Road Test - Lexus GS45oh

The Lexus GS450h has just re written the rules in the luxury / performance sector. In my four day test of the car, I was staggered by the performance time and time again. The headline figures are a 0-60 MPH time of under six seconds and an (electronically limited) top speed of 155MPH. But what those numbers  cannot demonstrate is the wave of torque this car rides and which enables it to accelerate from cruising speed to overtake a line of traffic in the blink of an eye. 50MPH to 100MPH is so effortless, there is a  feeling that you are being pulled along by a huge elastic band which is intoxicating. I found myself doing it time and time again, and yet despite that the Lexus stubbornly refused to consume more than a gallon of fuel every 32 miles.  Yes you did read that correctly, this two tonne luxury saloon, with almost supercar performance, managed more than 32 MPG during my time with it! That’s because the “h” stands for hybrid.

Lexus, and parent Toyota, have more experience of hybrids that any other manufacturer, and that experience shows in this execution. The GS450h couples a wonderfully smooth and quiet 3.5 Litre V6 petrol engine with direct injection, to a 147KW electric motor driven by the on board battery pack. Power is transmitted by a continuously variable transmission, in an application that CVT could have been made for. The transition from one power source to the other (or both) is almost totally seamless. Starting from rest, the car usually does so in pure electric mode. Most times you don’t even hear or feel the petrol engine take over as speed builds, and then when you need a real boost, both run together, providing huge performance. But unless you are thinking about it, you’ll never realize what’s going on. Every passenger I took out was convinced the car was fitted with an uncannily silent petrol V8, with it’s attendant high fuel consumption. Lexus have been clever in making the car seem so conventional - typical buyers in this sector don’t want too much innovation, they just want the car to deliver the goods. 

As with every Lexus, build quality is perfect, with every shut line parallel, each piece of trim seemingly carved from a block, and there is a wonderful “thunk” when you shut the doors. This quality is carried over into the way the car drives as well – it’s uncannily quiet at pretty much any speed, and the wind noise exclusion is a match even for the old shape, double glazed, Mercedes S class. Once on the move, the drive is conventional for an automatic, and the only thing that indicates the Lexus is a hybrid is the “Power” meter which sites where the rev counter would in a conventional car. This dial is largely irrelevant aside from the blue section which shows regenerated power being put back into the batteries under braking. Starting the car is fun though – it uses keyless ignition, so it simply unlocks itself as you approach. Then when you close the door the seat and steering wheel (which moves up to facilitate entry) power themselves into your preferred positions. It’s then simply a case of pressing the “Power” button, at which point the instrument panel and Touch screen unit both come to life and the air conditioning starts to work. Remember at this point the petrol engine is not running – the AC operates electrically, so it can maintain cooling or heating from the battery system. Once you select either drive or reverse, you’re off and moving, and unless you’ve really prodded the pedal, you’ll be on electric power only.

As mentioned, the gearbox is a CVT, but Lexus have somehow managed to mask, or remove the annoying tendency for CVTs to make cars sound like lawn mowers. There is an option to switch to a sport mode, where the gearbox effectively gives you preset “gears” which you can manually select sequentially. Although the system worked, it seems pointless as leaving the box to it’s own devices is both faster and smoother.

The level of equipment is in keeping with the class of car, featuring a really intuitive full color touch screen, which covers all the major functions including navigation, climate control, audio and phone. There is a really annoying message that pops up every time you start the car, reminding you rather primly to drive carefully and within the law. I suspect that is something which was designed for the US market, but I would advise Lexus to remove it here in Europe – it’s an irritant. The screen is clear and works beautifully, and the car also incorporates a reversing camera – I had no idea how useful one would be until I tried it in busy Brighton. There is a full “Park assist” system on the Lexus, using sensors all around the car to guide you, but this is also slightly annoying, as pedestrians walking close to the car on a crossing can trigger the system with a loud beep.

The hybrid version comes with 18 inch alloys, which are gorgeous and overcome an issue with lesser GS models, which can look undertyred. The badging is discreet, with small Hybrid decals just ahead of the rear wheels and blue detailing on other badges – I’m guessing that blue is Lexus’ “green” if that makes sense. Rear legroom is good, and the front seats are exceptionally comfortable, providing good grip without any squeezing, They are also both heated and cooled, and only male readers will appreciate the huge benefit of being able to cool certain parts of one’s anatomy with a gentle breeze on a warm day, when sitting on black leather. 

I had been looking forward to trying out the Mark Levinson audio system which is fitted as standard, but I was disappointed. It has plenty of power and strong bass from the ten speaker setup, but it didn’t impress in the way that the Bose system in Audis does. While we’re talking about disappointment, I should mention the car’s only real weakness. Boot space is severely compromised by the battery pack, especially as there is no rear seat fold or even ski hatch facility. The bottom line is that despite the fact that this car is one of the great grand tourers, you couldn’t cross Europe with four people and their luggage, unless you fitted a roof rack. This, however, is the only compromise in the whole package.

I was able to make an interesting comparison whilst I had the Lexus, as a friend had recently bought a Jaguar Sovereign diesel. He has always been a Jaguar man, and recently switched to a diesel in the interests of fuel economy. The 2.7 litre engine Jaguar use is acknowledged as one of the best and he regularly achieves the sort of MPG I was getting in the Lexus, but even this state of the art diesel engine in Jaguar’s advanced aluminium body cannot hide the narrow power band or agricultural engine note when compared to the Japanese car. That coupled with a vast performance difference was enough to make my friend green (blue?) with envy. On country roads and attempting to overtake slow traffic, process in the Jaguar was a series of pauses – the first while the gearbox decided which gear to kick down to, and the second while the two turbos spun up to maximum boost. At this point the Jaguar was fast enough, but the Lexus was already halfway past the other car.

One of Lexus’ adverts describes the GS450h as having V8 performance with the fuel economy of a 2.0 liter car, and it’s absolutely true – in real world use. I was trying to think of how to end this piece whilst conveying how deeply, deeply impressive this car is and how much I believe it sets new benchmarks in several areas. Perhaps this is the best way:

I’m due to change my own car in September. If I can afford the GS450h, I will buy one. If I don’t have the money, I’m going to wait until I can afford one.

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Many thanks to Toyota (GB) PLC who provided the car for me to try from their Lexus division. The car was provided free of charge for a period. Find out more about Lexus at their website