Ours is moody black with tinted rear windows and, in true Lexus style, it's fully loaded as standard, with leather everywhere and electric everything. Sat nav, at a heady ΂£2340, is the only extra here.

Loaded or not, the interior is a curious mix of shapes, and a mish-mash of dated air vents and state-of-the-art instruments. There are a few nice touches, such as the striking alloy ball on top of the auto stick (must be cold on winter mornings), and the interlocking alloy-rimmed dials. The cabin feels very compact, but let's face it, so does the whole car. There's less boot space than in the saloon, but it's still hungry enough to swallow a weekend's worth of family kit and gets away with feeling snug rather than restricting.

I am particularly interested in this so-called 'lifestyle estate' idea, as I've recently been driven by a mild mid-life crisis back into the frenetic kit-sport of windsurfing. The IS takes my board on its roof, courtesy of two huge Lexus roof bars and, with two bags of sails laid across the centre of the car, there's still space for the family clutter in the boot.

With all this kit plus four people I was concerned blats to the coast would be a bit sluggish and roly-poly. Not at all. The 3-litre V6 delivers 211bhp, with a 0-60 target of 8.2 seconds unladen, and it still feels sprightly and planted when loaded up. The engine is almost silent when on the move, until around 4000rpm when it achieves a pleasing growl.

So far the IS feels like a capable driver's car. Even on quick, flicky B-roads the chassis doesn't feel stretched and the precise steering backs up the rest of the package. On motorways and in traffic the auto 'box fits the bill, and when I break free onto proper roads, I pop the silver-balled stick into the 'M' position and use the wheel-mounted buttons to change up and down. It's not Ferrari quick but it's much keener than my Alfa 156 Selespeed long-termer ever was. In spirited driving it's easily alert enough, and the change down from fourth to third is particularly rewarding when you're charging into a quick corner. The 'M' system isn't too much of a nanny, either, letting you get on with it most of the time without interference.

The acid test for rear drivers, of course, is the nature and degree of controllable oversteer, but I just haven't been on the right terrain this past month to have a play. It's been raining though, and I'm reaching for the traction control button as we speak. Just got to find myself a big car park...