Toyota has always kept its Lexus brand an echelon above, with all of its models getting added features and luxury touches, if not unique drivetrains in its battle to command the upscale market segment.
That left the Lexus ES models as the base models for Lexus, if there can be such a thing as an “entry level” for upscale nameplates.
It began life as a lengthened Toyota Camry, and quietly established its own identity as a comfortable, quiet, upscale sedan, but the corporation seems to be at a crossroads with its future plans running more perpendicular to its past.
For example, the ES came to acquire the features of the Avalon, the top-of-the-line sedan in the Toyota line. The Avalon was the perfect car for someone who wanted a Lexus but didn’t want the snobbish appeal of Lexus models – sort of a reverse-snob effect – and as time passed, the Avalon got fancier and the ES battled to maintain a low price for Lexus models.

The evolutionary process means the new ES300h shares the bold curvature of the grille and front end, and if that is the signature Lexus look, this car wears it well and makes it blend in with the well-styled lines of the sides and rear.
For the new-model year, the Avalon will cease to exist, although its place will be filled by a new Toyota model. I was sorry to see the Avalon depart, because I liked the car every time I test-drove one, including the hybrid model that came about in more recent years.
It struck me as an interesting confluence of strategies to have an upscale car in the Avalon with the high-mileage potential of a hybrid.
With the Avalon departing, the ES gets a hybrid model, which is the one I recently test drove.
The ES300h is a loaded ES model with an upscale interior, maintaining the needs to qualify as a Lexus stalwart, and the interesting part of it is that one of the recent Toyota trends is to go with a smaller gas engine to function with the battery pack of the hybrid. When the engine’s primary purpose is to replenish the battery pack for electric driving aid, there is no need for a large V6.

So Toyota has installed its upgraded 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine as the power source for the hybrid – the same powertrain is in the outgoing Avalon.
Here’s the latest wrinkle from Toyota, however. In the movement to separate itself from its acknowledged boring past, where its cars were known for trouble-free driving and longevity but devoid of exciting or even entertaining driving characteristics, Toyota is on a movement to make its cars sportier.

You’ve noticed the television ads, usually on sports events, where various drivers are shown in the new Corolla, driving along and having so much fun they are actually laughing out loud as the drive.
During the transition process, Toyota probably figures they can pretend they are making more exciting cars while they are starting to do exactly that.
One of the steps is to add high-performance tuning with a package Toyota calls “G-Force,” which can consist of suspension and maybe steering upgrades, but for sure involves interior and exterior trim revisions.
So in case the ES300 isn’t as multifaceted as it might be with luxury, style, economic efficiency and tradition, the car I test drove was actually an ES330h G-Force.
Yup, the luxury, comfort and smoothness for which ESes are known is complemented by the hybrid drivetrain with a 4-cylinder replacing the larger V6, and it also gets a dose of the factory’s G-Force performance upgrade package.
Along with suspension firmness, G-Force adds blackened grille and alloy wheels, and the neat little “G-Force” badge on both flanks.
Those touches and the sleek lines of the body shape make the ES300h one of the more attractive Lexus models and could draw customers from its costlier siblings.
The ES300h starts out at about $43,000 and you can add options to the standard features such as safety alerts and warnings and parking-aid cameras and all the connectivity trends – including complicated audio switchwork.
As usual, I was impressed with the ES300h’s acceleration and handling, with the hybrid focusing on maximizing the powertrain’s 215 combines horsepower through a continuously-variable transmission, and the G-Force effect on cornering is not to be minimized.
Interesting combination, where the hybrid model may deduct slightly from the outright power of the larger V6, but it provides adequate acceleration and enough power to make you appreciate its agility around corners.
Toyota probably could build an all-out sporty sedan and alter it to get improved fuel economy and find a way to include comfort and the silent interior, but why bother?
They’ve already got all those features in the ES300h.