Test drive has been done! Overall impressions are positive.
Good:
- Surprising amount of interior room! Front seat area is cozy with that wide center console, but feels nice and airy around head-level. Rear seat legroom is much better than I thought it would be. The only area of concern was rear headroom.
- Steering is nicely weighted and appropriately communicative for driving at moderately brisk speeds.
- Gauge cluster and instrumentation all work well.
- Brakes felt great around town.
- Sight lines were great! The car was very easy to place on the road.
- Driving position was excellent. I actually had a range of seat positions I could use that all felt similarly comfortable, which is rare for me.
Bad:
- If you want to get EPA MPG figures (or better), you need to be in "Normal" or "Eco" mode, but I found throttle response to be fairly annoying in those modes: too much travel was required just to keep up with normal traffic, and there seemed to be a lot of moments when the computers couldn't quite figure out how to juggle the gas engine, electric motors, and CVT to make everything work. "Sport" mode irons all of that out and provides reasonable amounts of torque on demand, but sacrifices fuel economy.
- We drove one with the F-Sport package, and the ride was a bit too firm (albeit very well damped) and there was too much road noise for my taste. I'm not one to write off a car just for this kind of NVH, but it seemed silly next to the odd-feeling powertrain: if I'm going to have a firm ride and lots of tire noise, I want a responsive throttle; if I'm going to putter around with a constantly-juggling hybrid powertrain, I want a quieter and smoother ride. The salesperson told us that the base vehicle is not much softer or quieter, but every little bit would help in this department.
This is no substitute for a Mercedes C300; it's not as relaxing or dynamically flexible. Also, when you run the numbers, the CT doesn't seem to offer enough bang-for-the-buck compared to the Audi A3 or BMW 1-Series, even when you factor in the impressive fuel economy. That said, it is clearly a well engineered and properly thought-out car. However, as a nice, compact, reliable, practical car, the CT is still a good package. It's probably perfect for someone who is willing to forgo the dynamic abilities of its German competitors in favor of that aura of Lexus quality and reliability -- not to mention the ability to take regular gas.
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