Lexus remains to be doing the numbers on how efficient the set-up will be within the forthcoming WLTP tests - but the again-of-a-fag-packet conversions to current NEDC guidelines counsel 60.1mpg and 106g/km of CO2 emissions. Those are very first rate figures for a automotive of this dimension, and while a BMW 520d Efficient Dynamics diesel will trump them (simply), the ES 300h must be competitive on company automotive Benefit in Kind (BIK) tax. Lexus can be nonetheless thrashing out the ultimate specifications, but we already know that the ES will be bought in 5 trim levels within the UK. Entry-level cars get an eight-inch navigation display screen however lack even the chance so as to add a number of the car’s choice packs. Mid-grade will open up entry to the Tech and Safety Packs, in addition to switching to leather-based upholstery. F-Sport will are available two flavours - common, with the eight-inch infotainment screen and sports-themed styling cues, and F-Sport High Grade, which steps as much as a 12.3-inch widescreen navigation system. That upgraded unit can be part of the range-topper, High Grade, which include semi-analine leather seats.
Our American test car got here closest to matching this spec, actually. The million-greenback query is whether or not a entrance-wheel-drive hybrid Lexus can get anyplace near the best of the Germans on driving involvement. The sleek and gently curved roads of our Nashville check route make it laborious to reply this definitively, however our gut feeling after a day within the car is that it will not. Weirdly, although, that’s not down to the chassis. If something, the ES feels a essentially effectively-sorted factor. It’s nicely damped, coping nicely with smaller highway imperfections and the sharp hits that you just get on bridge growth joints. But this stage of consolation doesn’t come at the overall expense of body management, which feels greater than acceptable. The steering is direct and nicely weighted, too - although Lexus’s claims of ‘excellent feel’ are a bit ambitious. No, the reason that the ES isn’t going to hassle a diesel 5 Series on sheer driving pleasure is the hybrid powertrain.
It’s getting better all the time, we must acknowledge, and must you wish to drive everywhere with gentle throttle modulation, it would reward you with nice smoothness and deeply impressive refinement. It’s much less effective when you’re in a rush, although - and do you have to try to overcome this by taking a bit extra control, it’ll nonetheless get in your approach. There are paddles behind the steering wheel and the ES is claimed to supply six ‘steps’ in its transmission, making its CVT gearbox appear a bit more like a conventional auto. But that powertrain, environment friendly though it is, simply doesn’t have sufficient low-down torque in a automotive weighing 1.7 tonnes. So whereas you can leap up and down false ratios quite merrily, and the ‘gear’ quantity on the digital dashboard won’t change as you nail the throttle, the drive unit will still really feel the need for additional revs. It’s not like holding a gear in any respect, then; there’s no wave of diesel-like torque to waft you alongside, and also you never really feel totally in command of what’s occurring if you apply heavy throttle inputs.
This sounds destructive, and if you’re yearning for B-highway weapon, you’re in all probability going to stop studying this review proper right here. But ask the Lexus to pitch up in opposition to an E-Class as a refined lengthy-distance cruiser and it could come much nearer to nailing the brief. And never every Lexus has loved this purity of focus. That is confirmed, in actual fact, by the F-Sport mannequin, which we additionally had a quick probability to try. In the identify of ‘sportiness’, it steps as much as 19-inch wheels instead of the High Grade’s 18-inchers, and will get thicker anti-roll bars, too. Our car was a very late prototype, so Lexus was at pains to level out that some components of the inside end weren’t quite as much as scratch. The supplies felt on a par with the likes of the Jaguar XF, however even in the pre-prod phases, construct high quality is tighter. The dashboard design draws on inspiration from the LS and the LC, with a sizeable head-up display prone to function on high-finish editions and, thankfully, sufficient buttons to cowl all of the major functions with out looking horrendously cluttered. If you’re going to select holes in the inside, you’re more probably to seek out weak spots in the infotainment system, which nonetheless relies on Lexus’s fiddly touchpad and does not embrace Android Auto or Apple CarPlay integration. The rear packaging is compromised, too; legroom is spectacular, but headroom is compromised by the ‘coupe’ roofline. There ought to nonetheless be enough space aboard for four six-footers, mind. The boot is a respectable 454 litres and whereas there’s a hefty lip to load heavy gadgets over, the space and flooring format is pretty generous when you get there. The rear seats don’t fold down, although, so longer gadgets are a no-no. The key to it all might be pricing.
