2011 Lexus LS 460 Review

Smooth, quiet, easy luxury.

Introduction

The Lexus LS is a superb luxury car. Extremely quiet and extraordinarily smooth underway, it is easy to drive and operate. It's less fussy than the German luxury cars. Equipped with a powerful V8 engine and 8-speed automatic, the Lexus LS 460 delivers excellent performance. While not squishy, the LS tilts more to the luxury side of the equation than the sporty side, favoring a nice, smooth ride over a firm suspension with sharp handling.

The Lexus LS is packed with luxury and bristles with technology. The LS 460 was the first car in the world with a computer-controlled 8-speed automatic transmission.

The LS 460 L is a long-wheelbase version that offers reclining heated bucket seats, a cool box, dual-zone rear HVAC controls, a folding table, an ottoman, a shiatsu massager and, of course, DVD with wireless headphones.

The 4.6-liter V8 can propel the LS 460 from 0-60 mph in a mere 5.4 seconds, according to Lexus, yet it gets an EPA-rated 24 mpg Highway. The 8-speed automatic is super smooth and plays a big role in the fuel-economy story. The electrically powered steering system adjusts according to speed. Ride quality is exemplary, and handling is perfectly capable. It doesn't get any smoother than the Lexus LS and it meets every expectation for refinement and luxury.

The Lexus LS 600h L employs a hybrid powertrain using a 5.0-liter V8 and electric motors rated at 438 total system horsepower. The LS 600h L delivers EPA fuel economy ratings of 19/23 mpg City/Highway. The LS 600h L is certified as a Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV). The LS 600h L comes with all-wheel drive and rides on the long wheelbase.

All-wheel drive is available on the non-hybrid models, also, and it features a Torsen limited-slip center differential to distribute torque between the front and rear tires. Normally, the front-to-rear torque split is set at 40:60 but it can vary between 30:70 and 50:50 depending on driving conditions. The bottom line is stable traction in any conditions.

The rear-wheel-drive Lexus LS 460 offers a Sport Package that adds air suspension, firmer stabilizer bars and shocks, 245/45R19 all-season tires on 19-inch wheels, Brembo brakes, a body aero kit, perforated Black/Saddle leather upholstery with sport front seats, a unique leather-trimmed steering wheel and paddle shifters. An Appearance Package consists of just the Sport Package's aero kit and grille.

The current-generation LS 460 was launched for the 2007 model year; the LS 600h joined the line for 2008. The 2010 model year brought significant styling revisions and technology upgrades.

For 2011, an adaptive air suspension is available for rear-wheel-drive models. All 2011 Lexus vehicles come with Smart Stop Technology, which automatically reduces engine power when the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal are applied simultaneously under certain driving conditions.

The Lexus LS challenges the best luxury sedans in the world. It competes with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and S-Class, BMW 5 Series and 7 Series, Audi A8 and Jaguar XJ, among others. Compared to those cars, it is more affordably priced while also offering top levels of quality, dependability and reliability. If you desire a smooth and comfortable large luxury sedan, the Lexus LS is hard to beat.

Lineup

The 2011 Lexus LS lineup includes the LS 460, the long-wheelbase LS 460 L, and the LS 600h L hybrid, a long-wheelbase model with all-wheel drive and a gas-electric powertrain. The LS 460 models are powered by a 4.6-liter V8 that makes 380 horsepower with rear-wheel drive and 357 hp with all-wheel drive. The LS 600h L uses a 5.0-liter V8 mated to a pair of electric motors. Total output is 438 horsepower. LS 460 models have an 6-speed automatic transmission with manual shift capability, while the LS 600h L uses a continuously variable automatic transmission.

Lexus LS 460 ($65,380) and LS 460 AWD ($67,685) come with leather upholstery; dual-zone automatic climate control; interior air filter; power tilt/telescoping wood and leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls; cruise control; 16-way power adjustable driver's seat; 12-way power front passenger seat; heated front seats; memory for the driver's seat, steering wheel and mirrors; power windows, locks, and heated mirrors; keyless access and starting; sunroof; AM/FM stereo with six-disc CD changer, XM satellite radio, auxiliary input jack, and iPod adaptor; Bluetooth wireless cell phone link; rearview camera; trip computer; auto-dimming rearview mirror with compass; outside temperature indicator; universal garage door opener; rain-sensing wipers; automatic headlights; fog lights; adaptive xenon headlights; and P235/50R18 tires on alloy wheels. AWD models also get a heated steering wheel.

An Adaptive Variable Air Suspension ($2,120) constantly adjusts damping rates based on the road surface; it comes with electronic variable-ratio power steering. The Sport Package ($6,185) adds black and saddle tan perforated leather upholstery, heated steering wheel with shift paddles, matt dark brown ash burl interior trim, sport front bucket seats, unique front spoiler and grille, rocker panel extensions, a sport version of the air suspension, Brembo brakes, 10-spoke forged aluminum wheels, and P245/45R19 tires. Other options for LS 460 include the Comfort Package ($2,185) with front and rear park assist, heated steering wheel, heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, power door and trunk closers, power rear sunshade, and headlight washers; the Comfort Plus Package ($5,125) includes the Comfort Package plus rear side airbags and heated and cooled power rear seats with massage and memory features. The Cold Weather Package ($100) includes a heavy-duty heater, a wiper deicer, and a heavy-duty battery. Several navigation packages are available, from relatively basic ($965) to max-zoot with Mark Levinson audio ($3,745).

The LS 460 L ($70,925) and LS 460 L AWD ($73,230) feature heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, front and rear park assist, power door and trunk closers, power rear sunshade, self-dimming headlights, and headlight washers. A Luxury Package for the 460 L ($980) upgrades to semi-aniline leather upholstery, power side sunshades, and an Alcantara headliner. The Rear Seat Upgrade Package ($4,865) includes rear side airbags, rear dual-zone automatic climate control, upgraded leather upholstery, power heated and cooled rear seat with memory and massage, power headrests, rear seat cool box, rear radio controls, power side sunshades, and an Alcantara headliner. Other options for L models include a Mark Levinson sound system ($2,080), the Adaptive Variable Air Suspension with variable-ratio power steering ($2,120), P245/45R19 all-season tires ($865), and hands-free self-parking ($700).

The LS 600h L ($110,000) comes with the navigation system with voice recognition and real-time traffic information; Lexus Enform assistance; the self-parking feature; a 19-speaker, 450-watt Mark Levinson audio system; Alcantara headliner; LED headlights; adjustable Adaptive Variable Air Suspension; and P245/45R19 tires. A Premium Luxury Package ($5,280) is similar to the Rear Seat Upgrade for the LS 460 L.

The Executive Class Seating Package, available on the LS 600h L ($10,835) and LS 460 L ($13,200) adds rear side airbags, rear dual-zone automatic climate control with body-temperature sensors, interior air filers, two-place heated and cooled rear seats with memory and massage, power rear headrests, fixed rear center console, right rear power reclining seat with leg rest and massage, right rear seat fold-down tray, rear DVD entertainment system, and rear radio controls.

Safety equipment includes dual front airbags, front side airbags, curtain side airbags, front knee airbags, anti-lock brakes with electronic brake assist, traction control, electronic stability control, active front head restraints, tire-pressure monitor, rearview camera, and adaptive headlights that point into turns. An optional Pre-Collision System ($1,500) comes with adaptive cruise control. It retracts the seatbelts, sounds a warning for the driver, closes the windows and sunroof, firms up the suspension, adjusts the steering ratio and readies brake assist when the computers detect an impending collision. An Advanced Pre-Collision System ($5,800), available only on the long-wheelbase models, also adds Lane Keep Assist, a driver attention monitor, and object recognition cameras. All-wheel drive improves safety in slippery conditions.

Walkaround

Lexus designers have given a lot of attention to aerodynamic considerations that ultimately lead to improved high-speed stability, quieter operation, and better highway fuel mileage. Yet, this has been done without making the LS look like some super-streamlined jellybean. The detailing is impeccable, the fit and finish is precise, and the entire look is one of refined, contemporary elegance.

As the flagship, the Lexus LS gets the most finesse of any of the Lexus L-finesse designs thus far. Its lines flow smoothly from its amazingly complex, crystal-like headlamp units, under the car, up over the roof and around the mirrors, with a short trip over the short rear deck to the integrated rear spoiler. After all that detail work on the exterior, they gave the car a drag coefficient of 0.26, tied with the best in the industry for a four-door sedan. Reducing aerodynamic drag not only helps fuel economy, it also contributes to reduced interior noise levels.

The headlights are automatic-leveling and also aim themselves to the left or right to better illuminate around corners, and the taillamps are LED units which deliver enhanced visibility to other drivers.

The LS is an attractive car and it has presence. At a glance, however, it can look like a giant Camry. When rolling up to a fine hotel, it does not project the statement of luxury that the flagship European sedans do, namely the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the BMW 7 Series, and the Jaguar XJ.

2011 models equipped with the Sport Package have a black grille, while standard LS 460s have a chrome grille with five bars; and the LS 600h L has a four-bar body-color grille. The Sport Package also adds an aero body kit with a front lower spoiler, side rocker panels, and a rear lower spoiler. The Appearance Package includes the aero kit and the Sport Package's 19-inch wheels.

For 2010, the LS got new grilles, a new front bumper with different air intakes, slightly revised headlights and taillights, changes to the exhaust diffusers, a revised rear license plate surround, reshaped mirrors with integrated turn signals, and new wheel designs.

Interior

To climb into the left front seat of the Lexus LS is to climb into the near-ultimate of luxury cars. The seats are gloriously comfortable, and they are 16-way adjustable for travel and rake and tilt (12-way on the passenger side), with a three-way memory system for each front seat. All models come with perforated leather seats, with the option of semi-aniline leather. The seat bolsters are just wide enough to retain your torso without feeling too tight or intruding on comfort. The seats that come with the Sport Package feature more pronounced bolstering, but they don't pinch wide backsides. The front seats are heated on the standard car, with heated and cooled front and heated rear seats added to the L version.

Optitron is the name used by Lexus to describe its electroluminescent gauges and displays, and they are lit by bright white LEDs for excellent readability, day or night. Almost all of the needles illuminate, dominated by the large tachometer and speedometer needles. Every single switch on the car is lighted for ultimate convenience. A thin-film-transistor (TFT) multi-information color display delivers as many as 13 information and setting displays during driving.

The LS 600h L comes with a unique LCD instrument cluster with a large central speedometer flanked by oil temperature and tachometer graphs on one side and fuel gauge and power meter graphs on the right. The information is easy to see, but not particularly interesting in appearance.

Four-spoke tilt-and-telescope leather-and-wood steering wheels (heated on the uplevel versions) feature redundant controls for audio, information, cruise control, radar cruise control option, telephone, and a brake-hold feature. To use the brake-hold feature, just come to a stop, push down the brake pedal, touch the button on the steering wheel, and the brakes stay on regardless of vehicle attitude until you touch the gas pedal.

The center stack of controls is beautifully integrated, as is every single piece of interior trim, and though there are lots of buttons, they are clearly marked in large type and lighted, so there will be little confusion after a couple of drives. The navigation display is large and bright, and the graphics are crisp and sharp. An auxiliary input is provided for MP3 players, and a USB port is added this year for iPod connectivity. Your iPod can be controlled through the steering wheel audio controls or the radio. The standard ten-speaker audio system sounds wonderful until you try the optional Mark Levinson Reference Surround Sound system, with 19 speakers and 450 watts, which we think might just be the single best automotive sound system on the market.

The LS is a big, roomy and comfortable luxury sedan, with generous interior dimensions and 18 cubic feet of trunk space, enough for four sets of golf clubs.

The long-wheelbase L versions offer more almost five inches more legroom, by virtue of their greater length, and the option of a luxurious rear-seat setup with two reclining heated bucket seats, a cool box, sunshades, additional climate ducting, and dual-zone rear HVAC control. Yet another configuration, the Executive-Class Seating Package, adds a folding table and a right rear seat with a built-in ottoman section, shiatsu massager, an extra air bag, and a rear roof-mounted 9-inch DVD screen and two sets of wireless headphones. No car manufacturer this side of a $350,000 Maybach offers this kind of rear-seat setup.

Safety Connect and Lexus Enform are telematics systems, both with complimentary one-year subscriptions. Safety Connect, which is standard on all Lexus vehicles, operates like GM's OnStar system, offering a measure of security with Automatic Collision Notification, Stolen Vehicle Location, Emergency Assistance Button, and Enhanced Roadside Assistance. Lexus Enform comes with all optional navigation systems, and offers two unique ways to get directions to destinations. Destination Assist supplies directions with the help of a call center, and eDestination allows drivers to send destinations to their navigation systems from a website. Enform also comes with Lexus Insider, which is a way for the factory to communicate with owners via audio casts that provide tips, event information, and other information an owner might need.

Driving Impression

The Lexus LS is fast, smooth, quiet and efficient. So much so, that there is a low sensation of speed. The car feels under-stressed at normal highway speeds, with a huge reserve of power for passing and highway driving. A BMW 7 Series sedan offers sharper handling, but its larger wheels and lower-profile tires let more road noise through to the cabin and more vibration to the wheel. The Lexus is smoother and quieter. Handling in base models is rather capable but dull, and the car isn't prone to highway float or excessive lean in turns.

While we wouldn't have called the LS fun to drive in the past, the recently added Sport Package makes it much easier and satisfying to drive the car into corners at high rates of speed. While the shocks and stabilizer bars are firmer than in the base model, it's the specially tuned air suspension that likely gives the Sport Package its impressive handling finesse. The Porsche Panamera uses a similar system and it is lauded as one of the best-handling big sedans on the market. In the LS with the Sport Package, we were able to charge into turns, brake, and kick the tail out with a stab of the throttle. You could probably do that in the base car, too, but you wouldn't want to. The Sport Package makes the LS far more fun to drive.

The LS 460 has a base curb weight of 4350 pounds, and its engine is smaller than those in some of the German competitors. Yet it can accelerate from 0-60 mph in a mere 5.4 seconds, and it's good for an EPA rating of 24 mpg Highway. But acceleration is only a tiny part of the story here, and the engine is only a part of that.

The LS 460 was the first car in the world to offer a computer-controlled 8-speed automatic transmission, a transmission that offers great acceleration with nearly imperceptible upshifts and downshifts, manual or automatic shift control, and improved highway mileage in eighth-gear overdrive.

Acceleration seems like child's play for the LS 460. The engine, transmission and driveline set the standard for quietness and smoothness. We found the LS 460 to be very quiet and nearly vibration-free. It seems much quieter than the competition, whether at 30 mph or 130 mph, its regulated top speed.

The electrically powered steering system is terrific. It doesn't feel any different than hydraulically powered steering, and it has progressive assist that decreases with speed. The steering, brakes and engine are linked together into electronic stability control, which Lexus calls Vehicle Dynamic Integrated Management (VDIM) and includes all the functions of anti-lock brakes, traction control and stability control to help keep the vehicle going where the driver intends and thus to reduce the chance of a spin on a slippery surface.

All-wheel drive is available on all models. The operation and driving feel of the Lexus all-wheel drive system is about as transparent as it can be. There is no sense that it is searching between the front and rear wheels, and it has none of the torque steer that accompanies just about all front-drive vehicles and many with all-wheel drive.

Parking and maneuvering are surprisingly easy given the size of the LS 460 L and LS 600h L. Thanks goes to a relatively short turning radius and electronic power steering. The Advanced Parking Guidance System can be used to allow the car to park itself. We tested the system, thinking anyone who knows how to parallel park will consider this an unnecessary, slightly insulting adornment. However, it really works. Actually, it works great. We found ourselves using it over and over. The trick is to scan in the exact size of the parking space, then keep a foot on the brake while the car automatically maneuvers itself into the spot. It takes about 10 seconds, which might be longer than just doing it yourself. Plus, it costs $700 for the car to perform tasks every driver should have the skill to do.

The LS 600h L, if anything, is even smoother. The hybrid system, in which the 5.0-liter V8 and the electric motor work together, can provide performance equivalent to other V10 or V12 powerplants, and smoothness to match. The 389 horsepower of the engine, matched with the enormous torque of the electric motor, means that this car that weighs 5360 pounds can, according to Lexus, accelerate from 0-60 mph in just 5.5 seconds, and it is rated at 19 mpg City, which is more than what you might expect from a midsize sedan with a V6. While hybrid powertrains deliver excellent fuel economy, their strongest forte lies in reduced emissions. According to Lexus engineers, the LS 600h L produces exhaust emissions nearly 70 percent cleaner than the cleanest competitors.

The hybrid drive system uses two powerful electric motors and a battery pack. The system is capable of driving the car on just the gas engine, in electric-only mode, or with a combination of gas engine and electric motor. The battery system consists of a 288-volt DC Nickel Metal Hydride pack located behind the rear seat. In the trunk is a 12-volt auxiliary battery to power the audio system, navigation and lighting. The electric motors, denoted by Lexus as MG1 and MG2, perform specific functions. Each can operate as both a motor and generator. MG2 is the drive motor. MG1 is used as a starter motor and acts as an engine-driven generator to charge the battery pack or provide additional power to the drive motor, MG2, as needed.

The LS 600h can operate in EV Mode, in which the vehicle will stay in electric-only mode at speeds below 25 mph for about a half mile. This feature might be useful to glide into the garage silently if you get home late, or get to a gas station if you ran out of fuel or maybe for use in stop-and-go commuter traffic.

Even though the hybrid is equipped with regenerative brakes, which recharge the battery as the brakes are applied, brake feel is typical of a standard car equipped with strong disc brakes, an impressive engineering achievement.

Note, however, that the hybrid is priced far higher than the base model, making it more of a social and environmental statement than a value. It does include other standard equipment, including all-wheel drive, but the fuel savings will never make up for the extra cost. In all fairness, the base LS 460 is the wiser choice.

Summary

The Lexus LS line may be the quietest, most serene luxury car available. It offers an excellent combination of comfort, space, quietude, and features. It's also the most electronics-intensive luxury car we've ever experienced and, if it weren't a Lexus, that would give us pause. The LS 460 offers all anyone might want in a luxury car, and at a price that cannot be considered exorbitant. Long-wheelbase models boast big rear legroom, while the LS 600h L features a hybrid powerplant that offers improved fuel efficiency with comparable power and greatly reduced emissions.

NewCarTestDrive.com correspondent Jim McCraw reported from Detroit, with John Stewart reporting from Southern California, and Kirk Bell contributing from Chicago.