Benzboi_inoz

I read this the other day, and was suitably impressed to say the least.

Even more so, because the reviewer in question, from his past work is very dinky di in telling it as he sees it, and not as the publisher/editor/car company would like it written.

I like the bit about the worlds best quality and refinement...yum...


Here is the link to the full article: - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Enjoy

Best Regards

John....


New Car Road Test

Lexus LS460

Five Star

Bill McKinnon, The Sydney Morning Herald, 17/08/07

Finding fault with this luxury sedan was not easy, writes BILL McKINNON.


Lexus LS460


Good

Outstanding value for money.
World's best quality and refinement.
No options required.
Quick.
Economical for a V8.
You don't even know the eight-speed is there.
Outrageously comfortable.
Great sound system.
Full-sized spare.
Safety credentials

Bad

High-speed handling not quite as controlled, tactile or confident as its rivals.
Dated, derivative styling.
Small boot.

Overall Verdict
Five Star

Is perfection enough?


Nuts & Bolts
Country Of Origin

Japan.

Warranty

Four years/100,000km (above average).

Engine Size/Type

4.6-litre, 32-valve, direct- and port-injection V8.

Power

280kW at 6400rpm (average).

Torque

0-100kmh in 6.1 seconds (quick).

Economy

European standard tests 7.9 litres/100km highway and 16.5L/100km city, which is excellent by class standards. 95 octane unleaded recommended.

Street Price

No advertised deals.

Residual Value

About 45 per cent after three years (Redbook).

Brakes

Discs with anti-lock and stability control (average).

Safety Rating

Not yet tested but expect five stars.

CO2 emissions

261g/km. Green Vehicle Guide rating: three stars out of five.


Power and perfection
The Lexus LS460 arrived in Australia shortly after it won the 2007 World Car of the Year award. Its local launch was delayed while its adaptive air suspension was evaluated in our punishing road conditions.

It's the fourth generation of the brand's original luxury flagship, the LS400, which shook the complacent German car industry like an earthquake when it was launched in 1989.

As with its predecessors, the LS460 really does embody the brand's credo "Pursuit of Perfection". No car on the market today is built to higher quality or refinement standards.

In the US-based JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study, which measures vehicle reliability over the first three years of ownership, the LS has held the highest ranking for the past 12 years.

In the Australian context, its $184,900 ask exposes its German rivals as ridiculously overpriced, a strategy Lexus has successfully employed since the LS400.

The LS460 costs $74,974 less than the Mercedes S500 and $35,600 less than the BMW 750i.

The Mercedes and BMW also have options lists as long as the Tax Act, whereas the LS460 is the full works burger, with no options at all.

Mercedes, for example, wants lots of extra cash for gear that's standard on the Lexus. A pair of rear door window sunblinds? That'll be $1900, thanks. Rear DVD entertainment system? Try $9500.

Power adjustable rear seats are standard on the Lexus. BMW wants $6700 for them on the 750i. Lexus has radar-controlled adaptive cruise control. It costs $4500 on the 750i.

But is the new Lexus better than the BMW and Mercedes to drive? A subjective question gets a purely subjective answer: No, but your definition of "better" may be different to ours.

As with its predecessors, the LS460 is still a car very much engineered for American sensibilities and conditions - which is fair enough, given that it is the market leader there - rather than European or Australian ones.

It's a new-from-the-tyres-up effort, with a 4.6-litre V8 up front delivering 280kW at 6400rpm, or 35 per cent more power than the 4.2-litre engine in the LS430. Peak torque is 493Nm at 4100rpm.

The 4.6-litre has tomorrow's technology galore, including direct and port injection, electrically controlled intake camshaft phasing for infinitely variable valve timing and a powertrain management system with more data processing wallop than the average bank.

It has 10 individual electronically controlled chassis systems, for example, all of which are also integrated into an overall safety-dynamics monitoring network.

In common with all luxury limos these days the LS460 also needed a piece of "we've got this but you haven't" party trick engineering to needle the opposition. Hence we have the world's first production eight-speed automatic transmission.

Lexus says the eight-speed advances the 4.6's claim as the cleanest, greenest petrol V8 of more than 4.0 litres capacity. See, some engineers do have a sense of humour.

It doesn't end there either. Next month the LS600h variant arrives. It's a 5.0-litre V8 petrol-electric hybrid which produces 327kW and is expected to use less fuel. Toyota Australia won't tell us yet what the exact fuel consumption figure is.

We clocked the LS460 (one up with no passengers) at just 6.1 seconds to 100kmh, so it gives away nothing in performance to its rivals.

The V8 is a satin smooth and silent cruiser, which is just the way Lexus customers like it. At 100kmh in eighth, the V8 is ticking over at just 1400rpm.

Lexus says it tuned the engine for a more audible note but at any revs a BMW or Mercedes V8 sounds thunderous by comparison.

The eight-speed effectively masks the engine's slight shortage of grunt under 3000rpm by quickly and almost imperceptibly kicking down a gear or three when you're driving out of a slow corner but as the V8 gets into stride it spins sweetly into a sparkling top end with no loss of refinement.

In the luxury-limo context, the highest compliment we can pay a transmission is to say we didn't even notice it, which is the case here. Sport mode will hold each gear to the red line but manual mode won't let you bang the rev limiter. Why would you bother?

As with all of these cars, the adaptive suspension works best when Sport is selected as the default mode on the highway and Comfort is used in town. Either way, the Lexus's ride quality is superb, as is the suppression of road noise and harshness.

At speed, the LS is more Benz than BMW. It matches the Mercedes in poise and confidence up to a point, beyond which on rough roads its adaptive dampers are not able to exercise quite the same level of control over its two-tonne body. Neither does it give the driver the feedback of the European cars, particularly the BMW.

The variable-ratio electric power steering adds to this impression by being featherlight and devoid of feedback, though it is also pin-sharp.

The brakes have plenty of power but are a bit touchy and difficult to modulate at light pedal pressures.

Lexus makes much of its so-called new styling direction - L finesse - but in the metal the LS460 is disappointingly derivative. It looks like an S-Class clone from the outside and a 1990s luxury sedan cliche - though executed with exquisite, flawless quality - inside.

That said, beyond this subjective impression the efficiency, comfort, refinement and driver friendliness of the cabin are almost impossible to fault.

Oh, you can't read the touch screen with polarising sunglasses on.

The driver's sumptuous armchair is heated, cooled and, as with the rest of the interior, upholstered in flawless leather. However, the back seat is where the fun is. It's power adjustable down to a position that's comfortable enough to have a snooze, heated and cooled, with the previously mentioned roof-mounted DVD, its own air-conditioning and a remote control to operate everything. Get in here and you won't want to leave.

The boot is small, with no extendability and a power-operated lid that takes about five times as long to open or close as it does if you do it by hand. A full-sized spare is underneath, along with a valet pack - gloves, a torch, handcleaner and a mat. Even the jack is beautifully made and finished.

In our five-way comparison test recently, we gave the LS460 the money against BMW's 750Li, the Mercedes S500, Audi A8 and the far-from-disgraced HSV Grange.

Quality, technology, equipment and value sealed it and by most other criteria the LS also wins any contest it enters.

Beyond the serenity, precision and whiz-bang technology, though, the Lexus leaves us wondering why, as a drive, it still seems to be missing something though we can't say what that something is.

But that's our problem. We have to give the LS460 five stars because, as a piece of machinery that delivers what buyers in this class expect, it really is that good.

Prices and details correct at publication.

Bruce

Excellent review, and one that I very much agree with.

Thanks for posting John.

Centurion

Yep another Australian review with a........um questionable verdict. It's a good car but in relation to it's competitor I doubt that it's perfect.

monster

I read the article a while ago. Drive takes a different perspective when judging on the cars. They take a more practicle approach, factoring in things like cost of the car and the level of opetiona equipment on offer. They place less emphasis on handling and performance and more on how well the car fulfil its design criteria. In this case Lexus did a perfect job in designing an luxury car, but nothing more.

It is always refreshing to read articles from Drive because as Jeff has said "from his past work is very dinky di in telling it as he sees it, and not as the publisher/editor/car company would like it written."