2018 Lexus CT200h F Sport - interior Exterior and Drive

2018 Lexus CT200h F Sport review

Lexus’s ageing sports-luxury hybrid hatch has been given an update for 2018, though familiar issues remain.

+

Bigger infotainment display
Excellent urban fuel economy
Seamless interaction between electric and petrol motors

-

Unresolved ride issues
Lethargic performance
Lacklustre interior presentation
Electric-only motoring limited
Mediocre infotainment system
Compromised rear seat and boot
Many better options for the price



It’s been seven years since the Lexus CT200h debuted, yet a hybrid-powered luxury hatchback remains a rare concept.

In that time, Audi’s A3 e-tron plug-in hybrid disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived, while BMW’s only five-door nod to the environment is the i3 electric car.

Seven years is typically when products get that next-generation-model itch, though what we have here is yet another mild update for the Toyota Prius-based Lexus CT200h.

MY18 changes firstly bring subtle exterior styling revisions. Up front, the ‘spindle’ hourglass-shaped grille switches from horizontal bars to mesh (black for the F-Sport version we’ve tested here), the headlights adopt bi-LED lamps, and there are LED foglights in revised surrounds.

Side-on, there are new 16-inch wheels for the base Luxury variant, and the F Sport’s 17-inch alloys gain a dark metallic finish.

The tail-lights look sharper too, with an L-shaped design featuring all-LED lenses including indicators. There’s a revised lower rear bumper, with the F Sport again differentiated with black faux-vent trim.

The Lexus CT200h cabin is upgraded with a larger, 10.3-inch widescreen display for the Enform infotainment system, and new choices of white or red leather-accented interior or all black.

The MY18 Lexus CT200h also brings the hatch up to speed with contemporary driver aids. All models now feature Safety System +, which adds autonomous emergency braking, pre-collision warning for both pedestrians and vehicles, lane departure warning, radar cruise control, and auto high beam.



The changes aren’t free. The $40,990 Luxury is a $2150 increase, the range-topping $56,900 Sports Luxury is up $810, while the F Sport variant on test here jumps $1960 to $50,400.

The driver aids are particularly welcome, though there’s a sense Toyota’s luxury division is already prepping for CT Mark II, as the company has again opted against introducing its 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol turbo engine that debuted on the NX SUV in 2014.

The hybrid powertrain, of course, provides Lexus’s smallest model with great fuel economy, at least in the city and around the suburbs where there is greater opportunity to limit the use of the 1.8-litre petrol engine and rely on the electric motor alone.

Yet while the CT200h’s official consumption of 4.4 litres per 100km is good, Audi and BMW do have an answer, if not as clean in one case. The BMW 118d diesel has a lab-registered figure of 4.2L/100km, and the Audi A3 1.0 TFSI also drops under the 5.0L mark (4.9L).

It can be satisfying driving under electric power alone, though even in EV mode it takes only a little incline or a minor push of the throttle for the petrol engine to kick in.




It can be satisfying driving under electric power alone, though even in EV mode it takes only a little incline or a minor push of the throttle for the petrol engine to kick in.

The Toyota/Lexus hybrid system continues to impress with the seamless switch between petrol and electric power, and the delivery of that to the front wheels is never anything less than smooth.

But despite years of development, some of the hybrid system’s irksome characteristics have still yet to be ironed out.

The brake feel and response of the regenerative braking system, for example, remains disappointing. It makes smooth, accurate braking virtually impossible.

The lack of throttle response in Normal mode can be disconcerting when trying to enter a roundabout or turn out of a junction, prompting an almost permanent switch to the Sport mode via the rotary dial on the centre console (which you then push rather than rotate to return to Normal, or rotate left for Eco).

Even in Sport, performance is never more than sedate – a feeling that shouldn’t be surprising considering the drivetrain’s meagre 100kW combined output, and one confirmed by Lexus’s 0-100km/h claim for the CT200h: 10.3 seconds.
Full Review https://www.caradvice.com.au/604982/2...


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