The 2021 Lexus IS: Born and Bred To Be World-Ready - Play

Others build a car ready for the track. For Lexus, they built a track for their most thrilling sports sedan yet

If there’s one thing professionals cannot teach you about driving, it’s the connection you have with the road from behind the wheel. Have you ever taken the time to feel the nuances between driving on a city’s maintained avenues as compared to the side streets? Have you experienced powering through highway straights and, in a few moments later, managing the winding curves of uphill drives to the province? You brace yourself with every bump, power steer through all the curves, and pump the pedals with every ascent and descent. It’s a challenge, especially when driving a vehicle not built for these varying conditions. So, when Lexus set out to create the new 2021 IS, they ensured it will be world-tested and world-ready.

Bringing the road to the vehicle

Crafting the absolute best driving vehicle begins with how it drives. It sounds pretty obvious–after all, it’s a car–but a simple road test in one country and condition wouldn’t do. So, if you can’t bring the car to all the different roads all over the world, why not bring all the world’s roads in one location? The Shimoyama Technical Center Test Track is exactly that. This 5.3 kilometer course makes clever use of local topography in Japan to simulate various road permutations, with a 75-meter elevation difference between its highest and lowest points.

The Shimoyama Technical Center Test Track is the birthplace of the 2021 Lexus IS

This is the birthplace of the 2021 Lexus IS. With every throttle and turn, ascent and descent, Lexus can gather necessary information to fine-tune this vehicle to its absolute best. Engineering precise handling and a fluid response, denoted by the IS 350 F Sport’s ultra-smooth 3.5-liter, V6 petrol engine that delivers 312 horsepower, were made possible at Shimoyama. Precise adjustments on suspension springs, shock absorbers, and electric power steering were made to elevate comfort and stability. So whether you’re on the snake-like roads of mountainous regions or on the busy streets of the city riddled with imperfections, you can drive with no issue.

Precise adjustments on suspension springs, shock absorbers, and electric power steering on the 2021 Lexus IS were made to elevate comfort and stability.

The Lexus Driving Signature

But more than it’s technical performance, the Shimoyama Test Track enabled Lexus to develop the most important aspect of driving: being able to communicate with the car. This is the experiential factor that makes the IS a quality cut above the rest. Its linear vehicle operation ensures that what you want to do, the IS can perform; and what the IS feels, you’ll be the first to know. That’s the relationship every driver should have with their vehicle to achieve total driving exhilaration.

The 2021 Lexus IS features a linear vehicle operation that ensures what you want to do, the IS can perform

Embodying Exhilaration

More than its performance, there’s something about the IS that locks you in a trance. Along with function, the creation story of the IS does not leave out its allure. Blending exclusivity and luxury, the IS is expertly crafted with more dramatic character lines and a combination of imposing angles and subtle curves. From its eye-catching sporty 19-inch wheels, to the handiwork in the details such as the ergonomic cockpit layout and the leather accents, the result is a pure sport sedan that looks as aggressive as it feels. 

Next time you hop behind the wheel and take a drive on the roads that surround you, take a few moments to not just be in the drive, but feel the drive. Are you able to communicate properly with your car, and does it communicate with you as well? Experience the 2021 Lexus IS for yourself–built to be ready for the world, and ready for you.

Learn more about the 2021 Lexus IS by visiting their website. Follow Lexus on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news on everything exhilarating.

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