So thought I would do a quick review of the CT200h - Its excellent, okay I am done.
The puncture turned out to be a faulty valve, this was very exciting because one morning, on one of its 85km per day work runs it chucked a Hybrid Drive Fault (engine light) because of said ever so slightly deflated tyre, a complete first for me - After this thrilling adventure, which turned out to be nothing at all, it resumed its standard aahhhhuuuhhhhhh eCVT drone while going nowhere fast and got 4.6L/100km on the way home - Perfect perfect perfect.
Overall, the CT200h is sublime - it does everything it says it will on the box, its surprisingly engaging in sport mode through some bends but you can really feel the 1.4 tons when you prod it on a bit yet the chassis has a playfulness to it that reminds me of my old MINI Clubman. Having so many toys is also a revelation - I must explain I have had cars with all of these features before (auto lights, auto wipers, keyless entry, led headlights, heated seats, folding mirrors, reverse camera, premium sound system, electric seats, dimming mirrors etc) but in the other cars they never felt quite as optimised as they do in the Lexus - It doesnt feel like you need to manage the "auto" anything, its just dialed in, get in and go and it does everything without your input which is fairly refreshing but then one must remember, this was nearly a half a million rand car in 2012, so it had to do everything perfectly.
Its party piece is of course economy - Which in Eco mode where it dials back the climate control and throttle response is insane. It is super easy to get it under 5L/100km with my best run from Boksburg to Pretoria coming in at 4.2L/100km. In normal mode it is a pleasure to drive and it allows you to see what is happening in terms of electric vs petrol supply and it is surprisingly easy to run it for extended periods of time, at speed in EV only mode - Essentially its a game of throttle positioning, get it right and it will do 5.1 to 5.3L everywhere without being grannied - So in short, the Hybrid system itself is also engaging but ultimately you have to want to get good economy or you could just flat foot it everywhere and it will average 6L/100km. With such a small tolerance between joy and micromanaging economy you tend to just leave it in normal and get on with it knowing it will do its thing, which it does, excellently.
You can pop it into sport where it reverts from eco dials to a rev counter and makes the interior lighting red (instead of blue) but really this is only useful for short moments of spirited driving as the Hybrid system effectively dumps the battery maxing out the electric assist motor to give it maximum power - An experience that must be managed as once the battery is flat (maybe 3 to 4 hard pulls) it reverts to charging for a minute or so and leaves you on a naturally aspirated 70kw 1.8L NA motor - not ideal but very rarely does this happen.
This brief ownership period and around 6000km of use has highlighted one thing for me and quite simply that is the reality that while the Toyota Prius was goaded and hated and diminished in value through stereotypes it is fundamentally an excellent A to B car. The Lexus takes this to another level by adding some weight, adding some quality and doing it all beautifully and that means that I do not see a future for me to ever own a non-hybrid again. With brands like Chery coming up with class leading hybrid tech as featured in the 415kw Omoda C9 PheV or the fact that Lexus sells their Hybrids with 7 year service plans and 8 year warranties (Chery / Omoda has 10 years of support) I cannot fathom that I would ever buy another diesel - certainly as a daily even a 160kw GWM H6 PheV is the perfect blend of performance, economy and practicality.
The Prius platform used in the CT200h is an absolutel dinosaur compared to what is on the market right now and it makes me quite sad that BMW and more so, MINI, hasnt opted in to go this route as clearly hybridization is the future even if the car I am driving is living in the past and a very basic observation of what can be achieved when absolutes are paired to create a blend of EV and ICE compromise. I quite like that the CT200h manages to abstain from the Prius stereotype while achieving the exact same objectives the Prius does - Its other curio is that it is a fairly unique proposition on the road turning heads and often spurring on conversations about what it is which somewhat tickles the car guy I am.
In closing the best way to sum it up is simple - Its not deserving of the F-Sport badge in terms of pace and its not a hatchback that can compared to the likes of a GTI or ST, its not a Lexus LFA either, but frankly, there hasnt really been a proper F-Sport vehicle that has came close to what the badge has proven it is capable of anyway which means the CT200h is a private school Prius with the soul of a hot hatch and the go of an Audi A3 - Its not a Prius, or a Corolla because it feels and drives in a premium manner - Silky smooth, quiet, and it does everything in a germanic but somehow more organised way - It feels like the kind of car that has its ducks in a row. It never surprises, it never exceeds, it never disappoints, its just a slab of metallic white pearl that gets on with things. That does make it duller than bath water, but it also means that in 6 out of 7 days of the week its almost perfect.
While it is early days I cannot see myself replacing this car any time soon, and that says everything.
