Lexus IS200 Compressor is so forgivable

I have to take it back. Or some of it, at least. Lexus knew what they were doing with the IS200 when they launched it a couple of years ago.

At the time, because there were a few shortcomings to my view (and still are, by the way) in the quality of interior finish, I said the car could let down the brand.

Well, it didn’t. And a recent new acquaintance with the Compressor version of the baby Lexus served more to reinforce the good feelings I’d had about the last one than it did the (admittedly, in the scale of things, niggling) negatives.

The IS200 doesn’t trade on style anyway. In shape and size it could be almost innocuous. Which is just what Lexus people prefer, I figure. They want the substance without the in-your-face ‘I’m rich’ of the other luxury establishments. I even think the somewhat tarty rear lights treatment might be a little offensive to some owners.

But they put up with such small matters. Because the IS200 does best what it is designed to do. Drive well impeccably.

My main crib last time out was about what I figured were cheap-looking climate control knobs on the dashboard, not to mention the ribby padded plastic on the same area. I still don’t like either, but in the latest review car the background to the former was dark rather than silver and less noticeable for it, and the other just disappeared from perception after a short while.

What is not at all in contention is the quality of the rest of the trim and fittings. Nor the build quality of what is after all the luxury end of the ‘Best Built Car in the World’ autobuilder.

And an unexpected day trip to Sligo and back from my Kildare home (for a family funeral) proved the wealth of the IS200’s drivability.

The upcountry journey was early morning fog, much better though than the days of frost which had preceded it. And with the traffic light enough, and the road to Sligo so much better than it was even two years ago, a quite respectable two-and-three-quarter hours got us to the town in time to have breakfast before the church ceremonies.

The higher-powered Compressor version of the engine was a joy to play with, beautifully tractable in traffic but providing an almost sinful sense of urge when pulled up beyond around 3500rpm. The little snarl that Lexus admits to having built in when they designed the engine helped create a most enjoyable sensation, as did the whine of the compressor when it kicked in.

A gearshift of exceptional - even for a Japanese car - snickiness added to the pleasure, particularly as it stirred a close-ratio 6-speed gearbox that came into its own in the times of overtaking possibilities.

Ride and handling were just as I knew they would be from before, unimprovable unless you nark because you must, regardless of merit in your madness. And we came home in about the same time as the outward journey, happily listening to the set of CDs which Lexus, uniquely, provide in their demonstrator cars to show off their front-loading music units.

It was all enjoyable, leaving aside the death of an elderly relative of my wife’s. In Irish terms, it was an easy enough trip of over 300 miles all told, and in the same car would have been infinitely more easy abroad where they take the view that in a country with many cars they should provide such super contributors with adequate road facilities.

I still ... duhhh ... have cribs. Not about the country, because I can’t control politicians. About what comes with the car. Or doesn’t.

This is a car maybe smaller than an Avensis, which is not a problem. It is though, more than twice the price of a decently-specced mid-range Toyota. So I would like to have a proper multi-info display rather than a useless ‘instant’ fuel consumption gizmo in the instrument binnacle that is unreadable anyway. On long distance funeral trips I like to know my average fuel consumption, my remaining range, even average speed.

Not on this Lexus, they weren’t there. On one of the most expensive of the IS200 range.

And, though the review car was a manual, I would have liked cruise control. With the improved road from Sligo, where I was easily able to manage long distances of 60mph (and more that I wouldn’t admit to, but not much or dangerously), it would have made the journey even that much more comfortable. At the price for the big ‘L’, even in the smaller car, such niceties should be standard.

But, when it was possible (and when safe to do so) to play with the power and the unusuality of the rear-wheel-drive, there was great fun in addressing a corner in the old-fashioned (pre-FWD) way and pushing out of it with an urge and attitude which both needed to be properly stroked.

And, even if it might prefer not to flaunt itself for fear of losing the image of elegancy which has been a hallmark of Lexus driving since the first LS400 set out to demoralise M-B and deball BMW and succeeded in both exercises in the most important market for luxury cars, I must proclaim that the IS 200 is FUN when you want it to be.

So I forgive it its faults. And I hope Lexus forgives me my criticisms. Put us together and our differences are so small in the overall scale of things that it doesn’t matter a fog of petrol vapour.