“Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments,” said Shakespeare. Well, there are certainly no impediments to the marriage of propulsion technologies inside the Lexus GS 300h, as this is a hybrid vehicle that seamlessly interweaves the best of electric and petrol within a sleek-looking package.  As is the case in other hybrid vehicles, when you start up the engine inside the Lexus GS 300h with the push-button start, the electric motor will get things in motion. Electricity and petrol will combine as you accelerate, then the petrol motor will take over at high speeds where it works at its most efficient. Slow down in heavy traffic in the middle of town and the electric motor kicks in again. But you won’t notice all these changes going on as you sit in the comfy driver’s seat: it all happens so smoothly.  Part of this is down to the CVT automatic transmission, of course, but it’s also down to the “power of h” as the Lexus design team calls its hybrid technology.

The electrical power inside the Lexus GS 300h is supplied by the high-voltage battery, which has a nominal voltage of 230 V and uses nickel metal hydride; maximum system voltage in the electric motor is 650 V.  The petrol unit that makes up the other half of the hybrid engine is a 2.5-L engine with Atkinson Cycle inline 4 configuration that reaches the peak of its power curve at 133 kW and 6000 rpm, and has a nice flat torque curve that maxes out at 221 Nm across the 4200–5400 rpm range.  The combined fuel economy figures of 5.2 L/100 km means that you won’t be putting petrol in the 66-litre fuel tank too often.

Lexus is all about luxury, so the Lexus GS 300h is a five-door sedan that has the scrumptiousness factor.  Three variants are there for you to choose from: Luxury, F Sport and Sports Luxury.  However, no matter what type of Lexus GS 300h you prefer, there are some things that you can always count on. And you definitely can count on the stability package to keep you out of trouble, what with the ABS brakes with brake assist and EBD, traction control and vehicle stability control.  You can also count on the blind spot monitor, the rear view camera with Rear Guide Assist and the tyre pressure monitoring system.

Other things that you’ll find in every variant of the Lexus GS 300h include the cruise control, the Lexus Remote Touch controller for all the bells and whistles, the memory function for the driver’s seat, the HDD navigation system, the fog lights, the voice-controlled audio system, the 3.5-inch secondary display screen, the Bluetooth preparation, heated and ventilated front seats, and the rain-sensing wipers.

Some things that you’ll find in the Luxury and F-Sport variants are the cruise control, the 8-inch multimedia display screen, the 12-speaker Pioneer audio system with iPod and USB input and, on the outside, the bi-xenon headlights.

For the ultimate level of luxury in hybrid motoring, the Lexus GS 300h Sport Luxury adds in a number of little extras: things like the advanced pre-collision safety system that also monitors driver fatigue, the Lane Keep assist aid, the heated rear outer seats, the LED front fog lights, the 17-speaker Mark Levinson audio system and the 12.3-inch display panel, to name a few.

Style-wise, the Lexus GS 300h has been carefully crafted to look sophisticated and slightly aggressive at the same time. It’s probably the distinctive Lexus spindle grille that gives the forward-looking assertive appearance to the front end, along with the angled headlights. The rest of the Lexus GS 300h is tailored to be smooth and seamless, with a somewhat sporting silhouette and the slant of the front lights mirrored at the back above the almost invisible exhaust outlet. The Lexus GS 300h sits pretty on 17-inch (Luxury) or 19-inch (F Sport and Sport Luxury) alloys, where it rides smoothly thanks to the nicely tuned suspension (the F Sport variant has sports tuning to the independent double wishbone (front) and independent multilink (rear) systems).  The wing mirrors and door handles are body coloured for a seamless look, but there is a little touch of chrome around the rear window.  Ten colours are available for the exterior, with an eleventh (White Nova) being possible in the F-Sport; on the inside, a selection of leather-trimmed interior trims are possible, with the “bamboo” trim being exclusive to hybrid Lexus models like the Lexus GS 300h.

Current model series include:

• Lexus GS 300h Luxury
• Lexus GS 300h F Sport
• Lexus GS 300h Luxury Sport

For any more information on the Lexus GS 300h, or for that matter any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quotes requests out to our national network of Lexus dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!