Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Quiet style from hybrid Lexus

Post Thumbnail

Lexus has never embraced diesel power.

Instead, the Japanese luxury car maker has used petrol-electric hybrids to give similar economy without needing to get your fingers oily at the pump.

With diesels now falling out of favour as scientists discover more about their potentially harmful emissions, it looks as if – inadvertently or not – Lexus has played a clever game.

The IS300h driven here is an alternative to the German triumvirate of the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes C-Class.

It’s powered by a 2.5 litre, 178bhp four-cylinder petrol engine married to a 141bhp electric motor. Prices stretch from just under £33,000 to around £43,000 – not cheap, but comparable with its rivals, and dealers may offer a discount if you haggle.

It’s a good looking car, with sharp, angular lines. Critics might say it doesn’t have the distinctive “brand identity” of a BMW or Mercedes, but I’d argue individuality is no bad thing.

Slip into the car’s interior and you immediately feel cocooned from the outside world. It’s brimming with technology and Lexus uses sumptuous materials that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Range Rover.

The IS300’s greatest strength is comfort and ease of driving. The seats are cosseting, the engine’s whisper-quiet and wind and tyre noise are kept to a bare minimum.

Couple that with strong fuel economy and seamless gear changes and you have a cruiser that will cover long distances with consummate ease and without breaking the bank. Around town, it can run on electric power alone for short distances.

It’s not a dynamic, driver’s car like the 3 Series, but at least the engine doesn’t have the raspy whine when pushed that previous hybrid Lexus models were blighted with. This engine remains smooth even under hard acceleration.

I drove a Premier model, which is the top of seven trim levels. From heated and cooled seats to variable drive modes and electric everything, it wanted for nothing. Even entry level models are well equipped, however.

It’s a comfortable car for four people, although very tall rear occupants may wish for more headroom, and the boot’s spacious enough – although as a saloon it lacks the flexibility of a hatchback.

Lexus also has a reputation for bulletproof reliability. If you’re one of those who buys a new car and keeps it for years that’s reassuring.

Price:

£39,875

0-62mph:

8.4 seconds

Top speed:

125mph

Economy:

61.4mpg

CO2 emissions:

107g/km