jgscott

iTrader: (1)

Hey I'm looking and reviewing buying a pre-owned 2013 ES300h.

No, I have not driven it yet, doing Web searches to find the right Car, right Color, options and lowest miles for the money that is accident free.

My reading reviews has me finding that some reviews say the car is slow (yes I know about the 3 diff mode selections), others say the 300h is almost a sec faster in 0-60 that Lexus claimed and rated it. Others say kinda slow, but not as slow as others Hybrid's out there.

Can some 300h owners give me some owner feedback about the performance, and are their different option packages on the 2013 300h, are all mostly equipped the same?

Really appreciate any Owners chiming in about the power issues, and other feedbacks. Thanks.

GES

The car is wonderful. Not slow at all. The hybrid battery assists the engine when you need rapid acceleration and increases the torque. Of course when you say slow, it is relative. Slow compared to what?. Ultimately You have to test drive the car yourself and decide. Every person is different. And when you drive the car, please don't use the eco mode. In eco mode yes it is slow. The normal and sport mode are much better. The eco mode makes driving the car not enjoyable at all. I have 60K miles on it and I drive more city than highway, a lot of stop and go, and so far has been very reliable and still drives like it was new. No issues what so ever.
Of course it comes in different packages, not all of them are equipped the same. There is base model, premium, luxury, ultra luxury packages. you can research those yourself.

LexBob2

Once you get a chance to drive a 300h then you'll be able to determine if it feels slow or not to you. A lot of it probably has to do with what you are used to.

The 300h is nearly 2 seconds slower 0-60 than the 350 (7.7 seconds vs. 5.8 seconds) according to Car and Driver. 7.7 seconds is not what I'd consider slow, but the V6 is notably faster. Good luck with your search.

TechNut

As others have said, it is all relative. I do not find the 300h slow at all but that is based on my personal expectations. It has a great deal more power than our previous Priuses. Of course, I don't need a hot rod so my expectations could easily be different than yours, but I have found it to be just fine during both city driving and road trips. I think it's a great car and a very comfortable compromise. Oh, and when I put it in the garage a few minutes ago it was reading 39.1 MPG ( dash reading is typically 1.5 miles optimistic over calculated mileage). Amazing fuel economy considering the size and 100% city driving on the current tank.

As for the option packages, yes they offer all the same packages as an ES 350. You may not see as many around with the Ultra Luxury package though as it results in a pretty expensive new car when considering the additional cost of the hybrid drivetrain. That difference probably isn't as obvious when reviewing used car prices.

satek

Yep, super relative. I drove 2 cars that had 10+ sec 0-60 times before my ES300H and the Lexus feels adequate.

However, whenever you do floor it, the engine noise sounds bad and loud, and is really intrusive due to the CVT. Fortunately, you'd only be flooring it for 1-2 seconds.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

Hey thanks for the feedback so far. Im well aware to sum up the comments, that slow is a relative term. But no better place to ask opinions than member at this Forum about the ES300h that own or have owned.

I read articles that said the 300h felt faster and clocked 0-6- faster that Lexus 7.7 claim. They got 7.0. Also read the 300h felt faster than the 350. I will drive one soon. Nearest one to me to test is about 1;45mins away.

Please keep the post from those who have it coming. Seems the comments thus far is that it adequate, to perform thus far. Thanks

TechNut

Looking at your signature line you show an MKS with a twin turbo and performance upgrades on the way. Given your apparent quest of performance, I question whether you would be satisfied with a hybrid automobile.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

Thanks but Im just seeking opinions of the car from Owners who have one, or had one. Owning a MKS has nothing to do with me asking about the ES300h. BTW I owned 2 ES's before. A 1993 and 1997. Of course not Hybrids. Both Great cars. Just thought I'd ask here before I purchased the Specialty of a Hybrid ES300h, how others thought. If that's ok here.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

Thank for your comments about the engine noise, and the CVT flooring the car. I was unaware and didn't read any comments in reviews about it. Something that I will listen for to see if its a issue to me.

chromedome

Technically it's not a CVT as that used on other models, Toyota calls it an e-CVT but it's actually a planetary gear transmission. The end result is still similar in that there's a lag between engine speed and road speed. If you floor the throttle, the engine quickly shoots up to 5000 rpm but it takes a while for actual road speed to increase. There are no gears though so acceleration is smooth.

The battery pack also gives a big midrange kick so the hybrid is great for town driving. It feels like a big turbodiesel but with no lag. I usually drive in Eco mode and I get 45 mpg average in city driving. Normal and Sport modes are better for highway driving because they reduce the throttle lag.

TechNut

We do currently own an ES 300h or I probably wouldn't have spoken up. We also own an NX 300h that has an identical drivetrain (except its AWD so it has an electric motor for the rear wheels). I wasn't objecting to your post at all and even encourage your posing questions to Hybrid ES owners. I was merely making an observation from your signature line and NOT trying to discourage your purchase in any way. I am a huge fan of this model. I just thought your performance upgrades on your signature block suggest you are somewhat performance oriented and while the 300h has very satisfying performance for my needs, it definitely doesn't have a performance orientation. The real gauge will be how the test drive feels to you!

peteharvey

I have never driven an ES300h, however I have driven IS300h & GS300h's in Europe.
The 300h's are supposed to be the same, yet felt so different.
The IS300h was very ordinary in power, and ordinary in refinement too.

The GS300h felt a little more powerful, and perfectly good for day to day drivibg, but no rocketship.
However the GS300h was a much smoother, quieter & more isolated unit than the IS300h.
I could live with GS300h, but I didn't think I could live with IS300h.
The GS300h was a smoother, quieter & more isolated car than an ES350 atmospheric!

How IS300h compares with ES350 - I don't know.
I don't know what ES300h is like either.

The 300h's use an ingenius "planetary" CVT type gearbox called an eCVT, as opposed to a conventional "belt driven" CVT.
Hence it has stepless gears.
However, the eCVT also allows a conventional internal combustion engine ICE to be mated to a pair of electric motors in the gear box for hybrid use, as opposed to a single large electric motor in a Tesla's rear axle in a full EV.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

Yes. I understand my Sig. Don't want to mix apples and oranges tho. I will drive as soon as I can, but in the mean time the forum was a good source for me to ask being that there is likely 500k + miles of driving experience here. That experience is also valuable and also different than a "Test Ride", IMO.

Freds430

Slow is relative. I have plenty of power starting at lights (for me). Can easily merge on to the interstate. If I smash down on the pedal it moves. With all that being said, I just got back from a 350 mile trip and used slightly more than a half of tank of gas and averaged 40 mpg. My better half has a RX450h and we both agree would never own anything other than a hybrid. Recently test drove a GS200t and averaged 23.5 mpg.

chromedome

The GS300h and IS300h have 220 hp vs the ES300h's 200 hp. I assume torque should be similar and in a hybrid, it's all about torque.

Put it in Sport mode and you get a big midrange kick. Put it in Eco and you can get 50 mpg with careful driving and some luck with the lights. Not many cars out there that can do both. I agree with Freds430, once you go hybrid you'll never go back to a simple gasser.