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By
EWAN KENNEDY
3 July 2006
The Lexus GS450h is the world’s first volume-production rear-drive
hybrid passenger car. Making it a very special vehicle in automotive
history.
Unlike the Toyota Prius, the emphasis in the
Lexus GS450h is on engine performance, not out-and-out fuel
economy and low emissions. Toyota is, of course, Lexus' parent
company and is pushing hard on the benefits of hybrid cars. It
makes a lot of sense to use Lexus to expand public perception of
hybrids with this different tack.
Before talking technicalities on the new Lexus
GS450h, let's look at it as its maker intends; as a luxury touring
car. Though it has performance aplenty this is above all a machine
that’s most pleasant to ride in due to relatively soft
suspension and a real slant in the direction of refinement and
pampering.
The Lexus' leather and timber interior trim is
finished to an immaculate standard. It’s complemented by a Mark
Levinson 14-speaker audio system, satellite navigation and DVD
player. Dual climate-controlled air conditioning lets you relax in
the knowledge that the car will look after your needs with a lot
of care.
The GS450h’s in-cabin styling works
exceptionally well, with fine lines that tie in well with the
exterior shape of the big, smooth sedan body.
The instrument panel is unusual in that there's
a power gauge in place of a conventional tachometer. The driver
can also choose to use the central display screen to view where
power is coming from and going to as the hybrid system juggles
between its various functions.
In the long tradition (well, longish, the
company has been around for less than 20 years) of the Lexus
company a major feature of this big hybrid sedan remain its
smoothness, refinement and near silent running. Thanks to the
well-shaped seats and the quiet environment, you step out of any
Lexus GS model feeling as though you could have travelled a lot
further. This feeling certainly hasn’t changed just because the
car is partly powered by electricity.
The body has interesting styling using a new
theme for Lexus, which sees a very smooth front with a lowset
grille that ties in nicely with the shape of the lights. Again it
goes almost without saying that the panel and paint is as close to
perfection as you are likely to see at any car costing less than a
million dollars.
But this is more than a luxurious grand tourer,
the Lexus GS450h is a hard accelerating sporting sedan that’s
able to leap from rest to 100 km/h in just 5.5 seconds. That’s
the sort of performance you would expect from a large V8 engine.
On our test, fuel consumption on highway and
motorway driving averaged between eight and nine litres per 100
kilometres. Suburban driving saw that rise to between 10 and 11
L/100km. These are good figures for a six-cylinder car, even more
so when you remember it has V8 performance.
Lexus describes this combination of power and
economy as offering ‘guilt-free performance’.
Under the bonnet the GS450h has both a
highly-efficient 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine and a 650-volt
electric motor. The motor gets its power from a large battery,
which in turn is charged by the car’s brakes and by energy
gained back when running down a hill.
Most of the time the big Lexus is stationary the
petrol engine is switched off thus creating no tailpipe emissions.
When you drive away gently the GS450h can be a pure electric car
at low speeds. The petrol engine starts automatically when more
power is needed.
The car sits silently at rest. Flatten the
accelerator and it takes off with a huge rush thanks to the big
torque being generated by the electric motor. That’s
supplemented almost immediately as the petrol engine kicks in.
The only real drawback of the hybrid layout is
that you lose about half the boot as the front section of it is
taken up by the battery. Very large suitcases need not apply, and
there's no through-seat facility for long items such as skis or
curtain rails.
Lexus is concerned that the performance aspects
of the GS450h will attract thieves and joyriders, so has given it
the added security of Data Dot identification. Something like 5000
tiny electronic ‘dots’, each about the size of a grain of
sand, are sprayed onto various locations on the car. These contain
information unique to the particular car making it impossible for
the bad guys to give it a new identity before illegally reselling
it.
Though it has plenty of straight-line urge the
Lexus is comparatively soft in bends. This model is aimed at the
person more interested in the finer things in life than in sheer
cornering ability.
Pricing is extremely sharp; at $121,990 the
GS450h actually undercuts its big brother the GS430 V8 by $15,210,
despite the fact that the hybrid is a much more complex car. Lexus
is presumably willing to accept minimum profits on the hybrid to
get it established on the market. This is truly a bargain priced
machine for the future-driven trend-setter who likes to have
plenty of urge under their right foot for safe overtaking.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
GS450h 3.5-litre petrol/electric hybrid
four-door sedan - $121,990
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard
Air Conditioning: Standard
Automatic Transmission: Standard
CD Player: Standard
Central Locking: Standard
Cruise Control: Standard
Driver Airbag: Standard
Passenger Airbag: Standard
Front Side Airbags: Standard
SPECIFICATIONS (Lexus GS450h 3.5-litre
petrol/electric hybrid four-door sedan)
ENGINE:
Capacity: 3.456 litres
Configuration: Longitudinal V6
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 11.8:1
Bore/Stroke: 94.0 x 83.0mm
Maximum Power: 218kW @ 6400rpm
Maximum Torque: 368Nm @ 4800rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Rear
Manual Transmission: Not offered
Automatic Transmission: Continuously variable
Final Drive Ratio: NA
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4825mm
Wheelbase: 2850mm
Width: 1820mm
Height: 1430mm
Turning Circle: 10.4 metres
Kerb Mass: 1865kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 65 litres
Towing Ability: NA
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: Independent, double wishbone,
coil springs, anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Multi-link double wishbone,
coil springs, anti-roll bar
Front Brakes: Ventilated disc
Rear Brakes: Ventilated disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 5.9 secs
Standing 400 Metres: 14.0 secs
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
Fuel Type: Petrol 95RON
Fuel Consumption - Combined Cycle (ADR 81/01):
7.9 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Four years/100,000km
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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