Road & Track First Drive Lexus LS 460

and, "Electronically monitored dampers react to the usual inputs from car speed, road surface, steering angle and longitudinal and lateral acceleration. And complementing the Normal setting are Sport and Comfort modes that can be selected."

in another review, from all the inputs above, in Sport mode gear selections are made as if Michael Schumaker himself were doing the shifting. the exact proper gear is selected for each corner, and held until you accelerate out and lift. and IF you THINK you can choose gears better, you still have that option.

in Comfort mode, transitions among the 8 close ratios
are so smooth it's like a CVT.

while i USED TO always prefer sticks, i could live with a tranny like this. makes for enhanced "point-and-shoot" driving where, like Formula One drivers, i can concentrate on picking my lines and shooting apexes rather than be distracted by shifting.

Despite the car’s large size, leg room in the rear compartment is only adequate, and ingress is not particularly easy.
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This seems to be a problem with a lot of Lexus. I experienced this when I sat in the IS and GS. They feel sorta cramped upfront in regards to leg and thigh space. IMO it's the transmission tunnel which takes up a lot of room.


Here the long-wheelbase version scores, especially with more leg room and optional adjustable rear seats.
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Thankfully, you have this.

i felt cramped in a gs too.
don't know about ls, but hey, what are lwbases for?

bloody hell it does look like a 5 series in profile.

sorry for triple post but note that in europe we get "slightly stiffer damper settings and stiffer anti-roll bars, 19 x 8-in. wheels with 45-aspect-ratio tires instead of 18 x 7½-in. wheels with 50-aspect-ratio tires, and larger-diameter, thicker brake discs."

bigger brakes (for those who were concerned about it) and better handling, and more body control. GOOD.

I think the color is a main reason of why it looks like the 5 Series in profile. Most 5 Series I see are of that color or similar.

Anyways, maybe it's just me but I find this review a lot more unbiased than C&D's review of the LS.

it looks exactly the same as the New S-Class lights from side view!

bad Jabs, still coping!

what many call a "bangle butt" now did NOT actually originate with bmw and bangle.

the original bangle butt WAS original and unpredented in its UGLINESS. but it has SINCE morphed into a cleaner design, conforming to a design which FIRST appeared on a nissan maxima of a few generations ago.

this cleaner design element was adopted by many honda, toyota, and lexus models. which emulated the MAXIMA design, NOT the bangle butt.

the design is subtle until pointed out. it melds two shapes, a fastback roof to bumper line, and the rectangular box of the body. the "intersecting" line is only implied, hence the subtlety.

the original bangle butt was NOT as well integrated, and the trunk top stuck out, hence the bangle BUTT. the CLEANED UP bangle butt now mimics the original MAXIMA design.

so while one can still say the lexus "copied" the design, they copped it from the sleek Maxima, NOT the butt ugly beemers.

typo: "unpredented" should be "unprecedented."

People!!! Stop comparing the rear designs of the Lexus GS/LS, the Acura RL, etc to the so called Bangle butt.

There is absolutely no comparison. I have said this before and I am going to say it again on this blog.
Bangle may have popularize the rear look on most luxury cars but he himslef stole it from Hyundai and bastardized it..Take a look at the original XG300/350 that is where the look came from. Remember these cars were produced long before the ugly looking BMW series went into production.

Even the Hyundai Azera has been said to have a bangle butt even though the design originated from them.

In fact these other car companies did a far better job in refining the rear look of their cars.

I would never buy a car with the rear look of the seven and five series.

In fact we should not be comparing the LS with the BMW 7 series, Merc S Class. As they all cater to people with differing taste.

So for those who are on this blog just to find some similarity and then critisize The LEX should show a better level of maturity.

Bill Gates could have a BMW or a Merc but he opted for an LS430..,..Go figure

TheDon-

Wait, what happened to "ThaDon"? Did you change your name?

The original Bangle butt actually appeared on the mid '90s Dodge Stratus (or it could've been a Chrysler Concorde or something; not sure). Look it up.

The LS430 is staid in its worst form. It is so, so bland for a "prestige" sedan, bordering on hideous. The interior, though constructed well, isn't anything special for this class. The same applies to the new version, though it has extra bland-ness that pleases everyone and keeps it from being ugly. But it reminds me of many Toyota models. This isn't because I'm just saying it's a rebadged Toyota, but there's a disturbing family resemblence throughout the Toyoxus lineup.

That's a new one: Toyoxus.

The new LS 460 is a very nice Lexus, I'm glad to see R&T liked it. It looks really beautiful too.

MDalle: "Didn't mntion the butt of the car but the profile... that does not originate from the 5 series, but from the 5-series... And there is nothing new to the fact that the E60 looks like a nissan form behind... "


i referred to the Bangle Butt but i did mean the PROFILE that originated with the Maxima.

the difference is the much copied Nissan profile has a clean body line, with an implied intersection with the roof to bumper fastback.

the Bangle Butt (AND profile) had an awkward separation of the trunk bump out from the body line AND the fastback. it has since evolved to more closely approach the cleaner nissan design.

in either PROFILE or rear 3/4 view, it is obvious that the bangle butt is a DIFFERENT ANIMAL from the more refined lines on the asian vehicles.

with the latter, there is a SMOOTH INTEGRATION or superimposition of a fastback profile with the lower body.

the bangle butt looks ADDED ON. sort of like a cancerous porsche WHALE TAIL grafted on the lower body. NO cohesion with the body shape. an oversized fanny back on a FAT ASS. more appropriate for a plump hausfrau than any sports sedan.

TheDonII is absolutely right. NO comparison.