Road Test
The new Lexus ES300 is totally unobtrusive, utterly inoffensive, and completely without complexity. This is a good thing.
After all, how many machines do you own that are painstakingly designed and vigilantly executed to lower your heart rate? We're talking precision engineering for the sake of tranquillity.
Just note some of the details Mr. Toyoda's engineers fussed over in the ES300's recent redesign.
They moved the pivot point of the front-seat headrests up, so instead of tilting forward to tickle your cowlick, they now swing out at the bottom to cradle your neck for more comfort. They relocated the passenger vanity light from the sun visor to the ceiling so the light softy illuminates your face from above instead of blazing directly into your enlarged pupils. They laminated the side windows with a water repellent coating so raindrops bead up and zip away. They coated the air-conditioning condenser with a resin impregnated with an antibacterial agent so the cabin never smells like a mushroom cellar. They designed the headlight clusters with replaceable brackets so minor collisions are easier on the wallet.
The new ES300's ad slogan could be "The Ultimate Pacifying Machine."
Of course, the middleweight Lexus has always been this way, much like its less-expensive platform partner, the Toyota Camry. Both are comfortable, composed, and about as reliable as the tides. They are also about as riveting to experience.
The previous ES300 finished third in our nine-car roundup of $30-something-thousand sedans ("Ennui and Upward!" February 2000), praised -- but also cursed -- because it generated no sparks with which to ignite an argument. Now that it has a new vanity light and rain-repelling glass, would the redesigned ES300 gain a position or two in that same comparison test?
Not likely.
All detail sweating aside, the ES300 still suffers a shortage of combustible material, either of the negative or positive variety. And in these parts, where driving is a form of entertainment, an unclaimed $38,665 would more likely be exchanged for a well-equipped BMW 3-series, an Audi A4 3.0 Quattro, or even a Lexus IS300 and a year's worth of gasoline. Among real speed snobs, the ES300 will remain on par with Manhattans and Oprah's Book Club as just a bit too benign.
Not to say that the new Lexus isn't a dream machine for some people. Leather, plastic, and wood paneling (carving a tree for the wheel and shift knob costs $330 extra) unite inside with scrupulous precision. There are no gaping seams, no serrated mold partlines, nothing that isn't resolutely screwed down.
The atmosphere is always hushed, as though someone important were about to speak. If you spend the substantial $4860 to get leather seats plus the Mark Levinson audio with CD changer and voice-activated navigation system, that someone could be you. Alternatively, you can spend $3010 for leather and Levinson without nav.
It's a very nice stereo even at half the defense-contractor price, which doesn't include the free steel-resin sandwich panels in the fire wall that block noise so the unit's crystal beat thumps unimpeded. Also included at no cost are the extra body gussets in the floor, across the parcel shelf, and on the spare-tire well that battle vibration. With the throttle wide open our decibel meter registered just 69, the same as in the previous ES300 and what most cars post while coasting in neutral at 70 mph.
