AT THE OUTSET of what will be a rave review of a slow beige hybrid sedan, I feel the need to lay out my car-guy bona fides. Naturally I enjoy being strapped in the nosecone of a hypercar like the McLaren Senna atop a blooming pillar of testosterone. I believe the greatest TV show in history is Alain de Cadenet’s “Victory by Design.” The three classics I would choose to be marooned with on a desert isle are the Citroën DS21 Decapotable, Facel Vega HK500, and a Porsche 959 Komfort.

But I contain multitudes. I also admire excellence in fuel-efficient, mass-produced large appliances such as our test subject, the redesigned-for-2019 Lexus ES 300h ($44,960 MSRP for Ultra Luxury package, $54,405 as tested). This is the most overachieving car I’ve driven lately, the most surprising, the one whose refinement and per-inch value will give snobby Mercedes and Audi intenders the longest pause. Toyota’s fourth-gen hybrid system is silky, near-silent and super-efficient: 44 mpg, combined. Even the beige—Moonbeam metallic—is fabulous.

I figure about 10% of this column’s annual mailbag is from readers seeking a car with the ES’s very attributes: full-size premium/entry-luxury sedan, extra spacious cabin, great seats, smooth ride, good fuel economy. Plenty o’ buttons. Not too dear—say, in the $50,000s. Lately these letters have been tinged with frustration as sedans themselves have become marginalized by crossover/SUV sales. These people don’t want an SUV, damn it.

Other notes are from longtime ES owners who, while loving their cars, would be interested in something a little less stolid, a little less of a bürgermeisterwagen.

It seems like Lexus designers have been talking to the same people. The seventh-generation ES—based on the Toyota Avalon box of parts—is longer, wider and lower than the outgoing model, over a wheelbase 2 inches longer. The rejiggering of dimensions has cascading effects, both practical and poetic. The wider front and rear track and longer wheelbase made the chassis engineers’ job that much easier, improving the platform’s roll resistance and drivability without compromising the ES’s ride quality, which is super-bueno deluxe.