The latest Lexus IS model is barely on sale around the world and already the tuner-mad Japanese have set to work on it, making it even sharper looking than the katana sword that inspires its styling. In-house and motorsport tuners for Lexus and Toyota, Toyota Racing Development (TRD) have introduced a new range of accessories for the car that’s soon-to-available in South Africa.
On the styling front, the TRD IS sedan is equipped with a body kit that includes a front spoiler, revised side skirts, a rear diffuser and requisite spoiler and diffuser combo. Four-tailpipes, a-la Lexus IS-F, are teamed with a sports exhaust system to bring out the audible talents of the Toyota engine and 19-inch 15-spoke forged aluminium wheels fill the wheel arches more than convincingly.
The TRD makeover is certainly more than superficial. For improved handling, TRD offers extra underbody support braces for improved stiffness; a different performance damper on the rear end and a sport-tuned suspension with new shocks and springs all around for a lower ride height and added handling.
The engines remain untouched, with the IS250 and IS350 outputs unchanged at 154 kW and 228 kW respectively. The Japanese listed price for the entire list of modifications is a little over €9 500 (or R112 950). That sounds a little steep we say, but we’re still excited to get our hands on a standard Lexus IS and give it a thorough test when it arrives in the next quarter in South Africa.
