REVEALED! 8th Generation Lexus ES Megathread (ES 350h, ES 350e, ES 500e)

internalaudit

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I think the interior looks better than the Model 3 and Y, but then that's a relatively low bar set haha.

Still, interior design will never be a deal-breaker to me, specs, features and pricing would be more important.
 
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I think the interior looks better than the Model 3 and Y, but then that's a relatively low bar set haha.

Still, interior design will never be a deal-breaker to me, specs, features and pricing would be more important.
Heck no, the Model 3 and Model Y actually look really nice in person and are much better in terms of build quality compared to before.

This new ES is horrific and is a massive step down from what it used to be. While I expect Lexus to do a great job in ensuring high build quality standards, however in terms of styling, they made the new ES into a 80's retro-style minimalist space but it looks extremely tacky and does not belong in a Lexus interior, while the Tesla's minimalism gives me a sense of calm.
 

internalaudit

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Heck no, the Model 3 and Model Y actually look really nice in person and are much better in terms of build quality compared to before.

This new ES is horrific and is a massive step down from what it used to be. While I expect Lexus to do a great job in ensuring high build quality standards, however in terms of styling, they made the new ES into a 80's retro-style minimalist space but it looks extremely tacky and does not belong in a Lexus interior, while the Tesla's minimalism gives me a sense of calm.
I was basing my comment off visual cues, not tactile or build quality as I don't go around showrooms or service centers checking out cars I have no interest in purchasing.

I thought 80's and 90's were the heydays of automotive design?

To me, the ES interior doesn't look bad. Better than Mercedes or many Korean makes for sure.

I still like it better than the Model 3 or Y. It has stalks, the infotainment system is at eye level, there's a housed gauge cluster and easy to move air direction around. It's not perfect but I think it's definitely more functionally than those Teslas.

 
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I was basing my comment off visual cues, not tactile or build quality as I don't go around showrooms or service centers checking out cars I have no interest in purchasing.
Me neither, I was telling you from my experience at an auto show, but with that said, the ES looks horrific IMHO.
I thought 80's and 90's were the heydays of automotive design?
"... but it looks extremely tacky"
To me, the ES interior doesn't look bad. Better than Mercedes or many Korean makes for sure.
Agree to disagree. Genesis is doing an incredible job with their interiors.
 

internalaudit

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Me neither, I was telling you from my experience at an auto show, but with that said, the ES looks horrific IMHO.

"... but it looks extremely tacky"

Agree to disagree. Genesis is doing an incredible job with their interiors.
It's not cohesive (seems to have too many shapes) for sure but definitely okay to me. I will never skip buying a vehicle for the interior design alone. It's always the overall package.

With that single elongated display, haha? Count me out.

Anyone saying the Model 3 and Y interior is better or more functional and or better built (one piece will always be better built) definitely just really hates this new interior design.
 
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It's not cohesive (seems to have too many shapes) for sure but definitely okay to me. I will never skip buying a vehicle for the interior design alone. It's always the overall package.

With that single elongated display, haha? Count me out.

Anyone saying the Model 3 and Y interior is better or more functional and or better built (one piece will always be better built) definitely just really hates this new interior design.
I was going to say how much I hated how everything is embedded in the touchscreen, but I know I would get used to it after a while. My point was more about the aesthetics as well, it's much more aesthetically pleasing than the new ES.
 

internalaudit

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I was going to say how much I hated how everything is embedded in the touchscreen, but I know I would get used to it after a while. My point was more about the aesthetics as well, it's much more aesthetically pleasing than the new ES.
The fewer the parts, the more cohesive something looks anyway.

The interior dashboard of the Model 3 or Y is like one nice piece of high-end Scandinavian leather furniture. It will stand out for sure in terms of aesthetics but if I want something aesthetically-pleasing but useless in terms of most functionality, I might as well take a trip to the art museum.
 
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Gor134

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Those are near-final sketches and look representative of the final product.

If anything even, those are likely marketing sketches conceptualized long after the final design was locked in
 

Sulu

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I don’t know if these have been posted already, but based on this website, these were the initial sketches of the new ES. The new ES would’ve been way more stunning/aggressive/jaw-dropping if these proportions were maintained.
The first sketch (the rear view) seems to be an early conceptual idea; these early conceptual sketches -- this one included -- bear little resemblance to the final, real-world model. An executive sedan, which is what the ES is, cannot be expected to have wide-body fenders and ultra-wide tires.

The second sketch (the front view), however, looks very similar to the final product. There is an obvious evolution from a wild early concept to the much more reserved final product.
 

Gor134

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It's a sketch. It can have as wide fenders as it wants. The whole point is to highlight the design features and stylize it.
 

ssun30

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The BZ7 will receive active magneride dampers on air springs. Meanwhile the new ES "flagship" will be as basic as a Camry.
 

sl0519

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The BZ7 will receive active magneride dampers on air springs. Meanwhile the new ES "flagship" will be as basic as a Camry.

Did Lexus ever use magnetic ride on any of their cars? Is AVS basically the same thing, or is it actually even more basic? The AVS on the LS should be decent enough, though I can't imagine what it’d be like if it had anything even close to Porsche's active ride.
 

ssun30

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Did Lexus ever use magnetic ride on any of their cars? Is AVS basically the same thing, or is it actually even more basic? The AVS on the LS should be decent enough, though I can't imagine what it’d be like if it had anything even close to Porsche's active ride.
No. AVS is Toyota's own name for CDC (continuous damping control) dampers. It uses solenoid valves to change the flow of damping fluid between two chambers in the damper to adjust the damping force. Magneride changes the viscosity of the magnetic fluid with a magnetic field. Magneride has much faster response and is more reliable because it has fewer moving parts, but costs more until very recently.

I've driven a Cadillac CT4-V BW with Magneride 4.0 and it is the best riding suspension I've ever experienced. You can think of it as having both comfort mode and sport mode enabled on a CDC-equipped car. Lexus advertise AVS to have 650 levels of adjustment and 1ms adjustment time, but that's a wordplay because AVS cannot go from level 1 to level 650 within 1 ms. In real road conditions CDC suspensions have about 10Hz response frequency while MagneRide is about 10x faster.

Toyota's AVS is one of the best CDC systems in the industry to the point they completely replaced the expensive active stabilizer bar mechanism used on the 5LS. It can control the lean angle by adjusting the damping force on two sides of the car to simulate the effect of an active stabilizer and it's first used on the Century SUV. But compared to MagneRide it's still inferior and less reliable.