Not every car impresses me these days with features for safety and convenience. Some of them, like a back-up camera or even a bird’s eye view, looked cool several years ago but are now quite common. However, on the 2024 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance there’s a unique take on bird’s eye view that is more helpful than usual.
For some quick background: Bird’s eye view is becoming more and more common. It stitches together an overhead view of the car because of the cameras placed on the front, rear, and sides. It’s like having a drone above the car, and when it first debuted quite a few years ago now, anyone who climbed into the car I was testing would think it was magic.
On the Lexus IS 500, it’s called Moving View and See-Through View. Essentially, this is taking the bird’s eye view and improving it and making it more useful. The best way to understand how it works is to check out this YouTube video of the car and these photos:
How the IS 500 Moving View works
Essentially, the overhead view now does a circle around the car to show you any obstructions.
I tested the Is 500 in a variety of conditions, but my favorite was using it in tight corners like in my garage. Before leaving for the day, I would glance at the bird’s eye camera to see if there was anything laying near the car.
One day, there was. I am testing a nice State Bikes Titanium All-Road bike right now, trying it out in the cool fall weather. My one regret after relocating a couple of years ago is that I now have a two car garage, and there isn’t a lot of space. I jumped into the IS 500 and wa sin a hurry, but still glanced at the overhead view. I saw at the edge of the car that the bike was sticking out a little too far — if I had not noticed, I’m sure I would have bumped into it.
In other cases, the overhead view with the wrap-around helped me look for curbs and other obstructions in parking garages. Once, visiting a Trader Joe’s in a downtown area, I looked at the display to see there was a curb I had not noticed.
What is means if you own the Lexus IS 500
What this means is that you can avoid minor mishaps that seem to occur quite often in life. That curb would not have been the end of the world, but you never know if it was at just the perfect angle to cause a scuff or bruise a tire. It happens. I liked being able to have some assurance that there wasn’t something sitting right in my way.
The Moving View is nice because it shows you any impediments during the animated view. It’s like a back-up cam that is looking all around the car, and from overhead. It’s an innovation for a luxury car like the Lexus IS 500 that I could see bird’s eye view preventing a few mishaps.