17 DESIGN
LEXUS HAS DITCHED THE SENSIBLE-PANTS
APPROACH AND GIVEN ITS AFFORDABLE, MID-SIZED LIMO SOME SERIOUS PIZZAZZ.
R
ecently unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show, the new seventh- generation ES wowed us with its lethal crease lines and an emboldened visage. You’ll
remember the car it replaces for being the front-wheel-powered saloon in a family famous for its dynamic IS, GS and LS saloons and their coupé derivatives. And if the new grille’s any indication, it seems Lexus has ditched the sensible-pants approach and given its affordable, mid- sized limo some serious pizzazz. Instead of its aforementioned siblings’ GA-L (where GA stands for “global architecture”) rear-wheel drive platform, it once again gets a front-driven powertrain via its new GA-K underpinnings. So it’s still somewhat sensible, but just as quick and rigid. This time around, though, performance has been engineered into its DNA, which is already teeming with new-found ambition.
SKIN-DEEP
Standing glinting in the afternoon sun, the ES looks forged, rather than formed – the way a sword is forged, perhaps:
wieldy and athletic, especially in silver, so you can truly appreciate every surface. It’s 65mm longer than the model which precedes it, 5mm lower and 45mm wider, with an extended track, thanks to a wheelbase that’s also grown. As a result, those staccato alloys (17” on the petrol model and 18” on the hybrid) are now placed further away from each other than ever before – eliminating the long overhangs for which its predecessor was criticised. So instead of the overhang, the ES gets a wicked stance and an aggressive road demeanour which brings it right in line with the performance coupés that share its stable. The result is dramatic – “provocative elegance”, as its Chief Designer, Yasuo Kajino, proclaims. Its lamp clusters are nothing less than
automotive jewellery and the ornate treatment continues once you drop down into a leathery pew. Here you’re rewarded with an opulent (and empirically capacious) cabin littered with technology and safety accoutrements, multimedia connectivity and more. The cockpit’s focused on the person at the helm –
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