Price £50,995
MPG 45.6
Top speed 155mph
Parking: a word that strikes panic into some and an excuse for misjudged misogyny into others. Either way it is clearly an issue for today's motorists – and a source of friction among many couples. My neighbour walks away from the car when his wife is at the wheel. "She says she can't do it if I am watching," he sighs – as if she is going to the loo. Perhaps because of this manufacturers have spent a fortune over the past decade on a plethora of "parking aids" (marital aids might have been a better name). There are front and rear proximity sensors; rear, front and even side-view cameras (my children love gurning under the number plate so I can see their contorted faces on the dashboard); bird's-eye positioning graphics; and technology which means you just let go of the steering wheel and the vehicle will parallel park itself.
Yet these devices are missing the point. The real issue with parking is spaces – or lack of them. ParkatmyHouse, a company that lets drivers park in private spaces at homes, schools and elsewhere, has estimated that the average city motorist spends six minutes and 45 seconds looking for a space, which adds up to a colossal 2,500 hours over a lifetime. Forget worrying about kerbing your alloys or scraping the bumper – you've got a space, rejoice!
Loath though I was to give up my space, the new Lexus GS 450h F-Sport is the sort of car that's crying out to be driven. Mention Lexus to most people and they will tell you one of two things: first, that it stands for Luxury Exports to the US – the acronym Toyota apparently used when developing the range for the American market; and second that David Cameron and Alan Partridge were both owners. If you can stand the stigma of driving the motoring equivalent of posh smugness or hilarious offensiveness (you decide which is which), your Lexus will repay you handsomely.
What is crucial about this GS 450 is the h and the F – it is both a hybrid and a graduate of the marque's Mount Fuji race-tuning programme. Lexus claims that its new GS is "the most technologically advanced production vehicle in the world". Even allowing for unseemly aggrandisement that's quite a boast. But they're not far off the mark. The GS is a V6-powered luxury saloon as quick to 60mph as the top flight of performance Audis, BMWs, Mercedes and Porsches, yet thanks to its eco-technology it is as clean and efficient as many cars half its size. In many ways this is what the future of performance four-door motoring will look like. The petrol engine is harnessed to two electric engines: one functions as a generator and starter, the other provides the oomph needed to take a hybrid to 155mph.
To drive the GS is whisper quiet, effortless and nimble. Choose between the eco and comfort setting for around town and the sport and sport plus (possibly an unnecessary 11 on volume) for Huhne-ing down the motorway. Floor it and you get an almighty shove in the behind, like your porch rocker has been lassoed by a galloping cowboy.
Inside, the car is comfortable but surprisingly basic. Yes, there's leather and chrome, and a clever finger-light remote-touch mouse makes navigating the satnav a doddle, but for a car of this price it doesn't have that sense of privilege: we want more Bullingdon and less Butlins. Outside, the car looks quiet, almost apologetic. It's both a sports car and a saloon, a cruiser and an eco wagon – a true hybrid, and as such Lexus could do with shouting about it. And if you do happen to find a place in front of your house, you want the neighbours to know about it...
Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or visit theguardian.com/profile/martinlove for all his reviews in one place
