The Lexus ES 300h luxury mid-size saloon has been revised for 2022 with the introduction of new handling, styling, safety and specification features, reinforcing its performance and appeal.
The first UK generation of a model that has been long-established feature of the Lexus range in world markets outside Europe, the ES brings together the brand’s core qualities of brave design, exhilarating performance, takumi craftsmanship and imaginative technology.
The new model retains Lexus’s fourth generation self-charging hybrid electric powertrain that delivers excellent fuel and emissions efficiency with characteristically smooth, responsive and refined performance.
The new line-up continues to provide models with high specifications at on-the-road prices below the £40,000 threshold for luxury car VED rates, notably the new ES Premium Edition and the F Sport with the Tech and Safety Pack.
Multimedia with new 12.3-inch touchscreen
The ES’s multimedia system has been upgraded with a new 12.3-inch touchscreen, allowing operation by direct touch, using the Remote Touch Interface track pad, or voice control.  All models equipped with Lexus Navigation will have the new touchscreen.
Bladescan Adaptive High-beam System
The new ES is the latest Lexus model to adopt the advanced bladescan Adaptive High-beam System, which focuses the light beam from the LED headlights using a fast-rotating mirror to give a much wider field of illumination when using dipped lights. The system is part of a new three-eye LED headlight arrangement that is standard on the Takumi grade and included in the Premium, Tech and Safety and Takumi Packs.
Digital Side View Monitor
The ES was the firsts Lexus model in the UK to offer a Digital Side View Monitors in place of conventional door mirrors. Available as an option on the Takumi grade, these have been revised to ensure clearer images are shown in poor light conditions – at night and when driving in rain, giving better light and shade definition.
Ride and handling
Changes to the ES’s suspension have been made to deliver better dynamic performance, responsiveness and ride comfort. The braces in the rear trailing wishbone system have higher rigidity and greater torsional strength thanks to a new dual-sheet structure, resulting in linear response that is more closely aligned with the driver’s intentions, for example when making high-speed motorway lane changes.
The Adaptive Variable Suspension featured on the ES F Sport benefits from a new actuator and changes to the internals that together expand the range of damping force, improving the car’s response, stability and ride comfort, with more linear steering and suspension feel.
The level of detail invested in achieving the best results extends to changing the shape of the brake pedal pad to create a larger contact area for the driver’s foot, giving better controllability; steps have also been taken to reduce the vibrations felt when the pedal is depressed. The control parameters of the electronic braking system have also been revised.
Lexus Safety System+
The Lexus Safety System+ fitted as standard to all versions of the new ES benefits from new and improved functions.
The Pre-Collision System’s radar and camera sensors are now able to detect cyclists in daytime driving and pedestrians at night. It also adopts Intersection Turn Assist, which detects a high collision risk with traffic approaching from the opposite direction when making a turn, and pedestrians crossing the road in the car’s path of travel.
Emergency Steering Assist is a new addition which recognises when the driver is making an sudden manoeuvre to avoid an obstacle, such as a pedestrian in the car’s path. The system assists the steering movement, while keeping the car stable and in its traffic lane.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have been applied to improve the Lane Trace Assist, giving smooth and continuous assistance to keep the car optimally positioned in its traffic lane. Lane Trace Assist works in co-operation with the Dynamic Radar Cruise Control to manage the car’s speed for cornering while at the same time keeping it centred in its lane.
The cruise control system can now determine the appropriate speed for an approaching bend, automatically decelerating the vehicle. It has also gained an all-speed tracking function, controlling acceleration and deceleration to maintain a constant distance to the vehicle immediately ahead.
Style and design
The new ES retains its familiar elegant lines, with exterior changes focusing on the front end, where the spindle grille has new look with fewer vertical bars and the introduction of new L-shaped motifs (the dedicated grille design for the F Sport model is unchanged).
Slimmer units are introduced for both the single-eye (monocular) LED headlights with Automatic High Beam and the new three-eye LED units with the bladescan Adaptive High-beam System.
There are also new wheel designs: a striking arrangement of sharp, overlapping twin V-spokes for the standard 17-inch wheels and a five-twin-spoke design for the 18-inch rims featured on the Premier Edition and in the Premium Pack.
In the cabin there are new Dark Brown and Sumi Black walnut trim insert options and a Forest Brown upholstery choice, available across the Tahara man-made leather, smooth leather and semi-aniline leather options. For the ES F Sport, there is a new White Tahara option with contrasting black bolsters and seatback and cushion centre sections.
Prices
The new ES is on sale now; prices are shown in the table below.
| MODEL | OTR PRICE |
| ES (without navigation) | £35,905 |
| ES (with navigation) | £36,795 |
| ES Premium Edition | £36,555 |
| ES Premium Pack | £41,105 |
| ES F Sport (without navigation) | £38,370 |
| ES F Sport (with navigation) | £39,060 |
| ES F Sport Tech and Safety Pack | £39,280 |
| ES F Sport Takumi Pack | £44,160 |
| ES Takumi | £49,455 |
All new ES models come with up to 10 years’ Lexus Relax warranty cover. After an initial three years/60,000 miles, owners can extend their warranty by a further one year/10,000 miles each time they have their vehicle serviced at an authorised Lexus centre, in line with its service schedule. The warranty is provided at no extra cost, up to a limit of 10 years/100,000 miles. Terms and conditions apply; full details are available at www.lexus.co.uk.
*Article Source www.media.lexus.co.uk
