When the engine displacement, power and torque get such a big boost all at once, it can change your opinion of a car very quickly, and that's what happened to us the first time we booted the 3580-pound Lexus ES 350 up a long, long hill in Hawaii. The new ES 350 benefits from a brand-new all-aluminum engine design with all the latest technologies built in, and it's a honey, with 57 more horsepower than the 3.3-liter engine it replaces, and one more gear to run through.For the first time, performance is part of the equation in an ES. It's quick to respond, the engine is as smooth and quiet as you would expect, and the transmission operation is flawless, automatic or manual mode, downshift or upshift. Engine and transmission are linked by several electronic modules and the electronic throttle, and there were no glitches we could find. The engine and transmission are isolation-mounted with an electro-hydraulic mounting system to cancel vibration at idle. Lexus quotes a 0-60 mph time of 6.8 seconds, which is certainly competitive in the segment.
Two important additions of standard equipment on the ES for 2007 are traction control and stability control which, when combined with this new chassis, allow sporting drivers to do maneuvers that no previous ES would do, and quickly. The front struts and multi-link rear suspension are both very well isolated from the rest of the car, making for a quiet, smooth ride, with greater control of pitch and body roll than the outgoing car.