2022 Lexus ES: Finally, Actual Touchscreens You Can Use Without the Trackpad

More active safety features come as standard, too, like Intersection Turning Assist.

byChris Tsui|
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It's mid-cycle refresh time for Lexus' mid-size sedan because the 2022 ES is coming with a slightly different look and updated tech. 

The most notable change here would probably be this car's new infotainment screens that sit atop a more "streamlined" dash design. Just like it did with the IS, Lexus is bringing the display—eight or 12.3 inches big depending on how much money you spend—forward and making it an actual touchscreen. Last year's model forced you to use the company's less-than-ideal touchpad to navigate the system and said pad is still present on this new 2022 model if you'd like to continue using it for whatever reason. 

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Sidenote: Lexus' literature for this car somewhat hilariously refers to these new infotainment screens as "color multimedia displays." As if it thinks we'd all assume them to be black-and-white if it didn't specifically call out the fact that they are indeed in glorious technicolor

Rounding out the tech upgrades is standard Lexus Safety System+ 2.5, the company's ADAS that now incorporates Intersection Turning Assist and Emergency Steering Assist. Dynamic Radar Cruise Control can now come to and set off from a stop, assist in overtaking slower cars, and make use of Curve Speed Reduction, a function that, as you may have already worked out, slows the car down an appropriate amount when it encounters a curve in the highway.

New bi-LED headlights with dynamic auto-leveling are also standard and join some new grille patterns and new wheel designs in keeping the middle-child Lexus sedan's outward appearance fresh. 

As for upgrades that won't be apparent on a showroom floor, the facelifted ES gains a new rear suspension brace for better torsional rigidity and, in turn, better on-road stability and ride comfort. Lexus has supposedly also improved brake pedal feel in addition to making the pedal itself—as in, the actual part you step on—physically larger. 

Lexus

Lexus is also going in a little more on this car's available F Sport versions with the ES 350 F Sport now available with a Dynamic Handling Package that includes Sport+ and Custom drive modes, an Intuitive Parking Assist (not sure what this has to do with dynamic handling but okay), and Adaptive Variable Suspension with 650 levels of adjustment. What's more, "select regions" will now be able to get the strictly-cosmetic F Sport package with the hybrid ES 300h for the first time because sport badges and black 19-inch wheels are just the sort of thing every hybrid Lexus ES driver craves.

In any case, the 2022 Lexus ES is scheduled to reach dealers this fall.

Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach them here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com

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