Lexus ES300h: Pedigreed executive express
The Lexus ES300h epitomizes a growing trend for those with discerning palettes: quiet luxury.
Quiet luxury is a lifestyle characterized by understated elegance and refined consumption, emphasizing exclusivity and discerning taste without overt displays of wealth. Quiet luxury is discrete, tactful and respectful, choosing to blend in rather than intentionally stand out, letting its actions speak louder than anyone else’s antics.
From the organic, almost ovoid and aerodynamically efficient shape, the squinty matrix LED headlights and matching rear LED tail lamps, and of course the trademark spindle grill, perhaps the only ‘loud’ aspect of the Lexus, the ES300 is peerless in the midsize executive sedan segment.
The ES300h is mooth, relaxing, quietly yet confidently vanishing into the backdrop to allow itself to relish its moment, demanding an audience from nobody, enjoying its achievements privately.
A huge part of the refined and discrete elegance is its hybrid powertrain: a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine works in tandem
With the electric powertrain delivering a combined system output of 218hp. Lexus doesn’t list combined system torque output but the gasoline engine itself delivers a decent 221 Newton-Meters. Drive is sent to the front wheels via a CVT automatic transmission that mates well with the Lexus’ vibe: steady, gentle yet meaningful. Keep the throttle light and the ES wafts silently purely in electric luxury.
And in doing so, the ES300h is conscientious in consumption while everyone else is selfishly indulgent with their huge gas-guzzling turbocharged high output power-plants. In a weekens of driving roughly 150 kilometers, the ES300h’s fuel gauge didn’t move at all, registering a frankly unbelievable 23km/liter my mostly all-electric drive. That’s having your cake and eating it too!!!
On the road, the hybrid ES300h might as well be a fully electric vehicle. It’s so quiet, but instead of making you sleepy, it gives you a chance to appreciate everything else about it: the excellent build quality, the well-designed interior, the details and Easter Eggs scattered throughout the cabin, the plush leather seats and thick carpet. It’s not intricate like a Bentley or high-tech like an Audi.
Rather, it feels like a comfortable yet highly established lounge that’s been around for generations. Comfortable, inviting and unpretentious.
The ride is a perfect match for the refined interior and drivetrain. Plush, comfortable, easy and soothing yet delivers the body control and responsiveness one expects from a premium product. It’s not the sharpest tool, but its nonetheless effective at covering long distances in comfort, and confidently navigating through tight and twisty switchbacks, sweepers, curves and corners. With regenerative braking, the brakes deliver excellent progressive and fade-free stopping performance.
As with any Lexus, the ES300h possesses a wide range of safety equipment: traction / stability control, ABS-EBD brakes, 7 airbags, ISOFIC child seat tethers and more.
Of course, the Lexus ES 300h Luxury also comes equipped with Lexus Safety Sense (LSS), the brand’s own ADAS (advanced driver’s assistance system). These include the Pre-Collision System (PCS), Adaptive High Beam System (AHS), Automatic High Beam System (AHB), Lane Tracing Assist (LTA), Lane Departure Alert (LDA), and Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC). The latest development of LSS features tweaks to improve its performance and functionality. They have been tuned to operate in a way that feels more natural to the driver.
Do you want a pedigreed executive express that’s discrete, yet confident, accomplished yet conscientious? Look no further as the ES300h is your steed of choice.
