Carwow Review: The Lexus ES 300h

JJohn341

2019 ES Configurator is Live:
https://www.lexus.com/models/ES

You beat me to it haha! Thanks for sharing!

All,

My fully loaded (Every single option) 300h has arrived at my dealer....AND:

My dealer has been authorized by Lexus corporate to sell me the vehicle before the official SEP 3 release date!!! I'm driving it off the lot tomorrow!

I have a real love affair going on with the ES F Sport in white :heart_eyes:

Neezy216

All,

My fully loaded (Every single option) 300h has arrived at my dealer....AND:

My dealer has been authorized by Lexus corporate to sell me the vehicle before the official SEP 3 release date!!! I'm driving it off the lot tomorrow!

did you drive it before, or did you order before checking it out live? If you checked it out live first, what did you think? and what vehicle did you drive before?

spwolf

did you drive it before, or did you order before checking it out live? If you checked it out live first, what did you think? and what vehicle did you drive before?

Yes, I test drove a caviar/chateau linear dark mocha luxury build (without performance dampers) three days ago. Mine will be the ultra luxury, fully loaded build.

Here's a snippet of what I shared in clublexus:

Quick verdict:

- Extremely comfortable and smooth
- I did not hear as much whirring (only a little) compared to the 2018 300h
- Can't really notice any difference in acceleration between 2018 300h and 2019 300h (15hp difference)
- My tester did not have the Mark Levinson package, BUT the regular 10 speaker Premier audio sounded very good (albeit at low-mid volume).
- You can definitely tell they worked on the steering and handling! Very impressed
- Engine is VERY loud when demanding more power for getting on the interstate etc. It is noticeably louder compared to my current 2007 ES ONLY when demanding a lot of power out of the engine.
- Noticeable improvement with suspension setup (my tester did not have performance dampers). Definitely not floaty like my current one is!
- VERY good with absorbing bumps/cracks/road imperfections in road - this includes when I purposely and continuously ran over those yellow or white lane reflectors in the road! I thought my current 2007 ES was smooth, but this blows it away.


This was a quick 5 mile test drive in southern california. Heads were definitely turning!

I was at Lexus today and it is a great looking sedan and it is the first Lexus that I truly can confuse with another, being the LS, especially from the front. I'm sure they are going to continue to sell every last ES they build.

mikeavelli

I was at Lexus today and it is a great looking sedan and it is the first Lexus that I truly can confuse with another, being the LS, especially from the front. I'm sure they are going to continue to sell every last ES they build.

I agree. Through out the model years LS and ES has shared some design similarities. I have always found that 5th gen ES and and Pr-facelift 4th gen LS shared lot of exterior designs.

mikeavelli

...it is the first Lexus that I truly can confuse with another...

I had a totally different experience in that regard this past Saturday.

Roughly every other Saturday, a small group of local car journalists gets together for an indoor soccer match against the folks at DriveShop (managers for some of the local press car fleets), so it's interesting to see what new press cars they sometimes bring. I went outside to the parking lot to retrieve something from my car. Next to me, I see what, from the rear left 3/4 view appeared to be a Genesis G80. As I got closer, I did a stunned double-take when I started seeing Lexus logos and an ES 300h badge. Yes, it was a 7th-gen ES. I rarely confuse cars like that, but it happened.

It did, however, give me a begrudging newfound appreciation for the spindle grille upfront. Not much chance of confusing that with anything else!

I asked the journalist (and soccer teammate) driving it on his impressions. He said it's typically smooth and quiet and high-quality Lexus, but the 8.4-second 0-60 mph time for the hybrid seemed, to him, disappointingly subpar.

Joaquin Ruhi

I had a totally different experience in that regard this past Saturday......
I asked the journalist (and soccer teammate) driving it on his impressions. He said it's typically smooth and quiet and high-quality Lexus, but the 8.4-second 0-60 mph time for the hybrid seemed, to him, disappointingly subpar.

I own 14 300h so from my experience, after a while one can get used to the 0-60 time. But, The hybrid provides many other positive benefits overall; really good passing power on HWY, fast cabin cooling in TX heat, serenity in most conditions and also the car does not feel bog down when fully loaded with passengers like a typical NA 4 Cylinder car and most of all excellent fuel economy considering the size and weight of the car, hand calculated I get 35-36 mpg average on a tank of gas.

8.4s is really strange considering its power-to-weight ratio. A 1,700kg regular car with 215hp is usually sub-8s even on low resistance tyres, and hybrids should be faster at the same power-to-weight ratio.

ssun30

8.4s is really strange considering its power-to-weight ratio. A 1,700kg regular car with 215hp is usually sub-8s even on low resistance tyres, and hybrids should be faster at the same power-to-weight ratio.

I haven't double-checked if those numbers are truly accurate. i'm just going by what this fellow journalist told me.

Published 0-60 time 6 the gen ES300h was 8.1s, but the 2019 es300h brochure does not mention 0-60 time.

Also does any one know if the ESh get the predictive hybrid tech like the UX has?

F Sport in Black looks really sharp:

^
That does look good from the outside. Inside is completely opposite especially with that bright red tacky leather.

krew

Video: Matt Farah Reviews the 2019 Lexus ES 350 F SPORT

"The most comfortable, refined modern car I've driven."

View the original article post

The 7ES is indeed, the most comfortable car I've ever sat in, period. Been in the 3LS and the Crown Majesta before, some say these are the best luxobarge but they are so soft I want to puke in the rear seats. I also don't like the completely isolated feel of the old school Toyota luxobarges. Sampled a ES300h, very good ride quality and surprisingly good driving dynamics in class. The 5 series L is a boat, E-class L feels big and unwieldy (very hard to park), and A6L is hard as a rock. The ES gives confidence and I'm certain these low resistance tyres are sufficient for any spirited driving on normal roads. Power is a bit lacking and I hope it had the power-optimized FKS version instead of the FXS. It definitely feels underpowered if you are used to the 2GR V6. Also the hybrid system is a bit lazy in giving electric boost, it comes on instantly but not in a fierce manner I would expect from a hybrid. It almost gives an impression it's slower than a Corolla Hybrid, which has a very aggressive boost deployment strategy, in the city. But I guess that's the compromise to make acceleration less jerky.

Awesome! I've always enjoyed Matt's videos and it's nice to hear him compliment the ES so much. I'm really impressed with this new F-Sport :thumbsup:

Always love MotoMan TV reviews and here here is on the new ES, lots of good things to say.

Don't know, I still have mixed feelings towards the ES, maybe something change after adding the AWD

So far now multiple reviews have commended the ride quality, with some saying it's better than the 6ES (including on bad roads apparently). This is very impressive to hear, given that the 7ES also has improved handling. I guess it's to be expected though. TNGA platforms are such a massive step forward in so many ways. It also makes sense from a physics point of view. Given how stiff, strong and rigid the TNGA platforms all are, that allows great flexibility in overall shock and spring design, setup, compliance and tuning.

krew

krew

Video: Matt Farah Reviews the 2019 Lexus ES 350 F SPORT



View the original article post

he is not exactly taking it slowly, is he :)

spwolf

he is not exactly taking it slowly, is he :)

Crazy to see an ES being driven more like an IS 350... there are some points where you can really see how fast he is going - and how well the car is taking it. Super impressive!

Gecko

Crazy to see an ES being driven more like an IS 350... there are some points where you can really see how fast he is going - and how well the car is taking it. Super impressive!

he got a little bit confused with gear selection being the max gear, not the current gear... but i know that is something people did not like when it was changed in... was it GS? In the end, setting max gear is actually more useful in traditional automatic, in most cases.

Good review.

The seats are quite a looker... I want to try them just for the experience.

A better and more positive than I expected review of the ES 350 F-Sport (save for complaints of minor FWD torque steer and the Remote Touch interface) comes to us from Autoblog:

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/12/07/2019-lexus-es-350-f-review/

Joaquin Ruhi

A better and more positive than I expected review of the ES 350 F-Sport (save for complaints of minor FWD torque steer and the Remote Touch interface) comes to us from Autoblog:

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/12/07/2019-lexus-es-350-f-review/

I actually enjoyed driving it more than the BMW M550i, and I liked driving that car quite a bit. Seriously. No one is as surprised by that statement as the guy who typed it.