Edmunds Track-Test: Lexus LS 460 Sport vs. BMW 750i Sport
Edmund’s Inside Line has pitted the new Lexus LS Sport package against the BMW 750i Sport in a performance track test, and in the process, somehow managed to add a full second to the LS 460’s official 0-60 time.
According to the Edmunds numbers, the LS 460 Sport hits 0-60 mph in 6.4 seconds compared to the 750i Sport time of 5.2 seconds. This flies in the face of the official numbers for the non-sport LS 460, which Lexus is claiming can hit 0-60 in 5.4 seconds.
Hard to believe the LS Sport package would come with a performance disadvantage—surely something must be amiss with the testing.
[Source: Edmunds Inside Line]
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Edmunds has always had slower 0-60 times, and they also have had trouble with numbers—reporting the LS 600h mpg comparisons incorrectly too.
Maybe their test track runs uphill !
@Dan: They have this little write up to prove that they do a whole bunch of things to minimize bias, but I noticed that they still haven’t rid of their personal biases.
Lexus vehicles accelerate differently not because they’re bad or weird but because they’re from a different brand. 0-60 involves the right amount of combination of “cleanness” and “burnouts”. It’s like going around a corner - if you go around it with no tire noises, you’re too slow; if you go around it with too much, you’re too fast and thus, too slow.
My LS, with good tire pressure and VSC off, has a nice initial thrust and continues to accelerate after getting off the line. If I floored it, it would just do a burnout. If I do is just right, which isn’t easy on different roads, I get some tire squeaks, but my overall 0-60 time is a lot faster than the clean take off’s.
These editors need to get used to the car. They need to try each way of accelerating with more than just two trials. Then, when they get hand of it, they can finally do their tire pressure, tire temperature, headwind, humidity, etc (I hope the editors also make sure that the tires are clean, don’t have too much tire shine, and that the temperature are kept at an optimal temperature for the specific tires, not just an equal temperature as the other car’s tires’).
Finally, I guess the editor can go on complaining about how interesting the LS accelerates. I realize Lexus is usually optimistic about its vehicle’s performance, but unless the editors published the review right after the testing, right after the cold front that recently swiped Southern California, 6.4 seconds is absolutely ridiculous.
P.S.: InsideLine should think about how the Pontiac G8’s automatic transmission was tuned so well that it could actually beat the manual transmission from 0-60 and maintain a lower fuel consumption.
I have a hard time believing that Edmunds would consider a full second to be a normal discrepancy. And why not mention it in the write-up—it would certainly be a newsworthy point.
Here is a different example…Consumer Guide:
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Lexus_LS/Performance/
For the standard LS 460, they tested 0-60 in 5.6 seconds.
Edmunds themselves tested the LS 460 L and got a 5.9 second time, which they said matched that of the SWB model.
Just thought I would point out when Edmunds posted a full review of the LS in 2007 they claimed they hit 60 in 5.8 seconds and quarter mile in 14.2 seconds.
Now the question is how they couldn’t manage anything better than 6.4 seconds with the LS’s sport package.
This is just speculation, but it seems to me that Edmunds doesn’t want the LS to be a close competitor to a car that is the so called “king of kings” in this segment. If they truly could not have gotten better acceleration times, it would have been worthy to mention the track results of the LS’s original review in 2007.
Here is the link for the 2007 LS’s full review:
http://www.insideline.com/lexus/ls-460/2007/full-test-2007-lexus-ls-460.html
I think Edmunds got money from BMW to report the Lexus LS 460 Sport 0-60 incorrect and the LS 600h MPG incorrect thats crazy. Everyone else who reviewed the LS has different numbers They should fix it because the Lexus LS has much more for your money then BMW!!! The new 7 series COPIED the hell out of the LS 460 and 600HL design concept in the rear look at the pictures and you will see from the lights to the exhaust in the bumper; so did Buick with that New Lacross its all a mess everybody copies off LEXUS!!!!!!!:-P
Anytime Lexus is compared to a German car I always expect a little bias. Many other reviews of the LS sport have said that it matches the BMW 750i in performance and handling.
I emailed the editor from Edmunds asking how a full second was added to the time. He couldn’t give me a real answer but he just said that they were tested by the same driver and that their times are recorded differently. He also suggested that Lexus wasn’t totally honest on their acceleration time.
Edmunds stated in an earlier article that the LS460 achieved a 0-60 time of 5.8 seconds when they tested it. I don’t see how the Sport version could be slower.
@James:
That was exactly the question I had. Why was did the original test of the LS yield faster acceleration times?
Your right about the bias, but I always thought Edmunds was pretty fair. But I have noticed Edmunds has recently leaned towards domestic brands. Since Toyota is a huge threat to ALL domestic brands they seem to have it in for Toyota lately.
@Jay: The editor couldn’t even tell me why it was slower than the regular LS. Unless the extra sport accessories add weight to the car, I don’t see how it would be slower.