The Lexus LS 500 is the epitome of classic luxury, almost to a fault. Lexus carries the perception of their customers all having AARP subscriptions so let’s see what a couple 20-somethings think.
Overall the styling is done really well on this car,, its sleek and captures your attention starting with the redesigned headlights and aggressive front fascia definitely took a note out of the LC playbook. Taillights were also redesigned and look really good. I like the sharp angles in the headlights and taillights. One thing I appreciate is that the exhaust exit matches up with the opening in the rear bumper perfectly, it’s not undersized.
Lexus LS Power
Twin turbo 3.4L V6 making 416HP and 442 lb/ft torque with a 10 speed gearbox. 0 – 60 in 4.6 seconds but it feels slower than that. General driving, the Lexus LS feels slow, even in Sports + mode, it doesn’t appear that the automotive downshifts always pick the lowest gear possible. Quite a bit of turbo lack to get it going, potentially how they tuned it. If you keep it around ¾ thousand RPM it actually does a seriously nice pull. It makes a decent sound when doing so.
Audi A8 0-60 in 5.3
S class 0-60 in 4.2
BMW 750 0-60 in 3.9
Sound
Outside of that, its virtually silent in comfort mode, the cabin is extremely quite, not a lot of outside noise, but some road noise specific from your car does come through since the LS doesn’t have a spare tire, it comes with run flats and those are generally louder than regular tires. So just a touch louder than an A8 and S class.
Another comment on sounds, this has the optional mark levinson, get this…. 23 speakers 2,400 watt surround sound system and it sounds insane. I’ve never seen speakers in the headliner like this.
Handling
Its not as floaty as previous generations but they did it that on purpose, still soaks up bumps and pot holes fairly well, 4,900 pounds. It doesn’t provide fun in the sense of impressive acceleration, sharp cornering, it provides its fun when you can crank up some of your favorite tunes, get someone else to drive for you, and you go sit in the back seat.
Lexus LS Comfort
28 way power adjustable front seats
4 zone center air
Touchscreen controls in the back
16.95 cu ft of trunk space its quite impressive.
Price
This LS starts at 10 grand less than any of the German competition. The only thing that undercuts it now is the Genesis G90 by $3,000.