- In 2018, Toyota President Akio Toyoda announced no more boring
cars for the company. Three years later, Lexus has
dropped this off at our shop. Underneath this cover is a car they say no one has ever seen before. Lexus says it's got plenty of power, rear wheel drive, and that it was designed
for enthusiasts like you. It's a "WheelHouse" first today. We're go debut a car. I wore my nice shirt today. (jazzy upbeat music) Now you might be thinking that this doesn't look
like an enthusiast car. You might be thinking that
looks like a normal IS 350. But under this bulging hood right here is not the V6 from the Camry. In fact, this Lexus makes more power than the new BMW M3, and it weighs the same as a Mustang GT. This thing is a bonafide sleeper. (engine roaring smoothly)
Oh! But I've got a question. Is this even a good idea? Is Lexus no longer the
sophisticated luxury arm of Toyota that it used to be. Are they making cars for us now? Is this new car any good? And what's it for? Who's it for? Well, let's go ahead and find out. Thank you, once again, to "Lords Mobile" for sponsoring today's video. It seems like lately everyone at Donut is getting sponsored by
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iPhone 12 and even $10,000. So go download "Lords Mobile" from the link in the description now for your chance to win. And all participants get a $350 "Lords Mobile" reward pack. - Nolan! Did you do my ad read again? (mellow music) - Today's episode of "WheelHouse" is a little different than usual, because when Lexus calls, you pick up the dang phone. Today, I'm gonna show you this brand new, never-before-seen car in a way that makes sense for this show and hopefully explain why
Lexus decided to build it. So sleepers, a sleeper
is basically any car that is faster than it looks. As I see it, there are
two kinds of sleepers. Ones that people build themselves, like the Farmtruck from "Street Outlaws," or this Volvo we featured
on old "Bumper 2 Bumper." Then there are factory sleepers, fast cars for people who want a fast car without all the flash
those usually come with. We love sleepers, that much is obvious. But to answer whether or
not this is a good idea, we gotta see what the idea even is. (air whooshing) When you first look at the IS 500 you think you're looking
at a normal sedan. But after a while, you pick
up on some subtle signals that this thing is a
wolf in sheep's clothing. In the looks department, not a whole lot has changed except for the quad
exhaust tips in the back, which are reminiscent of the RC F. Kind of give it that more sporty look and they sound really good too. Quad exhaust tips, always cool. They also got the bulged out hood up here to accommodate the new engine, and what an engine it is. So the normal IS 350 has a 3.5 liter V6 making 306 horsepower. It's pretty decent. But if the IS 350 has a 3.5 liter engine, how about you take what this IS 500 has under the hood. Ta-da, it's a five liter naturally aspirated V8 making 472 horsepower. This is the same engine
that's in the LC 500. And it probably makes this car sound very muscle car-esque. But what's not muscle car-esque is the interior. I feel like I slammed that very hard. Very nice. The first thing I noticed, there are a bunch of buttons. There's things that you press. Everything is very close to your hands. It's the opposite of minimalism
and over streamlining that seems to be the trend nowadays. I really like having everything in reach. It's very well thought
out, it's super cool. We got a sunroof up here, very cool. Also the rear seats fold down, which is a very underrated function. I fit a flat screen TV in my Mustang just because those seats folded down. I really wanna drive
this, but, unfortunately, this is the only one in
North America, so we can't. I guess there's really nothing
else to do but start it up. Can we start it up, Troy? Okay, let's hear that V8. (engine starting) (engine running smoothly) I hear the chuggy, chuggy, chuggy of a V8. I like that, gonna give
it a little rev-ski. (engine roars smoothly) Oh! (engine roars smoothly)
Oh! Okay, yeah, I'm sold. I'm sold, what more do you want? (exhaling deeply) V8s are
the best, I'm speechless. I gotta know the retail on this. Okay, dude, that's sick. Now many people,
especially here in America, feel like Detroit has exclusive claim to the cross-plane V8. And, honestly, I don't blame them. I love me a good V8 muscle car. They're pretty much my favorite. But in reality, Lexus is no stranger to the V8. In fact, when the brand started in 1989, Lexus's very first car was a V8 sedan, the large and in-charge LS 400. Side note for any kids watching, the LS 400 is a baller high school car. That all aluminum 1UZ V8 engine from that land yacht is
legendarily bulletproof. It's reliable enough
to go a million miles, as some of you might've
seen with Matt Farah's famous million mile Lexus. And many people in the drift community love the 1UZ for being the
JDM pseudo LS that it is. If you're thinking about
building your own sleeper, give that model a look. It was available in the LS 400, but also the Toyota
Crown, Soarer, and Aristo, making the 1UZ one of
the easier JDM engines to get parts for. And with later models
making 290 horsepower, it's no slouch either. 30 years later, Lexus hasn't stopped
making V8 powered cars. In fact, the V8 in this
new Lexus right here is the final evolution
of that original 1UZ that started the brand. It's the Charizard Gigantamax to the 1UZ's Charmander. And the engine isn't the
only thing that's evolved, Lexus did too. Sure, they started out
making large luxury sedans for smooth cruising, but as time went on, they dabbled and given us enthusiasts something to dream about as well. Sure, Lexus might be known
for comfy and maybe beige, but they make fast stuff too. They gave us the LFA, one of the most universally
praised supercars out there. Jeremy Clarkson said it
was his favorite car. That's all I need to hear. Lexus also built the RC F Track Edition, which we cover on this channel. And then there's the LC 500, a car that truly embodies
the phrase, spaceship coupe. And it's that drivetrain that they stuck into this IS 500. Get it? LC 500, IS 500. 500, 5.0, V8. So where did this car come from? Well, maybe it's part of
Toyota's larger vision for the company. As I mentioned at the top, in 2018, the president of Toyota stood up on stage at the Detroit Auto Show and said, "No more boring cars," right before unveiling a
new Prius and a new Camry. It's pretty funny for sure. But since then, we've seen
Toyota deliver on that promise with awesome, awesome cars, like the GR Supra and the GR Yaris, which if they sold in the States, I would probably make a unwise financial decision and buy one. But it's got me wondering, did this no boring cars mandate apply to their Lexus brand as well? If so, that might've seemed
like a tall order at the time. Even though Lexus is the
brand that made the LFA and can maybe spend a
little bit more money making their cars than the
economically priced Toyotas, they aren't exactly
known as an electrifying, adrenaline pumping brand, they're Lexus. - [Announcer] Lexus,
the spirit of evolution. - But that's why I think a sleeper, like the IS 500, is the perfect
car for Lexus right now. It's not boring, it's unassuming. There's a difference. Despite Lexus's marketing campaigns centered around luxury and refinement, the company actually isn't a
stranger to sleepers at all. In the 2000s, many people realized that the engine in cars,
like the little IS 300, was actually a non-turbocharged version of the legendary Toyota 2JZ. If you've got your knucks a little greasy, you could swap some parts over, build up some boost, and have a 600 horsepower rocket that still looked factory and fancy. People would think that you
were just showing up to the meet to drop off your step-kids, but bam! Flames would shoot out the back, awesome. Larger sedans like the GS 300
also had turbo JZ potential. In fact, you might've already seen, Hert, from Hoonigan, drive his GS 300 across the country drifting at various stops for Drift Week. And I can't think of many cars that could drift every day, road trip every day, and survive Hert at the same time. So I think that says a lot. Maybe Lexus saw that car owners were boosting their little 2000 sedans and turning them into drift taxis. And they saw the V8 they had lying around from their
$100,000 space coupe. And then they just. (engine exploding into car loudly) That's a sandwich. Plenty of luxury car makers have shoved a big V8 into
a small sedan before. BMW, Cadillac, heck even Lexus themselves have done this before with the IS F. But it's 2021, and the times they are changing. V8s are starting to disappear as OEMs are opting for the more economical turbocharged engines and hybrid power. If you've got an itch
that can only be scratched with a naturally aspirated V8, there are less and less options for you. Lexus has been making V8s since day one. And it's awesome to see that they're still making them today. But even Lexus isn't immune
to the march of time. So we could very well be looking at the last hurrah of the Lexus V8. After spending some time with this car, I've got one question that
still hasn't been answered. And that's, why is Lexus building this? We've established that
they aren't the first to make a car like this. And we also know that it's not likely to be the foundation of their future cars, even though this one launches their new F Sport Performance line. Add into the equation the fact that Lexus isn't gonna be
making very many of these, and that they're only gonna
be sold in North America, and that's got me asking, who is it for? This car isn't a big risk for Lexus. It's a limited run model composed of a bunch of pre-existing parts at the end of their development cycle. Really good parts, mind you, but it's not like Lexus
has taken a big swing at making a new platform
or anything like that. These are proven ingredients arranged in the best way Lexus
engineers could think of. I talk to these guys on the phone. They're like you, they love
cars and they love driving. And I can tell that they're super stoked that their bosses let
them build this thing in the first place. This car, the IS 500, is a signal, a coded message, from Lexus
straight to enthusiasts, the people still watching this, that they wanna make cars for you. This is a small first step. But if a car like the IS 500 is just a glimpse of what's to come, I can't wait to see what the future holds. If you want to know more about the origin of Lexus
and that amazing 1UZ engine, checkout the episode of "Up to Speed," which is coming back. I promise you, James just shot
like four of them last week. There's also the "Bumper
2 Bumpers" on the LFA and the RC F Track Edition. If you wanna see some behind
the scenes of Donut Media, check out our membership
program, Donut Underground, click the join button
if you wanna know more. If you've got a cool Lexus sleeper, let me know in the comments. Lexus, if you need someone to look after one of these things, I'll take mine in that red or blue. You know, I think it'd look great. You have my info. Be kind, look out for each other. See you next time.
