2020 Lexus ES looks sharp in red leather

Certain reputations are hard to shake. 

Big, soft and meant to coddle, Lexus' vehicles are often seen as cars for the older sort -- the orthotic inserts of the luxury automotive industry, if you will. 

With a sharper underlying chassis and a new F Sport trim, the midsize Lexus ES does a good job showing that Toyota's fancier sibling is moving in a younger direction, but it still has work left to do.

It may have the price advantage over similarly sized luxury competitors like the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series, but those cars are also much sharper when pushed, even without bringing the AMG and M divisions into the mix. 

The Acura RLX won't exist for much longer, and it never really felt cohesive in the way the ES does.

There is, however, strong Japanese competition from the Infiniti Q50, at least in the dynamics department -- Infiniti's telematics situation is about as sad as Lexus'.

Lexus has definitely come a long way with the 2020 ES 350 F Sport. 

 It's more interesting than ever, but in the process of trying to reposition its appeal, it loses a bit of what made it such a popular choice in the first place. 

It's not dramatic enough of a shift to alienate its core demographic entirely, as the basic underlying idea of what constitutes a Lexus sedan is still there -- and its sales numbers are still trouncing rivals -- but I'm left wondering whether or not Lexus did enough to truly make a difference in the long run.

Keep scrolling or clicking to check out even more pictures of the 2020 Lexus ES 350 F Sport.