Lexus CT Hybrid Luxury Review: Treading lightly on its own path

What we like:

A refined cruiser of a car that will make you feel good driving it

especially when specified with the Mark & Levinson sound system. It's efficient

practical and relatively brisk around town

too.

What we dislike:

You will not appreciate the ride on rough roads

and the fuel economy while good is not much better than comparable smaller turbocharged petrols - if at all. There are also small details that could be worked on to make this car feel more like one of the Lexus family.

You will not find another car in the market like a CT200h. It is pitched as a premium hatchback with an obvious slant towards efficiency, which none of its competitors can really lay claim to. But is it really the most efficient hatchback out there? With our test drive, we felt that its fuel consumption while impressive is not a whole lot better than the best small turbocharged petrol engines or diesels of today, if at all. And although we are likely to lean on the hallmark Lexus reliability to ensure all of the complex hybrid systems will run fine years down the road, it seems like an overcomplication at times that is a tad unnecessary.

It's a bit of an oxymoron too. There is a sport mode, which I suppose for marketing purposes is a necessary superfluous function but one that feels unnatural. The greater oddity though is that its chassis encourages you to drive spiritedly, which does weigh against your efforts to save fuel in the first place.

However, the 'feel good' factor is definitely present, and is best when you are just cruising with the smallest possible carbon footprint while enjoying all of the creature comforts of a Lexus. Chuck away your conventions of what a hybrid is and you will begin to enjoy a car that not only treads lightly, but is treading its own path in the realm of premium hatchbacks.

Credits: Story and photos by Wong C W