Lexus hots up its hybrid hatchback

LEXUS, it seems, are way ahead of me.

When I test drove the CT-200h earlier this year I walked away impressed but slightly frustrated; it was a hugely impressive hybrid hatchback, but "it isn't the last word in excitement". It was, I wrongly concluded, business as usual when it came to Japan's 1-Series bater. Even Kylie Minogue struggled to make the standard version look exciting.

But now the Japanese luxury car master's just spiced up the smallest of its models, meaning you can now enjoy a sports version of its hybrid hatchback.

The CT-200h Sport comes with the same eco-friendly powerplant as the normal version but it's been blessed with a tasty set of 17-inch alloy wheels, a new rear spoiler, flared sideskirts and a racy mesh grille among other cosmetic updates, meaning that while it doesn't have any extra go it offers plenty more show.

The company is, however, promising sportier handling, and said it's tuned the CT 200h F-Sport’s suspension for a more engaging drive, and fitted a lateral damping system as standard.

Yet for all the aggressive styling it's still an automotive eco activist thanks to its clever petrol/electric technology, meaning that it'll still return 68mpg and - thanks to its low emissions - cost nothing at all to tax.

In a stroke Lexus has just eliminated my main criticism of the CT-200h; that, for all its clever features, it was a bit boring. It's now just a little more Fast and Furious and a little less Friends of the Earth, and that's all I'd ask of it.

The CT-200h is available to order from Lexus showrooms now and costs £27,850.

Fire up the... Lexus CT-200h

IN the weird and wonderful world of car badges, every letter comes with its own connotations.

D, for instance, will forever stand for diesel, while I - usually preceded by G and T - denotes fuel injection. Yet if you're in the market for Lexus' first hatchback, it's H, writ in the tiniest of fonts on the rump of the new CT200h, that you're going to be interested in.

H stands for Hybrid, the eco-friendly blend of petrol and electric power that Lexus and parent firm Toyota have made their own over the years. Indeed, step into the new arrival from the Toyota Prius Life On Cars tested earlier this year and you'll find yourself in very familiar territory.

The clever computer displays you use to find out how much of the Earth you're saving while driving, for instance, are almost identical to the ones you'll find in the Prius, and that car's party trick - seeing how long you can drive on electricity alone - has made it into its upmarket cousin. Make no mistake; like the Prius, the CT-200h comes stuffed with intelligent thinking.

But don't let that fool you into thinking this is a Prius in drag, because it's far from it. The challenging Prius styling has been ditched by the CT-200h for a far more sober set of clothes, and once you've removed the distinctive D-pillar it is, if anything, a bit of a background blender. For better or worse, it looks like a Lexus.

It's the same story on the inside, with a cabin that's cosseting and comfortably laid out rather than rakish and idiosyncratic. Passengers front and rear will find it easy to get comfortable but children in the back might find the CT tricker than most to see out of, with that unusual window shape meaning they have to crane their necks forward to get a better view.

In fact the real departure for Lexus is the way their smallest offering brings front wheel drive to the firm's showrooms for the first time, but don't let that put you off. Smooth, reassuring and a true motorway mile muncher, you won't regret being behind the wheel if you found BMW's 1 Series or Audi's A3 a little harsh for your liking.

The CT-200h isn't the last word in excitement but it gives you effortless comfort with an eco twist. Business as usual for Lexus, then.

Lexus should be so lucky

SUPPOSE you're a car company renowned for making your motors big. Quiet, endlessly reliable and full of eco-gizmos, naturally, but still big.

You then do something that's been in vogue with big car makers for ages and launch a small one, but you don't want to be embarrassed by it looking so, well, small. Need to make it look a little larger? No problem. Just hire a pintsized popstar to promote it.

That's the impression I got today after looking at the pictures accompanying Lexus' genius idea of getting Kylie Minogue to promote the CT 200h, who in return will get the Japanese company to sponsor her 2011 tour. Nothing wrong with that - Seat is, after all Shakira's latest collaborator - or Kylie herself, whose particular brand of not-at-all-inspired-by-Daft-Punk dance electropop actually sounded brilliant on her last album. But she looks tiny next to that car!

Belinda Poole, Lexus director, explained the tie-up by saying: "Kylie is the perfect ambassador for Lexus and the new Lexus CT 200h."

"Kylie has the energy, style and exceptionally popular public profile that will reach directly to customers new to the Lexus brand."

Readers old enough to remember Kylie in her gold hotpants days will already know she's done this sort of automotive promotion work before, when Ford scored the PR coup of the Noughties by getting her to pose with the StreetKa . To this day I still won't drive a StreetKa because it's the first image that springs to mind when anyone utters the phrase "girly car", but it and Kylie were made for each other, because it's as sprightly, good looking and stylish as she is. More importantly, it was small and actually looked as though Ford had tailor-made it just for her.

Putting Kylie next to the CT-200h doesn't work because the evidence presented above doesn't make it look bigger - it just makes her look smaller, and despite my best efforts I can't help conclude she's still the more stylish of the two. With the StreetKa, it was a partnership of equals.

To this day, I cannot picture Kylie Minogue driving anything else.

The Life On Cars Radio Show

WHILE I could have used the new MP3 dictaphone in The Champion office for something vaguely useful, I've used it to record a show about cars instead.

As part of a venture for ChampRadio, the paper's new online radio station, I offered to do a recorded version of the banter you're probably used to reading on here and in the back pages of a certain local newspaper. It's essentially a follow up to what I did with Dune FM - the last show was in June last year - but with a more of an emphasis on new cars on their way to a showroom near you.

You can check this week's episode out by clicking on the link below to see what guest Katie Massam and I think of a whole host of cars, and you can check out all the other broadcasts on the "Radio" link on the blog.

You can also get involved, if you've got an opinion about cars and don't mind having a microphone thrust in your face, by getting in touch.

Until then, enjoy...

Fire up the... Lexus IS-F

THIS car's closest rival, believe it or not, is Liverpool Airport.

I say because the easiest and cheapest way to experience the epic acceleration of Lexus' IS-F, the company's first ever supersaloon, is to check in for the next flight from John Lennon, strap yourself into an Easyjet Boeing 737, and remind yourself of the way it rockets down the runway as it takes off. Japan's answer to the BMW M3 is a master of that same sort of relentless acceleration.

Thanks to a 414bhp, 5.0 litre V8 engine nestling under the bonnet of this otherwise sober suited saloon, this Lexus is fast on a level far removed from ordinary British motoring, making it wickedly intoxicating and effortlessly illegal at the same time.

It's as easy to drive as anything else from the firm's showrooms, being smooth and quiet on country roads and a doddle through built up areas, but mash your right foot into the floor and you might as well be on the next flight to Malaga.

Even overtaking, this car's party piece, can get you into trouble if you don't watch your speed, because even split second bursts will propel you well over the speed limit, although as a conselation you're treated to an American muscle car soundtrack as you do it!

My only real criticism is that it's neither as outlandish as BMW's M3 or Jaguar's XFR - a saloon with this much potency might as well look the part - and that the interior, well built and sumptuously trimmed as it is, isn't particularly inspiring either.

In my heart of hearts I know that a £57,000 Lexus that gets from nought to 60mph in less than five seconds before powering on to a top speed of almost 170mph is completely irrelevant in an age of austerity and Government cost-cutting, and that really I should be pointing you in the direction of one of the firm's eco-friendly hybrid models instead.

But you just can't help loving this Lexus.

As published in The Champion on December 1, 2010

I'd rather have a Suzuki Swift than a 170mph Lexus

This is one of the contrived conclusions I've come to after spending a day driving a selection of newly-launched cars around the Yorkshire countryside, after which I sat down and pondered whether I really am The Champion office petrolhead. I'll say it again; I'd rather have a Suzuki Swift than a 170mph Lexus.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders test drive days for the media are a bit like speed dating for cars, and it was at one of these events today that I somehow managed to persuade a nice man working for the Toyota/Lexus press office to lend me the keys to the Lexus IS-F, a banzai belter of a saloon that's being dubbed the Japanese M3. No, I don't know why he thought it was a good idea either.

Don't get me wrong; I loved the Lexus, primarily because it's by far and away the most bonkers car I've ever been allowed to drive. Anyone not familiar with this four-door flyer might dismiss it as a normal Lexus saloon with a bad Max Power bodykit on it, but the first moment you mash your right foot into the floor and get the 414bhp V8 to strut its stuff is sublime and scary in equal measure. It is intoxicatingly, frighteningly and licence-losingly fast.

Which is why I couldn't recommend it, because its strongest suit, the tidal wave of torque it offers up, is also its biggest drawback. The moments when you feel the explosiveness of this car's engine are just that; moments, because within seconds you've shot up to speeds you really shouldn't be doing. It's an addictive hit of epic acceleration, but get hooked and it'll get you into trouble.

I'm actually beginning to wonder whether I hanker for horsepower at all. A week after whinging that a wheelspinning Jag was completely outclassed by Escorts and Polos in an endurance race, I've realised that an entirely different bit of Japanese automotive engineering to the Lexus is a belter for Britain's highways and byways.

Suzuki's new Swift is about as far from the IS-F as I can imagine, but a combination of balletic handling, a flick-of-the-wrist gearchange and a sweet engine that sings rather than roars made it far more fun in the real, Gatso-ridden world. It's as if someone's stolen a Mazda MX-5, one of my favourite sports cars, disguised it as a small shopping car, and then put it on sale.

It really is that good.

Full road tests of the ten cars David Simister drove in Yorkshire will be posted on the Fire Up The... page in the coming weeks.