First experience with ES

wynants · April 19, 2019

Hi,

For the past 15 years i have been a BMW driver, current i drive a 730D in full spec. Because of the diesel bashing, and the rising taxes on diesel drivers i started to look around for something else. A plug-in hybrid is not an option since i live in the city and i can't charge my car overnight. So almost by accident i ended up in the Lexus showroom, and the ES caught my attention at once.

I arranged a halfday testdrive with the car ( privilege level ) to see what the buzz was about. I must admit i started with low expectations , coming from a 6cyl diesel with massive torque, i was ready to be disappointed. A few things i noticed as i took off. The cabin was nice and overall of good build quality, bar a few niggles mostly on the lower parts of the cabin, i was satisfied with the materials. Music is important for me and i was very happy to note that the Mark Levinson 17 speaker was sounding a lot better than my Bowers and Wilkinson 4500£ stereo in my 7. Another hit was the head up display , an option i can not live whit-out anymore, the ES display is wiiideeee ! and clear! The seats as far as i can tell match those in my 7 in comfort, and the safety systems (lane assist, cruise control etc, etc..) work as good as in my present car, and above all , man this is a silent car wow! it beats my 7 easy when it comes to silence !

Now the drivetrain and engine, it took me an hour before i understood the concept of a hybrid CVT, but then i got going. It takes some getting used to, coming from a powerful car, but if you drive it like a comfort car then the whole concept works. Those looking for slides, RWD, sharp hairpin steering etc.. should look elsewhere, but at my age (i'm 55 ) comfort goes over sporty, i don't want my teeth rattling when'd driving over our deteriorating roads, and my back give me enough problems as it is whitout adding 22 inch wheels to it. And as far as the power of the engine is concerned; where i live you are either stuck in slow traffic or traffic jams or the speedcamera's take out all the fun of driving fast, so a lot of good those 6 cylinders will do you!

of the 20 000 miles i did last year there were maybe 200 miles where i really could enjoy the speed and power of my 6 cylinders in an undisturbed way , if you take in the extra cost of ownership, taxes etc.. those were 200 very expensive miles!

So i reckon the downgrade of power will take a few weeks getting used to, but all the other aspects are very promising indeed, ordered mine !