There are hot hatches and then there are not-so-hot hatches. This feisty looking thing is the latter.
And perhaps that’s not such a bad thing. The hot hatch market is already filled with excellent, well-established choices, so why not let the Monster Energy Drink crowd do their thing, and play to your strengths? Certainly that seems to be the case with the Lexus CT200h, which is, at heart, a really fancy Prius.
While the Prius isn’t the kind of car to set any performance enthusiast’s pants on fire, I quite like it. You have to admire its relentless ability to keep producing excellent fuel economy, no matter how you drive it. It is a technological marvel, capable of years of faithful service without much extra effort in the ownership process.
The only problem, as I see it, is that the current model looks like a concussed Pokemon on the outside, and is still a bit recycley on the inside. For fans of Toyota’s fuel-sipping hybrid synergy powertrain, why not gussy things up a little?
Design
Simply by virtue of not looking like a tiny fish-faced water monster you can catch with your iPhone, the CT200h is already a hit. Yes, the gaping Lexus corporate spindle grille is a bit overkill in a car with all of 134 horsepower, but the CT is a pretty conventional looking car when you put it amongst modern traffic.
The F-Sport designation – which has several levels – here includes sharp-looking 17-inch alloys that aren’t overlarge, LED headlights, and the aforementioned aggressive grille. As a package, it more or less works, though the CT’s Prius underpinnings give it a curiously chopped appearance, like a dog with a docked tail.
Still, the profile is not too bad, and the CT doesn’t give much clue to its hybrid roots. It looks like it should be quick and sporty – at least when sitting at the curb.
Environment
Thank goodness: one area in which the Prius continues to lag is its interior, which is filled with occasionally inferior plastics and odd-feeling rubbery synthetic leather, all in the name of environmental choices first. The CT200h lets you have your free-trade chocolate non-dairy cake and eat it too, and is fitted out with the same high quality materials as anything else in the Lexus range.
Thus, everything is very nicely put together, with excellent fit and finish, and a premium feel to little details like the switchgear. You still get a Prius-like stubby shifter, and for some reason Lexus puts no less than five button blanks to the left of the steering wheel (what options have we left off? Missile launchers?), but for the most part, the CT200h is very comfortable.
The F-Sport’s aluminium pedals and three-spoke steering wheel continue the sporty theme, and the CT200h’s conventional instrument layout sets it aside from its quirky hybrid cousin. Slightly less good is the rear cargo space, with a hatchback that’s not quite as capacious as the useful liftback in the Prius.
And really less-than-good is the Lexus infotainment system, which continues to have one of the fiddliest controls on the market. On the plus side, the mouse-like controller keeps smudges off the display as opposed to the touchscreens nearly everyone else is using. On the other hand, it’s very sensitive, prone to jumping to the wrong menu, and just plain distracting to use. Curiously, Toyota’s straightforward Entune system used in their mainline brand is a much nicer solution.
Performance
With an aforementioned 134 thundering horses under your foot, this F-Sport really puts the F in Fast. Or, more accurately, Fslow.
With more equipment than the current-gen Prius and an older version of the Toyota hybrid system, the CT200h is even slower than the Prius, taking around 10 seconds to accelerate to 100 kilometres per hour. Thanks to the initial torque of the electric engine, there’s a bit of off the line shove, but the four-cylinder engine drones in protest when you ask for more lively forward progress.
If you’re used to jackrabbitting everywhere in something like a Golf R, you will probably start gnawing on your flatbill baseball cap in frustration. If, on the other hand, you’re interested in the CT200h because you’re tired of pouring high-test fuel down the gullet of whatever sporty machine you do have, then it actually performs pretty well.
Acceleration is leisurely, and the hybrid system gives the brake pedal a somewhat spongy feel. However, if saving fuel is all about conserving momentum, then the F-Sport designation on the CT200h makes perfect sense. A reworked suspension with 215-series tires gives the CT200h both solid lateral grip and excellent handling.
Fire it down a twisty road, and you might be wondering whether the CT200h qualifies for the “it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow” adage. Not quite. This is a pretty heavy machine, and the hybrid drivetrain dulls the lively factor down.
However, the CT isn’t totally dull, and the ability to get up to speed on the highway and then cruise along in comfort is a boon. It’s not much sportier than a Prius apart from the grip, but the CT200h is a lot nicer to drive.
Features
Adding some F-Sport spice to your CT200h will raise the price to just shy of $40,000. If the handling upgrades aren’t that thrilling to you, you might better opt for the similarly priced Executive series, with 10-speaker audio and satellite navigation.
Fuel economy is the CT200h’s raison d’etre, and it delivers. Official figures are 5.5 (litres/100 kilometres) in the city and 5.9 on the highway. Mixed-mileage driving produced around 5.8, which is right on the money.
Green light
Looks sharp, pleasant interior, excellent fuel economy.
Stop sign
Straight-line slow, fussy infotainment, limited cargo space.
The checkered flag
A sharper-looking, if not sportier, luxury Prius.
Competition
Hyundai Ioniq: What’s this? A Hyundai lined up against a Lexus?
Well, if you’ve seen what Hyundai has been doing with their Genesis line, it won’t be the first time. And here, what Hyundai is doing is offering a more conventional, nicer-looking alternative to the Prius. Sound familiar?
The Ioniq, which looks like a liftback version of the handsome little Elantra, is a sharp-looking thing, and can be optioned with a great-looking interior. While it won’t quite be Lexus-grade in terms of absolute fit and finish, Hyundai has progressed leaps and bounds in recent memory, and also has an excellent infotainment system.
Of course, the CT200h can claim to have the more well-proven hybrid system, one that’s endured decades of abuse. When Ioniqs start hitting the road on the regular, we’ll see how things shape up.
