Lexus ES 300h F Sport 2020 Review

Situated in the middle of its model range, the Lexus ES 300h F Sport is priced at $69,755. That’s over $9000 more than the basic ES 300h Luxury but also over $6000 less than the ES 300h Sports Luxury model.

Ordinarily, that price would incur a component of luxury car tax, but since the ES 300h F Sport is well below the green car dispensation ceiling of $75,526 and the car’s combined-cycle fuel consumption is just 4.8L/100km, there’s no LCT payable. Even adding the $4000 enhancement pack and metallic paint ($1500), the ES 300h F Sport is free and clear of LCT (just!).

The enhancement pack comprises a motion-sensing powered boot lid, a 17-speaker Mark Levinson audio system and heated steering wheel. Previously, I have not had much success with boot lids and tailgates that open after detecting a kick or gesture (in this case under the bumper), but the Lexus system worked.

Standard features for the F Sport variant include Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity, leather upholstery, 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, head-up display, 12.3-inch infotainment screen, wireless phone charger, 19-inch alloy wheels, adaptive variable suspension, triple-beam LED headlights, and exclusive bumpers, grille and badging.

The service intervals for the Lexus ES 300h F Sport are 12 months apart, or every 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

Until recently, Lexus has held a trump hand in the prestige sector with its warranty of four years or 100,000km. But first Mercedes-Benz, followed by Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover and now Audi have all announced a move to five-year warranty cover. This wedges the Japanese brand, which has long traded on its unparalleled reputation for reliability and build quality. Does Lexus need to match or exceed the Euro brands?

The Lexus Safety System+ driver-assist technology bundled into the 2020 Lexus ES 300h F Sport includes night-time pedestrian detection and daytime cyclist detection for the forward-collision warning and autonomous emergency braking systems. Other elements of the system comprise blind-spot monitoring, reversing camera, rear cross-traffic alert and active cruise control.

All ES variants come with 10 airbags and a pop-up bonnet.

ANCAP tested the ES 300h in 2018, awarding it a five-star rating for crash safety.

The car’s traffic sign recognition system was flummoxed by school zones, settling for the lower speed limit even at night – when the kiddies should be tucked up in bed. But the rear cross-traffic alert works pretty well. It will pick up a car from some considerable distance away and alert you with high-pitched tones.

Another outstanding safety feature of the 2020 Lexus ES 300h F Sport is its terrific headlights. The LEDs with adaptive auto high beam dip individual light elements to save blinding the driver of any oncoming car, without you peering forlornly into the dark.

While the four-cylinder petrol engine in the 2020 Lexus ES 300h F Sport makes the right sort of noise under full load, it struggles to provide much zip. This could be down to the nature of the engine, which is more your Atkinson-cycle mid-range slogger than a powerplant that likes to rev. With the CVT set-up hampering it as well, the engine takes a lot of cajoling to get far beyond 5000rpm, making it a mismatch for the F Sport chassis.

To put that in perspective, the BMW 330e plug-in hybrid weighs the same as the ES 300h F Sport, produces just 4kW more from its petrol engine – but nearly 80Nm more torque at its peak – and is 3sec faster to 100km/h. The Lexus takes 8.9 seconds, versus 5.9 seconds claimed for the BMW.

The continuously variable transmission of the Lexus won’t let you shift down with the paddles unless the engine is running at around 4000rpm or lower. And the transmission’s contrived steps, which can be actuated from the paddles, are rendered redundant by kick-down.

Indeed, as soon as you floor the accelerator the whole transmission goes to the appropriate ratio for maximum performance, rather than sticking with the ‘stepped’ ratio you have notionally selected using the paddles. This is at times a good thing, because kick-down in an emergency will give you the right measure of performance you need, where a fixed ratio that’s too high would not. But it does beg the question: do you need the shift paddles at all in this application?

On the plus side, however, the petrol engine is quiet and smooth, and the stepless transmission is what many buyers want from a transmission. At 100km/h the engine is revving at just 1300rpm in top gear, leaving just some road noise to intrude, courtesy of the otherwise commendable Bridgestone Potenza 235/40 R19 tyres.

The Lexus hybrid is also a byword for fuel efficiency. On a series of open, flowing arterial roads it was sipping fuel at the rate of 6.5L/100km, which increased to 6.8 for a standard test run. That’s better than the 7.0L/100km cut-off for the higher (‘green car’) luxury car tax threshold, although far removed from the official combined-cycle figure of 4.6L/100km.

The week before I tested the 2020 Lexus ES 300h F Sport, I spent a week in its seven-seat soft-road sibling, the RX 350L. That SUV is powered by a 3.5-litre petrol V6, which would have been really welcome in the F Sport sedan.

You see, the ES with the adaptive variable suspension and some apparent suspension tuning by people who care about that sort of thing is fairly neat and tidy in the bends, given the type of vehicle it is – a medium/large sedan with a front-wheel drive setup.

The steering is light enough when you’re just chugging along, but in Sport mode there’s actually reasonable feel. Throw the Lexus at a corner and it tucks in fairly tightly and lets you know by the micro-slipping at the rear when it’s just about had enough of your fun and games – and that’s at a respectably high speed too.

The adaptive variable suspension delivers a fine balance of ride and handling. While the ES 300h F Sport won’t knock you around on rough and ready country roads, it can also hang on steadfastly in corners.

All of which makes me think the powertrains of the RX and ES should be swapped. The ES 300h F Sport is a decent handler that would be a very competent package all round with that silky smooth 3.5-litre V6 and eight-speed transmission from the high-riding people-mover.

My other niggles? The brake pedal in the ES feels a little soft and squidgy, as is often the way with hybrids, and the cruise control in hilly country will frequently allow the car to creep above the set speed. This is especially so when the car is in Eco mode. At a certain point above the set speed the system warns the driver with three shrill, piping notes. That’s the other niggle.

The 2020 Lexus ES 300h F Sport places its driver and front passenger in well-shaped seats which offer plenty of electric adjustment, including the lumbar region. And the seat design and cushioning contribute to the driving position, which gets the seal of approval, with the exception of some peripherals that have to be adjusted for individual needs.

There are so many ways and means of tailoring the ES to your own preferences, but it will take you a little while with the owner's manual to work it all out. It took me a while to figure out how to adjust the HUD for my height – even after resorting to reading the instructions.

The Remote Touch infotainment controller is troubling. When the driver is not left-hand dominant, the touch pad is difficult to use efficiently, and it’s on a hair trigger, even setting the system to ‘slow’.

On the other hand, the voice recognition system is very effective. In terms of efficiency, it’s the polar opposite of the touchpad, and readily accepted a destination address for the satellite navigation system without fumbling at all.

There’s generous space in the rear seat of the 2020 Lexus ES 300h F Sport for adults of average height, although passengers over 180cm tall may find the sunroof housing encroaches a little.

The rear-seat passengers are served by adjustable vents and two USB charging ports plus a 12V power outlet in the rear of the centre console. A lockable ski port is concealed by the fold-down armrest, which incorporates a storage bin and two pop-up cupholders.

Boot space is enhanced by the space-saver spare under the floor. A lift hook holds the lightweight floor panel in place for access to tools and the spare.

After a week in the 2020 Lexus ES 300h F Sport, I’m just as bemused as I was on the first day.

This is a car I highly recommend for its dynamics and ride comfort – which is not the sloppy, roly-poly set-up you might expect.

It’s also a stylish package that’s roomy enough and sufficiently comfortable to appease even very fussy customers. There’s plenty of sophisticated kit inside and it all works (with the exception of the Remote Touch infotainment interface).

What lets the Lexus down though is the hybrid powertrain.

If you buy a car with the F Sport badge on the side you expect something with a mite more get up and go. The adaptive variable suspension makes the Lexus an adept touring machine for the open road, but it’s only in town where the hybrid powertrain pay dividends. Ironically, it’s also in town where you’ll notice the performance deficit.

So, the ES 300h F Sport is a fine machine, but if you plan to buy one you’ll really need to wrap your head around what it represents.

How much does the 2020 Lexus ES 300h F Sport cost?
Price: $69,755 (plus on-road costs), $75,255 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol and two electric motor/generator units
Output (petrol; electric): 131kW/221Nm; 88kW/202Nm
Combined: 160kW/no torque figure supplied
Transmission: continuously variable automatic
Fuel: 4.6L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 104g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2018)