Lexus is giving its long-running IS sport sedan another year on the road, and it is marking the occasion with one of the smallest North American production runs in the nameplate’s recent history. The 2027 Lexus IS retains its naturally aspirated 3.5-litre V6 while a new Special Appearance Package brings distinctive green paint, forged BBS wheels and upgraded equipment.
There is an important distinction behind the 350-unit figure: Lexus is limiting the Special Appearance Package to 350 vehicles across North America, not total 2027 IS production. For Canadian enthusiasts, the announcement confirms another model year for an increasingly unusual formula—a compact luxury sedan powered by a naturally aspirated six-cylinder engine—although Canadian pricing and the country’s share of those 350 cars remain undisclosed.
The Naturally Aspirated 3.5-Litre V6 Gets Another Year
The biggest news may be what Lexus has chosen not to change. All 2027 IS models announced for the U.S. continue with a naturally aspirated 3.5-litre V6 producing 311 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque. There is no downsized turbo four-cylinder or hybrid system replacing it for the new model year. In the U.S., rear-wheel-drive versions pair that engine with an eight-speed automatic transmission, while all-wheel-drive versions use a six-speed automatic.
That makes the 2027 IS increasingly unusual among compact luxury cars. Lexus had already dramatically simplified the range for 2026, when the American lineup was reduced to the IS 350 after the previous IS 300 and V8-powered IS 500 disappeared. Canada likewise moved to a V6-powered IS 350 AWD lineup. The continuation of the 3.5-litre engine therefore preserves a traditional part of the IS character at a time when Lexus itself is rapidly expanding hybrid and battery-electric offerings elsewhere in its range.
The 350-Car Limit Applies to the Special Package, Not the Entire IS Line
Lexus says only 350 examples equipped with the 2027 Special Appearance Package will be assembled for the North American market. That wording matters. The company has not announced that ordinary IS 350 production will be restricted to 350 vehicles, despite how easily the production figure could be interpreted when attached to the model’s announcement.
For Canadian buyers, scarcity will be even greater than the headline number suggests because those 350 cars must be divided across the North American market. Lexus Canada has confirmed that the special model will reach Canadian dealerships later in 2026, but it has not disclosed a Canadian allocation. The company operates a network of 40 Lexus dealers across Canada, so even an evenly distributed hypothetical allocation would leave very few cars per store. Actual allocation is unlikely to be uniform, making availability potentially much tighter in individual provinces and cities.
Canada Gets Circuit Green While Americans Know It as Envious
The limited car is based on the IS 350 F SPORT, but Lexus has made sure it will not be confused easily with a regular model in a parking lot. In Canada, the new exterior colour is called Circuit Green. Lexus USA describes its version of the same limited package using the name Envious. Both announcements pair the green finish with 19-inch black BBS forged-alloy wheels, creating a much darker and more aggressive contrast than a conventional luxury-sedan specification.
The theme continues inside. Lexus specifies black NuLuxe-trimmed F SPORT seating with green stitching, while the U.S. description also details Ultrasuede inserts and satin-chrome trim. None of those changes adds horsepower, but that is not really their purpose. Annual limited editions have become a way for Lexus to keep the IS visually fresh while appealing to buyers who want something less common than a standard showroom configuration. With only 350 packages for the continent, the colour combination becomes part of the car’s appeal.
It Is More Than a Paint-and-Wheel Package
Despite the Special Appearance name, Lexus is bundling meaningful chassis hardware with the limited model. Adaptive Variable Suspension is standard, allowing the damping system to respond to changing conditions and driver inputs. The American specification also includes the broader Handling Package with multiple drive modes—Eco, Normal, Sport S, Sport S+ and Custom—and adds a Torsen limited-slip rear differential to rear-wheel-drive versions.
That last detail illustrates why Canadian and U.S. specifications should not simply be treated as interchangeable. Lexus Canada has confirmed the adaptive suspension but has not yet published full 2027 Canadian specifications, while its 2026 Canadian IS lineup is centred on all-wheel drive. The Torsen differential described by Lexus USA is explicitly restricted to rear-drive cars. Even without additional engine output, the combination of forged BBS wheels and adaptive suspension gives the special model performance equipment that would matter on a winding road rather than merely equipment designed to look different at a cars-and-coffee gathering.
Lexus Is Also Loading the Car With Technology
The 2027 package adds a substantial list of convenience and driver-assistance equipment. Lexus specifies Traffic Jam Assist capability, Lane Change Assist and Front Cross-Traffic Alert. Other standard items include triple-beam LED headlamps, a moonroof, Intuitive Parking Assist, a Panoramic View Monitor and Mark Levinson premium audio. The U.S. specification adds a power rear sunshade and Smart Access Key Card to the package.
Those features build on the technology overhaul introduced for the 2026 IS. Lexus made its 12.3-inch interface touchscreen and 12.3-inch multi-information display central parts of the updated cabin and installed Lexus Safety System+ 3.0 as standard equipment. The result is an unusual mixture of old and new: the fundamental attraction remains a naturally aspirated V6 sport sedan, while the dashboard and assistance systems have been brought much closer to modern luxury-car expectations. Lexus appears to be using technology updates rather than a powertrain reinvention to extend the IS formula.
The IS Has Already Outlasted Several Lexus Performance Cars
The endurance of the IS becomes clearer when viewed against the rest of Lexus’s passenger-car lineup. The nameplate first appeared in 1999, and Lexus says approximately 1.3 million IS models have been sold across more than 40 countries and regions. Rather than abandoning the sedan during the crossover boom, the company gave it another significant exterior, interior and technology update for the 2026 model year.
Other enthusiast-oriented Lexus models have not enjoyed the same longevity. Production of the RC and RC F coupe family ended in December 2025 after roughly a decade on sale and more than 90,000 combined global sales. The V8-powered IS 500 also reached the end of its run, leaving the 311-horsepower IS 350 as the surviving IS configuration. That does not make the V6 an exotic engine, but it does give the car a different position than it occupied only a few years ago: it is now one of Lexus’s last conventional gasoline performance sedans.
U.S. Sales Give Lexus a Reason to Keep Building It
Keeping an older sport sedan alive becomes easier to understand when buyers continue showing up. U.S. IS sales climbed sharply during the first half of 2026. Industry sales data reported by Autoblog showed 14,071 IS sedans sold through June, up 42.7 per cent from the same period a year earlier. June alone produced 2,888 sales, a 120.5-per-cent year-over-year increase.
That performance came during a strong period for Lexus overall. Toyota Motor North America reported that Lexus achieved its best-ever June sales result in 2026, after the brand had already set a U.S. full-year sales record of 370,260 vehicles in 2025. SUVs and electrified models remain central to that growth, but the IS’s rebound shows there is still a meaningful audience for a traditional compact sport sedan. A limited package does not need mass-market volume to make sense when the underlying car is still attracting customers and the special run can create additional attention around the nameplate.
Limited Editions Have Become Part of the IS Survival Strategy
The green 2027 model is not an isolated experiment. Lexus says it has offered a new IS Special Edition or Special Appearance Package every year since 2022. For 2026, North America received another 350-unit Special Appearance Package, this time finished in Hakugin Matte White with a contrasting white-and-black cabin, forged BBS wheels and a bundle of handling, technology and luxury equipment.
Repeating the 350-unit formula for 2027 gives Lexus a reliable way to generate exclusivity without designing an entirely new derivative. There is also an enthusiast logic to the strategy. Owners interested in keeping a car for years may place value on factory combinations that were never produced in large quantities, particularly when they arrive near the later stages of a model’s life. That does not guarantee future collector values, and Lexus has made no such promise, but the combination of documented production limits, distinctive colours and increasingly uncommon naturally aspirated power gives the special IS a clear identity.
Canadian Pricing Is the Major Question Still Unanswered
Lexus Canada says the 2027 Special Appearance Package will arrive at dealerships later in 2026, but pricing and complete specifications will be released later. The outgoing model provides useful context without establishing what Lexus will charge next. For 2026, the Canadian IS 350 AWD started at an MSRP of $56,855, while that year’s Special Appearance Package carried a $69,567 MSRP before taxes, registration and other applicable costs.
A similar positioning would place the 2027 green car well above the base IS, but any precise estimate would be speculation until Lexus publishes official numbers. Allocation may ultimately matter as much as price. Canada receives only part of a 350-car North American pool, and Lexus has not said how that pool will be divided. What is confirmed is more consequential for enthusiasts than another cosmetic package alone: the IS survives into 2027, and the 311-horsepower naturally aspirated V6 survives with it.
