The powertrain is tuned to ferry people in comfort rather than outright performance, so you’ll need to plan your overtaking manoeuvres and carry momentum. The spec sheet claims a 0-100 km/h sprint within 8.5 seconds, which is decent for a car of this size. And it’s fairly fuel-efficient too, with a claimed 17.8 km/l which seems achievable on highways.
Complementing the docile power delivery is the absorbent ride quality. The ES irons out practically ever road undulation and rarely lets a thud slip through its fingers. The car focuses on taking people from work to home and back in utter comfort and does a good job of that. It’s so comfortable that one of the co-passengers on the rear seat actually dozed off during the drive.
Sadly, we had to bring him back with a jolt from wonderland as we performed out handling and braking tests. The steering is light and doesn’t communicate that clearly, while the suspension is tuned more for comfort. And things don’t improve much even in Sport+ mode. You might be disappointed here if you love to drive enthusiastically. The brakes don’t have a sharp bite but get the job done. The ES is better suited for back-seat passengers who prefer to bark orders at the chauffeur, than driving the car themselves.
Then there is plenty of kit to keep the driver happy, including ABS, EBD, stability control, brake assist and traction control. You also get parking sensors with a rear camera, tyre pressure monitoring system, hill-start assist, and 10 airbags. The biggest strength Lexus has is its hassle-free ownership and easy maintenance. In India it comes with three year and 1,00,000 km warranty as standard, which emphasises the confidence the company has in its powertrain.
Finally, is Lexus ES 300h more luxurious than its three German rivals? Probably not. But the Lexus brand does boast of an equally premium badge. Also the hybrid powertrain is a perfect fit in India now, since the future of diesel engines is rather uncertain. What might tilt the decision in favour of the Lexus is the silent statement a potential buyer would want to make being driven in a more environment-friendly hybrid.
