The facelifted Lexus IS sedan has now arrived in Malaysia. As before, it comes to the Malaysian market in two powertrain options: a turbocharged inline-four petrol in the IS 200t, and a 2.5 litre hybrid setup in the IS 300h. The IS 200t comes in three forms; Premium, Luxury, and F Sport, with a solitary trim level specification for the IS 300h. The V6-engined IS 350 has been given a miss here.
A 1,998 cc turbocharged petrol engine with VVT-iW valvegear produces 241 hp at 5,800 rpm and 350 Nm between 1,650 and 4,400 rpm. Drive is sent to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission, propelling the 200t variants from 0-100 km/h in seven seconds flat, onwards to a 230 km/h top speed.
Meanwhile, the IS 300h hybrid employs a 2,494 cc naturally aspirated inline-four petrol producing 178 hp at 6,000 rpm and 220 Nm of torque between 4,200 and 5,400 rpm; the electric drive motor gives 105 kW and 300 Nm, fed by a 192-cell Ni-MH battery for a total system output of 220 hp. Thus equipped, the IS 300h does 0-100 km/h in 8.5 seconds and a top speed of 200 km/h.
Along with the visual updates that grace the facelifted compact sedan, an all-LED light setup features here; triple-LED lenses distinguish the IS 300h from the IS 200t, which employs Bi-LED projector items. Meanwhile, 17-inch wheels provide rolling stock for the IS 200t Premium and the IS 300h, with run-flat tyres now standard for both variants. The IS 200t Luxury and F Sport variants are shod with 18-inch wheels and tyres, with a staggered setup for wider rears.
Inside, the IS 200t F Sport and IS 300h gain the Mark Levinson Premium Surround audio system providing a 5.1 channel surround sound via a 15-speaker array with GreenEdge technology, while an Auto Volume System adjusts sounds levels for the best sound reproduction in the front and back of the car. For the IS 200t Premium and Luxury variants, a Lexus Premium 10-speaker audio system with DVD player is installed.
Here, Lexus’ Remote Touch Interface (RTI) gains a revised human-machine interface design, now including Enter and Back buttons for easier operation. Automatic engine start/stop is now standard on all Lexus IS variants.
Safety-wise, all variants of the facelifted IS are equipped with 10 airbags, while the active safety suite comprises ABS, EBD, traction control and VSC. Also included is a tyre pressure monitoring system, along with Park Assist and a Rear View Monitor System. Save for the Premium, all others also get blind spot monitors and the Rear Cross Traffic Alert, the latter for added safety when reversing out of a parking space.
Like other models sold officially by Lexus Malaysia, the facelifted IS comes with a five-year, unlimited mileage manufacturer warranty; the IS 300h hybrid gets an eight-year warranty for its hybrid drive battery. The IS 200t Premium starts the range at RM297,800; the IS 200t Luxury at RM332,000; the IS 200t F Sport at RM366,000; and the IS 300h at RM412,000. The entry price goes unchanged, but the rest of the range have had their prices slashed, by up to RM40k in the case of the top-of-the-range hybrid.
GALLERY: 2017 Lexus IS 200t Luxury facelift
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Crazy pricing. RM412k for the hybrid. I thought Hybrid supposed to have tax incentive? Is Lexus aka UMW crony trying to cheat Malaysians again? This car hardly US$37k in US.
Sounds like Camry Hybrid in US. Cost US$25k for 10 airbag CBU but sold in Malaysia at RM175k, despite being CKD and lesser spec.
Deswai pipu buy TESLA dari Greentech. Terbaik
Not made here so no incentive bro
Still cheaper than jaguar xe…good pricing lexus
$27k is the base spec Camry Hybrid in the US (LE trim), comes with stuff like cloth seats, manual-dim rear view mirror, urethane steering wheel, no BSM and RCTA, no JBL audio, no Qi wireless charging, 16 inch steel wheels, no alarm system, and no LED headlights.
Camry for US market is made in the USA
This car starts from RM135k in Aussie and Japan but here the price can buy a house
Tell me why i should buy lexus is over 3ser and c-class….
This car is so Toyotish. Go and have a look yourself.
Hardly see on the road
ugly, overpriced but it still the most reliable premium car……Nevermind I will stick to my 4years old 320d which dont gave me any problem
Yup, stick to my 13 years old W203. German’s reliability. Paultan.org, u didn’t mention the tranny for the hybrid. I doubt that it uses the 8-speed tranny from the turbo-charged variant. CVT? Hell no! Better buy C350e, no CVT there!
IS 300h priced high so to make the Camry Hybrid looks like a bargain but hell no, as much as possible should continue to apply pressure for all the car makers to provide top spec at fair price!!
Gosh… the IS300h is almost RM150k pricier than the BMW 330e!
How can these people compete??
They might as well just close shop, go back home and sleep.
No wonder Lexus Malaysia is selling so few cars here!
You have to be a massive Lexus fan to choose this over a 3 Series, C-Class or even an A4. Crazy pricing and poor long term resale value is enough to sway people to the German trio.
Sorry to say, So hodoh!!
Still nothing but an overpriced Toyota crap.. Way more expensive than European rivals, with far poorer interior and exterior designs. The only thing it has going for it is probably better reliability, but it sucks on every other count.
If compared expensive jepunis marks, I rather prefer Infiniti. Its properly sized to whitemen size like contis.
Perdana is still better and oh… Do you have one?
Granted it’s a great looking car and has bullet proof reliability (Lexus is joint #1 according to JD Powers). But the asking price is still too high. The Infiniti Q50 is way cheaper and is also CBU like the IS. Tough to sell the IS at this price. The Base IS costs the same as a top specs Mercedes C350e.
Salute to those who buys Lexus to be ‘different’ from other people
Stupid IS a type of different, yes.
Not just expensive. This car looks like it survives from a compactor with dents everywhere
The front looks fugly………….. damnn lexus, i’m sure you can do better!
still too expensive
Price so expensive, but why the headlight design is still not the latest one?
A good Asian answer to the Germans. But they made the some external design elements too swooshy and weird this time – may put off some punters. And the price is of course – ridiculously unattractive which will definitely hit sales despite Lexus’s traditional advantages over other luxury sedan marques.