What It's Like to Live with a 2024 Lexus IS500 (POV)

Ah, yes, a five liter V8 has just entered the chat. Hey, crew. Once upon a time, a V8 and a sports sedan, it was just how things were done. But these days, automakers are ditching V8s in a hurry, such that for 2024, under $100,000, your options are my car, a Cadillac CT5B Blackwing, or this, a Lexus IS500. Let me try that again. For under $95,000, it's just this. And yet the option is still there. So what if you take it? How is life with a new V8 sedan better or worse? I've got the key to this Lexus IS500, and it happens to be in a leather pouch, which is great for people like me who drop them all the time, keeps it protected. And it's in that pouch because this is the appearance package on this car, which includes this vector blue paint, which is probably the closest in color to the electric blue on my Blackwing, which happens to be at a friend's house. So instead, the car is parked next to my Demon 170, which is in its own loud purple color. And I love the colors of these cars. Driveway spacing. So my driveway is 16 feet wide by 19 and a half feet long, and the Demon 170 is parked a few inches in from the edge, while the IS500 is parked right at the edge of the driveway. And the nose of the car is coming up to the beginning of the driveway. The spacing between the vehicles is excellent. I do wish there were power folding door mirrors. You can manually fold them as I can in my Demon 170. And I've got plenty of room here to walk with our double stroller. At the back of the car, I still have lots of room to walk in front of the hedge. Hopping inside, there is smart keyless entry for the front door. So with the key fob in my pocket, putting my hand on that handle will unlock the doors. Then I can go one, two, three defined notches of the door before touching my Demon 170. And that's as wide an access point as I would ever need. And the seat isn't too low, so it's real easy to get inside. Hey, cabin crew. Thanks for joining me. Let's fire up the IS500. And after some cool waterfall animations on the gauge cluster and infotainment, it's on. And we hear the thump of that V8 inside. Let's hear it outside the car. You know, it's not too loud, but the base of the V8 is so heavy. And before hopping back in, I want to show you that I did move the curb ramp that usually sits in the gutter in front of my driveway, which helps cars with low clearance. But for the IS500, it's going to be just fine without it. And I'll show you that in just a sec. But first, I want to show you where I stuck the items I brought with me. So here in the cup holder, I do have that key fob. Then in the console, I was able to fit my smartphone, sunglasses, and GoPro accessories. Now, these aren't small, so the fact that they fit in the console is pretty impressive, though that does block the two USB-A ports in here. It is felt line, so I don't feel bad sticking my sunglasses next to it. They're not going to scratch the lenses. The smartphone, I wish there was a wireless charging pad, but alas, no such luck here in the IS500. In the door pocket, I've got my wallet and a granola bar. And I would stick my 32-ounce bottle here as I've done on the passenger side, but it doesn't stay all the time. So as we're going to do some handling later, I didn't want that to roll out and go under the foot pedal. So that's going to stay there on the passenger side. Now, it isn't super chilly of a morning. It's 59 degrees here. But on really chilly days, I super appreciate the heated steering wheel and front seats. Pulling this gear selector down into drive and making sure the parking brake is released, I'm going to roll forward and down into that gutter. No issues with clearance, as I thought. I'll begin with the fundamentals of a daily drive in the IS500, starting with the turn signals. This stock is interesting because whether it's a light tap for three indications or a full pull to keep the indicator on, it always comes back to center, which I realize this is weird, but I feel like it deprives me of the full satisfaction of moving the stock. It is weird. Even as I say it out loud, that's weird. The turn signal sound, meanwhile, is not disruptive at all. The turning radius is incredible. I mean, certainly befitting a small sedan like this one. Yet what feels out of place is the sound of this horn. It's so much more full-bodied, like it came out of a big Bentley, not a small Lexus. The brakes are easy to adjust. You can smoothly come up to a stoplight. The power delivery here in the normal drive mode is nice and gradual, but I mean, you can dig your foot in and there's plenty there. Sound of the V8, mostly subdued. The ride quality, even on uneven road surfaces like this, is excellent. Keeps you well insulated from those defects. And then on top of that, the seats are so comfortable. They're like seat hammocks. They just cosset my body in all the right ways. Got plenty of power adjustments, including lumbar. The headroom is just fine for me at six feet tall. I do wish these seats had some thigh extenders though, just for maximum leg support. And the power adjustments I do have for this car, of the seats, of the tilt and telescope of the wheel, are done really quickly. I'm not sitting there waiting for it to get in position. It's just like right away. I mean, so far, the IS500's V8 hasn't even really been a factor. Yeah, maybe a throw to your startup and a deep riddle, perhaps more linear, naturally aspirated power delivery. But on the whole, it's just, it's a great daily driver, almost independent of the V8. But I wouldn't choose the only sub $95,000 V8 sedan because it's the same driving experience as everything else. I would choose it for what makes it different. So I'm going to try to find out what that is right now by going into the Sport Plus drive mode and leveling my foot to the floor. Ah, yes. A five liter V8 has just entered the chat. Certainly with motivation, but more importantly, with a whole lot of acoustic character. You can work this thing like an instrument, different parts of the rev range. There it is. There it is. There it is. Oh, I love that engine sound. Now, I want to try the manual operation with these large plastic paddles. Just need a second. I like that. I like that, too. The audio profile is, well, it's inspired. The gearbox is quick enough. Small delay there on the upshift, but not much. It's clear the IS500 has the mid-range motivation to more than satisfy. But what about out of the hole? What if you're at a stoplight and a person in a base M3 is getting cute? Can you put them in their place? Got to find out with a race box set up here in a real world zero to 60. No launch control, so I'm just going to put my foot to the floor. And with traction control fighting, I found 60 in 4.75 seconds. Okay, so you're probably not going to embarrass the M3, but what's lost in pace is more than made up for in theater. Gosh, the soundtrack is so good. I wish it was a little louder. I wanted to hurt my eardrums just a bit. But that's not going to stop you from trying to find more places to hear it. Oh, so good. Now, in a dynamic environment, the V8 does bring a bit of a weight penalty. And so the stopping distances are a little longer. The lateral direction changes, perhaps not as urgent as some competitors, but it's still a joy to maneuver this car. It's stable. It's smooth. It's a spine tingling good time. Yee-haw! Listen to that! It's here for you. It's here for you. Now, if the V8 is for you, can the rest of the IS500 be for the people you care about? I'm going to find out with some help from Mobile Mama. Are you insured? What? By Survival? I don't think I can take this ride. Okay, you're doing something. What do you do? Just get in. You don't remember that commercial? What's the commercial you're talking about? I'll show you later. Oh my gosh. Okay, let's just install some car seats, please. Then why'd I get in? I don't know. Eat some peppers! That's my bad. Do you know what that's from? Yes, Coach Hines. Thank you. Okay, forgive the idling. It's just so hot. I've got to have the AC going this whole time. Our car seat setup. Mobile Mama, what do we got? Yeah, we have some lower latch anchors underneath this here leather piece. What is happening to you? Wow, they're really exposed. That's very convenient. And nothing plastic that's going to get lost. Okay, that's nice. So two of them and then... Okay, and got your top tethers up there. Why every time you have to actually say it? Three top tethers. Okay, so we've got... These are adjustable, so that's good. So you can slip that tether right on in there. Okay, so we've got the rear-facing infant car seat there. Well, base. Base, yeah. Okay, and then we're going to have a forward-facing top tether forever seat that's going to go in here. First, I'm just going to see if I can easily get the car seat in there or if I have to move my seat. All right, so that's that. Forward-facing. Not a lot of room to maneuver here. It was definitely tight working within these confines, but I was able to sneak my hand up through here. Get the seat belt through. That's all in place. How are things going on your side? Pretty easy. Took me about two seconds to get that base in. Okay, what about the car seat? I need to move the seat forward. Is it touching? Okay, yeah. All right, so I'm going to move the seat. Let me know when you're clear. Good. Okay, all right. Try that seating position. Now, I didn't have to move my driver's seat at all, so we know it fits me with a forward-facing car seat because there's room here for the kids' Legos. Legos? Kids' legs. And Legos. In case they want to do that while they drive. That doesn't look good. This is uncomfy. Yeah, your knees are like right next to the glove box. How about the back angle? Not great, especially because I got back problems. You do. You tell me about them all the time, all day. Because I would not want to be in here for a long time. No, I think the conclusion is if you've got rear-facing car seats, they're not really going to work in the Eyes 500, especially not if you're taller. I'm 6 feet, you're 5'9". If they're forward-facing, it's still going to be tight, but manageable. Okay, but let's say you can fit the car seats and they're both forward-facing. Can you also fit the double stroller in the trunk? What do you think, Mobile Mama? Is it going to work? Oh, yeah. Let's see. It fits. What? It fits. A little more animated, excited. It fits. It's a compact sports sedan. Well, I mean, for this part. It fits. Thank you. Okay. What about hobbies? It's clear I'm not going to fit my surfboard inside this Eyes 500, but I might fit my tennis ball machine. The trunk was big enough to swallow up that double stroller, and now we can take the rackets and balls. But is it going to fit the tennis ball machine? That's going to be a no. So we're going to have to try the back seat area. So I'm going to fold down the passenger side rear seat, pulling on that tab, bringing it down. Here we go. Can I squeeze it through? Yes. So far, so good. And swing it over. It fits. Even with the ball machine in here now, I can see out the rear view mirror just as clearly, and the rest of the visibility in the Eyes 500 is excellent. The door mirrors are even large. Well, I'd say it's time for tennis. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Yep. And swing. Good job. Can you spread your feet when you do that so you're really stable? Strong wrist. And swing. It is a new day in the Eyes 500. And while I don't really have a commute, I am headed to a lunch spot that is going to put me on the highway for a fair bit of time so I can talk about what it might be like to commute in this vehicle. The first thing I want to address is cabin volume. So I'm going to quiet up and we'll listen in. This is a pretty serene driving experience. Not a lot of wind, tire, or road noise. And the V8 is hard to hear at all at this speed. It's really just churning away lazily. Ideally maximizing the fuel economy, but we don't have cylinder deactivation. So I can't run on like four cylinders and optimize the fuel economy further. But this would really be a great way to get to and from work. And I do have adaptive cruise control and steering assistance to work for me. So ideally this is, you know, going to be a hands-on system. But I'm just doing this to demonstrate that it does follow the curve of a lane very intuitively. And what you also get in the IS500 is a Mark Levinson sound system. The bass is real. Wow, that comes in heavy. But the audio quality isn't in any way sacrificed. And when you've got a pretty naturally quiet cabin, you can really enjoy that music. And in the same relaxed way I started my commute, I'm ending it here at Greenleaf Kitchen and Cocktails. And there we go. You know, a good lunch deserves a good spot to eat it. And I've got just the place in mind. Yeah, that feels right. Now I could sit and eat on those steps. Or I could utilize the IS500's unknown seating solution. Because if I pop the trunk here, this doesn't look all that comfortable. But the way that this opening is arranged, my back resting here, and my butt sitting gently here, I am extremely comfortable. These must just be the ergonomics of indulgence. I've touched on usability for this cabin, but there are a couple things worth mentioning specifically. Like the gauge cluster. It moves. And I like that. There isn't a head-up display. To the left of the gauge, I do have these buttons here. One for the surround view camera system, which is not the most high-res thing in the world, but it does work. And then for the backup camera, I've got that wide-angle view, which is really nice. And then I've got the bird's-eye view off to the side here. And in Drive, in the view function, there's also a front-facing camera. And also, I can't think of any other compact sedan that has a rear sunblind. Which is really great for actually cutting down the heat inside this cabin. Now, just below the infotainment screen, I'm really happy to see a lot of physical controls. Yes, it doesn't look like the most modern thing in the world, but the fact that you've got buttons for the climate and for your media, and the fact that if you still have CDs, you can play them in the IS500. The only thing I don't love about this area is the climate adjustments. It's like this touch-slash-slide system, and it's just not the most user-friendly thing in the world. But what is dead simple is the mechanical gear selector and the drive mode adjustment dial. There's also an auto-hold function, which is handy if you're sitting in a stoplight for a long time, or you're in a drive-through. You can hit that button and take your foot off the brake. Let's hop in the back seats, because I wanted to show, without the car seat situation, what it's like sitting behind my own seat at six feet tall. So I've got a little bit of knee room here. The foot pockets are kind of tight, and the thigh support is somewhat lacking. Headroom is the real problem, though. So even if I didn't have this hat on, my head would be pressing against the roof, and I couldn't make it back to that headrest. So the back seats are probably just going to be for smaller adults or kids, and likely only two of them, because in the middle, we've got this massive driveshaft hub, and the middle seat is raised up. So yeah, this is much worse than the side seats. And also, you don't have a climate control setting here or USB ports. But those points of usability are going to look the same, whether it's the turbo four-cylinder IS200, the NA V6 IS350, or this V8 IS500. It's when you look outside the IS portfolio, and you start thinking about living with the V8 in this car versus what many competitors use, twin-turbo V6s, or potentially even highly boosted turbo four-cylinders, that's when reliability comes in, and that's where things get interesting. Because the compression of turbochargers wear on certain engine components much more so than a naturally aspirated engine like this, there's also greater complexity from more pieces that could fail. So this is going to last longer, and it's also just simply going to be easier to maintain. But that long-term picture is going to need to be balanced with the short-term as it relates to fuel economy, because the V8 is just thirsty. And the EPA rates the IS500 at 17 mpg in the city, 25 on the highway, and 20 combined. And over the last 100 miles or so, I've been averaging 17.8 mpg. And to fill this 17.4 gallon tank with the 91 octane fuel this vehicle requires, costing $4.99 per gallon, it's gonna be 87 bucks to fill this tank. Now for the moment of truth. Is there capless fueling? No. I'm gonna have to work a little harder. Well, crew, it's time to answer the question of whether getting a V8 in a modern sports sedan is the right decision. As the owner of two V8 cars, a Demon 170 and a Cadillac CT5V Blackwing, you probably saw this coming, but I really enjoyed living with this IS500. A V8 just exudes attitude, even when it's a more reserved one like this. And when it's a naturally aspirated motor like the 5.0 in this IS, it's going to be easier to maintain and more reliable than forced induction alternatives. The V8 is going to bring a penalty at the pump, but it's not nearly as harsh as I expected in this car. Indisputably, however, it is going to be slower than turbocharged competitors. Beyond the V8, the IS brings its own wins and losses. The ride is super compliant, the seats are crazy comfortable, and the cabin is quiet. But with the compact dimensions, it is gonna be more difficult to squeeze taller adults in the back or kids in rear-facing car seats. In short, this IS500 doesn't make you sacrifice much, if any, livability to have what is now a rarity, that glorious V8.