Is this the mid-size saloon to take Lexus into the mainstream?
Japanese luxury carmaker Lexus has released its mid-size saloon contender, the ES. The ES has been remade atop of Toyota’s New Global Architecture (TNGA), which means new powertrains, better packaging, and even a degree of economy. Bucking trends, the new ES is actually arriving cheaper than the car it replaces despite its improved levels of kit and space.
The ES will be available in Australia solely in 300h hybrid guise, but you can get either the standard ES300h Luxury ($59,888) or a posher ES300h Sports Luxury ($74,888). Even as a base Luxury, you still get a whole shedload of kit, like a 12.3-inch centre infotainment screen, a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, 10-way electrically-adjustable front seats, built-in satellite navigation (which you’ll need because there’s no smartphone mirroring), dual-zone climate control, LED headlights, automatic lights & wipers, a moon-roof, and wireless smartphone charging.
The ES is also very safe thanks to the standard inclusion of Lexus Safety System+. You get things like AEB (which can detect cars, cyclists, and pedestrians), smart cruise control, automatic highbeam, reversing camera, hill-hold assist, and 10-airbags.
17-inch alloy wheels are standard, but the more expensive Sport Luxury upsizes these to 18-inch units. For the extra cash you also get ventilated front seats that now feature 14-way adjustment, a high-end 17-speaker Mark Levinson audio system, tri-zone climate control, handsfree tailgate operation, semi-aniline leather-accented seat upholstery, and heated seats all-round. There’s also a recline-able rear bench, and a heated steering wheel.
The Sports Luxury also has Lexus’ new adaptive high-beam technology, using the 24-LED diodes in the headlights to continually-adjust the light pattern depending on the situation, ensuring maximum visibility for the driver and minimal dazzling for other traffic. There’s also blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, but these are limited to the flagship model.
The ES300h Luxury & Sports Luxury use the same powertrain underneath though: There’s a 2.5-litre 4-pot petrol engine up front as well as an electric motor, with the former running on the Atkinson combustion cycle and the latter getting its juice from a nickel-metal hydride battery. Combined power output is rated at 160kW, while the combined torque allows the ES300h to hit 100km/h from rest in just 8.9-seconds, despite a rated fuel consumption figure of 4.6L/100km (which means its 50L fuel tank should be able to do more than 1000km).
| Model | Price (Before ORCs) |
| ES300h Luxury | $59,888 |
| ES300h Sports Luxury | $74,888 |
Optional Premium Paint – $1500 on all variants.
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