So we got a 2013 Lexus GS 450h F-Sport hybrid

Truth be told, we weren’t fans of the Lexus GS 350 we drove earlier this year. It’s a solid luxury car and all, but it lacked a certain yaarrrrgghhh in its character, which made it look as dull as the BMWs and Mercs it’s trying to compete with. But then we got this one, a Lexus GS 450h, the hybrid version of that same car. Only this time, it has the F-Sport kit.

The F-Sport version of the Lexus GS looks spectacularly more aggressive than the regular models. That nose is very angular and original.

The rest of the car is much simpler, although it still looks very handsome. Unfortunately, the GS 450h loses the cool exhaust tips of the GS 350 to emphasise its “environmental friendliness”, and so outlets are hidden underneath.

The interior is also very original, keeping it simple yet more interesting than the unimaginative German marques.

To bring its price down to palatable levels, the 2013 GS has been decontented by a bit. The rear armrest is visibly missing the climate-control panel for rear passengers, which we saw in the 2012 GS 350 we drove. Fortunately, nothing else has been removed, including those bushy carpets.

The boot space suffers here, due to the big heavy batteries for the hybrid system mounted behind that carpeted wall. Still, there’s enough space for a month’s worth of grocery shopping.

We liked the GS 450h a lot. The kick from those electric motors feels like a turbo or a V8 even. It feels a lot quicker than the GS 350. But then, when we timed it, it was actually slower in the 0-100 kph run. That’s because all that juice is down at the lower revs, where it’s most useful. More in the full review.