Lexus urgently needs a hammer

There's nothing wrong inside the Lexus hybrid, it's just that outside the `styling' is a real yawner

Nov 21, 2009

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los angeles times

LOS ANGELES–If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning, I'd hammer in the evening and all over the Lexus HS 250h until I beat it into something that vaguely resembled a luxury car.

I'd start by chiselling off the Ford Fusion-like grille, then I'd go to town pounding some rakishness into the hood and then I'd ding and dent some character into the fuselage.

Anything. Just make the boring stop.

This is one of those instances that defy the notion that automotive styling is subjective. Find me a person who thinks this car is beautiful and I'll find you someone who has a plaid La-Z-Boy in the family room.

In most respects, this car makes sense to me. It makes sense for Lexus – the luxury imprint for Toyota – to offer a dedicated hybrid, which is to say, a vehicle that is not a hybrid version of a conventional vehicle, and to slot it in near the bottom of the price ladder ($39,900) between the IS and ES models. This is Lexus's mileage marquee player, with a combined fuel economy of an 5.7 L/100 km (50 mpg). Well done. Bully.

It also makes sense to transplant the Camry hybrid's excellent powertrain – a 2.4 L, 147-hp Atkinson-cycle engine, continuously variable transmission, 141-hp traction motor, 244.8-volt battery, the whole kit – into said car. We call that amortization.

It's likewise reasonable to roll in every fancy bit of electronic hardware available in the Lexus larder. After all, sparkly electroluminescent gizmos are a time-honoured Lexus brand value.

There's even an available system that monitors the driver's face to detect whether he or she is turned away from the road. If a frontal collision seems likely, the car will advise the driver to turn around and continue to scream normally.

Sensibly enough, Lexus wraps that all in the sedative tranquillity Lexus is known for. The glass is acoustically laminated; the engine sits on dynamic engine mounts that help null out transient vibration; every corner, crease and seam is wadded with soundproofing material like an Abbey Road studio.

I'm cool with all of that.

But it is madness – sheer, biting-chicken-heads-off, barking lunacy – to stick all that hard work and expertise into the sheet metal of the European-market Toyota Avensis, upon which the HS 250h is based.

This narrow, graceless, cosmically unlovely economy car – not sold in the U.S. or Canada because it fails the ugly-car clause of various trade agreements – crushes any desire I might have to own an HS 250h.

At this point Lexus designers will be foaming at the mouth. They'll argue the Avensis and the HS 250h don't share any sheet metal. Please, their mothers couldn't tell these cars apart. They'll also note they spent a zillion hours to optimize the HS's shape for aero efficiency as well as to tune out wind noise.

I can't hear you. The ugly is just so loud.

Here's why looks are important: Almost all cars are good, and many cars are great. But the reward of owning a luxury car isn't found in the bleeping displays and ventilated seats. It's in the moment when the garage door goes up, and you experience the deep, neuronal pleasure of confronting something beautiful. That's luxury.

Meanwhile, the aesthetically hamstrung HS 250h is up against some serious competition, much of it built by Toyota itself.

On the one hand, there's the Prius, which can be decked out with many of the same tech amenities as the Lexus, for less money, and it gets about 50 per cent better gas mileage.

Then there's the Camry hybrid, which isn't as fancy but is a heck of a lot bigger and more practical than the HS 250h. So Lexus has cocked a howitzer, aimed at its foot and fired. Too bad. The HS 250h is actually a pretty interesting car and downright compelling on the inside.

The dramatically sloped central console extends on a kind of free-standing pier between the front seats.

Our fully loaded test car was equipped with the terrific Lexus Remote Touch controller (first seen in the RX 450h), a kind of leather-lined computer mouse with haptic feedback that tugs and kicks back as the cursor scrolls along the screen.

The seats are big and comfortable. The material quality is excellent. Lexus says about 30 per cent of the interior plastics are derived from plant-based materials and 85 per cent of the HS 250h is recyclable.

The sooner the better, I say.

Toronto Star