旧式のＨＶもガソリン車もパワーユニットの全面改良が必要
Old-type HVs and gasoline vehicles need the complete improvement of their power units
冷やかし半分で立ち寄ったディーラーは日曜の午後だったが、自分以外に客はおらず駐車場においてあったISの300h Fスポーツを眺めていたところ、試乗を進められた。
エクステリアは好き嫌いがあるだろうが、リアのディフューザーが目立ちすぎるのとトヨタ流のフェンダーのデザインの処理が相変わらずでサイドから見るといかにも腰高に感じるが惜しい。
クールさを追求したと説明されたインテリアの質感は、ドイツの3ブランドより上であり、手抜きだらけのＢＭＷの質感の低さとは雲泥の差だ。
When I was tirekicking the dealer one Sunday afternoon, no other visitors in sight, I happened to gaze at IS 300h F-Sports and one of the staff there asked me to test-drive the car.
Although the impression of its exterior may largely depend on personal taste, I don't like the way rear diffuser looks because it is standing out too much. Also Toyota-style fender design remains uncool, located a bit too high when viewed sideways.
Its material feel of the interior touted as the "culmination of their pursuit for coolness", on the other hand, surpasses any cars by Top three German brands particular much better than that of BMW which lacks what the classy car should provide.
しばらくしたら日本でもデビューするＣクラスはＳクラスそっくりらしいが、方向は全く違っても負けないだろうと思う。
目的を設定すれば最新のマップデーターがダウンロードされるナビの出来は文句なしだろう。
試乗車は、専用の赤いシートを装備しておりホールド性もよい。
装備的にはリアのサイドエアバッグがオプションになっていたのは、大きなマイナスでメルセデスでいうレーダーセーフティもオプションだが、価格的には標準装備でよいのではないか？
Mercedez Benz C-class vehicles which will be soon be released in Japan look similar to S-class in appearance. Even with difference in direction of the development, however, the newer Benz will be no match for this car.
Navigation system is excellently made because you can download latest map data when you set its intended use.
The car I test-drived had red bucket seats which are really comfortable.
As for car fittings, I am not happy that both rear-side airbags and radar safety system(in Benz term) are not equipped as default fittings but optional. With the current price both should have been included in retail price.
肝心の走りの方は、市街地ではタイヤの扁平率も手伝い相変わらず荒れた路面や高速のジョイントでは不快なレベルにある。
高速で路面に吸い付く感覚も相変わらずドイツ車とは差を感じる。
相変わらずというのは、もう６年以上前に所有していた旧モデルのIS350との比較で、進化しているのだろうが、ストロークが足らずグリップ感が乏しい。
About the important driving performance, this car shows a bad performance to drive on a bumpy road, an expressway and a street partly due to its tires being flat
There seems to be a difference about the way the tires stick to the road on an expressway in comparison with German cars.
Compared with the previous model IS350 that I owned more than 6 years or more ago, this car should be improved but it doesn't have enough grip and stroke.
可変ダンパーがついている車をスポーツモードで乗った方が速いと言うのは殆ど間違いで段差も轍もある一般道どころかサーキットでさえ、足を柔らかくしてグリップを稼いだ方が速い場合が多い。
その意味でこの足回りは失敗であろうし、それ以前に300hにFスポーツが必要だろうか？
硬派なエクステリアと足回りに対し、パワートレインの違和感が大きすぎる。
肝心のHVは2.4Lの直4エンジンベースで期待はしていなかったが、結論づければ何の面白味もないデーター上燃費がよいだけの車だった。
It is totally wrong to say that the vehicle with variable damper can run faster in sports mode. In my experience, to run your car faster, giving grips constantly by getting your feet flexible often works.
In that sense, foot area of the driver's seat is a failure. Then do we need F-sports for 300h in the first place?
In contrast with its staunch exterior and foot area, car power train does not match well.
Hybrid Vehicle engines, the crucial part, are 2.4L inline four engines which I had not expected that much, only turned out to make this vehicle a stale, fuel-efficient-data-only frivolity.
JCO8モードで22Km/Lという燃費は、実燃費でせいぜい15Km/L程度で、JCO8では最高速が80Km/hなのでハイウェイでは更に数値は悪い。
ハイブリッド車を買う人は、ハイウェイでも燃費がよいと思っているが、トヨタのハイブリッドは高速域では単に電池他のシステム分が死重となるだけで、燃費は通常のガソリン車にかなわず、低速域からビッグトルクなターボディーゼルの敵ではない。
Although it has the fuel mileage of 22 k.p.l. in JCO8 mode, actual mileage is not better than 15 k.p.l. And JCO8 mileage is based on the drive 80 k.p.h or slower, actual mileage in expressways could be worse than that.
People who buy the hybrid vehicles expect that the car has the excellent mileage even driving in the expressways. The fact is, however, hybrid vehicles carry excessive weight of the battery system which is detrimental to excellent gas mileage. Gas mileage of HVs are worse than ordinary gasoline cars much less turbo diesel vehicles which showcase large torque even in low velocity.
実際に80キロくらいから加速してみると、メーター読みで100キロ（実測は92キロくらい）を超えた当たりでHVのアシストは途絶えていき、それ以降はエンジンがタイヤと容量が少なくなったバッテリーの両方へパワーを供給するために苦しそうに喘いでいる。
ここまでくると1.7トン近い車重の車を1.8L程度の役不足なエンジンで走っているだけである。
それでは、他社のハイブリッドは同じかというと、ホンダのアコードは高速域でも大してエンジンの回転が上がらずに加速する。
When I accelerated from 80 k.p.h, hybrid power assistance tapered off when the speedometer exceeded 100 k.p.h.(actual speed about 92 k.p.h.), after the assistance wore off, the tires had screeching sound as if they showed the agony of the engine overburdened because they needed to supply power both to the tires and the battery which had been running out of power.
At this stage, 1.8-litter under-powered engine had to support the vehicle weighing about 1.7 ton when it was running.
Then, what about the HV engines of the vehicles manufactured by other car makers? Honda accord, for instance, can be accelerated even with high-speed driving without increasing the rotation so much.
JCO8モードでも30Km/Lの燃費なので市街地でも高速でも圧倒的にホンダの勝ちだろう。
しかもアコードは、ＣＶＴ特有のかったるいトヨタ方式と異なり、ＤＣＴでアクセルに殆どリニアに反応する。
このことは、トヨタもよく解っている筈でそのうちに新しいハイブリッドシステムを出してくると思うが、体質的に無理かも知れない。
情けないのは提灯記事で食べている人達が、未だにトヨタの方が優れているとは書けないのでホンダ叩きをしていることだ。
Honda's Accord has mileage about 30 k.p.h. beating that of Toyota's
both in the streets and expressways.
What's more, Honda Accord, equipped with DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) facilitate the instant reaction from the accelerator pedal while Toyota HV's CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) is innately slow in reaction.
I am sure that Toyota is well aware of this issue and will come up with the new hybrid engine system. But I am concerned Toyota's corporate red tape might scrap the plan.
What's irksome is writers in the media who earn their keep by writing Toyota-supportive articles keep downgrading Honda vehicles because they are aware they can not state Toyoto HVs are superior.
しかし、このISと言う車を見る限りトヨタはレクサスに本腰を入れているというか、真剣に物作りをしているとは思えない。
この300hは加速性能では、その後別のところで試乗したIS250より遅いし、高速域での燃費も同程度で必要性がないモデルだ。
300hが絶対に必要だった理由は、250と350の二つのガソリン車の燃費が悪く、減税対象となっていないことであろう。
250でもJCO8モードで11.6Km/Lとは情けない限り。
As far as I have seen how the IS series vehicles developed, I don't see how Toyota had been sincere for Lexus brand. I even doubt they are serious in manufacturing what they could have been done.
This 300h type is slower in acceleration than IS 250 I test-drived at another dealer, and even in high-speed driving, the fuel mileage is no better than that of IS 250. I don't see so much improvement to call it the newer type.
The reason 300h came into being was to meet the requirement to fit into the tax reduction package to enhance the greener car. Both IS 250 and IS 350 failed to meet the requirement and no tax-reduction benefits for the purchasers.
Even with IS 250 fuel mileage is 11.6 k.p.l. in JCO8 mode. What a pity.
更に驚いたのは、レクサスの減税対象車は、ISに限らずGSもLSもRXでもハイブリッドだけなのだという。（トヨタ車も同じでクラウンはHVだけが減税対象）
例えばGS350は減税対象ではないが、CLS350も535iもA6 3.0Tも減税対象車である。
日本車が燃費が良いというのは過去の話かもしれない。
レクサスブランドは、日本で売れているとは言い難いが、ヨーロッパでは全くでＥＵ全体で年間たったの２から３万台程度。
What's more surprising is the Lexus vehicles targeted for eco-car tax reduction are only HVs either for IS, GS, LS, and RX series vehicles. The same is Toyota-brand cars.(Only HV Crown vehicles are eligible for eco-car tax reduction).
For instance, while GS 350 is not targeted for tax reduction, GLS 350, 535i and A6 3.0T are.
It seems that it is becoming the thing of the past that Japanese vehicles are fuel-efficient.
I don't think Lexus brand vehicles sell well in Japan but in EU countries
they sold only twenty or thirty thousand cars at most annually.
その原因はディーラーの数だと言うが、ディーラーを増やしても結果は同じだろう。
ドイツ勢はこの１０年弱で台数が２から３倍程度になり、トヨタはなぜレクサスが横ばいなのか！と悔しがっていると言うが、エンジンだけでもディーゼル、ガソリン、ハイブリッドと８から１０種類程度を用意してくるのに対して、レクサスはＧＳでもたったの４種類で１種類のみという車種まである。
It is said the sluggish European sale stemmed from the fact that they haven't got enough dealers for the Lexus brand. But just increasing the number of dealers will not help much to increase sales of the vehicles in EU market.
While German brand vehicles have doubled or tripled their sales in the past ten years, why that of Toyota Lexus has been stagnant? That's what Toyota people are gritting their teeth through. Come to think of it, German brands have wide variety of engines, eight to ten types, ranging from diesel types, gasoline types and hybrid types. Lexus, on the other hand, have only four engine types in GS, and some types have only one engine option.
しかも台数的に稼げないＡＭＧ、ＲＳ、Ｍは、旧モデルのIS-Fだけが残り、スーパーカーの領域は台数限定で実質ゼロという姿勢で同じ土俵で戦いたいというのは虫がよすぎる話ではないのか？
その非効率な部分を待ち望んでいるユーザーに応えるからこそプレミアムだと思う。
社会問題にもなった下請けへの過度な協力要請など、エゴな体質ではFUN TO DRIVEな車など造れずはずもなく、真剣にブランドを作り上げていく気があるのか？疑問を持つ。
Aren't they just pipe-dreaming to think that they can compete German brand cars in the same league if they keep the stance that allows to forgo the car types that have little room to mass-produce such as AMG, RS, and M types but old model IS-F, and super-car production are nearly non-existent though they maintain they are left for limited release?
They are wrong. Premium cars are made for the car users who want the car which defies what Just-in-Time efficiency requires.
Their extremely for-profit, for-the-efficiency-sake stance which recently caused subcontractor abuses is far cry from producing the vehicles materializing their company motto "Fun to Drive". Are they really, fervently pursuing to create and maintain the Lexus brand? I still doubt it.
日本の税制に合わせたからＨＶではなく、トヨタがＨＶだから税制が今のようになり、それがレクサス自身の首をしめているのでは？
トヨタブランドでほぼ同じ車を出し台数を稼ぎコストダウンし、表面上の材質と遮音材でレクサスブランドではあきませんよ。
日本でもドイツ勢に台数で負けているのだから。
７年が経過したLSはいつ新型が出るのだろう？
In Japan hybrid vehicles came along not because it is a good way to fit into eco-car tax reduction program. It is Toyota's insistence to HVs, which influenced the policy makers to change the tax system to fit the car makers. That's what is currently hurting Lexus brand, isn't it?
Toyota has been producing the similarly styled cars in mass-production, cutting out price, then its Lexus brand make it look classy with some cosmetic changes such as better material and adding sound insulator. That is not working.
Lexus has been losing the market share against German car makers even in Japan market.
Seven yeas has passed since LS's latest model was released. When will its new model be out?
