What can I say about Lexus ES’ that hasn’t already been said countless times before, other than it’s a front-wheel drive, mid-size,
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| Dramatic Lexus styling polarizes opinions that may be turning off conservative clientele. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
premium-branded anomaly that’s managed to weather regular storms of negative driving dynamics criticism and come out shining as a top seller in its field?
Of course, there really isn’t much else directly in its field to compare it to other than Lincoln’s MKZ or the front-drive Acura RLX that’s no longer available in Canada. Alternatively we could look down market into mainstream volume brands in order to face it off against its own platform-sharing Toyota Avalon or others like Buick’s LaCrosse, Chevrolet’s Impala, Chrysler’s 300, Dodge’s Charger, Ford’s Taurus, Kia’s Cadenza, or Nissan’s Maxima.
The
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| Rear styling is very elegant. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
major differentiator in this class is this electrified 300h that brought Toyota’s storied Hybrid Synergy Drive to the mid-size luxury class in 2012 (a year after the MKZ Hybrid), but even this is now old news in the premium sector thanks to much more advanced plug-in hybrids from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and the like. And after all is said and done, most luxury buyers will look for their hybrid (or non-hybrid) fix in the SUV segment where Lexus’ own NX 300h utilizes the identical drivetrain in a more popular and more utile body style.
To get a clearer understanding of all this, let’s take a look at sales. Unfortunately Lexus doesn’t report hybrid numbers separately, other than the dedicated CT 200h, but lumps them in with their conventionally powered equivalents, so we’re left
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| The ES incorporates one of the more modest versions of Lexus’ spindle grille. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
to guess that hybrids sell at similar percentages of total sales from model to model. Lexus sold 2,153 ES models in Canada last year, a far cry from the 4,251 purveyed in 2007 yet better than the 1,892 delivered in 2011. The NX hasn’t been around that long, but its sales have steadily grown from 6,127 in 2015 to 6,295 last year. What’s more, after three quarters of 2017 the NX has found 5,566 new owners, so it looks like it’s on schedule for another record year, whereas the ES’ has only managed to lure in 1,452 buyers, which could result in a new low. Then again, compared to the 823 MKZs sold over the same nine months, the ES is all roses.
As for which vehicle matters more in the market, the numbers speak for themselves. To be clear, these sales totals in no way reflect which model is better or
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| Unique LED driving lights really catch the eye. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
worse, but rather have everything to do with a near universal shunning of four-door sedans and adoption of crossover SUVs, other than a few exceptions like BMW’s 3 Series and Mercedes’ C-, E- and S-Classes in the premium sector and Honda’s Civic, Toyota’s Corolla, and Hyundai’s Elantra amongst mainstream brands.
The sad reality is this 2017 ES is the best of its kind ever, and while halfway through the second year of its sixth-generation facelift, it’s still worthy of much higher sales than it’s getting, that is if anyone under 60 were interested. We’ll likely never know if its traditionally conservative clientele has been rubbed the wrong way by the model’s adoption of Lexus’ avant-garde styling or if its drop in popularity is just a sign of the times, but a quick rundown of those “competitors” mentioned earlier shows a similar downward trajectory for the Avalon, Cadenza and
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| No other brand lets its creativity flow so freely. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
Maxima, plus the MKZ mentioned earlier, although sales of Charger were surging over the first half of 2017 (it had one of its best months ever in May) and 300 initially strong too, yet driven off a cliff over the past three months, while the Impala, Taurus, and LaCrosse are on track to make small gains as well.
As far as mid-size front-wheel drive sedans go, I find the ES 300h attractive from front to back. Its spindle grille, Nike swoosh driving lights and chromed apostrophe-squiggle fog lamp bezels are big bonuses in my opinion, giving the car a more daring façade than its inner personality deserves, while its rear end design, with its subtle deck lid spoiler overtop gracefully understated LED taillights and lovely lower body diffuser/undertray, is as pretty as its backside has ever been.
Inside,
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| Smallish 17-inch alloys don’t live up to the rest of the car’s visual drama. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
the ES 300h combines high-grade furnishings with low-rung hard shell plastics, some top-tier switchgear with others pulled up from the Toyota parts bin, some old-school glossy albeit real woodgrain trim next to nice looking metallic surfaces, albeit often hollow and plasticky, and one decent electronic interface with another that simply shouldn’t show its face in the premium class, making my comparison to the many mainstream volume-branded players earlier quite fair. The ES raises its game over these in some respects, but falls below some in others.
Under the “What’s new for 2017” column, all ES 300h trims get standard rain-sensing wipers, a rearview camera, and Lexus Safety System Plus, the latter package adding auto high beams, dynamic cruise control with emergency autonomous braking, lane departure warning, and lane
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| Subtle rear deck lid spoiler is a nice sporty touch. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
keeping assist. You’ll need to spend more for blindspot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, but this is hardly uncommon in any class.
The new features give the conventionally powered ES 350 a best-possible IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus rating when its optional twin projector Bi-LED headlamps are included (the ES 300h has yet to be fully tested, but is likely the same). It comes standard with LED low beams and less advanced high beams, which at least include the aforementioned automatic capability.
The rest of the $46,850 base model’s standard kit features items like LED DRLs, LED
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| The ES’ intricately detailed LED taillights look even better at night. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
fog lamps, LED taillights, proximity access with pushbutton ignition, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, dual-zone auto climate control, an 8.0-inch infotainment touchscreen, a rearview camera with dynamic guidelines, eight-speaker audio with satellite radio, NuLuxe breathable pleather upholstery, heatable and ventilated 10-way powered front seats, front and rear parking sensors, semi-autonomous self parking, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, a garage door opener, a powered moonroof, all the expected active and passive safety gear including airbags for both front occupants’ knees, rear seat side thorax airbags, and much more.
The standard 17-inch alloys look a bit small for such a large car, and the oddest part is Lexus doesn’t offer a wheel and tire upgrade with either of its two option packages.
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| The ES provides a big, comfortable cabin. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
Instead, the $4,200 Touring package adds the previously noted LED high beams, a heatable wood-trimmed steering wheel rim, a powered tilt and telescoping steering column, driver’s memory, leather upholstery, genuine hardwood trim, navigation, Lexus’ older joystick-style infotainment controller, an in-dash DVD player, a powered rear sunscreen, and blindspot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert noted earlier.
If you want your ES 300h with all the trimmings you’ll need to add another $4,450 for the top-tier Executive package that includes ambient LED interior lighting, premium perforated leather upholstery, power extendable thigh support adjustment for the driver’s seat, front passenger seat memory, a 15-speaker Mark Levinson
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| That’s real hardwood trim, while everything else above the beltline is made from high quality materials too. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
audio upgrade, retractable sunshades for the rear side windows, and a powered trunk lid.
That trunk is significantly reduced in volume over the conventionally powered ES, from 430 litres (15.2 cubic feet) in the latter to just 12.1 litres (342 cubic feet), while there’s no rear seat pass-through as offered with competitors. This said it swallows up two golf bags, so it’s primary duty is well served. On the opposite end of the size spectrum the rear seating area is roomy and comfortable, an ES trait, but don’t expect to be treated to highfalutin convenience features like additional climate controls, heatable outboard seats, and the like. You’ll need to move “up” to one of the previously noted volume branded competitors for these,
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| The ES’ interior design is almost as eye-catching as the exterior. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
as no such rear passenger pampering is available in the ES 300h, just inherently good seat design and loads of legroom.
The front seats are roomy too, but the driver’s seat lumbar support only moves in and out, not up and down, so if it doesn’t fit the small of your back you’re out of luck. It rests a bit high for me, while the seat squab is a bit short too, this particularly odd being that I’m only five foot eight. For these reasons I was unable to get fully comfortable, but as just noted an extension for the lower cushion is available. Worse, the power tilt and telescoping steering doesn’t telescope far enough to reach my hands when the seat is in the ideal position for my legs and feet. Therefore when my hands were at the safest 9 and 3 o’clock position my arms were too extended, which is hardly ideal. This car obviously fits a lot of peoples’ body types, as its sales have always been quite strong, but for me it just doesn’t work at all.
My
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| The mostly analogue ES primary gauge cluster is significantly behind the times. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
last point of irritation has to do with the sharp plastic edging on the left-side stalk, where you twist the headlights on and off. I’ve never noticed this before so it may be a new problem, but it feels like the plastic extrusion isn’t finished properly and therefore uncomfortably chafes on the fingers. Fortunately, when set to auto the stalk lines up perfectly with its other half, so it’s best left this way and forgotten.
While I’m not enamoured with its ergonomics I really like the ES’ interior design, especially the way the high-quality contrast-stitched leatherette flows over the primary gauges and across the lower edge of the dash top, the unique pewter colour of the metallic accents, all the rich woods throughout, and the pièce de résistance, a particularly nice looking analogue
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| This optional steering wheel gets a heatable hardwood rim. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
clock (although I still think Lexus should do a cross-branding deal with Seiko for its dash clock, using something from the Conceptual and/or Premier lines for lower range models, one a little nicer from its Prospex, Presage or SAR series for mid-range models-a SARB065/SARY0075 “Cocktail Time” in the GS and SARB017 Alpinist in the GX would be ideal-plus maybe an Astron for the LS, LX and LC, with the option of a Grand Seiko in top trims).
If only the infotainment system was a user-friendlier touchscreen like the Avalon’s. As it is, the joystick controller mentioned a moment ago is an unnecessary challenge to deal with, despite the input buttons that were added to each side for its second-gen redesign. The newer touchpad is an improvement, and
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| The centre stack is nicely laid out. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
the more common rotating dial selectors used by competitors better yet, but most of us are most familiar with touchscreens from smartphone use, so why reinvent the proverbial wheel when brands like Volvo are winning tech awards by simply stuffing a big tablet into their dashboard?
Lexus does use a rotating dial for its drive mode selector, a left twist resulting in Eco mode, a flick to the right initiating Sport mode, and a push bringing it back to default Normal mode. There’s also a button for turning off traction control, but other than when trying to get unstuck from a snowbank I don’t recommend you play around with this. It’s not like it’s going to give you a performance advantage with a front-wheel drivetrain like the ES 300h. Instead, Eco mode will be most peoples’
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| A touchscreen would be easier to use, but the ES infotainment display is big on features. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
choice with this hybrid, the EV mode button right alongside a much more intriguing prospect.
Then again, like with all Toyota/Lexus hybrid drivetrains EV mode has more of a placebo effect than anything usable. It can provide momentary all-electric propulsion in extremely slow conditions like stop and go rush hour traffic or dawdling through a parking lot, but as soon as the car nears 20 km/h the engine whirs into action and so much for emissions-free driving. And that’s if EV mode comes on at all, with most of my attempts resulting in a message saying it’s not available. Nevertheless, the ES 300h is a very efficient luxury car with a five-cycle Transport
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| Love the analogue clock, but why not do a deal with Seiko to endear wristwatch fans? (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
Canada estimate of 5.8 L/100km in the city, 6.1 on the highway and 5.9 combined, not bad when put up against the hardly thirsty gasoline-only ES 350 that manages 11.4 city, 7.7 highway and 9.7 combined.
Most won’t experience much of a performance drawback either. I say most because the majority of hybrid owners don’t run their cars ragged (although their teenaged key-borrowers might). Rather, they should be quite happy with the combined 200-horsepower available from the 2.5-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder and electric motor duo, this being one of Lexus’ more docile pairings that’s made more so by the efficient continuously variable transmission driving the front wheels. The battery pack is an old-school nickel metal hydride (NiMH) unit, not noted
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| The ES shifter is commonplace, but the joystick-style infotainment controller is anything but. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
for its cradle-to-grave environmental cleanliness. Nickel cobalt manganese lithium-ion (NCM) batteries are better, and iron phosphate lithium-ion (LFP) better yet, but due to cost, size and safety issues (Toyota feels they’re less stable than NiMH batteries despite others using them for nearly a decade) the Japanese automaker hasn’t embraced Li-ion battery tech yet.
Environmental issues aside, the ES 300h is a seriously smooth operator. From its easy-going powertrain to its ultra-comfortable suspension, this is a car that provides ample comfort to all occupants. It’s serenely quiet too, which could almost cause a person to not even bother putting it through its performance paces. That would be a mistake, because its prowess through corners will likely surprise, albeit while managing corners fairly well this is no sport sedan. For this reason
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| Comfortable perforated leather seats are up to Lexus standards, but driver’s ergonomics aren’t great for all body types. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
Lexus doesn’t waste funds on steering wheel paddle shifters, but rather gives you a regular shift lever for manual mode if you choose to use it. I find the CVT best left to its own devices. Keep in mind the internal combustion portion of its electrified powertrain can get a bit buzzy at full throttle, so I recommend maintaining low revs and just enjoying its mellow, relaxed demeanor.
While it’s easy to see I’m not in love with the ES 300h or its ES 350 partner, I can understand why someone who fits into its driver’s seat might appreciate it more. Few cars deliver as much prestige, luxury and comfort for $46k, while I reiterate its exterior and interior styling is very attractive and fuel economy excellent for the class. If I were considering something in this category I’d also want to drive the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, or possibly an HEV from some of the lesser brands noted before.
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| Roominess and comfort is superb in back, although the ES lacks upscale passenger features like rear seat heaters. (Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press) |
Some even include plug-in capability, which when combined with a top trim line can make for a much more efficient yet hardly less luxurious experience.
Lexus should be commended for its overall brand reliability, however, having tied with Porsche in the most recent J.D. Power and Associates 2017 Vehicle Dependability Study, in which the ES was the highest-ranked “Compact Car”, albeit why it was classified as such is anyone’s guess. All this reliability no doubt helps Lexus achieve high resale values too, the ES third best in its “Entry Luxury Car” category behind the Volvo V70 wagon and Lexus IS sport sedan in the Canadian Black Book’s 2017 Best Retained Value Awards. Additionally, in Vincentric’s Best Value in Canada Awards cost of ownership analysis the ES 300h was singled out in the “Luxury Hybrid” class, so like I said a moment ago, if it fits your body type and lifestyle, the Lexus ES 300h is a good bet.
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