The first Lexus IS 300 was launched in 1998 with a 3-liter straight-six engine that had an output of 213 horsepower. This power plant, which was a version of the famous Toyota 2JZ engine, was exceptionally smooth and pleasant to rev out, and it pushed the IS to 60 mph in about eight seconds.
It didn’t make quite as much power as in other applications, appreciate under the hood of the fourth-generation Toyota Supra, where turbocharging helped produce over 300 horsepower and a lot more torque accessible from much lower in the rev range. But even without the turbocharger, the engine in the first-gen IS 300 was and still is the darling of many enthusiasts.
For the second generation of the IS nameplate that arrived in 2006, Lexus ditched the IS 300 denomination, replacing it with two six-cylinder models, the IS 250 and IS 350. These had 2.5-liter and 3.5-liter V6 engines, which made 204 horsepower and 306 horsepower, respectively.
Since they had a V6 arrangement as opposed to the older engines’ inline configuration, they weren’t quite as smooth and sonorous as before, but they still provided plenty of performance. You could also get the smaller engine hooked up to a six-speed manual transmission, but not the more powerful IS 350, which could only be had with an eight-speed automatic.
Lexus brought back the IS 300 name for the third generation of the model, which it launched in 2014. It came with a 260-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 exclusively hooked up to a six-speed automatic transmission.
