News: Kia to take on Golf GTI with Cee'd GT

We've become used to Kias with high quality, Kias with style and Kias with a long warranty, but are we ready for a Kia with a high performance engine? Well, we will find out very soon as Kia will be presenting its Cee'd and Pro_Cee'd GT models at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, with a new 1.6-litre turbocharged engine with 200bhp. 


That will put Kia head to head for the first time with the likes of the Volkswagen Golf GTI, Ford Focus ST and Peugeot 208 GTI. The GT models get lower, stiffer suspension, LED running lights, Recaro bucket seats and 18-inch alloy wheels. It sounds like an enticing cocktail, but once again; are we ready for a high-performance Kia?

Designed in Europe under the direction of President and Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, the two debutants feature bold athletic styling, distinctive LED daytime running lights, dual-exhaust pipes, Recaro seating, 18-inch alloy wheels and eye-catching red brake calipers.

The new turbocharged 1.6-litre GDI petrol engine will produce 204 PS (201 bhp) and 265 Nm (195lb/ft), powering the front wheels through a six-speed manual transmission and allowing the Kia pro_cee’d GT and cee’d GT to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h (62mph) in 7.9 seconds.

Production of the newest members of the latest generation cee’d family is scheduled to start at Kia’s Žilina plant in Slovakia in mid-May.  The Pro_Cee’d GT is anticipated to go sale in the UK and Ireland from the middle of the year and be joined by its Cee’d GT counterpart towards the end of 2013.

Prices and specifications will be confirmed closer to the on-sale dates. Meanwhile, Kia will also be bringing a concept car that point the way to the replacement for the Soul compact SUV and a future rival for the Nissan Juke, Peugeot 2008 and Mini Countryman. No mechanical details as yet, but expect it to be based on the same platform as the hugely successful Rio supermini and that sharp-edged front styling and expanded grille should be the new corporate 'face' of Kia.

News: Aston launches new Rapide saloon. Drool.

Bought a Lotto ticket this week? Good, then read on... The stunning new Aston Martin Rapide S is making its debut with yet more luxury and yet more power on offer in its quintessentially elegant four-door silhouette.



The iconic British car maker’s new luxury GT has been sympathetically redesigned andpainstakingly re-engineered to reassert its position as the world’s most beautiful, and beautifully balanced, four-seat sports car.

Aside from the extensive design and engineering improvements, the luxurious new Rapide S – which replaces the outgoing Rapide in markets worldwide – is now even more refined thanks to a range of additions to the four-seater’s sumptuous interior.

Still instantly recognisable as an Aston Martin, of course, the new Rapide S now boasts an imposing and assertive new ‘face’, created by virtue of the impressive and striking new full grille.

Imbuing the new car with an even more sporting, forceful demeanour, the revised front end design is matched at the back by a striking new rear deck profile which includes a more pronounced boot lid ‘flip’. The aerodynamic and aesthetic upgrades both reinforce the sporting nature of new Rapide S and work to counteract lift at higher speeds.

Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ulrich Bez said: “The Rapide S is to me, without doubt, the most beautiful four-door sports car on the market today. This is, very clearly, the power of luxury in action.

“The car’s stunning visual appeal is now matched by a much more powerful and yet more efficient engine – our exceptional new AM11 V12 – which increases massively both the excitement and performance potential of the Rapide S.

“It is a four-door sports car that uniquely combines luxury, style and sporting excitement in Aston Martin’s most flexible and accommodating silhouette. Purity of proportion and exceptional elegance are mixed with truly sensational dynamic performance – this is the four-door sports car in its most versatile form and I am sure our customers around the world are going to love it!”

News: Merc's AMG E-Class gets boost to 585bhp

 

Mercedes' updated E-Class will now be available with a 585bhp wunder-weapon E63 AMG version.

The hot AMG versions of the new-look E-Class saloon and estate will now be made available as a 'standard' (if that's quite the right word) version with a BMW M5-bothering 557bhp and 720Nm of torque from an updated version of the 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 engine. But there will also now be an S model, with a whopping 585bhp and 800Nm of torque, from a tweaked version of the same engine. That one will accelerate this large, comfy, four door saloon (or estate) from 0-100kmh in just 3.6secs. That's not far off McLaren F1 supercar pace.

The S model will also get a locking rear-diff as standard (which should lead to some interesting on-track moments...) Both models can be fitted with massive 420mm ceramic brake discs as an option, while inside, the cars will be fitted with a high-end Bang & Olufsen sound system and a specially-designed IWC dash clock.

Mercedes' 4Matic four wheel drive will also be available as an option, which sound like it might be a good idea for the 585bhp S version, but there's no official word yet on whether you'll be able to have 4Matic with right-hand-drive.

 

News: Mercedes' hot new E-Class revealed

As part of a big family portrait of its newly facelifted E-Class range, Mercedes has revealed the look of the new E63 AMG model.

It's a bit of a dodgy Photoshop job this, as you can see that the AMG version appears to be massively larger than the regular saloon E-Class running alongsude it, but it does at least reveal the chunky new grille, air intake, bumper and delicious set of black alloys that the new E63 will be wearing. It's certainly the best-looking version of the updated E-Class we've yet seen.

Most significantly of all though, this E63 will be the first AMG saloon to be offered with Mercedes' 4Matic four wheel drive, a major break with hot German saloon tradition. You'll still be able to buy a traditional, rear-drive E63 of course, but the option of the 4Matic setup means that four wheel drive is moving ever closer to the motoring mainstream.

This being an AMG, the opportunity will hardly be missed to give the 5.5-litre twin turbo V8 engine a power upgrade, so expect to see a rortier 550bhp output. That 4Matic option is looking more and more desirable by the minute...

News: Kia turns up the heat

Kia, which has now built itself a massive European and Irish customer base on the back of its value for money proposition (and that now-famous long seven-year warranty) is winding up to launch it’s first ever high-performance model. 


Based on the three-door coupe Pro_Cee’d version of the popular Cee’d hatchback, the Pro_Cee’d GT (seen here in design sketch form) will be a rival to the likes of the VW Golf GTI and Ford Focus ST.

The design is, once again, down to Kia’s famed ex-Audi stylist Peter Schreyer, and will feature an aggressive bodykit, a prominent GT badge in the grille and red highlights along the body. The three-door Pro_Cee’d GT will arrive first, and that will be followed by a five-door hatchback version, while apparently an estate version is under consideration, such is the popularity of the load-lugging version of the Cee’d.

Under the bonnet will be a tuned and tweaked version of the same 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine already found in the turbo versions of the Hyundai Veloster coupe (Hyundai and Kia are, of course, part of the same company these days). In the Veloster, that engine makes 184bhp but that will be increased to a much more muscular 200bhp for the Kia. The only transmission for the moment will be a six-speed manual gearbox; Kia isn’t yet ready to offer a rival to VW’s dual-clutch DSG ‘box.

Depending on how the car is received, this could be the start of something big for Kia. It’s known that Kia is keen to kick off its own in-house tuning and performance arm, rather like Mercedes’ AMG, but it needs the Pro_Cee’d GT to sell well initially to justify the investment. 

If it comes off, then we could see hot versions of both the Rio hatchback and Soul crossover, as well as the possibility of a large, rear-drive coupe to take on the likes of the Audi A5 and Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe.

News: All-new Maserati Quattroporte revealed

Maserati's new Quattroporte isn't just a (gorgeous) new luxury saloon, to take on the likes of the Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7 Series; it's also the kicking off of a massive renewal for the Maserati brand with three all-new models and a plan for 50,000 sales a year.

That's a massive increase on current Maserati sales, but Fiat bosses have big plans for its premium performance brand, and to leave clear air between it and in-house rival Ferrari, the three new models (including this new Quattroporte) are going to be as far from mid-engined supercars as is possible.

The Quattroporte, seen here, will make its official debut at the Detroit motor show in January, and will continue with Ferrari-based V8 power; most likely an updated version of the 4.7-litre engine currently found in Maserati's GranTurismo coupe.

The new Quattroporte is longer and more spacious than before, but with more light weight aluminium in its structure in an attempt to keep its bulk under control.

“Maserati stands today at the edge of an unparalleled strategic and industrial growth that will see our presence in the world rise to 50,000 units a year by 2015" Harald Wester, Maserati's CEO told us. This growth is a challenge for which Maserati has carefully prepared itself and that we all welcome with anticipation.

“It is a growth based on those values of style, elegance, quality and performance for which Maserati has always been recognised and praised in almost 100 years of history. This exciting progression will make the new Maserati a true global player with two new production sites in two different continents and a heart solidly planted in Modena, Italy, where our roots are.

“It is a growth that will be based on three new models entering two new segments of the automobile market – and it starts with the all-new 2013 Maserati Quattroporte.”

The two other models? Well, this is where the mouth really starts to water. First up, probably late next year, will be a new Ghibli; but unlike the sixties original, this Ghibli will be a four-door saloon, smaller than the Quattroporte, that will take on the likes of the BMW 5 Series and Audi A6. There may even be a high-po diesel version using a twin-turbo derivative of the VM Motori V6 diesel found in the Ghibli's distant cousin, the Chrysler 300C.

After that will be the Levante, Maserati's first foray into the SUV world and a rival to the Porsche Panamera. Expect a swoopy body atop a much-modified Jeep Grand Cherokee platform with, again, likely diesel as well as petrol, powerplants.

Features: Nissan's Big Day Out

You could be forgiven for thinking, lately, that Nissan has become a one-car manufacturer. The Qashqai, so beloved of aspirational families, givein them a hint of SUV styling but keeping the hatchback running costs, has been a runaway success for Nissan, and is currently the no.2 selling car in Ireland. The only problem is that its success does tend to obscure the fact that Nissan makes other cars, and some damned exciting ones at that...

Take this GT-R, for instance. Jet black, in Spec-V form, so it gets 545bhp and is around 60kg lighter than standard. Four wheel drive that could outfox a tax accountant, paddle-shift gearbox that’s faster than an Uzi and a glowering, menacing mien. Looking for all the world like Darth Vader’s company car. This is not a mere vehicle, this is practically weaponised, a stealth bomber with wheels. And oh look, someone’s left the keys in it...

We’re down at Mondello Park and it’s lashing rain, a weather report that would normally have us huddling in the pits, trying to keep dry. But today it’s well worth the sloshy stride across to the waiting cars, because the chance to drive a GT-R is one thing, the chance to drive a GT-R when it’s wet enough to really explore the capabilities of that remarkable 4wd system is something else again.

Sit in and thumb the red starter button and the GT-R 3.8-litre V6 twin-turbo engine kicks into a smooth, gently menacing idle. In spite of its high performance credentials, it’s no harder to slide yourself aboard and acquaint yourself with the cockpit than it would be in a rental Micra. Nissan has kept things simple and user-friendly in here, and comfort levels are remarkably good. You could happily spend the day in those seats.

Tug the stubby selector for the twin-clutch transmission back to A for automatic mode. You can of course take full manual control with the column-mounted paddle shifters, but today I’m going to leave it in auto so that I can concentrate harder on not crashing. The transmission clunks into first and with no fuss at all, we trundle down the soaking pitlane.

Up till this point it’s all been drama free, but as soon as we’re past the marshaling post and under the spectator bridge, the GT-R comes to life. A quick stab of the throttle annihilates the short chute between the pits and the first corner and it’s time to get turned in. A nudge of understeer is the first sensation as the GT-R’s not insubstantial bulk tries to push straight on. It’s a fleeting sensation and the nose soon turns obediently towards the apex of the hairpin corner, the GT-R still feeling pussy-cat-ish at these sighting lap speeds.

I up the ante through the second corner and instantly the GT-R’s chassis shows its mettlre. Even a delicate squeeze of the throttle has the rear tyres skittering out in a fast arcing motion, but even before I apply opposite lock, the computer that controls the car’s motions has figured out, adjusted the brakes, traction control, stability control and 4wd split and stopped me spinning embarrassingly off. And it does the same at the next corner, and the next, and the next. 


That sounds like it might be a recipe for having a smothering nanny computer on board when you’re trying to have fun, but oddly, it isn’t. The GT-R is just so capable, so easy to drive, even when driving very fast indeed, that you soon start to develop a rhythm and rapport with both the mechanical car and the electronic one. It soon becomes second nature to kick the back end out to ludicrous angles, dabbing on opposite lock all the time, confident that your own excesses and lack of skill will be safely mopped up.

And of course, there’s the sheer, nutter power of the thing. Fast enough to flatten your eyeballs and bend your ribs out of shape, the GT-R is, in spite of its astonishingly friendly nature, a true Porsche hunter, a sleek mechanical panther stalking its skittish German prey. How does 0-100kmh in a hair over 3.0secs sound, and a top speed above the magic 300kmh barrier? Nissan might even put the Spec V’s back seats back in if you ask nicely.

After all that, a 370Z, even in race-track spec with a trick diff, should seem so pedestrian, but it just doesn’t. After a hairy first lap with a lot of sliding and not a lot of throttle (just the rear-wheels driven, then) the 370Z starts to come to life, and you learn to trust the very stiff diff to plant the back end in place (and the fabulous steering to correct when it doesn’t) and suddenly the 370Z feels like its old self again. A hairy-arsed, old-fashioned rear-drive drift machine with a warbling V6 engine and a meaty, muscular gearchange. Although not as capable as the GT-R, obviously, it was if anything probably slightly more fun on a soaking Mondello International circuit.

And the Juke R? Ah, well, that’s another thing again. It looks more or less like a standard Juke, bar some crazily over-extended wheelarches and an oddly bisected roof spoiler, but underneath it’s basically a GT-R, complete with the full-fat 545bhp (not the 480bhp that the original Juke R concept had), 4wd and paddle-shift gearbox. It’s nuts, of course, but it is a real car, and you can, sort of, buy one. Assuming you have €400,000 to spare. Plus local taxes.

Is it as quick as a GT-R? Well, it was damned near impossible to catch in a straight line on the track, even if the lower, leaner GT-R would probably do it over through the corners. If Nissan would consider putting the back seats back into the Juke R, it could be the ultimate school run vehicle.

All of this was, of course, a demonstration, a reminder that Nissan, while it’s busy turning out Qashqais, Mircras and the all-electric Leaf, is still a sporty car company at heart. If the GT-R, Juke R and 370Z weren’t sufficient proof, then don’t forget the Nissan-backed DeltaWing race car that stunned the crowds at Le Mans this year and is set to have its own one-make racing series in the future. Nissan Ireland will be ramming the point home early in the new year when it introduces the Nismo sporting sub-brand to our market, starting with a hot 1.6 turbo version of the Juke, which you'll be able to bodykit-up to look like a reasonable facsimile of the Juke R.

Consider us reminded. 542bhp reminded.

News: Opel pits '91 Kadett against '12 Astra GTC – just for fun

Opel has shown off this video of it pitting a classic 1991 Kadett GSi hot hatch against a new Astra GTC OPC.

Both cars are being driven by legendary German driver "Smoking" Jo Winkelhock and never mind that there's 21 years and around 130bhp between the two, this is just a bit of fun for your breakfast-time...

News: Toyota breaks more electric records

Toyota has been out breaking electric car records again, with its TMG EV P002 electric race car setting a new electric record on the legendary 20.8km Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in Germany.



Using TMG’s (Toyota Motorsport GmbH) motorsport-tuned electric powertrain, driver Jochen Krumbach set a lap time of 7mins 22.329secs, breaking the electric record set by TMG last August by over 25 seconds.

This achievement marks the second milestone for TMG’s electric powertrain this year following its new record at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, United States.

As with the Pikes Peak success, TMG’s latest electric milestone used pioneering off-board battery-to-battery charging technology.

The TMG DC Quick Charger was developed in partnership with Schneider Electric GmbH to meet the challenge of recharging an electric race car at tracks without reliable access to grid power.

Mounted in the rear of a Toyota Hiace van, the TMG DC Quick Charger uses Schneider Electric’s EV Link technology and includes a 42kWh lithium ion battery, which can be charged direct from the AC power grid.

After an overnight charge, the TMG DC Quick Charger is able to quickly deliver high levels of power to a battery-based electric car without additional installation or infrastructure, making it the perfect solution for electric motorsport.

Ludwig Zeller, TMG General Manager Electrics and Electronics said that “Since our Nürburgring record last year, we have developed our electric powertrain to deliver more power, more consistently, over a longer distance by managing the temperature of batteries, motors and inverter. Pikes Peak was a clear illustration of the improvements and we have now reinforced that at the Nürburgring.

"But this achievement is not only about on-track performance; we are also very proud of the DC Quick Charger which again provided a reliable power supply in a remote location. This is an aspect of electric motorsport which has not been discussed at length but it is very significant; electric race cars need to be charged and it is a challenge to have the right infrastructure at race tracks, particularly temporary street circuits. Together with our partners at Schneider Electric, we have developed a solution to charge a race car literally anywhere in the world. This, along with the TMG EV P002 powertrain, represents a major step forward for electric motorsport.”

Road Test: Fiat Abarth 500C

Price as tested: €31,000 (approx)

+ Styling, engine, handling, seats, quality, sense of fun
– Tiny boot and rear seats, quite thirsty, no official imports yet
= Funnest hot hatch of the moment




Like a Scottish Terrier carrying a Kalashnikov, the Fiat Abarth 500C is packing way more aggression than befits something so small. The standard 500 is cute, chic, even (whisper it) a bit girly. The Abarth is its mildly psycho brother who's into body piercing and headbutting walls.

As with all great Italian cars, the heart of the Abarth is its engine, a 1.4-litre turbo petrol developing 135bhp. 135bhp doesn't sound like much these days, but it's accompanied by a decent slug of 200Nm of torque and, in practice, there's more than enough grunt to both hoick you up the road at a suitably impressive rate and keep you making rapid gearchanges on the stubby five-speed manual, punching them through from the elbow.

When you do that, and especially during fast upshifts as you accelerate, the optional Monza exhaust (which actually adds 5bhp thanks to improved engine breathing, bringing the Abarth up to 140bhp), with its mildly hilarious quad exit pipe, bangs and growls like a grumpy howitzer battalion. It's all ludicrously entertaining, and thanks to the 500's diminutive dimensions, it all happens at a reasonable rate of consumption. 8.1-litres per 100km sounds a touch thirsty for a small car, but in the context of the fun on offer, it's a perfectly acceptable price of admission.

It always used to be the case that with high-performance Italian cars, you paid for the (glorious) engine and the rest of the car was thrown in (and together) for free. Famously, journalist and racer Paul Frére complained to Enzo Ferrari that his Testarossa Le Mans racer had such a big, flat windscreen that it was crawling down the Mulsanne Straight while the sleek Jaguars and others blasted past. "Well you know," declared Il Commentadore airily, "aerodynamics are for people who can't design proper engines..."

Thankfully, the Abarth 500 proves that such dismissiveness is truly a thing of the past for fast Fiats (effectively what Ferraris have been since the seventies; heresy I know). The 500C feels beautifully built for a start, with high levels of cabin quality and gorgeous high-backed Alcantara bucket seats. Rear space is somewhat compromised by these bulky buckets, but it was hardly all that roomy to begin with, and by choosing the C over the regular hatch 500, with its peel-back convertible roof, you are effectively resigning yourself to having no boot space to speak of. A squashy bag is about the limit.

No matter. Once you get rolling, you won't care about the practicalities. It may sound odd to say it of a stiffly sprung sporty thing with big optional alloys and watch strap Pirellis, but the Abarth actually rides better than the standard 500.It bounces around less, even though it's plainly harder than the standard car, and the steering, so remote on a normal 500, is here full of feel and delightful weight. There is simply tonnes of grip, a little hint of the back end squirming around when you corner seriously hard and an abiding sense of out and out fun and enjoyment. Occupying an even smaller amount of road than Mini's conceptually similar Cooper S Works, the 500C feels ideally suited to Ireland's twisty and narrow back roads. And because it's not over-burdened with some silly specific output, you can enjoy ringing its neck a little without attracting the attention of either sides of the legal profession.

When the going gets properly twisty and slippery, it’s best to thumb the TCC button just below the aircon controls. That activates an electronic differential which brakes an unloaded front wheel to prevent power being spun away and which also helps the Abarth’s chassis to reduce understeer to an effective minimum. Unlike some similar systems (or a pure mechanical diff) it doesn’t bring with it unnecessarily hefty steering or camber-following tendencies, it’s much more subtle and effective than that.

As yet, Abarth models are still not officially imported into Ireland, but their visa status is due to be updated any time now. For the meantime, you can personally import one (a process that I’m sure your local Fiat dealer would be more than happy to help with) and you’ll have to fork out in the region of €27,000 for the 500C, about €2,000 less for the hatch. Our test car came loaded with options including that wonderful Monza exhaust and the gorgeous high-back Sabelt seats which swelled its price by €4,000. Pricey for such a small car then, but very much worth it to my mind. Besides, try speccing a Mini Cooper S up to similar levels and see where you get to...

You could spend even more and upgrade to the Essesse kit, which brings with its more power (160bhp), uprated brakes and tweaked suspension, but the extra stiffness would probably ruin the Abarth’s rather lovely ability to flow with bad roads rather than fighting them, so I wouldn’t bother.

Personally, I'd skip the C part too (the roof is nice and all, and works at speeds of up to 80kmh, but its usability in Ireland is always going to be limited) and go for the hatch, which also brings with it a more practical boot and that slight cut in price. Would I buy one? Oh, if only I could afford it. Hot hatches have become, as a species, somewhat too refined and practical of late. Even the likes of a 200bhp Clio or DS3 can fail to provide much in the way of outright thrills, so steady and safe are they. The Abarth feels a touch more unruly, raw and on the edge than that. It's the hot hatch as she is meant to be spoken.


Fiat Abarth 500C
Price as tested: €31,000 (approx)
Price range: €12,895 to €27,000 (approx)
Capacity: 1,368cc
Power: 135bhp
Torque: 200Nm
Top speed: 205kmh
0-100kmh: 7.9sec
Economy: 6.5l-100km (43.4mpg)
CO2 emissions: 155g/km
Road Tax Band: C €330
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star adult, 3-star child, 2-star pedestrian

Road Test: Lexus GS450h F-Sport

Price as tested: €72,950

+ Drivetrain, refinement, comfort, chassis balance, quality
– Silly grille, numb steering
= The best hybrid we’ve yet driven


Here’s a funny thing. Lexus can’t tell me how much torque the new GS450h has. Nerdy fact that it is, a healthy torque figure is deeply significant for driving both relaxed and invigorating. A lack of torque is inimical to fun and lots of it gives you that lovely, deep-down thumpy feeling as you accelerate hard out of a tight corner. It’s what makes American V8s so addictive and its absence is what makes small petrol engines such hard work. Normally you just look up the figure, either in Newton-Metres (Nm) or foot-pounds (lb-ft) in a car’s technical data list. And it’s not that the GS has no torque; quite the opposite. You can feel its presence every time you tap the throttle.

The thing is that the GS450h, a hybrid as was its predecessor and almost every other Lexus, draws its torque from two sources. A 3.5-litre V6 petrol with 352Nm and an electric motor with 275Nm. Add the two together and you get a fairly tyre-shredding 627Nm or about what you’d get from a 1970s Can Am racer...

It’s not that simple though, says Lexus and I seriously doubt that the GS ever gets the full combined 627Nm or the rear Bridgestones wouldn’t be long for this world. Instead, the fearsomely clever computer management system (which can presumably calculate lunar orbit trajectories and file your tax returns) juggles and apportions the power and torque outputs of the two motors until you have an essentially seamless whole.

Now, hybrids have been criticised in the past, and frequently on these pages, for not being up to snuff. The idea of backing up a downsized petrol engine with an electric motor seems entirely sensible and effective, but never in the past have we driven a hybrid that either lived up to its fuel economy claims or gave us much in the way of driving pleasure. (The Honda CR-Z gets a by here because it’s fun in spite of being a hybrid.) The old GS450h was fun enough in a straight-line, drags-strip kind of way, its combination of petrol and electric grunt sufficient to hurl it up the road in a most uneconomical fashion, but it felt a bit lead-footed in handling terms and its economy and emissions were soon out-classed by the new hordes of hyper-efficient diesels.

This GS then, has rather a lot to prove, both as a hybrid and as a car. Can a hybrid ever match or beat the latest diesels in economy and emissions terms? Can Lexus produce a truly convincing challenger to the likes of the BMW 5 Series?

Well, you certainly can’t accuse Lexus of keeping its light under a bushel this time around. The new GS, when seen from the back and side is crisply handsome and subtly muscular. And that new grille, with its chrome fangs? Well, I can certainly see what Lexus was trying to do – to inject both distinctiveness and aggression, but for my money it just doesn’t work. It look inelegant and a bit OTT. A shame.

There’s better news on the inside though, where the previous GS’s slight sense of clunkiness is banished by a very slick and stylish cabin, with beautifully simple, clear instruments, a big central screen for controlling the infotainment and HVAC systems and a distinctly inviting sense of comfort and style. The seats a big, comfy and supportive. The space in the rear seats is excellent. I love the way that, when you push the Sport button, the instruments switch from a charging metre to a red-lit rev counter.

Way out back, boot space has dramatically improved. In the last GS, the hybrid system’s batteries ate so deeply into the luggage room that you were left with a narrow slot that wouldn’t hold very much at all. Now, thanks to better packaging, there’s a decent (if not class leading) 482-litres. That’s better.

Slip behind the wheel and push the starter button and there’s the usual hybrid car silence as the batteries take the strain for the initial few metres. When the 3.5-litre 292bhp petrol V6 engine comes to life, you’ll struggle to notice it. The usual Lexus superlatives of refinement and noise suppression apply.

Where that V6 really makes itself felt and heard is when you accelerate hard. We’ve become so used, over the past few years, to big executive cars being exclusively diesel-powered, so the crisp, sharp-edged snarl of the GS’s engine as it passes 4,000rpm (the point at which most diesels just give up and go home) is as refreshing as lemon zest and just as tasty. Combined with the batteries and electric bits, it makes for a very satisfying drivetrain to use, probably the best hybrid we’ve ever tried. There never seems to be a gap in the power, or a step when one system or the other dominates. The CVT gearbox doesn’t seem to suffer from the same problems that afflict over continously variable ‘boxes, such as letting the engine needlessy blare its head off at high rpm when accelerating. And it’s decently economical too. Lexus claims 6.0-litres per 100km on the combined cycle, which you probably won’t get near, but we averaged mid-sevens and that’s about what you’d get out of a comparable 3.0-litre diesel. Impressive.

Impressive too that emissions have been kept down to a Band B-friendly 139g/km, so you can match a BMW 520d buyer for tax smugness while matching a 535d for performance. That’s quite a combination, and it’s nice to notice how often the car automatically kicks into EV mode, not just when cruising around town, but also on the open road. It makes you feel like it was worth going down the hybrid route, even if in reality, a constantly-running diesel is little less efficient.

Our F-Sport spec test car came with option four-wheel-steering, and eighties Japanese obsession that seems to be making something of a comeback. I can honestly say that, in spite of trying, I could never actually feel the rear wheels doing anything much, but there’s no doubting that the GS felt unusually agile and chuckable for such a big car. A shame that the steering is too remote and distant for you to truly enjoy punting it along, but there’s no doubt that a pretty terrific chassis dwells beneath; an achievement made even more impressive when you remember that the GS’s is still packing the extra weight of all those batteries. Impressive too that the ride quality is generally excellent, only occasionally feeling too firm and mostly just cosseting nicely.

At €72,950, the F-Sport’s rear-steer and sporty bodykit and wheels may seem a bit of an extravagance over the cost of a €59,950 Executive model, but there’s no doubt that for the first time, Lexus has really hit the 5 Series market dead-on. It won’t be to the tastes of the me-too hordes who will only ever buy German at this price level, but here at least is a hybrid that’s a frugal as it should be and as invigorating to drive as you’d hope. Here is a Lexus of true character and enjoyment, as well as the expected quality and refinement.

Lexus GS450h F-Sport
Price: €72,950
Range price: €59,950 to €76,250
Capacity: 3,456cc
Power: 345bhp
Torque: See text
Top speed: 250kmh
0-100kmh: 5.9sec
Economy: 6.0-100km (47.0mpg)
CO2 emissions: 139g/km
Tax Band: B. €225 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested