I tapped the ride selector on the console from Comfort to Sport and immediately felt the suspension stiffen up. As I negotiated the twists and turns of the road, I began to appreciate the Sport Mode's calibration even more. The car seemed to go exactly where I pointed it and the steering even provided a good feel of the road, unlike some other Lexus models I was familiar with.
While I did not have the opportunity to drive this car back to back with a real sport sedan, I was nonetheless impressed with the flat cornering and substantial tire grip. As I gained confidence with the feel of the car, I noticed that my passenger was gripping the grab handle with greater urgency as he stared down at the shear drops just off the shoulder of the roadway. The LS600h L is a large sedan to be sure, tipping the scales at over 5,000 pounds, but it felt a lot smaller. The steering was quick and accurate with little lost motion and the brakes were powerful and responsive.
Was it as good as, say, a BMW 7 series? Not quite, but it wasn't far behind either. Flip the switch back to comfort mode and it sure beats the beemer in ride quality and tops just about everything I have ever experienced for quiet. Not a trace of wind noise at any speed. Engine noise was muted at all but heavy throttle where it produced a mellow, deep-throated purr. Road noise always depends on the the type of pavement and when I was driving on blacktop, there simply wasn't any.
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I was actually surprised by the brakes. One of the problems with hybrid cars has been that the brakes always felt strange. This is because light braking was handled by the electric motor switching over to a generator to put a drag on forward motion. This is called Regenerative Braking. Stepping harder on the brakes activated the real brakes. The effect was usually noticeable and non-linear. On top of that, the brake system in the LS600h L is electronically controlled using sensors and actuators instead of normal hydraulic pressure. Mercedes used this type of system on some of their cars and here too, the brake pedal felt a bit artificial. None of that here. These brakes felt smooth, progressive and predictable throughout my drive.
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What I like most about testing vehicles in this rarified 6 figure price range is that a good amount of the technology we are introduced to for the first time in these chariots will almost certainly find their way into tomorrow's bread and butter cars. You know, the ones that some of us working stiffs can afford. My guess is that we will see more LED headlamps in the coming years as well as advances in making cars quieter, but the biggest contribution that Lexus made to the future of the industry, it made with the first generation Lexus LS400 that was introduced in 1989. It demonstrated to the world that a luxury car can be designed and manufactured of superb quality and bullet-proof reliability for a price many thousands less than comparable cars. The gauntlet had been thrown down and Lexus never looked back.
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