yes this is a review of the Lexus es 300h
f sport but it's also a little bit of an adventure here's why
while it seems that automakers have abandoned sedans there are plenty to choose from want
something roomy comfortable stylish and premium. Alexa has you covered with the es the seventh
generation if you can believe that you can get the same room and powertrains in sister Toyota Avalon
at least for now but the more pedigreed Lexus is the looker of the family this 300h a hybrid if
the blue accents don't tip you off now gets the f sport treatment that means a meshed spindle
grill with smoked trim low profile tires on 19 inchers and some interior changes like a thicker
place for your hands more stylish spots for your feet and Hadori aluminum trim a different gauge
cluster treatment too jumping to light speed on the 300h the f-sport package is largely
cosmetic the suspension has been tweaked bits but if you want true f-sport performance like v6
power and an adapted sport tuned suspension you're gonna want to go with the es350 also
the hybrid not available with all-wheel drive which could have been handy this week
here's why the es 300h was dropped off after Seattle got six inches of snow and there's
the usual icy base that's typical in the pacific northwest all-wheel drive helps in some cases but
not all one thing i can tell you for certain about the es 300 hf sport it's terrible in the snow
obviously Seattle had a freak snowstorm and most of its time was spent here
in my neighbor's driveway because see this hill here it can only make it up
this far and my neighbor was gracious enough to let me just keep it here for like five days it
wouldn't get up to my house which is up there by that green chevy volt if you can see it
it just wouldn't make it i grew up in Minnesota i think i have those driving shops down no matter
what i did tried five or six times to get it up the hill the traction control denied me now
obviously it's probably the tires remember those are really really important but if you live in
this kind of climate and you're thinking about getting an es go with the all-wheel drive only the
es250 gets the option of all four wheels driven and with a naturally aspirated four-cylinder it
has less power and yes even 250 can be had in f-sport trim one thing i can do while the car's
just sitting here show you the trunk obviously i am not going to Costco this time that is not
happening there is a decent amount of space in the boot at 13.9 cubic feet all five passengers could
throw in carry-on luggage and a small personal item without issue and fly to Cabo where it's
warmer so happy that there's a spare tire i've had issue with run flats there's a small pass-through
good for sliding in one maybe two pair of skis but the seat back is fixed that could be problematic
eventually i need to get this out of the driveway i can't overstay my welcome
and I know that trying to head up the hill is a losing battle but a guy's got to try
as i figured pretty much worthless gonna back down the hill there's the argument that i should
just leave it parked but i know getting to the bottom means clearer arterials and if you're
wondering our chevy got up and down the hill but had to use some Duluth grade driving skills
let's look at the 300h powertrain it starts with a 2.5 liter inline-four paired with a permanent
magnet electric drive motor total system power is 215 horsepower Lexus doesn't provide torque
figures for its hybrids generally the engine doesn't fire up the purple rain light show
is there to entertain in cold temperatures like this around freezing it fires up more
often the EV mode is good for traveling very short distances silently if the battery is well charged
and i'd like to thank Lexus for this excellent controller the transmission is an electronic
continuously variable unit with simulated manual shifts yes even up here at least on the f-sport
there are drive modes but in these conditions i can't really tell you the difference they make
other than eco seems to do better on snow and traction control can be turned off doesn't seem
like all the way though let's drive carefully yes this does have f sport badges but it's not
exactly a performance machine 0 to 60 in about eight and a half seconds not that i can show you
there are some serious traction issues today i am not going to be going up any hills that is for
sure let's focus on what the es does really well it's quiet even with what has to be a slightly
firmer f-sport suspension with cold low-profile tires pounding over uneven icy chunks and the
hybrid powertrain is seamless traction may not be so great but fuel economy fuel economy is awesome
the EPA rates the average of this at 44 miles per gallon that's the beauty of hybrid powertrains
and you gotta remember this is a fairly roomy luxury sedan there's also an excellent suite of
active electronic safety tech dubbed Lexus safety system plus 2.5 and it doesn't exactly roll off
the tongue but the adaptive cruise control lane keep assist automatic emergency braking blind spot
warning and rear cross traffic alert that come in the package are very good if they're anything
like what's in the nx crossover i've driven wish i could tell you how this handles but there is no
way that i'm going to be taking corners at speed because it's just too icy lexus has improved its
driving dynamics over the years they're applying something called Lexus driving signature to all
their vehicles to elevate and standardize their driving dynamics and yeah they have improved
this is a lot firmer than you might imagine from an es it's not soft and floaty it's actually a
little bit firmer than you might imagine es even with the hybrids f-sport badging is not aimed at
true enthusiasts still the days of soft and floaty ride qualities have been over for a while with
this brand as long as i'm in slippery conditions may as well check out the anti-lock brakes
ah straight and true we all forget how awesome anti-lock brakes are
now to get going this is a slight upgrade
oh kind of expected that i guess i'll just back on down the hill
pricing starts at 46 500 optioned up this one's 51 grand now given that most es's will
be optioned towards luxury the interior is edgier than expected screens and controls are placed in
what Lexus calls a seat in control arrangement meaning everything the driver needs is easily
within reach you want buttons es has more than i've seen in a long time materials are quite nice
with a few Toyota grade plastics mostly out of sight and this aluminum trim stopping near the
display looks unfinished to my eye a panoramic roof is reserved for the v6 equipped 350 models
curious Lexus has a new interface but it's not in the es using the touchscreen with the menu
below it's just fine though i didn't find an obvious home button on the display had to go
down here for that and yes this is the Lexus trackpad that's just as wonky as i remember
so stick to the screen and life will be Luxus-ee. As expected android auto and Apple CarPlay are
along for the ride but not wireless and these usb ports are not in an elegant spot for cord
management and yes that is a cd player there don't forget they sound great the standard sound system
is good i find the bass kinda boomy the console that's easily accessible to everyone up front has
a Qi charging pad in it the glove box is pretty small if that's your thing i like this cup holder
works for short beverages but deep enough to keep really tall drinks from dumping on your lap
i have no gripes with the heated and vented seats the material is new lux and if black is too boring
circuit red and white are available evil twin is not coming out in this weather at five foot nine i
have a little more than an inch of head clearance knee leg and foot room are pretty generous though
and the center spine isn't too intrusive i haven't needed this in my time with es you and the sun
belt should like it there's storage more storage and power for phone charging no separate climate
zone or heated seats the cushions are high enough for good thigh support three adults can travel
back here as long as they're not overly tall time to sum this up with red light green light green
light all the Lexus attributes it's comfy hushed there are controlled driving dynamics plus the
promise of reliability the hybrid's outstanding fuel economy on standard grade gas luxury marks
normally require premium the design inside and out is more edgy than es would have been in the past
yellow lights i like the f-sport cosmetic package it deserves more power and an even
sharper suspension use the touchscreen and loads of hard buttons and the es is easy to control
that touchpad will be gone in generation 8. the interior is roomy but have your tallest
friend check out the back seat red light the fixed seat backs keep the es from being more flexible
all-wheel drive is only available for the powertrain with the least amount of oomph
and did i mention this doesn't do well in winter conditions nothing that tires wouldn't help lexus
says that f-sport trim has attracted younger and more diverse buyers to es so i get why it's
been applied to the 300h the armchair marketing manager in me wonders if the lack of extra power
dilutes the impact of the overall f-sport image no doubt i can see the appeal of the es
yeah i've been very critical about the traction it's really not very good but the es is
good looking it's quiet it's comfortable with the hybrid powertrain it's really fuel efficient
so if you're looking at a luxury sedan you should really take a look especially if you
live in Arizona even on dry roads acceleration won't pin drivers against the seat but for a
sporty-ish luxury sedan with terrific fuel economy the es-300h f sport has the Lexus polish down cold
to beat a dead horse conditions were dreadful seattle doesn't get dumped on
that often so keeping a large snow removal fleet doesn't make sense
we rely on the solar method and we don't get much sun how icy was it martin and i got stuck
on a very slight downgrade we were using this large island to u-turn and though i turned left
the car drifted right because of a one or two percent grade yeah the ice was that slick to
keep from sliding down the hill into other cars i maneuvered the Lexus against the curb
martin walked to the grocery store for cat litter i brainstormed other ways to get it out and watch
this amazon driver tried to get up the hill in vain i shot all this with my iPhone because my
camera tripod slid down the hill if i wasn't with it eventually i dug up some dirt and leaves from
someone's landscaping and spread it around for traction two guys showed up and gave me a push
thanks you guys it worked didn't have time to get a shot of them but thanks guys
ended up picking up martin a mile away i kept the litter for the rest of the shoot that's our
adventure and because the weather was so cold my slider didn't work so no fancy moving shots
keeping the car clean was nearly impossible i take my photography seriously this is the worst
shot video i've done in a long time this is the end where i normally give a fun fact but this time
this time it's a word of gratitude for Martin Campbell who always drives but this time i think
you deserve hazardous duty pay man yeah just word for the wise don't drive a car with summer tires
yeah in the winter time it's it's terrible drive to conditions okay and remember to subscribe to
this channel okay all right uh if for nothing else adventure that's driven i'm Tom Voelk
i'll remind you that i've got a quote service and if you use it it benefits
my channel full disclosure there but use mine use somebody else's i really don't care just
use one of them to get the best price that you can it's really hard to shop for a vehicle these days
so um one more tip there are some dealers that don't add the dealer markup
so look for them you know they are out there you don't have to spend five or ten thousand dollars
over sticker price just walk away you have the power