Lexus has also done quite a lot to update the touch and feel of the cabin of 2014 IS 250. There is this new NuLuxe vinyl upholstery that is standard, while the leather seating is optional. The materials used inside the cabin are good with some hard plastics only on the lower part of the dashboard. The shape of the dashboard is quite interesting and unique from the rather very conventional-looking dash of german sedans. There is faux wood trim and though it looks good, one can still get real wood as an optional. The overall design is very typical Lexus and it can be seen that it is designed keeping the driver in mind as most of the controls are in a way cocooned around the driver’s seat.
The front seats are 8-way power adjustable which is a welcoming change from the previous generation cars. The seats are also draped in the same false leather but this is good enough and we don’t feel someone will need to opt for real leather. Good thing is that the seats are quite broad and the legroom is more than ample. Now the scenario is opposite for the rear seats as here the legroom is the minimum of the bunch. Nonetheless, it is not a squeeze either. The previous-generation car used to have literally one of the worst back seats in the segment but things have been changed now and can be comfortable here.
Models
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2014 Lexus IS 250
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2014 BMW 3-Series 328i
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2014 Mercedes-Benz C-Class C300 Sport
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2014 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro
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Seating Capacity
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
Front Row (Head/Shoulder/Leg) (in)
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38.2/55.9/44.8
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40.3/55.1/42
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37.1/54.7/41.7
|
38/55.5/41.3
|
Rear Row (Head/Shoulder/Leg) (in)
|
36.9/53.4/32.2
|
37.7/55.1/35.1
|
36.9/55/33.4
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37.5/54.3/35.2
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Cargo Capacity (cu-ft)
|
13.8
|
13
|
12.4
|
12.4
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In the front row, 2014 Lexus IS 250 has the most amount of legroom and headroom available than its competitors so even quite tall people will be able to get in and out of these seats easily. The side bolstering holds you well and stops you from getting tossed around much. The rear is the most spacious in the Audi which is quite unusual as Mercedes Benz are the ones which mostly have the most spacious rear seats in the segment. The Lexus also has the highest amount of cargo space of 13.8 cu.-ft. The 2014 Audi A4 and C-Class share a similar cargo capacity of 12.4 cu.-ft.
Standout interior features:
- Leather Accents on Steering Wheel and Transmission Knob
- Interior Air Filtration
- Dual-Zone Automatic Climate Control
- Tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel
- 8-way power front seats with two-way lumbar support
- Leatherette premium vinyl upholstery
- Heated front seats
How intuitive is the 2014 Lexus IS 250’s infotainment unit?
For 2014 MY, there is a new 7-inch display proudly sitting at the center of the dashboard. The infotainment system on 2014 IS 250 comes with an HD radio, USB/iPod integration plus Bluetooth phone, and audio streaming. We feel this is a system that Lexus has put just for the sake of it. Though the display and overall interface are good enough, it is still lackluster. It lacks good graphics and is not as seamless to use as the ones which are available in the competition where BMW is just miles ahead of everyone else.
The system comes with Lexus’ own Enform system which gets a plethora of apps like Bing, Facebook Places, iHeartRadio, MovieTickets.com, OpenTable, Pandora, and Yelp. It also comes with in-built navigation. The display is not a touchscreen one and is only controlled via the standard Lexus controller on the central console. This in itself can be hard to use while driving. As standard, you get an eight-speaker sound system with an in-dash CD changer that can be upgraded to a 15-speaker Mark Levinson surround-sound audio system.
Standout infotainment features:
- 7-inch infotainment display
- Bluetooth Connectivity
- Lexus Enform
- 15-speaker Mark Levinson surround-sound audio system
- Lexus' Remote Touch electronics interface