It is fair to say that the age of the naturally aspirated engine is slowly ending. Electric cars are now becoming more mainstream, and major manufacturers are turning their attention to EVs. But the ICE still has a place in many cars at the moment. The Petersen Automotive Museum has given us a video review of the latest Lexus IS500, the revival of the Lexus IS name and a car that is a bit of a farewell to the good old naturally aspirated V8 engine.

Examining The IS500 In Detail

Host Ivan Ilagan tells us that the IS500 has the same engine under the hood as the RCF and LC500. A 5.0-liter V8 engine, to be precise. This is an engine that produces 472 hp, and has 56 more horsepower than a previous generation ISF. Lexus has packaged this V8 engine well into a sleek and modern design, and the sound is simply fantastic. It’s a bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It is quite an old-school recipe, with a big V8 at the front and rear-wheel drive only. Furthermore, it also has the eight-speed automatic transmission from the RCF.

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A Potent Naturally Aspirated Lexus

Lexus IS500 Review Front View On Road
via Petersen Automotive Museum YouTube Channel

Inside it is a little outdated perhaps, and you might not find some more modern tech in this car than in rivals cars. The gauge clusters are more up to date though, being digital and with a bit of a Star Wars feel. The fact it doesn’t have all of that tech though doesn’t really matter. Because the selling point of this car is its naturally aspirated V8 engine, and the fact that being a Japanese car, you will get a lot of reliability plus a good level of luxury. It is, after all, a Lexus.

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One Of Lexus’s Finest Products

Lexus IS500 Review Rear Quarter View
via Petersen Automotive Museum YouTube Channel

The new IS500 certainly is a candidate to be one of Lexus’s finest products. And it’s a car that can surprise you, too. The IS500 might be an expensive car, plus a car that guzzles a lot of gas thanks to its mighty V8 engine, but it is a car for the purists, and a car that harks back to an era that we perhaps all thought was gone. And it's an era that will go soon, and a car that is the last naturally aspirated V8. It is the end of an era, a throwback to a hardcore, more natural era of driving.

Source: Petersen Automotive Museum YouTube Channel