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Lexus GS450h Hybrid 2006 Review


But their bewilderment is as nothing compared to yours.

Not only has this very neat accelerative feat been achieved in a Lexus — a marque certain of us equate with wobble-bottomed, luxo lameness — it has been done with scarcely an aural indication to match what your eyes are seeing but choosing not to believe.

Welcome to the GS450h — the world's first mass-production, rear-wheel-drive, luxury hybrid car.

Welcome, also, Lexus informed those of us gathered in Bathurst on Wednesday, to the future of motoring. Just for once, the PR blah is more than hubris.

As we have seen, the GS450h's unique powertrain can certainly move you. But it's the way in which it achieves forward motion that leads you to concur that this car launch may well come to be seen as one of the decade's most significant.

The hybrid variant of the GS range packs an all-new, dual-VVT-i direct injection 3.5 V6 that's good for 216kW, aided and abetted by a 147kW-capable

permanent-magnet electric motor. The total power output is "limited" to 253kW.

The dual-injected petrol engine, a lovely piece of work in itself, delivers 368Nm at 4800 rpm, but the electric unit's 275Nm is available from absolute zero.

Turbo diesel-like lag? Not here.

Driven through an unfeasibly smooth Electric Continuously Variable Transmission, this dual-engine combo offers 4.5-litre performance with a posited 2.5-litre equivalent combined fuel consumption of 7.9 litres per 100km.

This means the "h" variant has 30 per cent greater range than the eight-cylinder GS430, and about 14 per cent more than the six-pot GS300. It's a potent cocktail of performance and economy.

Before hemp-lovers start petitioning the Greens cabal in the Legislative Assembly, the GS450h does all this while emitting an ultra-low level of environmental nasties, making for what Lexus calls "guilt-free performance".

Having never experienced the least guilt over performance, I wasn't sure what that meant. But thrusting through the drought-depleted landscape of the NSW central west, even the least penetrable mind must acknowledge there's something in this ozone-layer-depletion stuff.

It helps hugely that the GS450h means climbing into a hybrid no longer calls for surrendering your testes. Besides, anything as complex as this that works so seamlessly is surely worth a bit of attitude adjustment.

The V6 is the primary source of power and torque, supplemented by two electric motors. One of the latter acts as the starting motor and supplies power to run ancillary functions — steering power assist, stereo, climate control et al.

The second electric motor is there to layer additional power and torque over the petrol engine. And this it did superbly during our admittedly brief open-road experience.

The GS450h weighs more than 1800kg, so the best will in the world won't imagine it as a sports saloon. But it's a grand tourer of the highest order.

CVTs are apt to denude the driver (well, this driver) of feel for speed. Combined with an almost deathly quietness and acceleration that redefines seamless, it's all too easy to achieve licence-voiding quickness without much sensation of having done so.

The six set ratios available in the CVT's sequential shift mode provide an engine-braking function that is of the essence, especially when turning this bulky sedan into tighter bends.

The stop pedal has plenty of power but is far too short-travel and firm to feel anything other than abrupt in a package that is otherwise silky.

There's more fun to be had than simple go-fast acceleration, though, with steering that has a decent amount of feel, and the car's overall weight distributed at 50/50 to extract the most from the rear-wheel-drive dynamics.

Beyond its driveline innovation, the GS450h is bountifully equipped, as befitting the GS series. Gagdets include the Lexus Pre-Collision System, active cruise control, adaptive variable suspension and 10 airbags.

The surfeit of tech is laid out for ease of use and legibility, points of difference being a power meter instead of a tachometer (there is, after all, more than one engine torquing away here), a read-out that indicates the power source being tapped, a rear-view camera and automatic reverse assist, and hands-free Bluetooth for the phone.

The need to shove the battery aft, however, seriously infringes on boot space. A tight 250 litres has to suffice for the golf clubs.

All this can be yours for $121,990, so don't expect to see many of them about, much less hear them. (Use of the horn is advised in car parks or at low speeds.)

The point of the GS450h's advent, though, is that performance has been added to the hybrid equation.

When that filters down to affordable cars, as it surely will, Lexus's claims of revolutionising the "automotive landscape" will come to pass. It will be a deceptively silent revolution.

$8,995 - $16,990

Based on 12 car listings in the last 6 months

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Price Guide

$8,995 - $16,990

Based on 12 car listings in the last 6 months

Disclaimer: The pricing information shown in the editorial content (Review Prices) is to be used as a guide only and is based on information provided to Carsguide Autotrader Media Solutions Pty Ltd (Carsguide) both by third party sources and the car manufacturer at the time of publication. The Review Prices were correct at the time of publication.  Carsguide does not warrant or represent that the information is accurate, reliable, complete, current or suitable for any particular purpose. You should not use or rely upon this information without conducting an independent assessment and valuation of the vehicle.