There was some pretty good praise for the LS 500:
"Just like Republicans and Democrats have effectively swapped ideologies over the years, BMW and Lexus seemed to have changed M.O.s in the past five years or so. The Lexus LS used to be soft and cushy, but now it offers up damn near sports car levels of performance. Its new 3.4-liter twin-turbo V-6 makes 416 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque, and when combined with its new 10-speed auto, it hustles the LS to 60 mph in 5.3 seconds and through the quarter mile in 13.7 second at 103 mph. Not enough evidence for you? The LS 500 lapped our figure eight in a test-best 25.7 seconds at 0.73 g, and it aced the 60–0 braking test with a 113-foot stop."
"Driven back to back with the BMW, Genesis, and Lincoln, the Lexus feels an order of magnitude sportier than the rest of the pack. The new V-6 maintains the Lexus tradition of buttery-smooth revs, with plenty of low-end torque, and the automatic happily shunts through its 10 cogs in the background. However, if you ask for moderate or more acceleration from the LS 500, the V-6 struggles to move the 5,103-pound sedan, and the transmission’s shifts get harsh."
"The LS 500’s steering is much more new-gen and away from the numb appliances of yore. Sporty, direct, and with a stiffness that will be unfamiliar to the Lexus legions, the LS 500 is a good set of tires away from being a true canyon carver. Our test car’s air suspension sorted out big bumps but struggled with small, high-frequency bumps such as the Botts’ dots that line California lanes. “We’re on pretty new pavement here, and I’m still getting lots of small vibrations from all the little bumps in the road you can’t see from the driver’s seat,” Evans said."
"The Lexus’ cabin matches the Lincoln’s for its distinctiveness but outstrips it in elegance. The LS 500’s interior perhaps isn’t quite as revolutionary as its LC sister’s, but it’s a huge step forward for the sedan, with beautiful wood, bright metallic trim running horizontally across the cabin, and a cool backlit piece of artwork on the passenger dash like in the new
Rolls-Royce Phantom. The LS’ doors are also particularly noteworthy, with an artful origami-inspired finish."
“The Lexus blows the others away in making the owner feel rich and successful,” Gale said."
I'm not sure that a fully decked out $103k LS 500 AWD with the executive package was really necessary, especially since it weighs in at a morbidly obese 5,100lbs. A RWD LS 500 with a midlevel package would have brought the weight considerably down - as well as the price.
As I keep saying... this car is too heavy. And for all of Lexus' marketing hype about the TT V6 performing similar to the 750i and S550, I have yet to see a single independent test that is under 5 seconds for the car. Most are 5.3-5.5 seconds. Pretty unfortunate.
