Lexus IS

Altezza redirects here; the Altezza name is sometimes generally used for clear rear automobile tail lamps resembling those on the Toyota Altezza

The Lexus IS (originally known as the Toyota Altezza in Japan) is a compact luxury sports car from Lexus. Its main rivals are BMW 3 Series and Nissan Skyline/Infiniti G. This first-generation Altezza (codename XE10) was launched in Japan in October 1998. The Lexus IS 200 made its debut in Europe in 1999 and the IS 300 in North America in 2001.

The "IS" stands for "Intelligent Sport."

First generation

The Altezza came in 3 variants:

• The AS200 (Chassis code GXE10, sedan or GXE15, wagon), powered by the 1G-FE inline-6 engine generating 160PS JIS (118kW) or 155PS DIN (114kW) and mated to a 6-speed manual transmission (4-speed automatic optional)
• The RS200 (Chassis code SXE10, sedan or SXE15, wagon) powered by the 3S-GE inline-4 engine generating 210PS JIS (154kW) and mated to a 6-speed transmission (5-speed automatic optional)
• The AS300 (Chassis code JCE10, sedan or JCE15, wagon) powered by the 2JZ-GE inline-6 engine generating 220PS JIS (162kW) or 215hp SAE (160kW) and mated to a 6-speed transmission (5-speed automatic optional)

European and North American-market Lexus IS vehicles, as well as the Japanese hatchback version called the Gita (called Lexus IS Sportcross in U.S. and Europe) were only available with either the 1G-FE engine version or the 2JZ-GE 6-cylinder inline engine version, which was also found in the naturally-aspirated fourth-generation Toyota Supra and Lexus GS/Toyota Aristo amongst others. The 2JZ-GE powered IS series are popular amongst tuners in the U.S. because of this. The Altezza is mostly popular amongst tuners because of it's possible engine swap, for a last generation Toyota Supra 2JZ-GTE motorisation. Modified versions of the 2JZ-GTE have been seen with over 1000hp.