Hell’s Angels, Vietnam, hippies, the space race, the cold war, America’s civil rights movement and… the Lexus CT200h. Ray Leathern draws them all together in favour of philanthropists, your mother and animal shelters.

In 1966, Hunter S. Thompson published ‘Hell’s Angels’, a gonzo documentation of twelve marauding months with the infamous, west coast biker gang. Cultural dispersion dominated the time – Vietnam, hippies, the space race, cold war and the civil rights movement; leaving the white, unemployed remainder to carry out a social vendetta against anyone who’d take notice. Guns, drinking, drugs and any form of intimidation were their means. New recruits didn’t need to pay an annual fee to join, oh no… before they could ride, they had to have fresh riding gear washed in the excrement and urine of established members and understandably, not just any set of wheels gained you membership to the Hell’s Angel. You needed a ‘chopper’, a standard bike of the time lowered and modified with the ‘chopped’ handlebars… hence the name.

The legacy of this, some 40 years on, is far less rebellious. The drill seems to be if you’re middle aged, financially secure and experiencing empty nest syndrome you can pop down a few hundred grand for a modern day ‘chopper’ with the requisite riding paraphernalia, and shake the coffee from peoples cups every weekend as they sit down to a nice, civilised breakfast. Today these motorcycles aren’t the reserve of drunken, unemployed misfits with little else to do; they are big ticket items for affluent clientele.

I’ve never cared for these motorcycles, especially as one always seems to be going by as you’re taking an important call, but I definitely don’t care for what these motorcycles stand for. Like Thompson says in his book, “The Hell’s Angels are obvious losers, and it bugs them.” Why else would you draw so much attention to yourself? Thankfully there is an answer. If you’re financially secure, happily married and need to protect yourself from the ‘chopper’ owners on your block, you can buy yourself a Lexus hybrid.

The Lexus hybrid is in everyway imaginable the complete antithesis to a shouty, American motorcycle. Advanced hybrid technology gives you two thoroughly modern whisper quiet motors. Hailing from the east, the Lexus guarantees you faultless reliability and while a ‘chopper’ can tickle the fillings from your teeth as it bumbles by, the Lexus hybrid is a study in restraint, quietness and absolute refinement.

Nothing is as much of an affront on the senses as encountering a ‘chopper’ whilst enjoying the noise cancelled cabin of your gracious Lexus. Other cars pass by without a sound, but a loud motorcycle does make an intrusion. “For heavens sake…” is the phrase you find yourself repeating.

Legends about the level of engineering integrity at Lexus are well known. Panel gaps being measured down to the exact millimetre and specialists being employed to ensure each sound a Lexus component makes falls within a preordained decibel range. You know the satisfying door thud you’ve heard a Lexus make… well, it’s no accident, and yes it is a truly great door thud, sturdy and solid but never loud.

Lexus hybrids are for people with immaculate rose gardens, people who contribute to charity on a regular basis, people who with all their commitments never have an evening free in the week, people who value considered conversation over loud banter, and after having driven one for a week, hopefully for people who don’t suffer from narcolepsy. A Lexus hybrid is so somber that if you aren’t careful you really do run the risk of falling asleep behind the wheel.

But the Lexus hybrid I’m talking about in this case is the newest CT200h. A hybrid hatchback built to take on the BMW 1-Series, Volkswagen Golf and Audi A3. To find out if it does, we need to strip away the CT200h’s substantial body, where we will find the exact same running gear as the Toyota Prius. A fully beltless 1.8-litre, four cylinder, petrol engine that combines with an electric motor and a 650V battery to deliver drive through an E-CVT gearbox. The petrol engine operates with the help of an ‘Atkinson Cycle’ that regulates the level of combustion in the cylinders and an exhaust heat recovery system that maintains maximum cooling efficiency. All this is exactly as you’d find in the current, third generation Prius. A maximum of 100 kW from both power sources, torque of 142 Nm from the petrol engine and 207 Nm from the electric motor, 94 g/km of CO2 and a return of 4.1 L/100km. The only thing that differentiates this Lexus from the Prius is the power control unit that governs how sportily this electronic witchcraft is brought together. Its more ‘sporty’ and more refined than the Prius.

The CT200h is an odd car in this respect because it doesn’t feel like a slow car, but it actually is pretty slow, but then sometimes it isn’t, and I know that’s all down to the E-CVT gearbox and how it’s controlled. If you’re in ‘eco-mode’ the throttle pedal feels like it’s connected to the powertrain with gooey marshmallow… then it feels very slow. But if you flick it into ‘sport-mode’ a red rev counter pops up on the dash and when you mash your foot into the carpet the needle launches to 6 500 r/min and will sit there mooing at you as the speeds rise will above the legal limits. Like I said, I don’t think it is fast, but there is a pretty satisfying surge of acceleration, especially considering the surge is courtesy of humble Prius tech. The CT200h F-Sport is pretty darn sporty if you think of it in that respect and as soon as you do back off the throttle, regenerative braking sends charge back into the batteries to save the planet – so I was right about it being the perfect car for a philanthropist.

The CT200h’s dynamics count against its ‘sporty’ billing however. The CT200h rides firmly enough over regular suburban roads for you to think it will handle corners pretty well, however, it rolls with great excitement in corners and then dives under hard braking. Worse still is the weight of the batteries in the boot, having the heaviest componentry at both ends of the car means it handles like you have two Barry Ronge’s nailed to the front and back bumper. It was never meant to be a mountain pass barn-stormer I know, but with very good steering, and some healthy grip from the sporty wheel and tyre combination, the CT200h feels like it wants to reward you with good dynamics, but just hasn’t quite worked out how to yet.

But I suppose for your Lexus hybrid driver, these are trivial points against what has actually turned out to be a surprisingly impressive car. The combination of its modest power, high technology, sumptuous luxury, good economy and social conscience make a compelling enough argument in its favour. One could argue that when you compare it to its rivals of similar performance, albeit with clean diesel or regular petrol propulsion, you’ll see the social conscience does come at a slight premium. But then again Lexus is an exclusive, premium brand, and the CT200h feels every bit a Lexus as it should.

So, forget the mid-life crisis motorcycle and instead start down life’s journey graciously in a Lexus hybrid. You know your mother and the people down at the animal shelter would approve.

What we like…

• The idea of a premium, hatchback Lexus.
• The motors pull well through the E-CVT transmission.
• The front styling looks fantastic.
• Brilliantly comfortable interior with the ‘convenience pack’ optioned, and typical Lexus build quality.

What we would like…

• To bring the weight of all the batteries lower to the ground and closer to the centre of the car for better handling dynamics.

Ray Leathern has been test driving and critiquing cars for four years now. You’ll find his work at autocirca.com and, of course, right here on SACarFan.