Drove the Premium 350E today. Body style could probably get used to. It is a large car and to me close to what used to be full sized car. The car was very smooth on highway and going over bumps with the 21 inch tires which had deep tread. Seats were only slightly more comfortable than current ES but weren't leather and I expected a much more comfortable seat which it wasn't. Sat in a RX leather afterwards and seat was much more comfortable all around and not as hard. Couldn't see the nav system as first setup has to be paired with phone for some reason. I liked the size of the car as I wanted something more in line with my LS430 but this is and feels bigger like a full size car. Sitting in the RX I might give that another try but would wait till the 2027 refresh. Sales manager said he heard the technology software is supposed to be like the ES so maybe embedded maps and split screen will happen. Maybe if the ES were in the luxury it would be more comfortable I don't know.

 

Interesting about 8ES size.

Traditionally, Corollas only 165" subcompact, then grew to 177" compact, and now 183" - heading to 189" due mostly to curvaceous styling and a lesser extent to safety requirements.
Likewise, Camries were 177" compact, then grew to 189" midsize, and now 194" - heading to 201"; again, mostly due to curvaceous styling.

Thing is, these days, 8ES must compete with Chinese LWB E Class 200.4" and Chinese LWB 5 Series 200.9" respectively.
Hence, 8ES ends up at 202" - with a 4" stretched wheelbase, 8" more in overall length and effectively 1/2 a size bigger than Camry - 8ES is certainly a stretched modern Camry, and direct size comparison to LWB E Class and LWB 5 Series sold in China.

 

This car has no components shared with the Camry.

 

8ES shares GA-K platform and other major components like engine block etc.

 

I am talking about the suspension.