LEXUS Malaysia has just released details about their latest variant of the CT 200h hybrid that now comes with an F Sport badge, new sporty bumpers and a set of dark-metallic light-weight 16” alloy rims.
The interior of the CT200h F Sport gets darkened by a black colour theme accented by touches of silver for that sporty imagery throughout the usual CT200h layout and the sporty leather-wrapped steering wheel gets that F-Sport badge down low.
Engine performance stays the same, after all it’s still a hybrid and hybrids are all about low emissions and high fuel economy, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not fun to drive if you select “Sport” mode (ECO and Normal modes available), which is when its suspension stiffens up and the steering tightens for a more sportier and direct feel.
With that it helps exploit the 4-cylinder 1.8L Atkinson-cycle petrol engine combined with a powerful 207Nm electric motor, powered by a high-performance 168-cell battery heading to the front wheels through a Shift-by-Wire electronically-controlled continuously-variable transmission (E-CVT). And it nicely comes to a silent and vibrationless standstill because it goes into EV mode at that point, unless there’s insufficient amount of battery power left.
Much like all other hybrids and some other vehicles, there’s the Electronically Controlled Braking Regeneration (ECB-R) system that allows the electric motor to also act as a high-output generator during deceleration and also when braking, where it recovers energy that would otherwise be lost and uses this energy as electrical energy for storage in the battery. This helps to further optimize energy management in the Lexus Hybrid Drive, where the battery’s power level is constantly managed by the ECU and negating the need for a recharging station.
It now comes with power folding mirrors, 4-way power adjustment driver’s seat, push button pre-set for 3 personalized driver’s seat positions, Bluetooth connectivity that’s linked to the audio system, GPS navigation system (hard disk-based) with EMV a DVD player with Lexus’ Premium 10-speaker Audio System and a price tag of RM206,877.20 (OTR with Ins).
