Lexus IS 350 review: the enthusiast's Lexus, with a real back-seat cost
3.7/5motorssouq Editorial Team
The IS 350 is the sedan to buy in this class if you actually enjoy driving and can live with a back seat that is genuinely tight for two adults on the causeway run. The V6 RWD combination is the reason to skip the turbocharged IS 300, which feels flat by comparison. Anyone cross-shopping the ES for its extra space is choosing correctly for a family; anyone choosing the IS for its steering is choosing correctly for themselves.
Pros
- Rear-wheel-drive platform gives genuinely sharper steering and turn-in than the ES
- V6 sounds and pulls with real enthusiasm above 4,000 rpm
- Shares Lexus Bahrain's dealer warranty and service standard with the rest of the range
- Rewarding on the coastal roads and causeway approach in a way most Lexus sedans are not
Cons
- Rear seat is genuinely tight for two adults on longer journeys
- Boot at 450 litres is shallow next to the ES or a midsize German rival
- Turning circle and firm low-speed ride are a daily cost in Manama traffic
- Turbocharged IS 300 grade feels flat compared to the V6 — worth avoiding
Lexus builds one sedan in this size that actually wants to be driven, and it is this one. The rear-wheel-drive platform, shared in spirit with the RC coupe, gives the IS 350 a turn-in the front-wheel-drive ES cannot match, and the V6 sounds properly eager past 4,000 rpm rather than merely willing.
What you give up for it
The back seat is the honest trade-off. Legroom behind a six-foot driver is tight, the roofline cuts into rear headroom, and the boot at 450 litres is usable but shallow. None of this matters if the IS is a second car or a driver's own daily; all of it matters if it is meant to double as the family car for the causeway run to Saudi.
On Bahrain's better roads — the coastal stretch past Amwaj, the smoother sections of the King Fahd Causeway approach — the IS is genuinely satisfying in a way few Lexus products manage. Around town the tight turning circle and firmer low-speed ride are the cost of that reward, and neither is severe enough to change the recommendation.
Running it here
Servicing follows the same Lexus Bahrain dealer network and warranty terms as the rest of the range, and the V6 shares enough architecture with the ES and RX that independent workshops familiar with Toyota's V6 family can handle routine work competently once the warranty period ends.