‘Self-charging’ to a favorable consumption
If you say hybrid, you say Toyota and with that Lexus in the same breath. With the IS 300h, Lexus brought hybrid to the premium D segment. It has never become a resounding success, but the car has undeniable qualities. Is the ‘self-charging’ hybrid system one of them, or does it turn out to be a joke in practice?
We deliberately put the term ‘self-charging’ in quotes. After all, it is a somewhat clumsy – and according to Norwegians even misleading – description of the hybrid system. The mediocre advertising campaign does not do justice to the car, because interesting technology is hidden under the skin of such a Lexus IS 300h. The hybrid powertrain is significantly more powerful than that of the CT 200h, delivering a total output of 223 hp; 181 of these are generated by a 2.5 liter four-cylinder.
Good average
On average, users of a Lexus IS 300h note a consumption of 6.3 l/100 km, in more practical values ​​that means exactly 1 in 16. For a car in this class and with this system power, that is neat.
With a calmer driving style or under more favorable conditions, consumption can be reduced even further, as the owner of this IS 300h Business Line Pro from 2014 proves. Over three years and 46,000 km, he recorded an average of 5.8 l/100 km or 1 in 17.3. This makes it the most economical.
The most economical driver only kept track of consumption for a few months and noted a still not unfavorable 6.8 l/100 km, converted 1 to 14.7. The next most economical driving IS 300h is a copy from 2013, with which an average of 6.5 l / 100 km (1 in 15.3) was achieved during 37,596 km.
Better than competitors
In this section we recently looked at the consumption of the Volvo V60 and BMW 320i in the AutoWeek consumption monitor. Compared to these models, Lexus’ strategy appears to be well chosen. V60 drivers do not get further than an average of 1 in 13 and the most economical V60 uses petrol only slightly more sparingly than the least economical IS 300h. Drivers of a BMW 320i note a slightly more favorable 1 to 13.3.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl