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Luxury and frugality make a strange pair. One embraces excess, celebrates the unnecessary. The other clings to the practical, pays homage to conservation.

It is difficult to think of them together, even when accepting the idea that opposites attract. But Lexus, the luxury car division of Toyota Motor Corp., has found a way to combine the two in an attractive package.

Witness the 2007 Lexus GS 450h hybrid sports sedan. It is a “performance hybrid,” a concept that boggles the mind and furrows the brow. As such, at least on the surface, it is a car seemingly at odds with itself — dedicated to high speed and precise handling with one hand and to sipping fuel with the other.

It is a pleasant example of a dual personality, a happy mixture of “better” and “best.”

“Better” is easy enough to discern. Compare the GS 450h with any of its worthy competitors — the Audi A8, BMW 550i, Cadillac CTS-V or Mercedes-Benz E5000. All of those rivals come with powerful V-8 engines. They will thrill you, but at a fuel price that may dampen your enthusiasm.

The GS 450h matches or beats its rivals in all key driving performance categories — acceleration, handling, overall driving feel. It is a fast, solid, yet tight and feel-light car, one that entices you to remain behind its steering wheel longer than intended, driving farther than intended.

But with its 3.5-liter V-6 engine, combined with a high-output front electric drive motor, delivering a total 339 horsepower and 267 foot-pounds of torque, the rear-wheel-drive GS 450h gets 28 miles per gallon on the highway — easily the best mileage in the mid-size, high-performance sedan group.

It’s a matter of perspective. Viewed in terms of raw fuel consumption, or in miles per gallon, the GS 450h’s mileage is nothing spectacular. If maximum mileage is your sole criterion for buying a car, you’d be better off getting a Chevrolet Aveo, Honda Fit, Nissan Versa or Toyota Yaris subcompact with a traditional, but substantially more thrifty, gasoline engine.

But that’s an apples-and-oranges thing. Buyers of economy subcompacts are aggressively utilitarian, people not all that terribly interested in super highway speed or taking a curve on a twisty road with the aplomb of a ballroom dancing champion. Theirs is a Point A-to-Point B orientation, a direction they wish to travel as cheaply, safely and reliably as possible.

Buyers of the GS 450h constitute another breed. Call them “practical hedonists.” They value the art and pleasure of the drive. They treasure luxury. But they are determined to hold on to as much of their treasury as possible. In short, GS 450h people are those who never believed there was an inherent contradiction between having your cake and eating it too. The GS 450h allows them to do both.

Of course, Toyota could have found a way to make the GS 450h get 30 miles per gallon or even 35 miles per gallon. The company has done that with its hybrid compact Toyota Prius sedan and the hybrid version of the mid-size Toyota Camry family car.

But the GS 450h is decidedly more selfish than its other Toyota hybrid siblings. Its aim is to pamper the driver, to spoil him or her with an interior of perforated leather and fine wood, heated seats and an optional, splendiferous 14-speaker Mark Levinson audio system. There is an optional voice-activated navigation system for those who aren’t spoiled enough. Standard equipment includes items such as rain-sensing windshield wipers and push-button ignition.

Is all of this necessary? No. But it is par for the course in a world where the rich get richer. For example, consider our federal government and the many state governments that have fallen in love with the hybrid class. The nearly $60,000 hybrid is eligible for tax breaks and single-occupancy transport in high-occupancy-vehicle lanes, although it gets 28 miles per gallon.

The 2007 Toyota Yaris, which starts at $10,950 and gets 40 miles per gallon on the highway with a traditional gasoline engine, gets none of those breaks. See?

Nuts & Bolts 2007 Lexus GS 450h

Complaint: The craziness of it all, the very notion of “high-performance hybrid” and the political insanity of awarding such cars tax breaks and other publicly sponsored incentives.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Excellent in all three categories. There is no argument here: The GS 450h is a very fine driving machine.

Head-turning quotient: This is a beautifully sculpted car, some of the best exterior sedan lines I’ve seen anywhere. It drew lots of favorable attention on the street.

Body style/layout: The GS 450h is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive luxury sports sedan with a traditional notchback trunk.

Engine/transmission: There is a dual-propulsion system, including a 3.5-liter, 24-valve V-6 engine linked to a high-output, battery-powered electric motor. The combination generates the equivalent of 339 horsepower at 6,400 revolutions per minute and 267 foot-pounds of torque at 4,800 rpm. The propulsion system connects with an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission, which also helps improve fuel economy.

Capacities: The GS 450h has seating for five people. Maximum cargo space is eight cubic feet. Fuel capacity is 17.2 gallons of required premium unleaded gasoline.

Mileage: I did get 28 miles per gallon on the highway.

Safety: Head and side air bags, stability and traction control, and four-wheel anti-lock brakes are standard.

Price: Base price on the tested 2007 Lexus GS 450h is $54,900. Dealer’s invoice price on that model is $48,312. Price as tested is $60,895, including $5,300 in options for run-flat tires and related performance system, and navigation, and a $695 destination charge. Dealer’s price as tested is $53,342.

Purse-strings note: If you’re in the market for an environmentally responsible, wonderful toy, it’s a buy.

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