The Sports Sedan With Lexus Reliability And Audi S4 Performance

9 minutes reading

Tuesday, 28 Jul 2026 12:00 0 5 autotech

The modern sports sedan market is not what it used to be, and buyers nowadays are left with only a few compelling options. German staples like the Audi S4 and BMW M340i deliver amazing performance and technology, but almost guarantee higher ownership costs as they age, while options from Japanese luxury brands prioritize dependability and consistency over pure driving engagement. Yet, there is one sedan that quietly challenges that assumption with a combination of V-8 power, RWD dynamics, and long-term durability. This outlier has become one of the industry’s rarest formulas, offering performance rivaling German nameplates without the same ownership compromises.

Table of Contents

The Modern Sports Sedan Dilemma

2020 Audi S4 front driving shot

Audi

The Hidden Costs Of German Precision

It’s understandable to be enticed by the longstanding champions of the sport sedan segment like the Audi S4. Indeed, the S4 is a complete performance car with excellent refinement, turbocharged torque, quattro AWD, and a premium interior. Yet, its 3.0-liter EA839 turbocharged V-6 engine does come with certain caveats. This power unit was co-developed with Porsche and introduced with the debut of the B9 generation of the Audi S4 for the 2017 model year.

In terms of reliability, the EA839 is considered solid when compared to its supercharged EA837 predecessor, but that doesn’t mean it is issue-free. Common concerns with the EA839 include the water pump, turbo-related plumbing, and other cooling system failures. Despite utilizing a mechanical water pump, the internal impeller and seals are plastic and have been known to fail or crack between 40,000 and 80,000 miles. This water pump issue led to a class-action lawsuit that is still ongoing, with the average cost of repair for this issue being in the $1,400 to $6,000 range. You might be wondering: is there a sports sedan that offers similar, if not better, performance without accepting these ownership compromises?

The Compromise Of Traditional Reliability

2025 Acura Integra Type S front 3/4 shot

A Rare Formula That Solves The Equation

A close-up shot of the headlight of a blue 2026 Lexus IS 350 F Sport.

Very few manufacturers still build performance cars around naturally aspirated engines and proven mechanical simplicity. Lexus quietly became one of the last brands willing to preserve that formula.

How A Yamaha-Engineered V-8 Changed What Lexus Could Do

When the Lexus IS first debuted in the 1999 model year, it was a huge disappointment to enthusiasts who craved the performancepotential of the legendary 2JZ-GTE engine found in the JDM-equivalentAltezza model. By 2006, the IS 350 model finally began offering some serious performance with the 306-horsepower, 3.5-liter 2GR-FSE V-6, but driving engagement was still not the luxury sedan’s focus. Everything changed when the IS F model debuted in the 2008 model year with its naturally aspirated 416-horsepower 5.0-liter 2UR-GSE V-8 engine. With the help of Yamaha’s engine expertise in design and performance optimization, the collaborative effort resulted in one of the greatest Japanese performance engines ever built.

A Modern-Day Unicorn

2025 Lexus IS 500 front end close-up parked on ridge

This legendary Japanese V-8 engine still lives on today as the heart of the Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance. The IS 500 is, by all means, a modern-day unicorn and the last of a dying breed of analog sport sedans. Most of the vehicles that could directly rival the IS 500 disappeared from the market over a decade ago, like the BMW E90 M3, leaving the Lexus sedan as one of the last sedans retaining this original analog formula. The IS 500 is as pure as it gets in the last decade of sport sedans: a RWD sport sedan with no hybrid system, no turbocharging, and available for Audi S4 money on the used market. Simply put, it is the only option on the market if you want a relatively new car that offers a classic V-8 sport sedan character combined with Lexus reliability.

The Anatomy Of The IS 500

Profile shot of 2025 Lexus IS 500 in yellow parked off-road

The IS 500’s biggest advantage isn’t simply that it has a V-8. It’s that Lexus built one of the most durable high-performance engines ever placed in a luxury sedan.

The Beauty Of The 2UR-GSE V-8

View of the engine bay of the 2025 Lexus IS500

One of the greatest performance engines of the last two decades is the 5.0-liter 2UR-GSE V-8 found in the IS 500. In the IS 500, it is rated for 472 horsepower and 395 pound-feet of torque with a 7,300 rpm redline. The 2UR-GSE offers cutting-edge engineering with its Yamaha-designed cylinder heads with titanium intake valves, D-4S port and direct injection, and dual VVT-i. Despite its performance, durability is just as emphasized with its forged connecting rods and crankshaft that work well below their mechanical limits. Oiling is a key factor that keeps the 2UR-GSE in its optimal performance range with over nine quarts of oil circulating through the entire engine to ensure adequate lubrication.

If we compare the 2UR-GSE’s performance directly to the 349-horsepower EA839 V-6 found in the Audi S4, the Lexus V-8 provides a substantial increase in horsepower and a solid bump in torque output. Despite the lack of forced induction and AWD, the Lexus still slightly exceeds the S4’s straight-line performance from a dead stop, with a zero-to-60 mph time of 4.3 seconds compared to the S4’s 4.4 seconds.

Bulletproof Construction All Around

Rear-end side shot of 2025 Lexus IS 500 in white parked in studio

While the 2UR-GSE is the clear star of the show, the IS 500’s rock-solid design doesn’t stop there. The Aisin eight-speed automatic that this engine is paired with has proven to be one of the strongest transmissions of the last few decades. While it is a shame there has never been a manual transmission variant available in a Lexus IS model, at least Lexus has remained consistent in terms of the philosophy of its sport sedan.

Compared to dual-clutch transmissions, the eight-speed automatic requires less upkeep while providing more long-term confidence past the 100,000-mile mark. Does the transmission offer lightning-fast shifts like a DCT? Not quite, but the conservative base programming ensures the torque converter and friction plates will last hundreds of thousands of miles without problems. If you find yourself wishing for more responsiveness, an aftermarket transmission tune can be achieved with nothing more than an OBD-II cable and a laptop.

The IS 500 Ownership Experience

Rear 3/4 shot of 2025 Lexus IS 500 in yellow parked on road

The IS 500’s greatest achievement isn’t simply surviving hundreds of thousands of miles. It’s that owners rarely have to sacrifice the quality of the driving experience in exchange for that durability.

Whisper-Quiet Commuter By Day, Intoxicating V-8 Theater On Demand

High-angle side shot of 2025 Lexus IS 500 interior showing front cabin

Perhaps the worst compromise you will have to make to own an IS 500 is its subpar fuel economy. But when has a high-revving performance V-8 engine ever gotten good gas mileage? It is safe to say if you can afford a $50,000+ sport sedan in 2026, you can afford to pay its substantial annual gas costs, considering you drive the vehicle daily. Yet, as far as a luxury sport sedan, it couldn’t be a much better experience. The cabin is whisper quiet, the ride is comfortable, and the adaptive variable suspension can customize the feeling of the car on the fly. Lexus’s build quality is second to none at this price point, and with its predictable handling and confident steering feel, the IS 500 just feels good.

The V-8 soundtrack coming from the rear exhaust combined with the strong induction noise from the front of the car is downright intoxicating. You buy this car because you can’t get enough of the sound of a naturally aspirated V-8, but you don’t want to compromise on the increased upkeep costs associated with German V-8 engines. Whatever is in store for the next generation of the Lexus IS, another naturally aspirated V-8 model will certainly not be in the cards. The IS 500 is the absolute last of its kind, and its limited production figures mean that there aren’t very many examples available already.

How Much An IS 500 Will Cost You

Profile action shot of 2025 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance driving

When the IS 500 was available new, it had an average MSRP between $61,000 and $67,000. Looking at Classic.com data, there have been six confirmed sales of IS 500 models over the past year with an average transaction cost of $56,890. Of those examples, the highest-mileage public sale only had 12,000 miles, demonstrating the type of owners that are currently holding onto these cars. On Edmunds, the cheapest IS 500 we found was a 2023 example with 36,000 miles for about $40,000, with CPO examples available around the $69,000 mark. The cheapest we could find on CarMax was a 2022 example with 58,000 miles for about $52,000, and nearly new 2024 examples in the mid-$80,000 range.

One thing you will certainly have to budget for is its rear tires, because if you are driving this RWD sport sedan properly, a set should last only a couple of months. An Audi S4 is an excellent sports sedan but fails to match the mechanical simplicity and long-term durability of the IS 500. If you are the type of person looking for a rewarding, yet pain-free ownership experience in the next decade, few modern cars offer quite as compelling a package as the IS 500.