chicagotribune.com's view

Some, to be sure, will call the 1997 Lexus ES300 a glorified Toyota Camry.

Certainly not the worst thing you could call a $30,000 sedan built off the same platform as the $25,000 top-of-the-line Camry XLE.

The ES300 sold by Toyota’s Lexus luxury division keeps going where the Camry leaves off in terms of quiet and performance, and by performance we mean not just a zero- to 60-m.p.h.launch from the light, but also road-holding agility and stability.

Perhaps the best way to judge the ’97 ES300 versus Camry (Cartalk, Sept. 29) is to point out where ES300 excels versus its less expensive fraternal twin.

Like Camry, the ES300 is restyled and built on a 2-inch longer wheelbase for 1997. The design doesn’t stand out in a crowd. The ES300 and Camry look alike despite Lexus’ protestations that the two differ like night and day. The differences are more like an hour apart. Lexus, however, sports a superior paint finish that’s brighter and richer.

The ES300is powered by a 3-liter, 200-h.p. V-6 tweaked slightly (different exhaust) to deliver a tad more power than the 3-liter, 194-h.p. V-6 in Camry.

The ES300 scoots faster, more smoothly and far more quietly from the light than does Camry. Quiet is one of ES300’s strengths. The absence of cabin noise from engine/transmission commotion is almost eerie.

Open the sunroof and a window and even wind noise is held to a minimum so passengers can talk.

The ES300 really excels from its adaptive variable suspension (AVS), similar to Cadillac’s Stabilitrack ride enhancement suspension. AVS is a must-get $600 option not available on Camry. It offers a wide range of soft-to-firm suspension settings to smooth out most surfaces while providing optimum ride and handling, regardless of road condition.

AVS monitors engine and vehicle speed, steering-wheel movement, braking and acceleration and vertical motion to continuously control shock-absorber damping to tailor the car to the road and make alterations within 0.0025 of a second in doing so.

Each wheel’s suspension continuously adjusts itself by softening to reduce road harshness over bumps or stiffening to prevent the front end from diving in hard braking or the rear end from squatting in hard acceleration.

Rapid steering-wheel movement triggers the shocks to stiffen on either side of the car to provide flatter cornering and reduce body lean or sway in corners and turns. A vertical “G” sensor also adjusts the suspension to prevent wheels from making a harsh up and down, or “chop,” movement over rough pavement or floating lazily over rolling road surfaces.

An adjustable control allows you to set the suspension to your desired range of softness-to-firmness. The “comfort” setting expands the soft range, the “sport” setting the firm range. We found “comfort” too soft.

The power steering also was revised to provide more immediate response to wheel input.

For $300, you can add optional traction control that regulates fuel flow and applies ABS to the spinning wheel to keep the vehicle under control.

Compared with Camry, the ES300 also offers, as standard or optional, larger tires, eight-way power seats (versus six-way), memory power seats, wiring for a cell phone, in-dash CD changer, automatic climate control with outside temperature gauge, gas shock hood struts, first-aid kit, illuminated door “puddle” lamps, leather seating, heated seats, fog lights, heated outside mirrors and a longer basic warranty (48 months/50,000 miles versus 36/36) and powertrain coverage (72 months/70,000 miles versus 60/60) plus 24-hour roadside assistance.

A couple of gripes. The ES300 offers no integrated rear child-safety seat. Camry does. ES300 buyers don’t have kids or grandkids? Also, the key fob has buttons to lock/unlock doors and deck lid, plus a panic button to sound an alarm, but the panic b tton is directly behind the deck-lid button. Squeeze to open the trunk, and you set off the alarm.

Base price is $29,900, down from $32,400 for 1996 thanks to a series of cost-cutting actions such as replacing nickel-plated door panel clips with painted metal as well as the realization that the luxury cars attracting consumers are the “under $30,000” variety.

While our test car started at $29,900, the addition of leather trim, in-dash CD changer, power tilt and slide sunroof, heated seats, traction control and AVS, the items that separate the ES300 from Camry, brought the sticker near $35,000.