Boasting 272 horsepower and 254 lb.-ft. of torque, the 2007 Lexus ES 350's 3.5-liter V6 engine is perfectly suited for the car, offering brisk acceleration around town. The six-shooter also proves plenty capable of quick highway speeds, and is always at the ready for sudden passes, provided the driver is easy with the throttle – a sudden drop of the gas pedal will result in a slight delay as the six-speed automatic transmission deciphers its master's intentions.

Those whose right feet grow heavy with the sight of every red-to-green light will notice that the redesigned ES 350 offers no deficiencies in the torque-steer department, enabling the front tires to squeal easily from a stop, especially when they're turned a bit.

Given these comments, one could correctly assume that we drove this Lexus pretty hard, yet despite our testing of its limits, the ES 350 still returned an average fuel economy rating of 20.9 mpg.