By Dave Abrahams
Cape Town isn't always the Sleepy City; Mother City motoring journalists were the first in South Africa to get up close and personal with the all-new Lexus ES 250 luxury sedan at an unusual dinner/preview on Monday night, two weeks ahead of the car's official premiere at the Johannesburg International Motor Show.
Although the diamond-studded Camry (Lexus will neither confirm nor deny that the designation stands for Executive Shuttle) is new to South Africa, it's actually the sixth generation of a Japanese-built series dating back to 1989 that's now the L-brand's top seller worldwide.
Lexus SA is being coy about pricing until the ES goes on sale here early in November, but marketing vice-president Glenn Crompton did say it would slot in just below the IS range (which starts at R464 300).
Also available to special order in South Africa will be the ES 300h hybrid. Given that the GS 450h is about R235 000 more expensive than its conventional GS 350 sibling, we'd guess that the ES 300h would probably come in at close to R700 000.
COMFORT ZONE
Whereas the IS and GS sedans have a strong performance streak, the ES is unashamedly focused on comfort; its wheelbase is 45mm longer than that of its predecessor, its overhangs shorter and its cabin more spacious.
Lexus has achieved (much-needed) more headroom by increasing front-seat adjustment (they can now be lowered an extra 15mm) and putting a Ligier-style dent in the headlining over the rear seats, while increasing the already-generous rear knee-room by another 60mm.
I'm 1.78 metres tall, and I was able to adjust the driver's seat to suit my rotund physique, then move to the right rear seat, where I could still insert a clenched fist between my knees and the back of the driver's seat.
Neatly stitched wall-to-wall leather trim, velour headliner and soft ambient lighting make the cabin a warm and welcoming place to be, while the flight-deck crew get to enjoy a remote-touch interface with a 200mm colour monitor for satnav and infotainment displays, below a classy analogue clock.
Standard kit includes a sunroof, keyless entry, heatable power-adjusted front seats, an electrochromatic mirror and rear parking sensors - as well as an electronic stability program, lane-change assist with blind-spot monitoring, pre-crash safety system and 10 airbags.
DRIVING FORCE
The ES 250 has a new 2.5-litre, dual VVT-i DOHC four-cylinder petrol engine rated for 135kW at 6000rpm and 235Nm at 4100rpm. Driving the front wheels through a standard six-speed auto transmission, it'll do the century sprint in less than 10 seconds and hit more than 200km/h flat out.
A rotary drive-mode selector lets the driver choose between Eco, Normal and Sport settings, while the instrument lighting reflects the mood: blue for Eco, red for Sport.
The special-order ES 300h combines a 2.5-litre Atkinson cycle four-cylinder engine rated for 118kW at 570rpm and 213Nm at 4500 with a 105kW electric motor and 650V nickel-metal hydride battery for a total system output of 151kW. An electronically-controlled constantly variable transmission takes the ES 300h to 100km/h in a quoted 8.5 seconds and on to a 180km/h terminal velocity.