Let's get real.
The Lexus LS460 is one of those seriously
expensive luxury cars that most people will only sit in at the local
Auto Show to see how the other half drives.
I called a local
dealership and asked them how many of these top shelf cars roll out of
the dealership each month and the answer was only a handful. In fact,
the LS460 accounts for only about 10 percent of local Lexus sales.
If
I'm being honest, and perhaps too real, the question that I'll answer
by the time you finish reading this review is the painfully obvious
one: is the Lexus LS460 a rich old man's car?
I suspect you
probably already know that in the grand Automotive pecking order this
biggest and most expensive Lexus of all competes with the likes of the
Mercedes Benz S class, Audi A8, and BMW 7 series. It also competes with
the largest Cadillacs, Acuras and Infinities but I'm willing to bet
that the Lexus engineers were gunning for the S class Merc when they
built this big beast.
So before I get to my driving impressions
let's have a bit of fun. What has always separated these land yachts
from the daily drivers most of us pilot are the gee whiz toys that
pamper the well-to-do drivers who can afford almost 80K for a car.
So here's my list of the Top Ten Coolest and Way Over-the-Top features of the Lexus LS460.
Top Ten Coolest and Way Over-the-Top Features
Cool Feature:
5) 4.6 Liter 357 HP V8 Engine:
This car pulls like a pro cyclist on steroids. I recorded a second
0-60 time in a car that could easily serve as a luxury condo for a
large Tokyo family.
4) AWD with Torsen Limited Slip Center Dif:
When the going got tough in a recent snow storm this car really got
going. OK, to be fair it didn't stop all that well but when you have
over four thousands pounds of hard steel and supple leather moving down
the slippery road it will take a bit of distance and time to haul it
back down.
3) Adaptive Variable Air Suspension: This
Lexus comes with three suspension setting that drastic change the
nature of the car. In "comfort" mode it floats down the road like a
1970 Cadillac De Ville but set the switch to "sport" and you've just
changed the Japaneses made car from an old America cruiser to a German
autobahn burner. And that's a pretty cool party trick in my book.
2) Heated Steering Wheel:
This feature could easily be classified as way over-the-top but in my
opinion every car should have one. Image scrapping the snow from your
car without gloves until your fingers turn a frosty white, and now
image wrapping those frozen fingers around the silky heated portions of
the car's toasty steering wheel. Life, indeed, does not suck!
1) Dynamic Radar Cruise Control: This is one of those very cool features you never even know you need until you've tried it once.
Is is worth $2850?
You bet it is.
If
you can afford this car take my word for it and get it. Imaging a road
trip where you can set the cruise control, set the distance you want to
be behind the car in front of you, and just sit back and cruise. So
what if that pesky tiny Civic just pulled in front of you. The Lexus
has you covered. It will slow down, maintain your set distance from the
car ahead, and automatically speed up when the wondering car has moved
back into the slow lane.
Just check out this video as I see what happens when the car in front of me comes to a complete stop.
Let's get the real.
The Lexus LS460 is one of those seriously expensive luxury cars that most people will only sit in at the local Auto Show to see how the other half drives.
I called a local dealership and asked them how many of these top shelf cars roll out of the dealership each month and the answer was only a handful. In fact, the LS460 accounts for only about 10 percent of local Lexus sales.
If I'm being honest, and perhaps too real, the question that I'll answer by the time you finish reading this review is the painfully obvious one: is the Lexus LS460 a rich old man's car?
I suspect you probably already know that in the grand Automotive pecking order this biggest and most expensive Lexus of all competes with the likes of the Mercedes Benz S class, Audi A8, and BMW 7 series. It also competes with the largest Cadillacs, Acuras and Infinities but I'm willing to bet that the Lexus engineers were gunning for the S class Merc when they built this big beast.
So before I get to my driving impressions let's have a bit of fun. What has always separated these land yachts from the daily drivers most of us pilot are the gee whiz toys that pamper the well-to-do drivers who can afford almost 80K for a car.
So here's my list of the Top Ten Coolest and Way Over-the-Top features of the Lexus LS460.
Top Ten Coolest and Way Over-the-Top Features
Cool Feature:
5) 4.6 Liter 357 HP V8 Engine: This car pulls like a pro cyclist on steroids. I recorded a 5.5 second 0-60 time in a car that could easily serve as a luxury condo for a large Tokyo family.
4) AWD with Torsen Limited Slip Center Dif: When the going got tough in a recent snow storm this car really got going. OK, to be fair it didn't stop all that well but when you have over four thousands pounds of hard steel and supple leather moving down the slippery road it will take a bit of distance and time to haul it back down.
3) Adaptive Variable Air Suspension: This Lexus comes with three suspension setting that drastic change the nature of the car. In "comfort" mode it floats down the road like a 1970 Cadillac De Ville but set the switch to "sport" and you've just changed the Japaneses made car from an old America cruiser to a German autobahn burner. And that's a pretty cool party trick in my book.
2) Heated Steering Wheel: This feature could easily be classified as way over-the-top but in my opinion every car should have one. Image scrapping the snow from your car without gloves until your fingers turn a frosty white, and now image wrapping those frozen fingers around the silky heated portions of the car's toasty steering wheel. Life, indeed, does not suck!
1) Dynamic Radar Cruise Control: This is one of those very cool features you never even know you need until you've tried it once.
Is is worth $2850?
You bet it is.
If you can afford this car take my word for it and get it. Imaging a road trip where you can set the cruise control, set the distance you want to be behind the car in front of you, and just sit back and cruise. So what if that pesky tiny Civic just pulled in front of you. The Lexus has you covered. It will slow down, maintain your set distance from the car ahead, and automatically speed up when the wondering car has moved back into the slow lane.
Just check out this video as I see what happens when the car in front of me comes to a complete stop.
Way Over-the-top Feature:
5) Electric Seat Belt Height Adjustment:
Do you know how in most cars now-a-days you can reach over your should
and adjust the seat belt height. In the LS 460 you'll never need to do
anything as crass as reach over your shoulder. The car has a door
mounted switch that will move the seat belt up and down for you at the
touch of a button.
4) Lite Seat Belt Buckle: And speaking of seat belts you know how hard it can be to buckle them at night?
You do?
Because
I don't, however if this is your issue de jour you'll be pleased to
know that the Lexus has a lite receiving buckle to help you get the job
done in the dark.
3) Tire Pressure Monitoring: By law all
new cars must now monitor their tire pressure. This obviously is not so
over-the-top, but this Lexus goes two steps further. It not only
displays the actually tire pressure in all four tires, but it also
monitors and displays the full sized spare tire pressure. Smart, or way
over-the-to, you decide.
2) Adaptive front lighting system: OK,
many cars in this price range come with High Intensity Discharge
Headlamps (you know they look sort of blue when you see them at night).
And a good number of luxury cars in this class also come with headlight
like these that turn slightly with the car. And of course when you have
these powerful lights they also self-level so that you don't blind
oncoming drivers.
But once again this Lexus goes two steps further. 1) You can turn off the Adaptive Front Lighting (AFS) system and 2) the car also has dynamic auto leveling fog lamps so you don't blind oncoming drivers in heavy fog I'm guessing?
1) Two new and packaged AAA batteries with emergency flashlight:
I know this may seem like a minor detail in car so loaded with so many
electronic aids that you could target a Patriot Rocket using its on
board computers. But the sight of the two brand new AAA batteries
packaged next to the spare tire and small flashlight just seemed so at
odds with a car that does everything automatically and electrically for
you—I just had to add it to the list.
So is this Lexus a rich old man's car?
When
I first drove the car with the suspension set in "comfort" mode I was
ready to declare it the ultimate country club cruiser. But once I
switched it to "sport" mode and put the car in "power" mode (another
switch next to the shift lever). I was amazed at how much it felt like
a German Autobahn screamer.
So I was a somewhat disappointing when I took the car into the local mountains to do a bit of canyon carving.
Truth
be told the LS460 can carve a canyon or two but it is not happy doing
so. The car is just too heavy and too big to be very toss able when the
road turns twisty. Think of a 5-year-old child at dinner. They can
finish their peas, but they are not going to do it easily or without a
lot of fuss.
Having said that the Lexus LS460, unlike any German
luxury car I've driven, envelopes you in a gloriously silent cocoon of
subtly soft and expensive leather, pristine wood, immaculate fit and
finish and rock solid quality. And if these are traits that appeal to
the richer and older, I hope one day to be so lucky as to afford this
car.
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2009 Lexus LS460
Price as Tested: $76,520
Engine, Transmission: 2.6 Liter Four Cam V8 with 8 speed Sequential Automatic Transmission
Horsepower: 357
PocketDyno Test Data
1/4 Mile: 15.38 second at 101.31 mph
0-60 mph: 7.06
Max Acceleration: 0.51 g's
EPA Fuel Economy Estimates
City: 16 mpg
Highway: 23 mpg
Combined: 18 mpg
As tested: 22.6 mpg
CO2 per year: 12,356 lbs
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