LEXUS CT 200h Review

Lexus wants to place the CT 200h up there with the big names like Che Guevara, claiming that the vehicle is starting a revolution, a quiet revolution. Actually, the vehicle has been created as a more refined choice for those who want a compact, economical vehicle.

This is a new manifestation of the car’s strong personality. Not only does it have its own version of the Atkinson cycle (OK, borrowed from the Prius), but it also spells hybrid in its way. In English, this means that you don’t necessarily get “better economy“ than you’d receive from a modern clean diesel. Instead, the vehicle really allows you to enjoy the silence.

Thanks to certain solutions, such as a serious sound proofing and redesigned engine mounts, the 1.8-liter petrol unit is as quiet as a deer looking the lion in the eye, providing that you keep the revs low. If you don’t, which will be the case in many situations, then you’ll feel like the deer hearing the lion roar.

The seats are incredibly comfortable for the level of lateral support they offer, with this impression being shared by both our average-sized and tall editors. Things are even better for the driver and the passenger, who can enjoy electric power.

Unfortunately, we can’t say the same thing about the ride. Yes, it also offers a hefty amount of “lateral support” during the corners, but your internal organs have to pay for this. This is pretty frustrating, as it’s like being hangover without having gotten drunk, as the lazy powertrain never allows you to be enchanted with the speed.

Fortunately, the electrification hasn’t had any negative effects on the air conditioning system. The dual zone automatic aircon, which relies on an electric compressor (used to save energy), manages to handle its tasks just fine. The only unusual feeling comes from the Prius-borrowed battery rear cooling duct, which is located next to the rear side bolster of the rear seat.

Open the CT 200h’s hood and... you’ll find a non-premium, typical “stick” that is used to hold it in an upright position. But we’re not here to talk about that. Actually, we won’t even be here too long because, like we said this is almost the same hardware used to (under)power the Toyota Prius. Of course, Lexus wanted whiter collars, so it did teach the hybrid powertrain, which consists of three engines, a few new tricks.

Neither the electric motor that acts as a continuously variable transmission (eCVT to use Toyota language), nor the 60kW electric motor wanted to take any classes. However the 1.798cc Atkinson four-pot did, becoming a cool engine. No, not Keiichi Tsuchiya cool, but EGR cool. The powerplant comes with an Exhaust Gas Recirculation cooler which increases its efficiency even further.

Like we said, we won’t insist on the powertrain: we have a combined output of 136 hp and a peak torque of... Lexus doesn’t offer one and the vehicle has such poor straight line performance that we didn’t bother to find a dyno to test this.

But this is not even half the tech story, as Lexus took the time to develop a new chassis for the car. We have got to tell, you, the CT 200h can be used as a real-life textbook for modern automotive body&chassis construction. The engineers have increased the torsional rigidity of each and every area, just like a bodybuilder carefully develops all his muscles. We’ll jump out of the review and land on top of the car.

Ouch! The upper body is a rigid area, as the the engineers have used an entirely closed cross-section around the whole back door opening and have strengthened the area running from the backside of the rear side member to the rear wheel housings.

In this paragraph, it will seem like we’re dissecting a rally car, but don’t worry, it belongs here. Lexus has paid attention to key concepts, such as lightness and gravity center lowering. Thus, the company has placed the seats low and as close to the center of the vehicle as possible and used aluminum for the hood, tailgate and bumper reinforcements. Another important piece in this inertia moment-reducing puzzle was placing the battery below the loadspace floor. Yes, this decimates the luggage space, but, as you can read in the “Open Road” chapter, it does pay out.

We also have a smart approach for the spot welds, with a reduced spot weld pitch at the base of the pillars and, again, rally-inspired bracing, with the specialist using a front suspension member brace, a rigid front floor brace, a rear suspension member brace and two rigid rear lower supports, as well as a special battery frame.

As you can imagine, all that rigidity does bring a certain amount of vibrations. Lexus decided to combat this by replacing the usual fixed bracing with a Lateral Performance Damper System, which consists of two dampers: one connecting the front suspension towers and one linking the two sides of the rear structural frame (in front of the rear bumper).

Unfortunately, it seems like the Euro-spec cars don’t come with this feature, as we couldn’t even find it on the list of optional extras. Did we say suspension? Well, this means that we’ll have to mention that we are dealing with an L-arm MacPherson strut front setup and an independent double wishbone rear one that uses a trailing arm architecture. Many of the components, such as the anti-roll bars, have been created from the ground up, in order to offer involving handling.

Overall, the vehicle comes with a low center of gravity, a 60:40 weight distribution, as well as short front and rear overhangs. Are you bored? Just jump to the “Open Road” chapter and see how all these goodies translate into real world driving.

The European-spec CT 200h range comes with an uneven distribution of goodies. There are four equipment levels (we tested the second highest), but, while the first three follow a linear increase for the list of features, the top of the range one brings an explosion of goodies.

This means that we were deprived of quite a few interesting toys, such as the Mark Levinson 7.1 Surround audio system, the 7-inch HDD LCD satnav screen and Lexus’s “mouse”, the remote touch.

However, we did enjoy a reasonable amount of interesting and useful features, such as the rearview camera and the LED Xenon automatic-function headlights. But the main focus of this chapter has been saved for last.

From the moment you enter the cabin, your inner child notices the big shiny knob and wants to play with it, which makes it a gadget. Well, this is quite a nice toy, as it transforms the vehicle’s behavior. You can choose to live your life behind the wheel in a normal, eco or sport mode, as well as in a completely electric mode. You’ll only be able to avoid dinosaur juice for a few kilometers with the landscape going past you at maximum 50 km/h (30 mph).

The knob does a little bit more than just switching the backlight of the instrumentation from red (sport) to blue (the other modes). The first thing you notice is the change in the steering effort and this can really be enjoyed, as the system has pretty good hardware to work with.

First of all, it changes the response of the acceleration: in the normal mode the engine listens to your voice, in the eco one it’s like your talking to a 90-year old (this acts just like the “snow” mode of an automatic transmission, reducing the level of response), while in the sport mode, you feel like chatting with a teenager who’s just had a few drinks.

In the sport mode, the car is very agitated, but not much happens, even though the system goes as far as tempering the air conditioning. If the battery has a proper state of charge, you’ll get 650V from the electric motor instead of the “usual” maximum of 500 (this is also the value you receive when you’re at full throttle in the rest of the modes) working together with the petrol burner.

The CT 200h hasn’t been bashed against any official wall yet, so we’ll only be able to describe the vehicle’s safety based on the features it comes packed with.

For this review, we’ll start with passive safety, as we’ve already described a key element of this in the “Deux Ex Machina” chapter. We are referring to the high torsional rigidity of the body, which not only allows you to keep the vehicle on the road, but also minimizes the effects of a failure to do so.

Once the body gets in contact with other entities, you’ll also be protected by eight airbags, including two for the knees of the driver and front passenger. Moving past that, you can rely on the Whiplash Injury Lessening, which includes an optimized seat back structure and active headrests.

However, it’s best if you try to work together with the ABS, EBD (Electronic brake distribution), BAS (braking assistance system), traction control, variable assistance electric-powered steering and stability control system to avoid having to use the features mentioned in the paragraph above.

When the CT 200h takes both hands behind its back and asks you to choose between right and left, be sure to take both. One of them hides a pleasing level premium-ness, exactly what you’d expect from a Lexus, while the other can barely hold the ton of fun inside of it, with the lively, involving, handling and the low, focused driving positing being nothing short of exceptional. Actually, there’s also a third hand, which is used to keep you from opening your wallet too wide when visiting a petrol station.

Unfortunately, Lexus entered the compromise woods too deep, risking for this word to be used to describe the vehicle. The car is trying a bit too hard to show you that it knows what young&sporty means, ruining the ride comfort in the process. And if you actually bring driving dynamics in the discussion, it will fail to shine, as the hybrid powertrain lets it down in terms of real world output and power delivery.

Premium car buyers will be thrilled after a test DRIVE, but will certainly need a serious amount of time to take a buying decision. It's pretty hard to make up your mind about trading the multi-purpose clean diesel powerplants of the Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series for the (low and medium rev range only) refinement of the Toyota Lexus Hybrid Synergy Drive.

Before we end the show, we have to mention that the CT 200h and the Prius will certainly be involved in domestic violence, as the two come with close pricing ranges.