The Lexus LS was always a dull car to look at and to drive. The new fifth-gen one aims to fix that.
For the past couple of years, Lexus has been trying to shed its conservatism by injecting sporty flair into its cars with flashy design cues that included the now-established spindle-like front grille and arrow-shaped head lights.
As well, Toyota’s upmarket nameplate has continuously extended the F-Sport design package to its saloons, hatchbacks, coupes and SUVs in the same vein how Audi, BMW, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz are offering the S-Line, M Sport, R-Sport and AMG Dynamic trims accordingly.
And it doesn’t stop here. At the Detroit motor show earlier this year, Lexus has unveiled its fifth-generation LS luxury saloon with a new twist. Rather than adopting the traditional limousine-looking silhouette of its predecessors, as well as the Audi A8, BMW 7-series and Mercedes-Benz S-class, Lexus has given its latest flagship a sleek, fastback-style profile.
Styling is definitely one selling point.
Although the new LS may look like a Porsche Panamera at first sight, it actually isn’t exactly like that. While the Panamera has a hatchback boot lid, the LS still has a boot cover like in three-box saloons. Which is why the closest rival matching the LS on the catwalk would be the Jaguar XJ, although this car is aging fast in its current generation.
Whatever intentions Lexus has in sight, the LS is without doubt a truly distinctive saloon. And by mixing the aforementioned design traits Lexus has been playing around for quite some time already, it must be said that the LS is probably one of the most appealing cars in its class to relish visually.
With overall length being measured at just over 5m, the LS has the sense of grandness needed for a luxury car of this type. The 3,125mm wheelbase is 35mm more than in the outgoing “stretched” predecessor meaning that there won’t be another elongated model anymore.
As Lexus wants a sportier look for the LS, it is wider and lower than before. If that’s not enough, there’s the F-Sport package for the first time in the LS featuring not only racier exterior and interior enhancements but also beefier brakes, suspension and chassis electronics.
However, F-Sport won’t be offered to Thai buyers when the LS is introduced in the country in November, which is quite a pity because it gives a chance to broaden the audience of the car and play along with its new sporty mission. Apart from being a pricier option, Lexus believes that potential buyers in Thailand won’t call for it.
The ride isn't perfect on patchy roads.
Although the interior of the LS feels less radical than the exterior, it’s a wonderful place to be in. From the driver’s side, the balance between traditional buttons and touchscreen functions is just about right making the fascia quite intuitive to use at first glance. Some of its German rivals, in contrast, require some time of getting used to.
But what really makes the LS’s cabin special is the attention to detail. Practically every corner is filled with materials that offers both visual and tactile quality. The door panels are also exquisitely furnished with overlapping layers as if Lexus is targeting Bentley for sheer opulence.
Lexus rarely misses out on good seats, and the LS is no exception. In fact, all the four chairs are great to sit. And if you opt to sit in the rear – which practically all buyers in this part of the world will mostly do – it joins the S-class in topping the class for outright comfort. Apart from a large scope of adjustment, the seats can massage your body in so many ways. Another cool thing in the LS, when fitted with air suspension, is the ability of the car to raise its height upon entry and exit because the car’s generally low stance can make egress like in sports car.
Another area of significant change is under the skin. Rather than modifying the previous rear-drive platform, Lexus has developed the new GA-L (global architecture for luxury cars) floorplan, shared with the LC coupe, from ground-up. The extra-long front end has allowed all engines to be placed behind the front axle for more optimum weight distribution.
As a result, the LS is actually quite good to drive. You don’t necessarily feel its size and the steering feels unusually crispy and a touch heavy (by class standards) at low speeds when compared not only with its predecessor but also against the 7-series and S-class. It appears than the sporty objective has not only been applied to the car’s looks but also the driving manners.
Although the suspension setting is obviously geared for comfort, the ride can begin to feel a little overdone (even on air suspension) once you move away from super-smooth tarmac to patchy road surfaces, as how we experienced with the LS at its driving trials on the country roads outside San Francisco, California. It would have been acceptable for a car from a class below (the GS, 5-series and E-class), or maybe Lexus has been trying a little too hard to make the LS a driver’s car. Which is why the LS somehow lacks the more serene ride of its German rivals. Perhaps, the optional air suspension in the LS is a must.
The content of high-tensile steel in the LS’s body has now doubled to 30%, although total weight of the car still ranges from 2 to 2.3 tonnes depending on model. And because the LS is still a relatively heavy car, performance in all three engine variances (see graphic for details) is adequate rather than superb.
New turbo V6 isn’t tax-friendly in Thailand.
Kicking off the range is the LS350 whose naturally aspirated 3.5-litre V6 (the 8GR unit still in use in other models) is kind of old-fashioned for 2017. You always have to work through the gears of the new 10-speed automatic to get a kick out of things. Bluntly put, it’s quite gutless with only 311hp and 380Nm and is only useful for lowering the price point of the LS used as a company or fleet car.
Next up is a hybridised version of that V6 called LS500h. Thanks to some electrical assistance, the LS500h performs more effortlessly than the LS350. The overall drivetrain is quite refined but gets a little sonorous when pushed. As Lexus wanted a sporty look for the LS, the boot height has dropped by 40mm, so engineers opted to position the new lithium-ion battery vertically behind the rear seats fearing a shallow boot. Even so, driving dynamics seems to be largely unaffected even when negotiating fast bends.
The third variant is the LS500 boasting a new downsized 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 which is unrelated to the 8GR units of the other two. Coded V35A, the 415hp/600Nm sixer is a completely new development designed as an engine-downsizing exercise from the non-turbo 380hp/498Nm 4.6-litre V8 used in the LS460 predecessor (we hear V35A is set to appear in Toyota’s pending Supra-reviving sports car).
With the availability of increased torque at low engine speeds, it’s easier to extract performance in the LS500 than the old LS460. And with the help of some sound-engineering, the V35A almost sounds like a V8, if not as sweet or natural. In terms of real-world power, the LS500 feels quicker than a 326hp 740i but not against a 440hp Panamera S, with both Germans also using turbocharged six-pot engines.
Despite most of its rivals going plug-in hybrid already, Lexus has yet to make one -- for any of its models, in fact. Marketers will also note why Lexus hasn’t taken the advantage to make its new V6 displace 3.0 litres because China, the world’s biggest car market, has a 3,000cc tax barrier (we were told that engineers have had no input from the sales people at Lexus). Virtually all of Lexus’s competitors have sub-3,000cc motors.
Should Thais be concerned of this? Yes, because local excise taxation penalises all engines -- even hybrids – displacing more than 3,000cc with the 50% maximum rate. And when combined with the 80% import duty and some other levies, the LS will remain a 10 million baht import – in whichever form – amid the presence of a six million baht Bimmer or Merc.
That’s quite a shame because the latest LS is so much more desirable than its predecessor, which was dull to look at and to drive. Ok, the ride isn’t perfect, but the new LS largely makes up elsewhere. And since Lexus has come so far in making the LS more capable, they might as well also use that F-Sport treatment to lure the new generation of luxury car buyers with money to spare.
