The Drive: Lawrence Ulrich Reviews the 2018 Lexus LS 500

Flamboyant Lexus LS 500 lives large

In 1989, “The Simpsons” debuted on television, the Tigers were mired in a rebuilding year and the fall of the Berlin Wall promised the end of the Cold War. Thirty years later, and the Simpsons are still America’s family, the Tigers are again reinventing themselves and Russian relations are colder than a Michigan spring.

But before you think we’re in a “Groundhog Day” movie loop, gaze upon the all-new Lexus LS 500 sedan. This is not your father’s LS.

The year 1989 was also notable, of course, for the debut of the LS 500 — at the Detroit auto show — as Lexus’ flagship. True to Japanese stereotype, the LS was a cheaper knock-off of the luxury segment’s state-of-the-art Mercedes S-Class. Same upright grille with rectangular, encased headlights. Same long, slab sides. Same gray rocker panels, same rectangular taillights, same leather-wrapped interior.

Toyota’s premium brand built its reputation on bulletproof reliability, slavish customer service and wallet-friendly pricing. Design was an afterthought.

Not anymore.

Once again using Motown’s show as its backdrop, Lexus’ all-new, fifth-gen LS hit the stage in January like Bette Midler belting out “Hello, Dolly!” This Lexus had brass, sass and a personality all its own. And like any Broadway diva, the result is a polarizing talent that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

My 2018 tester arrived in the driveway with a cowcatcher grille bigger than a steam locomotive.

The spindle grille has become Lexus signature. It graces everything from the enormous mask on the RDX ute (a face only Darth Vader could love) to the artful sculpture on the racy Lexus LC 500 sports coupe. The LS’s sci-fi grille is somewhere in between — neither pretty nor hideous. Flanked by “Z” headlights, it is a galaxy away from the Mercedes’ classic facial bone structure.

“It’s a handsome car except for the grille,” said a friend. “The grille’s ugly, but the back is nice,” another friend said of the derriere’s bold, horizontal lines interrupted only by a chrome drip (another Lexus signature) at the corner taillights.

Indeed, the Lexus is a bit of a split personality, like Tommy Lee in a tuxedo. Elegantly radical.

In between its “ugly” face and “nice” tush are a coupe-roofed, rear-wheel-drive-proportioned sedan draped over a 123-inch (a foot longer than the 1989 model) wheelbase. In contrast with the RDX which demands an opinion from every angle, the rocker panels and door handles are conservatively conventional.

The dual personality continues inside. From the get-go the LS was a tech geek, sporting breakthroughs in 1989 like an automatic tilt-and-telescope steering wheel and vibration-insulating rubber mounts. My loaded, all-wheel drive $103,635 tester checked every box on the car geek’s wish-list including kick-open rear trunk, world’s-largest heads-up display, drive modes, air suspension, 28-way massaging seats and flux capacitor (just kidding about that last one, “Back to the Future” fans).

But then Lexus goes too far with a touch-pad operated infotainment screen that will drive you bonkers. Mrs. Payne nearly took a tire iron to the mouse-controlled display of the Lexus GS on a recent journey to West Virginia so, naturally, Lexus made the LS controls even more diabolical.

Trying to navigate the haptic touchpad while traveling is like moving target practice. To make matters worse, Lexus buries features in the screen like heated seats that most automakers locate on the console. The LS console is a sleek piece of uncluttered art — at least until frustrated passengers start gouging it with blunt objects.

My wife tried adjusting her heated seats with the touch pad while I drove and soon threw her hands up in frustration. Naturally, the Lexus features an advanced safety system — no doubt to help drivers distracted by the maddening touchpad — that has its own issues. Like other Level 2 systems, “Safety System Plus” triangulates adaptive cruise-control, lane-keep assist and blind-spot assist to create a cocoon of self-driving comfort on freeways. Until it doesn’t.

Like Tesla’s Autopilot, SS+ will simply stop working when it can’t make out road lines or center itself in the lane. That means you have to be alert, lest the system takes a coffee break. It’s a toy, not a tool.

Happily, there is the back seat for when the front gets too stressful. In fact, I would recommend going everywhere with two couples to gain the full LS experience. Touchpad driving you batty? Time to switch with the rear passengers!

Equip your LS with the $12,270 luxury package and you won’t regret it. In addition to the aforementioned, 28-way front thrones, you get reclining, 18-way heated rear sofa chairs with power window shades, a seven-inch touchscreen controller (Hooray, no touchpad!) and Ultrasuede liner.

My chocolate Ultrasuede door liner looked like it had been applied with a cake knife, its sugary material shaped with scalloped swirls. I gained 10 pounds just looking at it.

The touchscreen controller not only heats and reclines your own seat, but moves the front passenger seat forward for extra space (oops, still got room up there?) and controls the front radio (“CNN? I’ll switch to Fox News, thank you very much!”). Opt for the $1,000 panoramic roof and you can also control how much sun you get. Aaaah, that’s the life.

The Adaptive Variable Suspension also makes for a carpeted ride back there, electronically adapting to Detroit’s worst roads. On a double date, our chauffeured friends paused from licking the chocolate suede to notice how uncommonly smooth was the drive down the pothole-pocked Lodge service drive.

Naturally, the Lexus also has split driving personalities.

Determined to match its hair-raising design with goosebump-raising performance, the all-new architecture is lower, lighter and more nimble. Give the big bull’s right horn (sprouting from the cockpit cowl) a twist and you are in Sport Plus mode: springs-stiffened, 10-speed tranny optimized, growling 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 at the ready.

Open the throttle gates and the 4,938-pound heifer is on the loose, its 442 pound-feet of V-6 torque stampeding across the landscape.

It’s not a the V-8 roar of old — hey, its’ not 1989 anymore. But it has personality, just like the rest of this big, ugly, handsome, relaxing, maddening Japanese land yacht. The new Lexus is still cheaper than a Mercedes, still leads five-year cost-of-ownership lists and still speaks geek. But it’s never boring.

Report card

Highs: Unique design; palatial back seat

Lows: Maddening remote touch-pad screen controller; clunky auto downshifts at low speed

Overall:★★★

Grading scale Excellent ★★★★ Good ★★★ Fair ★★ Poor ★

^ lol they said the LS 500 was debuted in 1989

They also called the RX the RDX. Twice!

I do like the review overall though. The 5LS is many things, and "boring" is none of them.

Pretty critical review from Motor Trend (no longer on Youtube LOL)
http://www.motortrend.com/cars/lexus/ls/2018/2018-lexus-ls-500-f-sport-awd-review/

CNET:
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/auto/2018-lexus-ls-500/review/

Don't get why MT compared the LS F-Sport with the S63...

meth.ix

Don't get why MT compared the LS F-Sport with the S63...

The article was so weird. Does the writer have no clue what to compare it agains. The S class has a sport package option.

Seems every article mentions "adequate" power and turbo lag. They got 0-60 in 5.2 seconds, way off the Lexus claim.

We need a V-8. bad.

mikeavelli

The article was so weird. Does the writer have no clue what to compare it agains. The S class has a sport package option.

Seems every article mentions "adequate" power and turbo lag. They got 0-60 in 5.2 seconds, way off the Lexus claim.

We need a V-8. bad.

First they say they want turbo, then they complain about lag. I really doubt that is turbo lag, in the way it cannot be any worse than Germans, that have not anti-lag tech. It has more to do with throttle calibration. NA engines can have lag, throttle lag, because they are drive-by-wire, so need calibration.

Isn't the TTV6 supposed to have some fancy tech on the turbos to avoid lag anyway? I can't say that I noticed any when I was test driving the 500, and I did push it pretty hard in a couple of instances.

mikeavelli

Seems every article mentions "adequate" power and turbo lag. They got 0-60 in 5.2 seconds, way off the Lexus claim.

We need a V-8. bad.

Lexus really messed this one up. I have yet to see a real world 0-60 test under 5 seconds, when Lexus quotes 4.6 seconds. 3.5L TT V6 is a great base engine but there needs to be an upmarket V8 option. Right now, you can get a more powerful C class than you can a Lexus LS - and that is not counting C63 AMG.

Hell, new ES is going to be 302hp and 3,700lbs... it will be under 6 seconds 0-60 and bigger inside than LS. WTF is going on here? If Lexus isn't careful, ES is going to kill off the LS just like it did the GS.

Gecko

Right now, you can get a more powerful C class than you can a Lexus LS - and that is not counting C63 AMG.

That's incorrect good sir. The C43 AMG used to make 362 hp and now makes 385. The LS makes 416 hp in the standard LS, though this is discounting the LS350 and the LS500h. However yes, the V8's do obviously make more power.

It does makes me think though, this V6 is EXTREMELY powerful among the flagship V6 cars, also being reliable. 416 horsepower is no joke whatsoever. However it is in a weird grey area where three things could solve it:

- Introduce a weaker model, making the TTV6 the flagship
- Introduce a V8 option, making the TTV6 an entry level engine only
- Introduce both options! Have options for the customers to choose.

Having a V8 (not even F at this point, because I think they gave up on that based on the news I am hearing) on a luxury based side, pushing at least another 100-120 horsepower bump over the V6 shouldn't be that bad. It could dwindle the complaints of customers of not having a V8, could bring more potential customers, also it can increase it's flagship status! It's a win-win situation.

However, I don't know what the progress of the V8 is. @Carmaker1, or anyone else out there (don't just want to single out one person) do you guys happen to know on the progress of the new V8? When are you thinking it could get released? In my humble opinion, the new V8 should be out by the time when the new generation of BOF trucks/SUV's or even crossovers come out in the next 3 years or so.

I know this post sounds a little redundant and I may have said something like this before, but I am getting a little scared on how there are barely any news coming out of TMC.

F1 Silver Arrows

I know this post sounds a little redundant and I may have said something like this before, but I am getting a little scared on how there are barely any news coming out of TMC.

It is as if TMC does not know what decision to make, so they wait.

The Drive: Lawrence Ulrich Reviews the 2018 Lexus LS 500

Much preferred over the hybrid.

View the original article post

Great review! Most LS500 reviews give short shrift to just how improved the dynamics are, how great the torque feels kicking your butt, and how awesome the engine bark is under hard acceleration.

F1 Silver Arrows

I know this post sounds a little redundant and I may have said something like this before, but I am getting a little scared on how there are barely any news coming out of TMC.

We know it is coming by next year... from Japanese mags.

As to Lexus saying anything, obviously they wont tell you to hold your LS purchase until next year, just like they did not announce CarPlay coming at next MY, even though it obviously is, or else certain amount of people would wait for it.

spwolf

As to Lexus saying anything, obviously they wont tell you to hold your LS purchase until next year, just like they did not announce CarPlay coming at next MY, even though it obviously is, or else certain amount of people would wait for it.

This. I don't understand why some want TMC to disclose their future plans so people stop buying current models and wait. It is a very bad business strategy.

ssun30

This. I don't understand why some want TMC to disclose their future plans so people stop buying current models and wait. It is a very bad business strategy.

True, but no company does that unless deliberately, because by announcing an up-coming product they are keeping a customer from jumping ship. We clearly see this with electric cars PR from Germany. But I think those that want TMC to disclose their future plans are mostly BOF customers. This is understandable when the big sellers (Prado, Land Cruiser, Hilux, Tacoma/4Runner, Tundra/Sequoia) are getting over a 10 years life cycle, approaching the 15 years life cycle of the last Rolls Royce Phantom. The wait for the new LS has been very long, and for new engines even longer.

Levi

True, but no company does that unless deliberately, because by announcing an up-coming product they are keeping a customer from jumping ship. We clearly see this with electric cars PR from Germany. But I think those that want TMC to disclose their future plans are mostly BOF customers. This is understandable when the big sellers (Prado, Land Cruiser, Hilux, Tacoma/4Runner, Tundra/Sequoia) are getting over a 10 years life cycle, approaching the 15 years life cycle of the last Rolls Royce Phantom. The wait for the new LS has been very long, and for new engines even longer.

BoF is best selling range for Toyota so they obviously wont tell us about something new until it happens. Tacoma is basically new, Prado got update this year, IMV range is 2 years old.

So far it looks good that reviewers get along with the LS500. Sucks that I can't drive one because it's not available here.

Gecko

Hell, new ES is going to be 302hp and 3,700lbs... it will be under 6 seconds 0-60 and bigger inside than LS. WTF is going on here? If Lexus isn't careful, ES is going to kill off the LS just like it did the GS.

even more so goes for S450 and 740i. Are they also going to be dead from ES? I mean some common sense still has to be used :).

You cant argue how ES needs stronger turbo V6 with AWD or else it is not a legitimate luxury vehicle and at the same time argue how base ES350 might kill LS500 because it is too fast.

Lexus is very good at separating their vehicles based on engine and amenities. For instance UX has 4cly 2.0l, NX has 2.0t and RX has V6 (LF-1 will have bi-turbo V6 i guess). For my personal taste as an european, I say give them all same engines and let them fight it out. But then many people scream (including journalists) how it has "same engine!!!" as a bad thing. So it feels like sometimes people are being negative to be negative.

LS500 has best V6 bi-turbo engine on the market, but somehow thats not enough. Despite weight penalty, in C/D comparo it was faster than competition while being more frugal. This is why the vehicle has been selling as well as it has.

spwolf

even more so goes for S450 and 740i. Are they also going to be dead from ES? I mean some common sense still has to be used :).

You cant argue how ES needs stronger turbo V6 with AWD or else it is not a legitimate luxury vehicle and at the same time argue how base ES350 might kill LS500 because it is too fast.

Lexus is very good at separating their vehicles based on engine and amenities. For instance UX has 4cly 2.0l, NX has 2.0t and RX has V6 (LF-1 will have bi-turbo V6 i guess). For my personal taste as an european, I say give them all same engines and let them fight it out. But then many people scream (including journalists) how it has "same engine!!!" as a bad thing. So it feels like sometimes people are being negative to be negative.

LS500 has best V6 bi-turbo engine on the market, but somehow thats not enough. Despite weight penalty, in C/D comparo it was faster than competition while being more frugal. This is why the vehicle has been selling as well as it has.

I didn't say that without AWD and turbo V6, ES wouldn't be a legitimate luxury vehicle. I just said that would help close the gap left by the GS.

In reality, many people will look at ES as "nice enough," "big enough," and "luxurious enough" now that it is the size of the LS and probably just opt for ES since it's going to be half the price. You can tell me that sounds crazy but it is now as big as LS (actually bigger) and offers very nice tech and luxury features. Same steering wheel, same 12.3" screen, rear seat amenities, etc. I don't think this will be as much of a problem for 740i and S450 as it will be for LS shoppers. I definitely agree that there is an LS customer who just wants an LS - the best that Lexus offers. I also think there is an LS shopper who was buying it before because it had the largest rear seat, nice features and was very comfortable. Now, ES is larger and more comfortable inside than LS. It will steal some sales from LS because of this for sure.

You can say this is extreme, but ES has already killed GS based on size/pricing/packaging. It is now even larger and more luxurious than before, which is not good for LS. Perhaps LS' newfound sporty personality will help differentiate it and bring in some new buyers who will offset those Lexus loyalists who will choose ES. Overall, Lexus is really shaking up their entire passenger car portfolio between LS, ES, GS elimination and likelihood that IS becomes larger.

As @ssun30 mentioned before, ES and RX are both category killers because the hit on all the right points for shoppers and cost lest because of scale to produce them alongside Toyota products. Only problem for Lexus is when what gets killed is their own lineup. Of course, you will say this is not a problem at all.

Gecko

I didn't say that without AWD and turbo V6, ES wouldn't be a legitimate luxury vehicle. I just said that would help close the gap left by the GS.

In reality, some shoppers will look at ES as "nice enough," "big enough," and "luxurious enough" now that it is the size of the LS and probably just opt for ES since it's going to be half the price. You can tell me that sounds crazy but it is now as big as LS (actually bigger) and offers very nice tech and luxury features. Same steering wheel, same 12.3" screen, rear seat amenities, etc. I don't think this will be as much of a problem for 740i and S450 as it will be for LS shoppers. I definitely agree that there is an LS customer who just wants an LS - the best that Lexus offers. I also think there is an LS shopper who was buying it before because it had the largest rear seat, nice features and was very comfortable. Now, ES is larger and more comfortable inside than LS. It will steal some sales from LS because of this for sure.

You can say this is extreme, but ES has already killed GS based on size/pricing/packaging. It is now even larger and more luxurious than before, which is not good for LS. Perhaps LS' newfound sporty personality will help differentiate it and bring in some new buyers who will offset those Lexus loyalists who will choose ES. Overall, Lexus is shaking up their entire passenger car portfolio between LS, ES, GS elimination and likelihood that IS becomes larger.

As @ssun30 mentioned before, ES and RX are both category killers because they hit on all the right points for shoppers and cost lest because of scale to produce them alongside Toyota products. Only problem for Lexus is when what gets killed is their own lineup. Of course, you will say this is not a problem at all.

The LS is a status symbol car. People who want a status symbol car will never consider an ES. Dealers will always try to talk people into buying an LS over an ES, not the other way around, because an LS sale is several times more lucrative than an ES sale. Even if they do that, Lexus will clamp down such behavior immediately.

The GS got killed by the ES because it stood in ES's way. So people will go for the cheaper alternative, dealers want to get rid of GS inventories because they are a liability, and Akio Toyoda want it dead five years ago.

What happened to the GS is not applicable to the LS. LS does not stand in ES's way. If anything, the LF-1 will be the car that sends the LS into oblivion. That is sure to happen.

ssun30

The LS is a status symbol car. People who want a status symbol car will never consider an ES. Dealers will try to talk people into buying an LS over an ES (happened to me), not the other way around, because an LS sale is several times more lucrative than an ES sale. Even if they do that, Lexus will clamp down such behavior immediately.

This is exactly what people said about GS 10-15 years ago, so while see your POV and the logic in it, I do not necessarily have faith it will work out like that. For status alone, I think many LS buyers will stick with the car. But for those who were buying it for space, comfort and reliability... ES offers those things in spades and the Lexus buyer is still a much more value-conscious one than most luxury shoppers. We will see how it shakes out in the years ahead.

Gecko

We will see how it shakes out in the years ahead.

We probably won't be to tell what ES will do to the LS, because the LF-1 will be there to kill the LS almost guaranteed.

Gecko

This is exactly what people said about GS 10-15 years ago, so while see your POV and the logic in it, I do not necessarily have faith it will work out like that.

The GS was never the flagship though. It was an undefined car where neither Lexus nor its dealers knew exactly what it was, because it's the tweener between the IS and a rip-roaring performance sedan that never existed. (If the LS F does arrive, it could be that car, but too late).

LS is in far more danger from the LF-1 under current market conditions. However good the ES is, it's not going to have an interior as good as the LS500, and if you think otherwise you haven't been in an LS500.

Ian Schmidt

LS is in far more danger from the LF-1 under current market conditions. However good the ES is, it's not going to have an interior as good as the LS500, and if you think otherwise you haven't been in an LS500.

If we go by this, Lexus would have only one sedan and one suv, and one coupe, so other cars would not hurt its sales. And Lexus would then sell 300k GS's per year :-).

LF-1 is going to be performance suv... very much unlike RX and more like LC... and I bet it wont be huge sales success because it wont be roomy enough or affordable enough for your average Lexus buyers, so Lexus complainers will complain about it just like they complain about LC for instance, which in reality has no Audi or BMW competition since those brands have been investing so much into lower end of the lineup.

Gecko

As @ssun30 mentioned before, ES and RX are both category killers because they hit on all the right points for shoppers and cost lest because of scale to produce them alongside Toyota products. Only problem for Lexus is when what gets killed is their own lineup. Of course, you will say this is not a problem at all.

I dont quite understand how do you want Lexus to be more like Germans, and then complain that ES350 is LS500 competition.
ES350 is very far away from LS500.

A6, 5 series, E class are much, much closer competition to their more higher end versions and the sky did not fall down on them. There is much less difference between those models than between ES350 and LS500, and thats both interior options and powertrains.

If anything, I would trully want ES to have AWD, V6 bi-turbo, higher end interior options like quilted leather, japanese glass, etc, and all for $65k.
And I am sure you would love it too... but then you would complain that it would kill LS :-).

I just dont understand arguing both sides of the argument. But again, Lexus is very good at separating their models, much more so than Germans, so it is least thing you should be worried about... unlike with Germans.

I agree. Audi in particular has a crazy amount of overlap between their cars and they seem to be doing fine. Rationally you'd remove all the odd-numbered Audis and then you'd have a solid lineup, but they're not doing that. They're living the Steve Jobs philosophy on cannibalization: it's better to steal sales from yourself than to have someone else stealing from you.

Ian Schmidt

However good the ES is, it's not going to have an interior as good as the LS500, and if you think otherwise you haven't been in an LS500.

spwolf

If anything, I would truly want ES to have AWD, V6 bi-turbo, higher end interior options like quilted leather, japanese glass, etc, and all for $65k.
And I am sure you would love it too... but then you would complain that it would kill LS :).

This is the heart of the matter why ES shouldn't totally obliterate LS. ES may be more bang-for-the-buck insofar as size and room for the money, but, judging by the 7ES interior shots we've seen, it's several noticeable notches below LS. and that is as it should be. Those that want utmost luxury will step up to LS and its available ultralux available touches such as hand-pleated door panels, cut glass decor and the like.