Vehicle Profile: The 2011 Lexus CT 200h You can drive the future of luxury today.

The future of luxury vehicles will assuredly look different than it does today with exciting advanced technology coming down the pike to boost fuel efficiency, performance and comfort. Why wait? The all-new 2011 Lexus CT 200h model joins the brand’s other four hybrid models with thrilling performance and great fuel economy.

No other brand, luxury or otherwise, currently offers more hybrid choices than Lexus. The all-new 2011 Lexus CT 200h Hybrid (starting MSRP $29,120) embodies the brand’s latest thinking on this technology. More important than its technology, however, is the way the CT 200h drives. Sporty performance reinforces the car’s distinctly sporty design with a new take on Lexus interior luxury that caters especially to the driver. The practicality of a five-door design expands the car’s appeal by offering 14.3 cubic feet of luggage capacity behind the rear seats.

The 2011 Lexus CT 200h debuts a bold new version of Lexus L-finesse design with dynamic lines that give this model an athletic stance. A focus on aerodynamics for high fuel economy and low wind noise does not render a jellybean-like contrivance, but rather a muscular, chiseled profile capped by a fairly aggressive take on the new Lexus signature grille style. The CT 200h looks like it wants to just get out and have fun.

A four-wheel independent suspension, with a sports car-like double-wishbone rear configuration, delivers on the performance promised by the bold exterior design. Special lightweight suspension components, along with 17-inch light alloy wheels and optimized vehicle weight, help endow the 2011 Lexus CT 200h Hybrid with uncompromised agility. It’s the kind of handling that driving enthusiasts crave, yet still with the ride quality befitting a Lexus. In fact, even with all its advanced hybrid technology and Lexus luxury and safety, the CT 200h weighs less than some comparable conventional high-efficiency cars.

Inside, the CT 200h presents a highly focused driver’s cockpit with bolstered front seats, a wide-grip steering wheel and triple-dial instrument gauge panel. The driver gets a standard 10-way power seat, the front passenger a four-way power seat. Bluetooth^®, Smart Access^® with Push Button Start/Stop and a premium audio system with USB/iPod^® connection all come standard.

The CT 200h Premium model adds heated seats and a power tilt/slide sunroof, and opens the possibility to add numerous other amenities including a 10-speaker audio upgrade, hard drive navigation with the Lexus Enform^® telematics service and a Leather Interior Package. You can augment the standard safety technology, which includes eight airbags, with an available Pre-Collision system, which constantly monitors the distance and closing speed of vehicles in front of you, and can tighten the front seatbelts and pre-charge the brakes if a collision is imminent.

Under the hood, the Lexus Hybrid Drive powertrain combines the output of a high-tech 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine with a proven electric motor-generator and a power split device in the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). As with other Lexus hybrid vehicles, the CT 200h seamlessly blends power from the gasoline engine and the electric motor as needed. The Electronically Controlled Braking-Regeneration system captures energy from the still-rotating wheels as the car slows during braking. The vehicle’s 134 total system hp can move the CT 200h with verve with the hybrid system delivering a strong feeling of low-end and mid-range torque.

The Lexus CT 200h certainly delivers on the promise of high fuel economy, achieving an EPA-rated 43 mpg city and 40 mpg highway. If those figures seem reversed from the “normal,” it’s because the Hybrid Drive powertrain really comes into its own in the kind of stop-and-go, urban driving that would reduce fuel consumption in ordinary cars. Lexus fine-tuned every aspect of the CT 200h Hybrid to provide optimal environmental performance. For example, LED lighting, an energy-efficient audio system amplifier and even special bamboo-charcoal speakers help reduce weight and power consumption.

Speaking of fine-tuning, the driver can do just that in the CT 200h by choosing from among four selectable driving modes to suit a mood or driving situation. In “EV” mode, the CT 200h can run purely on electric power for up to one mile at speeds of up to 28 mph. Imagine how much quieter and cleaner cities could be if all cars could do that.

Choose “Eco” mode to deliver maximum fuel efficiency in every day driving, or “Normal” mode for an ideal all-around mix of performance and economy. The CT 200h really comes alive when you select “Sport” mode, yielding crisper throttle response and a tighter feel through the Electronic Power Steering.

Come in and see how Lexus has applied tomorrow’s technology in its latest hybrid model, the unique 2011 CT 200h Hybrid.