Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & sporty

Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

2011 Lexus CT 200h First Look - Motor Trend

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you probably meant body fat, not bmi. It appears since you don't need heat or ac that perhaps you are a mutant or an alien. Its likely where you live, when its over 100 and humid and only those that are miserly don't put on the ac. When its cold you can always wear a coat and gloves

I think the ct200 will grow to be quite an able car especially when they make it a plug-in. Lexus seems to have learned from some of there hs250 mistakes. We won't know until someone drives one though.

 

Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

Just FYI,
Japanese rumor said the JP pricing will be announced on October 22nd, and the JP official launch date will be on January 12th, 2011.

Ken@Japan

 

Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

I'm not sure that following site was shown here on PriusChat, but I would like to tell the Lexus UK press release page published on Aug 10.
LEXUS CT 200h: ENGINEERED FOR SPORTY HANDLING AS WELL AS FULL HYBRID FUEL EFFICIENCY

Ken@Japan

 

Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

Seems like it has lane assist/radar cruise ie crash avoidance ... but I can't tell if it's equipped w/ the Prius' self park feature. That'll be odd if they didn't add that. In any event, it'll be interesting to see if that self proclaimed gear head / top gear /clarkson gives it thumbs up or down, since he took such joy in bashing the Prius for so long.

Boy ... lots of time laps photograpy on their ad:

The rear looks remarkably like the Leaf ... and the front kinda reminds me of the Gen III Prius. It's a crying shame they didn't seek a 50mpg mark with the car. But the Lexus crowd seems content with power being the most important so I guess I get it.

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Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

motortrend didn't mention the self parking. Its really a gimmick to let your LS park itself when the chaufer has the day off. I don't know if anyone would actually pay money on a car like this for it if it wasn't forced in an option package. It can't park in a spot that you can't easily park in yourself. Who really watches top gear to chose a car. Its entertainment. If the car handles well it will get good reviews from motortrend and car and driver. It also won't have the solar roof, so a less expensive moon roof will be there for those that want it.

motortrend said in the link above

I see some family resemblance to the RX in the rear too. I don't really see much prius or leaf in the sheet metal, other than the leaf also emulates partially the mazda 3's hatch.

50 mpg had to get thrown out the window to get better handling gripper 17" tires. After that was gone, there was no reason to really tie it to an artificial number, so they made the drive mode less quirky. I'm sure you can still hyper-mile in eco and likely get similar mileage under 45mph as a prius V. The cd jump to .29 seems unnecessary though, the hybrid sonata was able to get a cd of .25 like the prius. I guess they liked the styling look and picked that above low drag. The power is exactly the same as the prius, but in "sport" mode more of it is available to the driver instead of locking him out in the prius.
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Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

I think sadly the styling of the HS just threw people off. It is a pretty damn good drive for a FWD car being based on the Euro Avensis. It is far more entertaining than the ES 350 which is for Americans. Sadly most won't give it a shot due to styling inside and out and price.

The yen is scaring me into thinking they will sadly have to price this higher than they want here and in Europe. Bummer.

 

Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

I haven't driven the ES, but test drove the HS. It drove a little better than the prius, but not much. It went 1/4 way to a lexus, and didn't give nearly the mileage of a prius. So driven next to a hybrid fussion it really disappointed. They could have at least made it a little fun to drive, or added decent sound deadening. The new Lex is 600lbs lighter so it may feel much better on that new suspension and hs chassis.

The rumor price is $30K. You can look at the hs250 option list to see how much it will cost outfitted. For the 30K you get something like a lexified prius IV + upgraded wheels, tires, suspension. Not really much of a premium.

 

Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

This car is drawing me into the darker side of green. I think I can get 50 MPG in ECO mode. The Sports mode will turn on the darker side.

 

Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

More juicy information here.

I wish Lexus of NA offer CT200h with 15 and 16 inch wheel options. The lighter model with 15" should get about 50 MPG and faster acceleration.

 

Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

The prelim spec said it'll run on regular gas (87 Octane). SULEV in CARB states (won't have AT-PZEV warranty).

 

Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

surely a company as big as toyota has some foreign exchange hedges to mitigate any fluctuations in the JPY vs. the USD

 

Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

The yen has been under 100 for sometime now and prices for Japanese vehicles have increased and they are losing their pricing advantage. The government didn't do anything to help until recently and the Yen only raised slightly.

The exchange rate along is killing profits at home even a company as large as Toyota.

 

Re: Lexus, introducing the CT200 says hybrids don't have to be "flowery," and they can be fast & spo

The test drive experiences are flowing in and they sound great! I can't wait to drive one.