This luxury tricked out hybrid offers all the bells and whistles of a high end hybrid electric car. The cabin of the Lexus GS450h come with soft leather, bamboo trim, heated and ventilated front and rear seats, a heated steering wheel, power rear sunshade and a high-intensity interior heater.
How Does This Hybrid Get So Efficient?
Equipped with the newest Lexus Hybrid Drive system, the 2013 GS450h delivers 338 total system horsepower, while achieving 31 combined city/highway mpg.
The third piece of the 2013 Lexus GS puzzle is the hybrid model, the GS450h. Since it trumps the regular and F Sport versions of the GS350 as the most powerful member of the sporty new GS family, we expected a performance sedan. But it’s a hybrid, right? Aren’t hybrid cars about fuel economy and feeling superior? Definitely. But a hybrid’s electric motors can also be thought of as an extra source of power. They can provide performance and economy; it all depends on how you drive.
Well, in this case, the Lexus GS450h may be the most powerful member of the GS lineup, but it is also the least sporty of the bunch. The Lexus GS450h wafts itself over the road with the same sort of tranquillity as its big brother, the LS460. There’s a complete absence of road or engine noise, the ride is plush, and the seats are as soft as buttery mashed potatoes. This sort of luxury is Lexus’s trademark, and it’s a delight, provided you aren’t expecting a sports sedan. We didn’t love the mouselike control for the Lexus infotainment system, but the rest of the interior is a soothing cocoon. Dress up the hybrid with the optional bamboo interior trim, and the cabin brightens significantly. Grasp the bamboo steering-wheel rim, and your hand will guess Jaguar, Bentley, something British?
The Lexus GS450h is less than an inch longer and wider than its predecessor, but overall height is up 1.2 inches in rear-wheel-drive models and 1.4 inches for all-wheel-drive cars. Lexus’ new “spindle” grille looks more like a squat hourglass, pinched at its upper opening but widening to encompass a second opening below. All told, the new GS looks identifiably Lexus, but it drops the quad headlights the car has had for two generations. In back, the taillights adopt L-shaped LEDs. Dual tailpipes send exhaust through bumper-integrated openings.
Seventeen-inch alloy wheels and xenon headlights with LED daytime running lamps are standard on this puppy. Plus while Eighteen-inch wheels are optional, there is an optional F-Sport Package adds 19-inch alloys and high-performance summer tires on rear-wheel-drive cars, with all-seasons on all-wheel-drive F-Sport models (which I test drove)!
