Lexus ES 300h Sports Luxury 2018 Review

In June 1992, when the Lexus ES 300 followed the brand-pioneering LS 400 luxury sedan onto the Australian market, a surprising beneficiary was the co-developed wide-body Toyota Camry that came a few months behind it, in February 1993.

The front-drive Lexus bequeathed the new, wide-bodied Camry with levels of build quality and refinement hitherto unknown at Toyota and, it could be argued, was behind a seismic shift that rumbled through the whole company at the time, lifting expectations of what it was capable of beyond building unburstable, if generally uninspiring, vehicles.

Certainly the touchy-feely aspects of Toyotas today are well beyond what they were 25 years ago.

And touchy-feely qualities, right from the moment the LS 400’s 1990 ninja battle cry put Germany’s at-the-time unchallenged luxury-car supremacy on notice, have always been a part of Lexus.

The Lexus ES 300h, like the flagship LS series and a swag of other models that have joined since 1990, continues the fight today. It was always said that it would take at least a decade for the new luxury brand to establish itself and, even if Lexus today lags well behind the Germans in overall market share, that wisdom has generally held true.

Except that the Toyota luxury offshoot, on the latest Australian sales figures, represents less than half the sales being achieved by Audi, the third-largest German brand – a position that has not changed despite flagging overall segment sales in 2018.

Perhaps the latest, seventh-generation Lexus ES 300 will contribute something to the company’s market share – although not a lot, as the Camry-size front-drive sedan, even within Lexus, only accounts for a small proportion of sales. It’s well behind the strong-selling NX, RX and CT-series SUVs and the mid-size IS sedan.

So, is the now exclusively-hybrid, ostentatiously-styled Lexus ES 300h just a Toyota Camry hybrid with garnishings?

That answer is that it is, and isn’t.

Yes, the petrol-electric drivetrains are identical and the body size is so close it’s not funny. And so, in an overall sense, is the quality.

But Lexus has taken pains to ensure this competitor for the also-hybrid Mercedes-Benz C 350e and BMW 330e makes a convincing case: There’s an undoubted air of refinement to the ES 300h, its safety and equipment credentials are up to the mark and there’s little question that it’s dynamically competent.

Without directly referencing a comparative Benz or BMW, the Lexus is silky-smooth in the drivetrain and, under regular use without putting the boot in, you’d barely know there’s a 2.5-litre four-cylinder working in company with an 88kW/202Nm electric motor. Ask to it put in, and the new 131kW/221Nm four-cylinder engine (combined petrol-electric output is 160kW) can clearly be heard but, in normal use, it could well be a V6.

It wouldn’t be a particularly quick V6 though: the acceleration is adequate, rather than scintillating – a fact borne out by ES 300h’s conservative 8.9sec zero to 100km/h acceleration claim.

And, while the claimed fuel consumption/CO2 figures lag well behind its Mercedes-Benz C 350e and BMW 330e competitors at 4.6L/100km and 104 g/km (the Benz and BMW claim 2.1L/100km and 49 g/km, and 2.4L/100km and 56 g/km respectively), the Lexus indicated a still-impressive average of 6.6L/100km in a week of mixed urban/freeway driving.

The close-to-silent drivetrain is matched by the road behaviour. With the help of plenty of sound-deadening – including, on the Sports Luxury variant reviewed here, special hollow-rim alloy wheels which reduce road noise – the Lexus is on-target for a mid-sized luxury sedan and the mellow sounds of the 17-speaker Mark Levinson audio system don’t go to waste.

It’s the little touches that both impress and irritate: While the interior designers have gone to some trouble convincing you this is a legitimate $75,000 sedan, there are some low-grade aberrations. As much as you admire the sweeping shapes and soft-touch trim on the dash you’ll not be impressed by the bits of tacky plastic that trim some of the interior, including the inexplicable, almost invisible stripes on the door armrests and the scuff-prone mouldings around the entry-exit areas.

There’s an unfortunate Lexus operational signature too. The thoroughly inappropriate touch-pad controller on the centre console defiantly challenges a driver simply wanting to activate a specific, basic function via the display screen. It almost wants you to get it wrong. You find yourself constantly over-shooting whatever landing point you’re after, switching radio stations when you don’t want to, or calling-up unwanted sat-nav functions.

Please, Lexus, stop trying so hard to be clever; you’re just bringing more angst to an environment that really should be intuitive, non-distractive and non-challenging.
This is a pity, because the cabin of the Lexus is generally a sweet place to be. The quality-trimmed and comfy seats are excellent, and there’s plenty of room for at least four passengers who, in the ES 300h Sports Luxury, are given lots of things to surprise and delight.

Tastefully-trimmed leather front seats with 14-way adjustment for the driver (12-way for the front passenger), heated, power-adjusted steering wheel, three-zone climate-control, wireless phone charger, and a centre rear armrest that builds-in radio, air-conditioning, seat-recline, rear-window blinds and heating controls all help make you feel you are in something special.

Exactly why the traction control on/off switch is located prominent and high on the right of instrument hood is hard to figure though.

The driver is treated to 24-LED adaptive headlights that wrap the ES 300h’s intense white light around oncoming cars to avoid glare, a head-up display and – nice one, Lexus – finally an electric park brake replacing the old-school foot-operated system.

And the ES 300h boot, though it only quotes 454 litres, is actually well-shaped and accommodating, let down only by fixed rear-seat backrests that try to help out through the provision of a small, central load-through ski port.

Under way, the ES 300h’s silence is augmented by safe, stable handling (helped by 235/45R18 tyres) with well-weighted if slightly numb steering and a nicely-controlled ride that generally copes well with the majority of road surfaces.

There’s little missing from the safety arsenal: 10 airbags, autonomous emergency braking (low speed only) pedestrian avoidance and front, side and rear cameras are supported by the familiar range of safety technology including lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, rear cross-traffic alert and blind-spot monitoring.

Taken in isolation, the Lexus 300h is unquestionably impressive for its quality, its comfort, its full pack of standard equipment and its hushed progress on the road. It’s a worthy wearer of the Lexus badge.

Take into account its punchier yet cleaner and more economical Mercedes-Benz C 350e, BMW 330e competitors though – which are respectively tagged almost lineball with the Sports Luxury Lexus at $75,900 and $72,900 before on-road costs – and you begin to see why the Lexus ES 300h doesn’t exactly sell by the truckload.

How much does the 2018 Lexus ES 300h Sports Luxury cost?
Price: $74,888 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 131kW/221Nm
Electric motor output: 88kW/202Nm
Total power output: 160kW
Transmission: continuously variable
Fuel: 4.6L/100km (ADR Combined) 6.9L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 104g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP