It wasn't until recently that Lexus finally clued in to the fact that it needs to build high-performance cars. The LFA represented the beginning of a reborn Lexus. That didn't mean, however that Lexus could simply stop building more conservative cars for its many loyal buyers, hence the continued existence of the ES350. We recently spent some time behind the wheel of a 2017 ES350 and the perhaps the best thing about this generation is the fact that it's no longer based on the Toyota Camry.

No, it's Avalon-based now, meaning it's bigger and more powerful. Yes, that's a good thing but consider this: has the Toyota Avalon ever been an exciting car? Nope.

The 2017 Lexus ES350 is a front-wheel-drive comfort luxury cruiser that comes powered by a naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V6 with 268 hp and 248 lb-ft of torque. One look at it inside and out and it's obvious Lexus has gone to great efforts to shed the model's boring past. But is that good enough? After all, today's ES350 is still, at its core, a more expensive Avalon.