2012 Lexus CT 200h

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Such a unique and attractive shape, you'd never know it shared anything with the more family-oriented Prius. (Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press) gas prices remain stuck at uncomfortably high levels and the North American cultural zeitgeist is slowly steering away from big vehicles and conspicuous automotive consumption (Hummer, anyone?), yet there remain few cars that provide luxury in a small, efficient and inconspicuous package. Enter the new-for-2011 CT 200h.

Priced lower than any other Lexus, the CT 200h falls squarely into the "small premium" segment. In Europe, where well-equipped hatchbacks post big sales numbers, this segment is extremely popular, but it's not so well understood in North America - at least not yet. It's no surprise then that Europe is the primary target for the CT 200h, but Lexus nonetheless has big hopes for the car in North America. I spent a week behind the wheel of CT 200h equipped with the Premium package, and I came away impressed.

From first glance, it's clear that the CT 200h has the fundamentals right:

The CT 200h looks especially attractive from the rear. (Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press)

It looks good, it's loaded with useful technology, it handles well and it represents good value, with a base price of $30,950 and a fully-loaded price of $39,350. The pièce de résistance is that the CT 200h, which is based on the popular and iconic Toyota Prius, has a full hybrid drivetrain offering excellent highway fuel economy and truly exceptional mileage in the city.

But while the CT 200h may be based on the Prius, it's no exercise in brand engineering. This is a unique and distinct car with all the luxury one might expect of Lexus, packed into a smaller and more efficient package.

Stylistically the CT 200h is a much sportier, more aggressive-looking machine than its Toyota cousin, while maintaining a relatively slippery shape: the CT 200h has a drag coefficient of 0.29, which

Not a sports car, but a really sporty car. (Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press)

isn't quite as good as the Prius (at 0.25) but which matches the Porsche Boxster. It has a wide, low stance with a convincingly menacing front fascia and a clean, sweptback side profile. Doglegged rear windows and a built-in rear spoiler above the back glass disguise the rather squared-off rear end, at the cost of somewhat poor rearward visibility from the driver's seat. The only external clue that this is a hybrid is the blue "h" at the end of the model badge, and a pair of blue "Hybrid" badges nestled discreetly at the bottom of the rear doors.

Inside, the CT 200h is fitted out as befits a small luxury car, with nice-looking padded materials, metallic accents and quality switchgear. Standard equipment includes all the key conveniences you'd expect: there's dual-zone air conditioning, heated front seats, power driver's seat, cruise control, leather-wrapped steering wheel, heated power mirrors, power windows,

An attractive, high-quality interior. (Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press)

power door locks, keyless entry and pushbutton start (which features a cool-looking blue pushbutton). There's also a nice six-speaker audio system with Bluetooth connectivity, XM radio, USB input and auxiliary input. My test car's $4,950 Premium trim package completed the luxury car experience with ivory-coloured leather seating, a power moonroof, 17-inch alloy wheels, a 10-speaker audio system with 6-disc CD changer, auto-dimming mirrors, backup camera, rain-sensing wipers and a memory system for the driver's seat and outside mirrors, among other features. With the exception of the rear centre seat, which is ridiculously cramped thanks to the contoured backrest, all the seats are quite comfortable, and the front seats are nicely supportive. Luggage space is adequate if not exactly expansive.

Under the hood, the CT 200h uses the same 1.8L, 16-valve, 4-cylinder Atkinson-cycle engine as the Prius, augmented by an electric motor.

Supportive, comfortable seats. (Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press)

Working together they put out a net 134 horsepower and 142 lb-ft of torque, with the gas engine contributing 98 ponies and the electric engine contributing the remainder. Power is fed to the front wheels via a continuously variable automatic transmission, and regenerative brakes feed electric power back into the nickel-metal hydride battery when decelerating, which is the key to the CT 200h's exceptional city mileage. An AC alternator on the engine also feeds power to the battery or electric motor as necessary.

From a driver's point of view, all this technology under the hood works pretty much seamlessly to provide a remarkably "normal" driving experience. Indeed, aside from the operation of the continuously variable transmission, which keeps the gas engine droning along at high revs when accelerating hard, the most noticeably odd

Lots of room for rear seat passengers with the flexibility of stowing longer items via 60/40 split-folding seatbacks. (Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press)

thing about the hybrid driving experience is the CT 200h's shifter, which has an unusual shift pattern and a separate button for park. I found it easy enough to operate, but I did sometimes wind up in neutral when I wanted reverse, and Lexus saw fit to install a back-up beeper inside the car when you do select reverse, so there's evidently some concern that people might not always get the right gear. I don't really understand why the car couldn't use a conventional shift pattern.

An interesting feature you get with the hybrid system is the ability to select between pure electric, economy, normal and sport modes. Pure electric is only good for short distances at low speeds, but it allows you to roll quietly into your neighbourhood at night, or exit your garage without leaving exhaust fumes in your wake. Eco mode gives you the best possible fuel economy, though it badly dulls the throttle response in order to get the maximum use from the electric motor when accelerating. Sport mode gives a little

The CT 200h is the segment fuel economy leader at 4.5 / 4.8 L/100km city/highway. (Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press)

more weight to the steering and somewhat sharpens the throttle response, but it's biggest contribution to a "sporty" driving experience is to turn the instrument backlighting from blue to red, and seamlessly remap the power/economy indicator on the left-hand side of the instrument cluster into a tachometer.

Contributing to the CT 200h's sporty aspirations is a competent and fairly taut suspension setup. Weaving the CT 200h through the high-speed sweeping curves of a mountain highway, I found it dynamic and surprisingly grippy for a car riding on low-rolling resistance tires. Turn in was quick and tracking precise and predictable. Around town however, I frequently encountered a slight delay between deceleration and acceleration that would upset my line when entering tight, low-speed corners. It's almost like the car is trying to figure out how best to deliver the power as I slip off the brakes and onto the throttle.

Sport wagon-like shape makes for a wonderfully practical compact premium car. (Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press)

Overall, I'd say that that the CT 200h is reasonably dynamic and engaging, but I'm not quite sure it counts as truly sporty (as my colleague noted, to be truly sporty it really needs a paddle-shifting mode).

Still, the CT 200h is a pretty impressive little car. It offers real Lexus luxury, top-end technology, and a dynamic (if not quite full-on sporty) driving experience. And it does all this using a proven hybrid drivetrain that delivers rated city/hwy fuel economy figures of 4.5 / 4.8 L/100km, for a price tag on par with a Mini Cooper S. If gas prices remain stuck in the stratosphere, that kind of value is going to attract an increasingly wide spectrum of buyers.

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