly sculpted HVAC vents as well as a bank of physical switches below the larger screen. In short, it’s a massive improvement over the old car’s aging setup.
Tommy and I had the opportunity to check out the updated 2026 Lexus IS350 alongside the new, all-electric TZ SUV and the eighth-generation ES sedan, now available in both hybrid and electric forms. We’ll have more impressions coming up in a little bit, but for now here’s a walkaround of what you can expect in the new IS sedan:
