We reviewed the 2019 Lexus ES350 with the F Sport trim. And, effectively, effectively … it seems just like the ES has traded staid and nameless from previous fashions for truculent and extroverted within the 2019 model. In F Sport trim or in any other case, this era of ES seems significantly better than those who got here earlier than it. Our take a look at automobile, which was completed in Ultrasonic Blue Mica livery coupled with 19-inch smoked graphite wheels, particularly so. The spindle grille is the one polarizing a part of the outside styling; some find it irresistible whereas others discover it garish and off-putting. No matter camp you fall into, there’s no denying that Lexus has a good-looking sedan on its arms.
Is the Lexus ES a superb automobile?
The ES350 is a wonderful small luxurious automobile, and it’s by no means been extra participating to drive. However the larger wheels and tires, plus a set of paddle shifters, don’t a sports activities sedan make. Whereas we would have anticipated a extra responsive driving expertise from our tester automobile, it does lean in the direction of the extra aggressive aspect of the spectrum than ever.
However guess what? We’re good with that.
Aside from the LFA and RC F/GS F hardcore sports activities automobiles, Lexus isn’t about bouncing off the curbing at our native racetrack or chasing Porsches down our favorite backroad. With that in thoughts, we predict Lexus nailed the steadiness of offering all of the hallmarks folks anticipate from its automobiles: excessive refinement and luxury with simply the correct amount of spice added.
Does it look acquainted? Is the ES much like the Toyota Avalon?
Park the 2 aspect by aspect, and the kinship is clear. They share the identical mechanical bits, from the drivetrain to the brakes to the suspension elements, amongst different stuff. After take a look at driving each automobiles, we have been stunned at how a lot the Avalon has closed the hole on its upmarket sibling. But the Lexus badge calls for extra luxurious than a Toyota would, so the ES has components which might be extra befitting of its premium placement.
Each interiors look to be fairly good locations to be. What’s completely different?
Within the Lexus, the supplies really feel somewhat extra premium, the leather-based bits just a bit softer. Each have unbelievable audio programs, however once more, we’d give the sting to Lexus for sounding incrementally clearer and richer.
Relating to the dashboard structure, it’s laborious to fault the Avalon’s sharp and easy analogue structure, however we give the nod to the ES with its LFA-mimicking sliding tachometers and the way in which it adjustments its look as you escalate driving modes from “regular” to “sport” and all the way in which as much as “sport +.” We usually want a crisp needles-and-dials setup just like the Avalon’s, however it’s laborious to fault the digital readouts within the ES350.
There’s one space the place the Avalon emerges because the clear winner over its upmarket company stablemate, nevertheless, and that’s the infotainment system. The Avalon is a straight shooter, utilizing a mix of buttons and a touchscreen that works so effectively you may by no means have to seek the advice of your proprietor’s handbook to determine it out. The ES350 makes use of the identical Distant Contact technique employed in most Lexus automobiles, and it’s simply as irritating to make use of. We did get used to it over the course of our take a look at, however we’d nonetheless need to take our eyes off the street to carry out easy duties like altering the radio station.