2026 Lexus IS Cheats Death with Another Refresh
After much conjecture about the Lexus IS’s fate, we now know that it’ll stick around a bit longer thanks to another facelift.
The Lexus IS has been refreshed for 2026, making this the third time that the sports sedan has been facelifted in its current generation.
The refresh includes a new front fascia with a gaping maw, a restyled interior, and a few steering and suspension improvements.
The IS lineup has been whittled down to a single model, the IS350, deleting the IS500. The 2026 IS350 is available in F Sport and F Sport Design trims and still features a 311-hp 3.5-liter V-6.
The Lexus IS’s fate has been uncertain for a while now. The current generation of the enduring sporty four-door has now been around for 11 years and has received two facelifts since 2014 to keep it somewhat contemporary. When an IS Ultimate Edition of the IS500 was announced for 2025, we feared the worst, as it seemed like a sendoff for the aging model. Thankfully, we don’t have to mourn another sports-sedan casualty just yet, as Lexus has now confirmed that the IS350 will stick around for at least a while longer thanks to another facelift.
New Face and Interior Digs
The 2026 IS still looks like last year’s model in side profile view, but it wears a new face with a reshaped grille that extends up to the leading edge of its hood. Other exterior styling updates are trim-dependent. The F Sport trim features a new rear spoiler and red brake calipers, while the F Sport Design model wears fresh 19-inch aluminum wheels. A new Wind exterior color, which is a gray hue with metallic highlights, has also been added to the 2026 IS’s available palette.
Lexus
The IS’s interior has also been overhauled with updated tech and snazzier materials. A larger 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster now sits ahead of the driver, and the puny 8.0-inch standard infotainment screen in the 2025 model has been replaced with a more respectable 12.3-inch unit. The climate control switches and toggles are now arranged in a single row beneath the central screen, and the vents feature a more contemporary trapezoidal shape.
The interior materials look a bit fancier, with forged bamboo adorning the center console and switchgear. F Sport models also have Radiant Red available as an interior color option. Additional features, including two USB-C ports in the front and rear, a wireless charging pad, and the choice between a standard 10-speaker Lexus Premium or an optional 17-speaker Mark Levinson sound system, round out the interior updates.
Lexus
Sayonara V-8
We might not have to lament the death of the IS yet, but the discontinuation of the V-8 is still a punch to the gut. For 2026, the Lexus IS will only be offered in IS350 guise, meaning that IS500, and the 472-hp V-8 that it came with, have been consigned to the history books. The remaining IS350 comes with a 311-hp 3.5-liter V-6 mated to either an eight-speed automatic transmission in rear-wheel-drive models or a six-speed automatic in all-wheel drive guise. There’s a bit of good news for enthusiasts, though, as the new IS receives electric power steering and suspension revisions that are meant to improve steering feel and overall responsiveness.
Lexus hasn’t yet released any pricing or production information about the 2026 IS, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see the rejuvenated sport sedan on showroom floors by early next year.
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Austin Parsons
Associate Editor
Austin’s car fixation began at a young age and at 1:64 scale. Eventually, Hot Wheels weren’t cutting it anymore, so he developed an obsession with his father’s full-sized 1965 Ford Mustang instead. Desperate to break into the automotive industry, he bartered his way into a job at a local BMW dealership by promising to stop hurling nerdy technical facts at the salesmen who came into the neighboring coffee shop where he worked. That was also around the time when he started writing automotive reviews, news articles, and technical guides for a number of local and international publications. Now at Car and Driver, Austin brings more than 10 years of experience in the automotive industry and an all-so-common love-hate relationship with German engineering to the table.
