2021 Lexus ES 250 review: Super cruiser

The 2021 Lexus ES 250 is extra remarkable than you may well imagine. Soon after 800 miles in the saddle of this gold-plated Toyota Avalon on a travel to Michigan’s upper peninsula and back again, I’m satisfied to report the ES is an all-star highway-tripper many thanks to its comfort and ease, refinement and fuel financial state.

Redesigned a few several years in the past, the ES troopers on with a few enhancements for 2021. Luxury, F Sport and Ultra Luxury styles now appear standard with blind-place monitoring and rear cross-traffic warn, a special Black Line design is on the menu and, for the initial time, you can get this venerable sedan with all-wheel travel, which arrives standard with the base 4-cylinder motor. Which is the powertrain this illustration is equipped with, while it also characteristics the F Sport offer, which involves distinctive wheels, a mesh grille insert, other visible tweaks and a retuned suspension set up. Adaptive dampers are also offered, while they’re not equipped listed here.

The ES 250’s interior is effectively developed and comfortable. The resources utilized are primarily high top quality, from the supple leather to the aluminum brightwork to the pretty much natural and organic hole sample on the speaker grilles. Some not-so-terrific really hard plastic can be spotted if you poke around and the switches that function the heated and ventilated entrance seats are buried at the base of the middle stack and look crude, particularly in contrast to the ingenuous tuning and volume knobs, which are two concentric dials integrated into 1 assembly. It truly is not a major deal, but I appreciate this minor touch because not only does it look great, it makes it possible for you to tune the radio with no reaching midway throughout the dashboard. I also value this car’s mechanical shifter. There is zero ambiguity to how it capabilities and you can rest your hand on it even though cruising.

In addition to all that, this Lexus’ cushy entrance bucket seats get two thumbs up. Even following hrs in the saddle they go away me sensation refreshed. A boon for passengers, the ES’ backseat is roomy and a good deal comfortable, as well as it arrives with a twelve-volt energy outlet and a pair of 2.2-amp USB ports so everyone’s cell phone can continue to be entirely juiced on long drives. The ES 250 offers 13.nine cubic toes of trunk house, a excellent amount of money to be positive, but restricting this car’s flexibility, the rear backrest does not fold down. At the very least a small pass-by is involved for prolonged cargo. Curiously, the glovebox is fairly small as effectively, hardly big ample to maintain the owner’s manual.

As for tech, the ES arrives standard with Apple CarPlay, Android Vehicle and Amazon Alexa compatibility. An eight-inch infotainment monitor is involved on reduced-conclusion styles, but a gorgeous twelve.three-incher is offered, which involves embedded navigation. This display appears to be terrific, with vibrant hues, excellent viewing angles and nominal glare. Sadly, it is not touch-enabled (nonetheless
), which indicates you have to navigate Lexus’ tangled infotainment procedure with a dastardly trackpad on the middle console. This arrangement is as distracting as it is hard. Why the automaker has not moved on to a little something much better following all these several years is further than me. As with other Toyota and Lexus products and solutions, infotainment tech is this car’s most important weakness.

As you may well have guessed based mostly on its name, the ES 250 characteristics a 2.5-liter motor, just like you can get in a Toyota Avalon or Camry. Without having a supercharger or turbo to offer further oomph, this 4-pot unit provides a modest 203 horsepower and 184 pound-toes of torque. Earning the most of that output, the motor is paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. That gearbox is primarily agreeable, shifting quickly and conveniently dropping gears as expected to hold things transferring, while once in a while it can truly feel a bit lumpy.

Pressed into luxury-car or truck assistance, this Toyota motor is flawlessly serviceable, but like authorities paperwork it truly is devoid of any pleasure. Uncouth vibrations can once in a while be felt, while extra noticeable are the unpleasant noises it generates even though laboring, specifically when climbing hills. Of program, this motor is no firebrand, both, transferring the ES to 60 mph in a just enough eight.six seconds. But what this car’s powertrain lacks in emotion and verve it mainly can make up for with fantastic performance. This Lexus is rated at twenty five mpg city and 34 mpg highway. Put together, it should really return 28 mpg, while it truly is averaging about 32 mpg in my palms, a damn-remarkable score for a big, comfortable, non-hybrid sedan — 1 equipped with all-wheel travel, no significantly less.

The ES 250’s steering and brake truly feel are great to the stage of remaining forgettable. These primary controls get the job finished with no earning any praise or scorn, which is A-Alright in my book. The car’s trip top quality, nevertheless, is wonderful, even with no individuals fancy adjustable dampers. In spite of putting on F Sport badges, this Lexus is smooth and tranquil, floating ever so a little bit above big roadway undulations and shielding passengers from virtually all wind and tire sound, even at further-lawful speeds. The dim-concluded 19-inch F Sport wheels are a get-get, way too, seeking swanky with no curdling that creamy trip.

The adaptive cruise management procedure with lane centering will work phenomenally effectively, easily and attentively changing the vehicle’s speed as necessary and maintaining it locked in the center of its lane. Other useful features like lane-departure warning, automatic high beams, highway-indication recognition and extra are also bundled in the Lexus Basic safety Process Plus 2. suite of highly developed driver aids, which is standard on each design.

The 2021 ES sedan starts off at forty one grand and change like $one,025 in shipping and delivery charges, which is not a negative rate for a cushy cruiser from a blue-chip model. As analyzed, the illustration noticed listed here checks out for a even now fair $fifty three,400. Apart from F Sport trimmings, a wi-fi charging pad ($75), the navigation offer ($2,900), LED headlamps ($one,515) and a few other alternatives padded the base line. However, that is a extra-than-fair figure, particularly when you think about the common new-vehicle transaction rate in the US these days is around $forty,000.

Certain, there are a few things to gripe about, but the ES 250 is an agreeable luxury sedan… delivered your expectations are fair. If you desire tire-roasting acceleration or the agility of a superbike you will be sorely unhappy. Even so, if you drop individuals pretenses and take that this is a tranquil, cushy cruiser, it truly is effortless ample to love this Lexus.