Volvo S60 vs Lexus IS
What's the difference?

Volvo S60

—

2024 price

View pricing & specs

Lexus IS

$39,990 - $62,990

2021 price

View pricing & specs

Maserati Quattroporte

Mazda 6

Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Mercedes-Benz A35

Mercedes-Benz AMG GT

Mercedes-Benz C-Class

Mercedes-Benz C43

Mercedes-Benz C63

Mercedes-Benz CLA

Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class

Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class

Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Mercedes-Benz E53

Mercedes-Benz EQS

Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class

Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Summary

2024 Volvo S60

2021 Lexus IS

By Emily Agar

By Tom White

Safety Rating

Engine Type

Turbo 4, 2.0L

Inline 4, 2.5L

Fuel Type

Premium Unleaded/Electric

Fuel Efficiency

1.4L/100km (combined)

4.9L/100km (combined)

Energy consumption

—

Electric range

90 km

Battery capacity

18.80 kWh

Seating

Likes

Elegant proportions and styling
Feature-laden
Superb on-road driving experience

Sleek and efficient hybrid drive
Graceful ride
Spec improvements

Dislikes

Sedate cabin compared to rivals
Works best as a four-seater
Not a lot of storage options

Slow
Busy interior design
Fiddly and over-complicated software

2024 Volvo S60 Summary

Sedans have long been supplanted by SUVs as the family favourite but they still have their charms for those drivers who like something that feels more dynamic on the road.

Enter the limited edition Volvo S60 Recharge Black Edition which sees the return of a plug-in hybrid powertrain for Volvo’s only sedan.

I’ve been family-testing the PHEV variant to see just how practical a sedan is for the modern family, and whether it's rivals, the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C200 have anything to worry about.

View full pricing & specs

2021 Lexus IS Summary

One question frequently discussed in the skunkworks of the CarsGuide office is: What exactly does Lexus stand for?

When the brand debuted its original export-market IS sedan in 1999 the messaging was more or less clear: Toyota’s premium sub-brand was here to be a Japanese BMW.

The brand even employed Nobuaki Katayama – chief engineer on the iconic Corolla AE86 program – to again take the reins of its small rear-wheel drive sedan program.

As the years went on though, Lexus changed. Fundamentally geared toward the US market, the second-generation (wild IS F aside) became a bit more sedate and softer around the edges, while the third generation strayed even further from the sedan’s performance-inspired roots, leaning into a plush interior, hybrid drive, and even CVT transmissions.

This brings us to today’s Lexus IS. Essentially a heavy facelift of the third generation (which arrived back in 2013), the brand has “reimagined” its core sedan with a tweaked design and updated technology for 2021.

Is it enough to keep it relevant against its ever-present European rivals and the newly arrived threat from Hyundai’s Genesis G70? I took a signature IS300h hybrid for a week to find out.

View full pricing & specs

Deep dive comparison

2024 Volvo S60 2021 Lexus IS

Verdict

The Volvo S60 Recharge Black Edition proves sedans can still be sexy and an excellent family car, providing your family is on the smaller side. I only have one kid, so it's perfect for our activities and gear. It’s wonderful to drive and has a great features list but it's not without its quirks.

My son thinks it looks cool, and we enjoyed bellowing out a few renditions of the original Batman theme song this week. He has had a lot of comfort in the back seat, too.

Verdict

Smooth, cosy, quiet, the IS looks and feels better than ever, but without a doubt this hybrid version is a car best suited to cruising the dense metropolis of Chiba at midnight more than it is carving up a bunch of S-bends in the Australian countryside on the weekend.

While that might still limit its appeal for fans of German sports luxury sedans and place it further from the original IS’s ambitions, it does offer an intriguing efficiency and luxury focused alternative, without the compromises brought by rivals with more sporting intent. In a way then, the IS 300h perhaps inadvertently best embodies what Lexus is as a brand.

Volvo S60 vs Lexus IS What's the difference?

Summary

Deep dive comparison

Verdict

Verdict

Volvo S60 vs Lexus IS
What's the difference?